Christkindlmarket is in Milwaukee for the first time this year, dispensing Christmas cheer for a month and a half during the holiday season. Located right outside Fiserv Forum, you can celebrate Milwaukee’s German culture and, of course, shop for holiday gifts for all those on your list.
The market has lots to offer, from German food to ornaments to dog supplies and fashion. Here are eight unique items to find at the Christkindlmarket – all at relatively inexpensive prices.
1. Knit hats
Find a knit hat to warm your friend or family member’s head – and their heart. In addition to hats, the booth sells ornaments, accessories and jewelry as well – straight from Cusco, Lima, Peru! These hats are available at the Pallay Craft booth for $20 for hats without pom poms and $22 for hats with them.
2. Tea
The gift of a warm drink is perfect around the holidays, when cold weather is inevitable. For around $15 a bag, you can get loose leaf tea from Meckenheim, Germany in a multitude of different flavors, including English breakfast tea, rooibush eggnog, winter magic, Christmas tea and more. Whoever is lucky enough to snag this gift will think of you as he or she snuggles up by the fire with a nice mug of tea. Find these bags, as well as other tea accessories, at the TeaGschwendner booth.
3. Lip butter
For $4 each, you can stuff a stocking with one or more of these lip butters. The scents are very authentic, coming in mango peach, very berry, coconut, pizza and more. And yes, the pizza-scented lip butter actually smells like a pizza, fresh with tomato sauce. The booth, Taylor Street Soap Co., also sells colorful bar soaps and more.
4. Cat purses
Calling all cat lovers! Straight from Istanbul, Turkey, the Anatolian Motifs booth is offering handmade cat coin purses for $15 each. If this purse isn’t the cutest thing you’ve ever seen (I’d be surprised if it wasn’t), then you can choose from the other wares the shop has to offer: scarves, jewelry, stuffed animals and more.
5. Felt animal ornaments
Staying with the theme of animals, for those people on your gift list who like cows, llamas, dolphins, sea turtles or more obscure animals, you can probably find a felt ornament version of that animal for $15 each at the Partnership for Culture and Crafts booth, from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Or you can go the classic Christmas route and pick out a snowman, elf, reindeer or Santa felt ornament. The booth offers other natural felt and silk products as well, such as hats and scarves.
6. Wooden nativity scenes
Here’s something you won’t find at your typical local Christmas decoration supply store: handmade nativities, ornaments and figures straight from Bethlehem. These are on the pricier side – around $5-10 for a smaller ornament; $20-40 for a larger, more detailed ornament, statue or music box; and around $100 and over for the bigger nativity scenes – but they are of high quality and come from the Holy Land. Find these at the Bethlehem Nativity Products booth.
7. Pretzels
If you get hungry while you are shopping, you can stop by the Milwaukee Pretzel Company booth for a cinnamon and sugar pretzel for $5. Other food booths sell sauerkraut, sausage and more. Stop inside the heated building at the end of the market for a place to sit and enjoy – and give yourself some time to warm up.
8. Decorative crystal
At the Angelic Roots booth, from Oak Creek, find crystals, crystal art and jewelry. You can give the crystals as gifts for eye-catching centerpieces or displays on tables, mantles or shelves. Other exclusive items include a quartz wire tree, with moon stone and clear quartz as the base and "leaves" of the tree. Adjustable bracelets and rings with beautiful stones on them are sold for $20 each.
Like what you see? The last day the market is open is Dec. 31, so be sure to stop by before it ends and before all the good stuff is gone!