First Gift:NovaScotian Crystal Candleholder, $123,novascotiancrystal.com
Second Gift:$35 to Ronald McDonald House Canada
NovaScotian Crystal has a solid reputation of making beautiful, classic crystalware in their harbourfront workshop that rivals the likes of Waterford. This holiday season they have designed a special piece to raise money to help the families of sick children. Ronald McDonald House gives families who are far from home with sick children a place to stay near the hospital. The holidays always seem like the most appropriate time for candles, maybe next to Valentine’s Day, and this candleholder is a delicate and elegant way to light your holiday feast.

First Gift: Kiehl’s Limited Edition KAWS Crème de Corps Lotion, $37.50
Second Gift: 100% of net profits to the Canadian Association of Pediatric Oncology Camps
Kiehl’s Crème de Corps has long had an obsessed following of devoted fans for good reason. The lotion isn’t sticky and spreads easily over your winter-dry hands. It is a healthy hand staple made with beta-carotene, and nurturing oils derived from sesame seeds, soybeans, almonds and avocados. And now, for a limited time, the bottle is getting a playful, cartoonish redesign by New York artist KAWS, who rose to popularity as a guerrilla artist on billboards and bus shelters and created the artwork from Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak.  

First Gift: UNICEF Woven Reed Handbag, $85, unicef.ca
Second Gift: Support for vulnerable children worldwide
For those lucky enough to be jetting to French Polynesia or the beaches of the Maldives, this beautiful bag is both practical and spacious. One of the most recognisable charities in the world, UNICEF provides support services for children in need whether it be in famine stricken Somalia or post-disaster New Orleans. This beautiful contemporary woven reed handbag, handmade in Thailand, with decorative hand-knotted mesh, features comfortable rattan handles, cotton lining, zip closure and an internal pocket. This bag is a great example of where charitable giving has gone in the past few years — to new philanthropic and fashionable heights.

First Gift: Duck Tea Set, $20.99 serrv.org
Second Gift: Support for an international artisan in Bali
This Make Way For Ducklings reminiscent tea set is heartbreakingly adorable. With teas season upon us, a warm cup of herb is a good excuse for a friendly get-together. The set was made by artisans from the non-governmental, non-profit organization the Mitra Bali Foundation, which acts as a market and export facilitator for small craft producers. Mitra Bali works with around 100 producer groups employing more than 1,000 men and women to help them in marketing their products and improve their working conditions.  Mitra Bali also has a design center where artisans can access resources, work with designers, and get regular training on new trends, technical aspects of production and health and safety, as well as the use of environmentally sustainable resources.

First Gift: $15 Gift Card from Starbucks plus bonus All You Need Is Love album
Second Gift: $1 for the $15 spent and 5 cents for each time your gift recipient uses their gift card to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa
This holiday season, Starbucks has expanded its partnership with the Product Red initiative and will donate $1 for every $15 purchase, be it bulk coffee or a portable tumbler. But, the most charitably economic way to spend that $15 is on a Product Red gift card. Starbucks will donate 5 cents to the Global Fund for each gift card transaction making this a gift that gives three, four or five times depending on the user. As a bonus, a $15 purchase will also get you a charitable compilation featuring John Legend and U2, which is also good to give or to keep as a reward for your good deed.

First Gift: Men’s Vegan Charcoal/Natural Patch TOMS, $65, tomsshoes.com
Second Gift: A pair of shoes to a child in need
Lightweight and stylish, these are a great alternative to the urban man-flop (shudder) and a great companion on your winter getaway. Since 2006, TOMS has given over 150,000 pairs of shoes to children in Argentina, South Africa, Ethiopia and the U.S. In 2009 alone, founder Blake Mycoskie and TOMS Shoes plan to give 300,000 pairs of shoes to children. They also recently strayed from the classic lightweight slip-on into boots for men and women.

First Gift: Body Shop Love Etc… Fragrance Gift Set, $69.50
Second Gift: Supporting approximately 750 Ecuadorian organic sugar cane farmers
Love Etc… is a new Eau de Parfum featuring alcohol made from organic sugar cane, which is fairly traded and organically sourced from the foothills of the Andes, through the Body Shop’s Community Trade fair trade program. The farmers from Cotopaxi, Ecuador formed a rural cooperative with more than 150 member families who grow sugar cane organically to promote environmental sustainability and biodiversity. The fragrance smells of jasmine, vanilla and sandalwood, and was especially created by one of the world’s finest noses, Dominique Ropion. The gift set includes the Eau du Parfum, body lotion and body wash.

First Gift: Yellow Bird Project Bon Iver T-Shirt, $25, yellowbirdproject.com
Second Gift: A donation to Interval House, a Toronto women’s shelter
This T-Shirt, from one of the bands consistently on 2009’s album of the year lists, Bon Iver, is a hip way to express your music tastes and your charitableness. Talk about a complex and interesting identity. The Yellow Bird Project is a Montreal-based non-profit that works with a range of indie rock musicians to create unique t-shirt designs that benefit charities chosen by the musicians. If Bon Iver isn’t your friend’s favourite, the Yellow Bird Project has a long list of participating bands that have chosen Canadian charities to donate their money to including Hayden and The Magic Numbers.