Black-Owned Christmas Gifts Worth Ordering Early

Christmas shopping has a way of creeping up on everybody. One week the high street is still selling sun cream and the next the queues are out of the door. If this is the year you want more of your gift budget to land with Black-owned businesses, the best time to start is now, while small makers still have room in their order books and the post is still moving at a normal pace.

This guide brings together Black-owned shops on CashBlack that sell the kind of things people actually love to unwrap: art for the wall, cards with meaning, flowers through the letterbox, African print pieces and homeware with personality. Every shop below has its own page on CashBlack, so you can read about it, see what it sells and shop through to it in a couple of taps.

Why Ordering Early Matters for Handmade Gifts

A lot of the best gifts from independent Black-owned shops are made by hand or made to order. That is a big part of their appeal, because the person you are buying for gets something nobody else on the street will have. It also means each piece takes time. A printer can only run so many prints in an evening and a maker can only finish so many pieces in a week.

Ordering in November rather than the week before Christmas gives a small business room to do its best work. It takes pressure off the maker, it takes pressure off you and it means the gift arrives in time to be wrapped properly instead of arriving in a panic on Christmas Eve. If a shop lists its own cut off dates for Christmas delivery, take those as the final word and plan back from them.

Art and Prints for the Wall

Art makes a gift that keeps giving every time somebody walks past it. Afri Prints 8 is a Black-owned shop in the UK selling artwork inspired by culture and made with purpose. Livity Art Studio, based in Bedford, sells paintings and prints celebrating Black culture, along with T-shirts that carry the same work.

For somebody who likes a desk or a shelf to say something about them, Cinnamon and Brown sells Afrocentric art, stationery and gifts. A framed print, a notebook or a set of cards from a shop like this works for a parent, a colleague or a friend who has just moved into a new place.

Cards That Say Something

A card is often the first thing anybody opens on Christmas morning, so it is worth choosing one that means something. Asari Living sells African inspired greeting cards, which work just as well tucked into a bigger present as they do on their own. Buying cards from a Black-owned shop is one of the easiest switches you can make this season, because everybody needs them and most of us buy a pack every year without thinking about where it comes from.

Flowers Through the Letterbox

Not everybody you want to remember at Christmas lives round the corner. Box and Blume sends letterbox flowers and bouquets across the UK, which makes it a thoughtful choice for a grandparent, a friend in another city or somebody who has had a hard year. Flowers that fit through the letterbox also mean nobody has to wait in for a delivery.

African Print and Handmade Pieces

If the person on your list loves colour and pattern, African print is hard to beat. My Ankara Love is a Black-owned shop in Ipswich making impeccably finished pieces in African print. Kenyancraftscompany, based in London, sells handmade crafts carrying stories from a far away culture, which gives a gift a story to tell as well as a use.

Handsgifted is another Black-owned shop in London worth a look, and Soluna Soul describes itself as the place where self-love meets soul-deep empowerment, which makes it a natural fit for anybody on your list who is focused on looking after themselves this winter.

Homeware with Personality

Homeware is the gift that people use every day. The Copper Fruit sells artisanal Afrocentric homeware and gifts, the kind of piece that turns a kitchen shelf or a living room into somewhere that feels like home. A candle, a serving piece or a decorative object from a shop like this is a present people remember because they see it all year.

How to Shop These Gifts Through CashBlack

Shopping through CashBlack is simple. Find the shop on its CashBlack page, tap through to it and buy as you normally would. Where a shop offers cashback, it is tracked to your CashBlack account and you can cash it out or give it to a cause you care about through CashBlack GiveBack.

• Browse more gifts in Arts, Crafts and Gifts
• Check each shop's own Christmas delivery dates before you order
• Use the CashBlack app to save the shops you like for later

Every gift on this list started with somebody who decided to build something of their own. Buying from them is how that work keeps going into the new year. Start your list early, give the makers time to do their best work and make this Christmas one where your money goes where it counts.