At Georgia Crafted, we aren't strictly B.Y.O.B., but we do give you that option. Our B.Y.O.B. may not stand for the same words you might be thinking of, but we promise our Build Your Own Box option can be just as fun.
Why Should You Build Your Own Box?
There are three reasons why Building Your Own Box can be the best option for your gift giving.
Budget: The holidays are tough and money's tight. With our B.Y.O.B. option, you control how much you spend on each person on your gift list. By choosing the items yourself, it's easier to make sure that you stay within your holiday spending budget.
Personalization: Giving gifts is no fun if you know your Georgia Crafted Peaches picked out all of your box's products. You can make your gift more personalized and cater to the receiver's likes, favorites, and personality.
Preferences: If you have a certain theme in mind for your gift box, but still want to control the price and personalization, you can sort our products based on categories such as city or product type. We have Georgia made products to fit any theme from Marietta to spa days to food.
There's no better or easier way to win the holidays than giving your own personalized Georgia Crafted gift boxes to everyone on your list. You will definitely receive texts, phone calls, and emails about how thoughtful, wonderful, and possibly scrumptious your Fresh Picked Gift Box items were. If you're ready to get started, click the image below to begin building the perfect box for your friends or family.
There's always something to be thankful for, and this week it's our family-style Thanksgiving Gift Boxes. From cranberry pepper jelly to crispy cheese straws, we've got all your comfort food favorites that family, friends, and clients will be thrilled to receive.
Our October Georgia On My Mind subscription box includes an incredible collection of 4 Georgia-made products. We curated this box in partnership with the Georgia Department of Tourism. It was listed as a themed Gift Box on our site for the holidays, and it was so popular that it sold out! (Sad that you missed it? Email us at hello@georgiacrafted.com and let us know that we need to reorder!)
Our subscription boxes are a great value at $29.99. You can try out a subscription for just 1 month. Or if you subscribe for our 6 month option, the price drops to just $26.99 per month... wow! To compare, the full retail price of the Georgia On My Mind gift box was $34.99 plus shipping. We really give our subscribers a great deal!
Now, on to the contents of the October subscription box!
The Honey Shack, Homerville, GA
A full-sized 16 oz. jar of pure Gallberry honey from South Georgia. Did you know that Gallberry honey is unique to southern Georgia and northern Florida?
Find it on our site here: Gallberry Honey
Southern Soul Barbeque, St. Simons Island, GA
This large 14 oz. jar of barbecue sauce was a big hit on our site over the holiday season. The sauce is sweet and tangy, with a kick of mustard.... a true crowd pleaser!
Find it on our site here (currently sold out!): Sweet GA Soul BBQ Sauce
French Silver, Marietta, GA
Georgia “On my mind” tea towel, printed onto a lint-free, 100% cotton, unbleached flour sack towel. The towel measures approximately 30"x 30". Great as a kitchen towel or in the bathroom as a hand towel.
Find it on our site here: Georgia On My Mind Towel
and to round it out, a Georgia on my Mind CD filled with amazing Georgia classic songs.
Welcome to the latest edition of Meet the Artisan! We're excited to introduce you to Roger Harrison of Harrison Family Farm. We featured Harrison Family Farm's "Sweet Jasper Heat" Eudora Chow Chow in a recent subscription box. Those of you with Southern roots were already familiar with Chow Chow, I'm sure, but if you're a Southern "transplant" like me, read on to learn more about Chow Chow and how to use it! Plus all the backstory on Roger, his family, and their family recipes!
(Doesn't this family look like fun?!)
I am a ninth generation Jasper County Georgian. My grandmother's side of the family was the Kelleys (the second "e" was later dropped to make it Kelly) who immigrated from Ireland. John Kelley (b. 1630 in Ireland) settled in Virginia, and the family migrated south to Georgia. They settled in Northern Jasper County on what is now Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center, a State of Georgia Nature Preserve. The original cabin is mostly gone now, but when I was a kid, my father and I visited it and brought back a dove-tail beam which served as a fire place mantle in my childhood home.
My 83 year old grandmother and I still operate the company. She is my "Chief of Institutional Knowledge," and has taught me all the recipes, tips, and tricks of making our products in the old-fashioned way.
Although most of our recipes are 200+ years old, and have been made continuously over the generations, we didn't start selling commercially until early 2016. After living all over the country and traveling the world with The Coca-Cola Company, I moved back to the farm to help with my aging and failing 85 year-old grandfather. My undergrad degree is in theatre, and I've had some moderate success in the film/tv/modeling industry booming in Georgia. Like any actor, it's rare to be booked every day of the week, so I started Harrison Family Farm, LLC to fill the down time. Little did I know it would consume my days, nights, and weekends in just 9 months.
It's really hard to pull one product out as the most successful since our products are so unique and each has its own, at times cult-like, following. We define success as making a quality product that is unique in the market—meaning it's not widely available, but is something people love and often remember from years past.
Clearly, our Eudora Chow Chow, has broken all barriers as it is now the largest artisan small-batch chow chow in the Southeastern United States. To go from 0 to light speed in the course of one calendar year is simply remarkable, and speaks to the incredible recipe, quality, and versatility of the product. When we launched it, we marketed it as more than just a condiment/topping for beans or veggies like older generations remember. It's really great paired with meats as well. Emory University's Oxford Campus uses it as a relish on their hot dog bar. The Company Store, in Porterdale, GA serves a Chow Chow Burger, and Bennie's Red Barn, in St. Simons Island, GA serves it as a side with their premium grass fed beef. People have discovered what a great addition it is in southern salads, like potato salad, chicken salad, or egg salad, and substitutes wonderfully for dill relish in deviled eggs.
We make the products just like our ancestors did; local produce, no preservatives, no fillers, and wholesome ingredients. If we were able to reach back into time, and taste the products next to each other, they would be strikingly similar, and we know that because our oldest living relatives and neighbors tell us the products "taste just like mama and grandma used to make." Seeing the smiles on their faces when they taste our family recipe products is truly priceless. Much like music, there is a connection to food that transcends time and space, and triggers multiple senses in the body. We are truly honored and grateful that we can connect people to their past with our products.
We make the products just like our ancestors did; local produce, no preservatives, no fillers, and wholesome ingredients.
We don't want to be so broad in our product offering that we lose the quality for which we have become known. Currently, we offer 6 Gourmet Balsamic Vinaigrettes. We blend authentic imported Italian Balsamic Vinegar, from the Modena Region of Italy, with Georgia Grown produce, like blueberries, Vidalia Onions, Georgia Peaches, Georgia Tomatoes, and Strawberries, to create unique and flavorful dressings and marinades. I anticipate we will launch a low fat Herb Vinaigrette in January to tap into the New Year's Resolution Health Conscious market. Past that, we won't look at new product introduction until the growing/harvest season re-starts in Georgia in the late spring/early summer.
Find Roger and Harrison Family Farms online:
Facebook: harrisonfamfarm
Instagram: harrisonfamilyfarm
www.harrisonfamily.farm
Thank you, Roger!
We're excited to have new and updated gift boxes coming for this holiday season! Today, we're revealing the first one:
We created this gift box full of Georgia-made treats for anyone who loves to bake. This would be especially thoughtful as a gift for a new home owner, a family who bakes with their kids, or as a host gift.
Here's what's inside:
Dr. Pete's Savannah-made mix bakes up into fudgy squares, like the best brownies you've ever tasted. All you need to add is butter and an egg.
This gluten-free flour has a variety of uses in baking. We've shared a Triple Chocolate Pecan Brownie recipe. You can find even more recipes on the Oliver Farm website's recipe page.
Another favorite from Oliver Farm, this Pecan Oil can be used for baking, or even for frying chicken. And if you didn't catch it, the New York Times recently featured Clay Oliver of Oliver Farms for his artisanal Green Peanut Oil.
Make a Georgia classic peach cobbler, with this Georgia-made mix. Bakes up with fresh, canned, or frozen peaches, so you can enjoy it any time of year.
This banana bread mix was a Finalist in the 2016 Flavor of Georgia competition! The first ingredient is 100% whole wheat flour. This soft wheat flour is grown on a family farm and stone-ground, right here in GA.
"Whip it. Whip it good." This towel from French Silver in Marietta, GA, will bring a little humor to your kitchen. The design is printed on a 100% cotton, soft & absorbent flour sack towel—great for drying dishes.
You can purchase this baking gift box on our site here: Southern Baking Kit.
Check out these new products available on our site this month! All of these items are available à la carte in the Build a Gift Box section of our store.
This Pumpkin Spice Syrup is made with real pumpkin and spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Drizzle it over waffles, pancakes, or even oatmeal for a seasonal breakfast treat. Add it to your coffee for a homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte!
Buy a bottle of Pumpkin Spice Syrup here!
Fall has finally come to Georgia (yay!), but that means cold and flu season isn't far behind. This Shower Bomb will turn your shower into a spa-like steam treatment. It's scented with a Thievery essential oil blend, including Cinnamon, Clove, Rosemary, Eucalyptus & Lemon. This blend is known to help with cold & flu germs.
Buy a Thievery Shower Bomb here!
Just like the Thievery Shower Bomb, this Aller-Ease Shower Bomb will turn your shower into a relaxing steam treatment with essential oils. It's like a bath bomb for the shower! The Aller-Ease blend includes Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint essential oils to reduce symptoms of allergies and hay fever.
Buy an Aller-Ease Shower Bomb here!
We're now stocking Pucker Stick lip balms in Margarita, Ginger Lemongrass, and Peppermint. These balms are creamy and smooth, never waxy or greasy—and they're 100% natural, too.
Buy a pucker stick (or 2!) here: Margarita, Ginger Lemongrass, Peppermint.
As always, our new products are made in Georgia by local businesses, creating artisan-style products in small batches. We're proud to support the state of Georgia! This month's new products come from Blackberry Patch in Thomasville, GA and rinse bath & body co. in Monroe, GA.
Our Meet the Artisan series continues today with Lauri Jo Bennett of Lauri Jo's Southern Style Canning. Our subscribers will recognize Lauri Jo's name since we featured her delicious Georgia Peach Salsa in the August subscription box. You might also recognize Lauri Jo's name from the October 2016 issue of Southern Living magazine—way to go, Lauri Jo!
Lauri Jo Bennett is a wife, mom, former teacher, and entrepreneur in Norman Park, GA. Lauri Jo took her family tradition and personal hobby of canning—along with hand-written family recipes—and built an award-winning business. Her company produces southern favorites like pepper jellies, pickles, and more.
Lauri Jo told us that throughout her married life, she had canned fresh vegetables for her family, using the canning plant at a local high school. Now, Lauri Jo does all her canning in-house in her very own 4000-sq-ft processing facility. We're inspired to hear that Lauri Jo has achieved such success, from very relatable beginnings!
"My business launched in September of 2009 from a much loved hobby. After giving away gifts for my husband's trucking company made of fruits of my labor from the summer at the canning plant putting up salsa, jams, soups, and pickles, I decided to see if it really would sell. Here we are today in over 1,200 outlets."
"Our most successful product is our Southern Pecan Pepper Jelly."
"I think I would have to say my biggest highlight since launching our business would have to be getting emails and notifications from people across the US telling me how much the love the products and the different ways they use them. I also love traveling the Southeast speaking and sharing my story while promoting other great Georgia Grown Entrepreneurs as well."
Thank you for sharing your story with Georgia Crafted, Lauri Jo!
You can order Lauri Jo's Georgia Peach Salsa here on the Georgia Crafted website and be sure to keep your eye out, on our site, for more of her products this holiday season!
Georgia Crafted has been featured as a Made in America favorite business in the South. Head over to Krrb.com's blog, where they're "celebrating the best handmade, eco-friendly and small batch goods the country has to offer," to find out why Georgia Crafted is their top pick for the state of Georgia.
Here's a hint: they think we're the "easiest (and most fun) way to shop locally"—and we agree!
Check it out!
It's really hard to believe that, today, we are celebrating our 3rd birthday. I recently pulled out my "business plan" that I wrote back in June/July of 2013 and chuckled as I read all about the "subscription box" program I was going to launch. To think how much Georgia Crafted has grown and changed - all very organically - over the past three years is amazing.
When we first launched, we dreamed of curating items ONCE a month and shipping ONCE a month - really just to give people a whole new way to discover Georgia-made products through our Subscription Box Program. Today, we carry over 100 Georgia-made items, have a wide array of themed gift boxes, still offer a subscription program, have partnerships with amazing organizations such as the Georgia Department of Tourism and Georgia Grown, have been named Top Business to Watch by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce two years in a row, and have provided gift boxes for incredible corporations such as CNN, Chick-fil-A and Georgia-Pacific. We've even launched our own line of State-Shaped Bamboo Cheese Boards, and are the supplier of Georgia Made Products to various gift shops and restaurants, including the Ritz Carlton Downtown Atlanta location.
Our dream of helping get the products from small local artisans into the hands of others has been a dream come true...and we hope to continue doing this for years to come!
