Holiday Wish List 2022

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Give the gift of nature

Share the beauty of the tropics with the gift of membership to Naples Botanical Garden, where plants and people thrive together. Unlimited Garden admission, exclusive Members-only access, and programs for all ages await.

New in 2023 only! Join us as we explore Mexico with specially curated exhibitions and events that highlight the plants and cultures of this vibrant country. Plan your visit and purchase your gift membership at naplesgarden.org

where plants • and people • thrive together™

Holiday Wish List — Locally Made — By Gina Valentino — Photography by Anna Nguyen

The Art of Gifting

One of the best ways to uplift our community and delight your loved ones: shop for gifts from local artisans who craft bespoke goods with love.

SCULPTURAL HAND-WOVEN JEWELRY

At this point in her career, master goldsmith Cheri Dunnigan, of Cheri Dunnigan Fine Jewelry, doesn’t work based on trends or to appease a client base. Instead, she follows her creative intuition and works with precious metals to create sculptural works. A jewelry designer since she was 15, Cheri ran an atelier in Massachusetts before migrating to Naples, where she sold her work at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples for seven years. Now, she crafts heirloom-worthy collections that nod to her Armenian heritage and interest in textile arts. The Renaissance and Elizabethan ages inspired her new, woven designs, made of strands of sterling silver and 18-karat gold. Using techniques gleaned from knitting and crocheting, Cheri creates intricate wearable art, embellished with saltwater and freshwater pearls. “I like that they have that gemlike quality without using gemstones or diamonds,” she says. “The way the light reflects off the metal becomes an important part of the design.” Cheri is represented by METHOD & CONCEPT in Naples. methodandconcept.com

HEIRLOOM FURNITURE

Punta Gorda-based Tanner J. Stevens sustainably harvests trees locally and from central California for his hardwood furnishings, done under his Peace River Woodworks moniker. From his shop along the banks of the Peace River, Tanner works mostly with maple and walnut to craft pieces, like his live-edge tables, which often feature food-grade epoxy inlays that recall Southwest Florida’s flowing waterways. He can add standout details to the designs, like gold flakes, pinecones, coffee beans or bullet casings. He works with California-based Flowyline Design for the sculptural, powder-coated legs that ground his coffee and dining tables. The pieces are made to last, so you can pass them down for generations. Tanner’s turnaround for most pieces is about four to eight weeks, and he offers free local delivery. 805-801-0128

GLASS PUTTERS

Bonita Springs-based Ray Mathews, Jr., of Art Glass by Mathews, crafts his putters with durable borosilicate glass, so they are not only fanciful but functional too, conforming to all United States Golf Association-mandated specs. Ray, a longtime glass artist, got the idea to make putters from his father, former Pittsburgh Steeler Ray Mathews. “Too bad you can’t make golf clubs out of glass,” his golfer father mused. Within days, Ray Jr. created the world’s first patented GlassPutter, drawing inspiration from the paperweights he’d long crafted. “The paperweight was like a mallet,” he says. “I just had to figure out how to insert the putter shaft.” Working out of his Naples studio, Ray rolls clear glass with colored chips, which are melted and hand-dropped into a mold for a smooth shape.. No two are the same. Delivery takes two-to-six weeks. glassputter.com

Johnson from Brillant Harvest LLC

WOODEN ELECTRIC GUITARS

Musicians swoon for the handcrafted electric guitars Naples’ Tyler MacDonald builds from sustainably sourced wood. A Marco Island native, the luthier hand-selects lumber with lots of natural striation to craft guitars that clearly reflect their source material. He’s meticulous throughout the process, carving the neck with rasps and files, and running truss and carbon fiber rods through the interior for a guitar that essentially “never goes out of tune,” he says. Each collection takes on a fresh life, with carved embellishments and prismatic shell inlays throughout the body and gold accents on the knobs and hardware. tylermac.com

Guess what day of the year we close our golf course?

The other 364 days you play when you want to play!

No chelsea lottery to block your times with us. Chosen “Best’ Naples golf course for the 3rd year in a row by Gulfshore Life readers. Check us out. JoinEagleCreek.com

chelsea to your times with us. “Best’ Naples course for the 5th year in a row by Gulfshore Life readers. Check us out. JoinEagleCreek.com

LIVE HERE. PLAY HERE.

MODERN TROPHIES

For a fishing memento that doesn’t require taxidermy, look to Fort Myers artist Samantha “Mokie” Hansen. The Mokie Burns founder used to be a designer at White House | Black Market until she discovered the art of pyrography, Greek for “writing with fire,” and traded her sewing machine for a soldering iron. A lifelong fisher, Samantha—who plans to open a Fort Myers shop early next year—burns nature scenes onto maple, poplar and olive planks. The originals become prints for naturalist totes, phone cases, bottle openers and decals. Her pièce de résistance: Mokie’s modern take on trophy mounts, with detailed replicas of your prized catches mounted on solid wood frames. “I’m a lady angler, I pull inspiration from myself and my excursions,” she says. mokieburns.com

LAST-FOREVER FISHING RODS

After breaking a $300 fishing rod more than a decade ago, Matt Sewell started crafting rods that stand the test of time. Through Sewell Rods, the Fort Myers-born hobby fisherman fashions fly, casting, spinning, trolling and kite rods, with mother-of-pearl or abalone inlays (get a suite with a bent-butt grouper stick, spiral-wrapped bottom jigging pole and a super-light carbon spinning rod to cover all your bases). Matt may spend up to a month talking to an angler to craft their ideal rod, with details like titanium guides and sturdy graphite seats, and his illustrious clientele includes country stars Luke Bryan and Brett Eldridge. Local anglers have hooked major catches on Sewell rods, too: One caught a 700-plus-pound marlin to win the Blue Marlin Grand Championship; another reeled a 124.18 record-sized grouper. “My niche is building rods for customers who fish for a living,” he says. “[I make] stuff that they can’t just buy.” 239-560-8252

With 40-beachfront acres and a prime location within Marsh Harbour, the iconic Abaco Beach Resort offers guests access to a variety of land- and water-based activities ranging from island-hopping, fishing, snorkeling, and diving to shopping and dining. The resort caters to families, couples, friends, and groups looking to escape the crowds of some of the larger islands while experiencing the relaxed hassle-free attitude that makes The Abacos so authentically unique.

By Lane Nieset — Photography by Brian Tietz

In Good Spirits

With its ancestral knowledge and strong creative energy, List Distillery in Fort Myers provides the perfect option for stocking your home bar or gifting a bespoke bottle this holiday season.

When husband-wife duo Thomas and Renate List left the restaurant industry in 2015, their next venture was obvious to them: to create a craft distillery. By com bining Renate’s family heritage and rec ipes—her family created spirits brands in Austria, and she learned the art of dis tilling from her uncle—and adding a local touch from Southwest Florida-sourced ingredients, the entrepreneurial couple debuted List Distillery in Fort Myers and launched Mr. Tom’s Spirits.

While the business has grown from producing around 20,000 bottles to 1 million a year, the distillery hasn’t lost its boutique feel. Three to four new products are launched annually, including sea sonal spirits like pumpkin latte liqueur and butterscotch bourbon. “Renate had the knowledge [for distilling], but we want to create nice local flavors, so we play around with different pairings when we cook,” says Thomas, who was born in Germany and raised in Leibnitz, Austria.

Founded by restaurant industry veterans, List Distillery produces Mr. Tom’s spirits, with gins, flavored whiskeys, rum and vodkas infused with local ingredients.

Thomas List started the Fort Myers distillery with his wife, Renate, who descends from a family of Austrian spiritmakers.

That’s two one-year subscriptions for the low price of $17! We’ll send a greeting card to announce your gift and their first issue of Gulfshore Life will arrive in time for the holidays! Order online at www.gulfshorelife.com/GIFT22.

The collection of vodka, whiskey, bour bon, rum and gin ranges from classic to more playful spirits, like Key lime pie rum and habanero-honey whiskey, made with locally sourced corn and orange blossom honey. The orange- and grapefruit-fla vored vodkas (odes to Florida’s mainstay fruits) are light and smooth and perfect to incorporate into a martini, while the rose pepper-honey gin, which uses fresh

Florida honey, is barrel-aged for six months for a subtle, oaky aroma that adds complexity. “We try and do everything in small batches with natural flavors,” Thomas says, adding that he traveled around the world to learn how to distill and blend. “We want to make clear, crisp spirits that are high-end.”

Keeping the business in the family, the couple enlisted their 23-year-old son as COO. The rest of the team largely com prises other young guns. “They’re very

“That’s how we get ideas for a lot of our flavors.”

The spirits are distilled in small batches and incorporate natural flavors, like the rose-pepper honey gin and Key lime pie rum.

Renate and Thomas also involved their 23-year-old son, Le Roy, (left) as COO. “They’re very creative, and this is where the spirit [of the company] comes from,” Thomas says, about his son and other young staffers.

Traci Long, PA-C

Cyndi Yag-Howard, MD, FAAD

List can also produce custom blends and bottles with personal engravings that make ideal gifts.

creative, and this is where the spirit [of the company] comes from,” Thomas says. “They bring good ideas to the table, and we try and make it happen.”

Some ideas may be off-the-wall flavors like peanut butter-banana cream liqueur, while others may be more design-driven, with wooden cork-topped glass bottles serving as a blank canvas for personaliza tion. While a bottle of wine or artisanal spirit makes for a great host or hostess gift, Mr. Tom’s plays on this classic concept with customized engraving that takes as little as one to three days,

1185 Third Street South • Naples, Florida • 239.643.8900 • www.uniqueboutiquej Monday thru Saturday 10-9pm Sunday 11-6pm Delray Beach, FL 561.272.6654 • Cape Cod, MA 508.477.3900

depending on whether you have a design in mind or want the team to create one for you.

If you desire a gift of more than a single bottle, you can create your own brand. Working alongside Thomas and Renate, dive into the process as a mas ter distiller of sorts to design a custom blend. “We’ve built the distillery from scratch; coming here is like a little Dis neyland for people who are into this,” Thomas says. “We handcraft everything and put a lot of love into our products. We’re proud of what we’re doing.”

The distillery produces Florida-inspired vodkas, with grapefruit and orange flavors.