First, they grabbed headlines, and now they can grab a spot under the tree.
This year’s Made In Alabama Holiday Gift Guide is a list of newsmakers from across the state.
They are products and experiences with a unique Alabama flavor, and they have been written about, blogged about and just generally buzzed about in 2025.
“Alabama is home to highly-skilled innovators, craftsmen and artisans who are leaders in their respective fields, and their work often makes a great gift, too,” said Ellen McNair, Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “We are excited, but not surprised, that they are also turning heads and earning accolades in publications across the country.”
Sweet treats
For loved ones with a sweet tooth, artisan chocolates from Pizzelle’s Confections in Huntsville are the perfect gift. For the second year in a row, Pizzelle’s was named to USA Today’s list of 10 Best Chocolate Shops in the U.S.
“Made with fair trade Felchlin chocolate, Pizzelle’s Confections look almost too good to eat,” USA Today says, and specifically highlights the Steel Magnolia, which combines chicory and coffee.
Pizzelle’s bills itself as a mix of edible art and culinary exploration, with an eclectic menu of chocolates that incorporate root beer, lavender, limoncello, chai spices and more.
‘Made in America’ roll call
Birmingham-made Bourbon Pens
Three Alabama businesses were featured in the 2025 Made In America Gift Guide compiled by the Alliance for American Manufacturing.
Humminbird, a leading manufacturer of marine electronics with a plant in Eufaula, makes high-tech fish finders that aim to keep a day on the water from being a bust. Other innovations include chart plotters and sonar systems that are popular with anglers nationwide.
Bourbon Pens, crafted from bourbon barrel oak, are handmade in a shop in the Birmingham area. Customers can select the distillery and also opt for engraved names and logos. The business has shipped its work to more than 35 countries.
Alabama Sunshine makes farm-to-table hot sauces, BBQ sauces, jams and relishes in Fayette. The company traces its roots to the mid-1970s, when founder Fred Smith began refining the recipe, using his homegrown jalapeno peppers.
Thoughtful fashions
For a fashion forward gift, check out the designs of Florence-based Alabama Chanin.
Founder Natalie Chanin was featured earlier this year in the magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, which profiled her journey and commitment to sustainable design and preserving craft traditions.
Chanin and her team hand stitch dresses, sweaters, pants, coats and other garments, carrying on the region’s roots in cotton crops and the textile industry.
The article calls Chanin a force of nature in the community of makers, where she hosts workshops and continuing education classes. She’s also launched storytelling projects that feature farmers and textile workers.
Honoring mom with food
For the foodie in your life, consider a gift card to a new addition to the dining scene in Fairhope.
Bill Briand, a James Beard-nominated chef, last summer opened a restaurant called Little Bird, inspired by the memory of his mother. Virginia Eileen Briand was a Naval nurse who loved to host and cook for her family, and each space in the restaurant tells a part of her story.
Garden & Gun featured Briand and Little Bird, along with her recipe for brown butter ice cream, which is now on the restaurant’s dessert menu.
The magazine describes the restaurant as comfort-focused, serving coastal Southern dishes. It’s a place where Briand can “cook food in contentment – an ethos he knows his mother would agree with.”
A rugged SUV
No Alabama-made gift guide is complete without a big-ticket item from the state’s massive automotive industry. One of the sector’s stars this year was the redesigned 2026 Honda Passport SUV.
Motor Trend gives the Passport props for blending solid engineering, thoughtful design and strong value.
“With its mix of rugged trail chops, everyday comfort and solid value, the Passport needs no gimmicks to make an impression,” the trade journal said. “Sometimes, the simplest formula is the one that wins people over.”
The Passport is produced exclusively at the Honda Alabama plant in Talladega County, where workers celebrated the launch of the new models earlier this year. They also build Honda’s Pilot SUV, Odyssey minivan and Ridgeline pickup.
