Maiden Melanie's Favorite Small Shops
This holiday season I wanted to compile a list of some of my favorite small shops. I tried to categorize them as best as possible. Many of these I’ve purchased from before, and I will make sure to talk about some of my favorite products from them.
Music/Books
I’m not listing many things here because you should always try to go to your local bookshop or record store to purchase things.
Bookshop
I love this site because you can usually support your local shop online and if you do not have one, you can just pick one to support.
A Good Used Book
Recordstores(dot)love
Search for music shops near you.
Jewelry
Ecclesia
Blood Milk Jewels
I own a few pieces from Blood Milk, and they are all very cherished and have held up extremely well. I get complimented on my Belonging To The Underworld Part II ring all the time.
Love & Loss by Margaret Cross
Chase + Scout
Fragrance
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
I’ve been purchasing perfume oils from them for a very long time. I love that you can get a ton of little samples to try before committing to one fragrance. My standard go-to scent I always wear from them is Theodosius, the Legerdemain.
Witch Baby
The only place I get bath bombs from. They don’t stain the tub or your skin and have never been irritating. She always has unique scents to go with each season, and her soaps are a work of art on their own.
Alkemia Perfumes
I find a lot of their scents are more easily approachable as they tend to be lighter and less smoky/incense forward. Again, I also like that you can get small samples to try. Madam Pearl is an all time favorite, but it’s sadly not currently available.
Art
Fox & Comet
Last year I purchased the beautiful moon art calendar, and it is up again for 2026. I highly recommend it because each artwork that coincides with the month/moon phase is so colorful and whimsical.
Keen on Creepin’ On
Cute cryptid items for the strange people in your life. I’ve surprised my husband with several cards from this shop and we have a few stickers that we converted into magnets.
Tyler Thrasher
Brett Manning Art
Poison Apple Print Shop
Cat Coven
I own a few shirts from here,and they are super soft and the prints have held up really well.
Emma Atterbury
Wizard of Barge
KWT Designs
Dellamorte & Co.
Fast Doll
Owl House
Tin Can Forest
Wellness
Moonflower Hemp
My go-to for all my CBD & CBG products. I love their gummies and use them daily. Their drinks are also delicious but really all their products have helped me maintain a healthy balance for my anxiety.
Burning Love
Spiritual
Ritualcravt
I bought several candles, stones, and herbs from this shop in the past to be used in different rituals. Everything always ships out fast and is neatly packed.
Mithras
Beautiful hand poured wax candles. My deity pushed me toward their Chrysalis black candle, and I’ve been using it in my spiritual work.
Clothing
Die With Your Boots On
This is the cutest little gothy shop in Salem. I haven’t had the chance to visit IRL, but have ordered online several times. Everything always ships out really fast and is packaged so cute with their special branded tissue paper.
I Do Declare
Thistle and Spire
Lively Ghosts
Food
Cheese, Sex, Death
As a cheese gal, I purchased Erika’s first book “Cheese, Sex, Death” when it was released a few years ago. This year she has a new book out catering to the more witchy side of cheese, “Cheese Magic”.
Loretta’s Authentic Pralines
I can’t say anything other than delicious pralines and if you’ve never had one, you gotta try one.
Old Growth Alchemy
I purchased some of their teas for a rewatch of Lord of the Rings earlier in the year. They have several literature based teas which would be fun to pair with your favorite book.
Puzzles
This is a wild card because I started doing puzzles this year, and I’m always looking for places that use actual artists and not AI bullshit.
Ordinary Habit
Birdie Puzzles
I just completed their smaller Salad Days puzzle and have the bigger Gull Trouble to do next. I love the funky colors on these puzzles, but I will warn that some of the pieces don’t snap in a smoothly as I’d like.
Happily
Le Puzz
I did their ME-ow Time puzzle and had a blast. I also love that all their puzzle cuts are unique.
Piecework
Possibly my all time favorite. I really want another, but the first one I did was Pie in the Sky. I love that each puzzle comes with an accompanying playlist to listen to while doing the puzzle. I just hope they make the switch from hosting them on Spotify.
Sooness
Cat Things
I am a cat mom, and I’ve purchased some really cute things for Pat from a few places.
Epiclyajustin
While his store is very skateboard adjacent, he has a cat named Grizzly who "helps" out at the shop. I purchased a cute cat string toy from him made out of recycled skateboard decks.
Whimsily Ever After
Whiskers World
Pat loved her original embroidered fish from this shop so much I had to get her a second one. Both are very well loved, and I like that the store is run by two sisters.
Close Call Studio
This artist makes cute felt and embroidered items. I ordered Pat a cute little catnip laptop to match with my husband’s work computer.