I remember when the holiday catalogs used to land in our mailbox in Cedar Rapids around the first frost. My husband Tom would carry the stack inside, drop them on the kitchen counter, and say, "Looks like Margaret has her reading for the weekend." He wasn't wrong. I'd brew a pot of decaf, pull a quilt over my knees, and start dog-earing pages for our daughter Allison, our son-in-law Paul, and the three grandkids.
The mail-order tradition has changed quite a bit since then, but the pleasure of paging through a thoughtful catalog hasn't gone away. If anything, it feels more restful now than scrolling through endless pop-up ads on a tablet. So I thought I'd share a list of the holiday catalogs I keep coming back to, with a few honest notes on which ones still arrive at the door and which have gone fully online. A list like this is best read slowly, the way you'd read a recipe before you start cooking.
The Potpourri Group family
If you've ordered from one mail-order catalog in the last twenty years, there's a good chance it came from the Potpourri Group out in Massachusetts. They publish a whole bouquet of titles, each with a different personality. A few I look forward to every year:
- Back in the Saddle — horse-themed gifts, ornaments, and home accents. My granddaughter Emma went through a serious horse phase around third grade, and we've been ordering from this one ever since. Even now that she's in middle school, a horseshoe ornament still finds its way onto the tree.
- Catalog Favorites — a mix of best-sellers from across the Potpourri family. A nice place to start if you're not sure which catalog suits your taste.
- Country Store — farmhouse-style decor and small comforts. The kind of pieces that look at home on a Midwestern porch in December.
- Cuddledown — bedding, robes, and down comforters. We replaced our old comforter with one of theirs the winter Tom retired, and it has earned its keep through six Iowa Januaries.
The Potpourri brands have stayed active right through 2025 and into the new year. If you don't get their mailings anymore, you can request a free copy through their websites or through Catalogs.com. Has anyone else in your family been on their list since the 1990s, like ours?
For the home decorator on your list
BrylaneHome
BrylaneHome is part of the FullBeauty Brands family, and they've kept their footprint mostly online these days. Their seasonal pages are full of throws, cookware, and the kind of inexpensive holiday decor that's nice for a guest room or a grandchild's bedroom. I bought a set of red plaid placemats from them two Christmases ago and they've washed beautifully.
Claire Murray Rugs & Decor
Claire Murray's hand-hooked rugs have a New England cottage feeling that I've always loved. The hummingbird and lighthouse designs are classics. They're an investment piece, not a stocking stuffer, but a small accent rug for a powder room or an entryway makes a thoughtful gift for a daughter or daughter-in-law setting up a home of her own. Their website carries the full collection year-round.
Designer Drapery Hardware
If anyone on your list is finishing up a room and needs the right curtain rod or finial to pull it together, this is the kind of practical, slightly indulgent gift that gets remembered. Allison once mentioned, in passing, that she wanted to redo the bay window in their dining room. A gift card here ended up being more useful than another sweater would have been.
Design Toscano
I have to be honest here. Design Toscano filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the summer of 2025, so the catalog isn't quite what it was. Some of their statues and garden pieces still turn up on resale sites, but I'd hold off on a fresh holiday delivery from them this year. A shame — their gargoyles always made my husband laugh.
For the giver who likes a little personality
Crazy Shirts
Crazy Shirts is the Hawaiian-based t-shirt company, and a soft, well-printed tee is a surprisingly welcome gift for a teenage grandchild. Our oldest grandson, Jacob, has been collecting their dyed shirts for two summers now. They package nicely under the tree, and the shipping is reasonable enough that you can wait until mid-December without panicking.
Born Shoes from H.H. Brown
Born (sometimes spelled Børn) is one of the comfort-shoe brands held by H.H. Brown out in Connecticut. I bought my first pair of their leather clogs in 2014 and I'm now on my third pair. For a sister, a mother, a longtime friend whose feet have started to complain on cold floors, this is the gift that says you were paying attention. Their clogs and slip-ons are widely sold through Zappos and Nordstrom as well as their own pages.
ellos
Also a FullBeauty brand, ellos focuses on plus-size women's clothing with a Scandinavian sensibility. Clean lines, good wool blends. A nice option if you're shopping for someone who is hard to fit and tired of hearing about it.
For the faith and family side of the season
Catholic Shop and similar gift catalogs
Tom and I aren't Catholic, but we have dear friends who are, and a hand-painted nativity or a small olive-wood cross from a religious gifts catalog has been a steady go-to for our Christmas Eve exchange. RosaryCard.net is one source still in operation. Take your time on these — the meaningful pieces are not the rushed ones.
For the gentleman in your life
Corona Cigar Company
I'll admit cigars aren't my department. But Tom's brother Ed has smoked the same little Macanudos for forty years, and a sampler from Corona Cigar Company has shown up under his tree more than once. Their humidor sets also make a respectable retirement gift, if you have a friend just stepping out of the office for the last time.
Customized stickers and magnets
This one is for the grandkids more than anyone. A pack of custom magnets with a photo of the great-grandbaby goes a long way at family gatherings, and outfits like Magnets.com or Sticker Mule turn them around quickly. A small thing, but the kind of small thing the family ends up gathering around at the kitchen counter.
A few honest words about ordering this year
A couple of practical notes from someone who has been ordering from these catalogs for a long while:
- Order earlier than you think. Holiday shipping windows have only gotten tighter since the pandemic years. I aim to have everything in motion by the first week of December.
- Watch for actual sale prices, not just the word "sale." Compare the catalog's price to the same item on the brand's website. Sometimes the catalog price is honest, sometimes the website has a better deal that week. Tom calls it "showing your homework."
- Save the paper catalogs you actually use. Most companies will send a fresh one if you order. The ones you never open, you can pass to a friend or recycle. I keep mine in a wicker basket by the kitchen reading chair so they don't take over.
- Mind the return policy on personalized items. Customized magnets, monogrammed throws, and engraved cigar cutters are usually final sale. Double-check the spelling before you click submit. I learned this one the hard way with our son-in-law Paul, whose name I once spelled "Pual" in three places.
What I've come to appreciate, after all these years of doing the family Christmas shopping, is that a good catalog is an invitation to slow down. You sit, you turn the pages, you think about the person you're buying for. That's worth something by itself. May your December be unhurried and your kitchen smell like cinnamon. From our home in Cedar Rapids to yours.
