Retro Den Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are upon us, friends. We've put together a little gift guide to make selecting that thoughtful local gift a little easier. But wait! What about your wishes this year? Before you do anything, come in and fill out our Retro Den Wish List (or just email us your list!), then tell your friends and family to come see us because the Ashleys at Retro Den know what you really want for the holidays. 

Now for that gift guide!

1. Plants!

Succulents, air-plants and containers galore! Stop by the plant bar and pot up a succulent or two right here in the shop. We can teach you how or we'd be happy to do it for you! Our ridiculously wonderful selection of planters include both vintage and hand-built. We are especially into containers by local artists like Mudhouse Studio and the Makerage! 

2. Wooden Letters

These letters were handmade for use in a foundry located outside of Oklahoma City. They worked as molds to create aluminum and plastic business signs for over fifty years. Gift one for home decor (hanging on a wall or leaning on a shelf!) or make a personalized ornament using our festive baker's twine.

3. A Home Refresh!

Oh hey! Word on the street is our in-home styling sessions are a wonderful gift to both give and receive. Do you know someone who wants a home that brings them energy and joy? Well, you can give them just that for the holidays by getting two Ashleys to help them complete their space. See our home styling offerings to decide what package works best!

Photo credit: Molly Thrasher Visuals

Photo credit: Molly Thrasher Visuals

4. Vintage Barware

Decanters, ice buckets, pitchers, cocktail glasses! Everyone loves a good drink, especially around the holidays. Help your friend start her vintage barware collection or make a pretty contribution to your weird uncle's established one. Either way, vintage barware is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

5. Lantern slides

We have a crazy wide selection of vintage lantern slides collected from across the country. Get a handmade wooden frame to hang your slides in a window or just lean it on the sill. These slides are a great personalized gift and great fun to look through.

6. Vintage postcards

Our vintage postcard collection is top notch. Find a wide variety of genres from different time periods as far back as the 1800s. Some even have handwritten notes from decades past, which we think add to their character and value. Take a moment to flip through our postcard books to find just the right one.

7. OK Collective candles

Hand-poured soy candles by local makers OK Collective. We offer three lovely scents - Teakwood, Oakmoss & Amber, and Blood Orange. Who wouldn't love a candle?

8. Macrame plant hanger DIY kits

For that person in your life who loves a good DIY project, pick up a House Sparrow Fine Nesting macrame plant hanger kit. The kit includes step-by-step instructions and all needed materials. For those not so crafty people, pick up an already completed hanger in the store. And a plant. Did we mention we have those too?

9. Vintage Chotskies

Oh man, we are your source for vintage chotskies. From brass animals to prop cameras, our shop is packed full with interesting objects that are fun to give and receive.

10. Sticks and Rocks

No, really. You can buy sticks and rocks as gifts. Our driftwood is locally sourced from the Arkansas River and can be used as decor (try pairing with air-plants, pine cones or other greenery for a different look!) or made into other useful objects like a lamp. Also, remember the pet rock craze? Let's bring that back. Or maybe let's just agree that rocks as decor give a good natural look to your space.

Pair with a card

And last but not least, take advantage of our one-stop shop with handmade greeting cards by the talented, friendly ladies of Laurel & Marie. The perfect companion to your local gifts.

When you Shop Local

When you shop local, you are supporting the hard work of your friends and neighbors. You, the local shopper, make creative shops and businesses possible, and we really appreciate that. Thank you!

Let us whip your home into a space that brings you energy and joy.

The Alliday Show 2016: Local Handmade Holiday Market

It's that time of year again! The time of year when we get super pumped to completely rearrange our shop to play host to fifteen local artists and the festive antics that come with the Alliday Show! Think food truck, DJ, Ginger Santa, coffee bar, holiday portraits, community projects, swag bags, and our ridiculously happy smiling faces! 

This will be the third year for Retro Den to host the Alliday Show, and we couldn't be prouder of the tradition that it's become. When the show's creator, Briana Shepard, approached us over three years ago with the idea of transforming our shop into a local holiday market for two days we were flattered and excited, but unsure of how it would exactly turn out. Well, it turned out to be awesome. And it's just gotten better each year.

Ashley Daly (Retro Den), Ashley Palmer (Retro Den), Briana Shepard (Alliday Creator) // Photo credit: Adam Forgash Photography

Below are our top ten reasons why we love the Alliday Show:

1. It brings our community together. During these two days, we see so many faces, both familiar and new, from around our city. It's a wonderful place to show support for your community by shopping local for the holidays! 

2. We meet local talent. We are always in awe over the talent, commitment, and passion we see in our featured artists. Sometimes we even end up carrying artist wares in our shop year round–like Mudhouse Studio's mugs and planters! 

Artist Katie Hinkle of Sloan and Tommy // Photo credit: Adam Forgash Photography 

3. Ginger Santa. Ginger Santa will be in the den Saturday for the kids to visit! Everyone loves our nice Ginger Santa.

Photo credit: Emma Jane Plunkett

4. Selecting a local shop to outfit us for the Friday night holiday party. This year we are going vintage (surprise, surprise) with Vintage Vault's fine selection!

5. Contributing to the community quilt project sponsored by wonderful local modern sewing and fabric shop, Owl & Drum! It's so wonderful to see people, young and old, adding to the quilt throughout the day. Street Cats is this year's non-profit quilt recipient.

Also, can we say how much we love Owl and Drum? They are our only featured artist with a physical location in Tulsa. You should go visit them. Like today. Go! It's so lovely!

Photo credit: Adam Forgash Photography

Photo credit: Emma Jane Plunkett

6. Mangiamo's food truck Friday night. Meatballs subs, get in our bellies. Also, the coffee. The amazing Foolish Things will be serving up local cups of joe and treats on Saturday! 

7. The holiday portraits! This year we will be setting up yet another vintage living room scene as the backdrop for your (free!) holiday portraits on Friday night. Our photographer, Adam Forgash, has a knack for bringing out the holiday spirit in everyone. Trust us.

Photo credit: Adam Forgash Photography

Photo credit: Adam Forgash Photography

8. Dancing! This year we're changing things up with DJ Afistaface! No one loves the holidays more than Andey. No, really. We cannot wait to bust a move with her holiday dance playlist.

9. The swag. Oh, lord. This year Briana got her sew on big time and handmade 100 (yes, 100!) swag bags for you all! They will be packed with swag from our awesome artists. We will give a majority of the bags out at Friday night's holiday party with a few reserved for those early birds Saturday morning!

10. Seeing our shop host all of this greatness! Nothing brings us joy like seeing our shop filled with the people and things we love. 

As you can see, we have solid reasons for loving the Alliday Show. We can't wait to see you there!

Find a list of our featured artists for this year's show here.

Photo credit: Emma Jane Plunkett

Let us whip your home into a space that brings you energy and joy.