Looking for unique gift ideas in Huntsville? This holiday season, consider surprising your friends and loved ones with something truly memorable—experience gifts! Whether it’s a hands-on workshop, an art class, or tickets to local attractions, gifting an experience instead of an item creates lasting memories.
Huntsville is brimming with opportunities for creative, culinary, and cultural experiences for everyone on your list. Here are some of the best experience gifts you can give this year in the Rocket City.
Ceramics Class
Shopping for someone a little artsy who likes to get their hands dirty? A ceramics class is the perfect way to let them exercise their creativity while creating unique pieces. The Vessel Studio in Stovehouse’s Gas Light Alley has single classes, workshops, and ongoing courses for kids and adults to learn how to work with clay.
Yoga Sessions
Looking for the perfect gift for the yogi in your life? A certificate for a package of classes from a local yoga studio is a great option.
Light on Yoga Fitness, near Five Points, offers several variations of traditional and aerial yoga and packages of four to 10 classes. Hot Yoga of Huntsville in Owens Cross Roads has classes for vinyasa, yoga flow, barre, and more in packages of five to 20 classes.
Folk Arts and Crafts
History and the arts meld at Burritt on the Mountain’s Folk School, where workshops are offered in skills like ceramics, herbs, jewelry, and basket making. To gift this experience, you can purchase tickets for pre-scheduled classes. Yearly memberships to Burritt on the Mountain also make the perfect present for your history-loving friend or family member.
Blacksmithing
It doesn’t get much more creative than giving a blacksmithing session for Christmas. Hosted by Warrior Forge in Lowe Mill, the experience includes a mini-lesson in techniques, where you’ll create an item to keep. The items available to make include pendants, crosses, hearts, and magic wands.
Theater Tickets
For the theater lover who prefers experiences to things, tickets to a show in Huntsville make the perfect gift. There are a few ways to go here — you can purchase individual show tickets to productions at Theatre Huntsville or the children’s theater at Fantasy Playhouse. Or, go all in with a show or mini-season package for the touring performances at Broadway Theatre League.
Candle Making
Gifting a candle is old news. This Christmas, you can give a whole candle making experience instead. At the candle bar at Holtz Leather’s Huntsville location, guests can pick out their own vessels, customize a scent, and pour hot wax to create a unique candle during a 45-minute experience. It makes the perfect experience gift, date night, or girls outing!
Dance Lessons
Dance lessons for Christmas? Sounds fun, right?! Saturn Jive Dance Space at Lowe Mill has classes for hip hop, capoeira, swing, tango, international folk dance, and more! You can give the gift of movement by purchasing a certificate for a month of classes and the recipient can choose which ones to attend.
Cooking Class
Have a top chef in your family? Local cooking classes make the perfect gift for budding culinary artists. There are a couple of ways to go here. The popular Phuket Thai Restaurant and Sushi in Providence sells gift certificates for a cooking class for two. Or, opt for the public or private classes at Rafael's Table on Whitesburg to master everything from fajitas to focaccia to hand-crafted pasta.
Museum Tickets or Membership
For a present that lasts all year long, consider purchasing a membership to one of Huntsville’s museums or cultural attractions.
Looking for ideas? Annual passes are available to the Huntsville Museum of Art, EarlyWorks Museums, U.S. Space and Rocket Center, and the Huntsville Botanical Garden.
