Minnesota Gifts

Minnesota's northern border follows the water, giving the outline an irregular top edge that the fill and script designs work around. These are made to order. Blanks are kept in stock, the Minnesota design is applied after the order comes through, and nothing sits in a box waiting for a buyer.

As Minnesota gifts go, these are the ones that get used rather than shelved.

Slate and Cork Coasters

Coaster sets are where most people start. Slate and cork each come four to a set, round or square, with the same Minnesota artwork on both, so you are choosing a material rather than a different design.

Slate measures four inches across at a quarter inch thick, hand chiseled at the edge so no two pieces match, with four foam pads on the back. Cork is slimmer at 3/16 inch and weighs almost nothing, which is why it tends to end up on desks rather than bars.

The Minnesota Designs

You will find the plain outline, the outline with the name in brush lettering, a script signature, MN initials, a word cloud, a floral fill, and HOME and HOME SWEET HOME using the state as the letter O. Each set of four carries one design, so if you want a mix, order a second set in another design.

One thing worth saying plainly: where a heart or a star sits inside the state shape, that placement is decorative. It does not mark a town.

Ornaments for the Tree

Minnesota ornaments come in slate, wood and leatherette. Slate is dark stone in a 3 or 4 inch round, wood is light with a twine hanger already tied, and leatherette is a thin, shatterproof disc in black, blue or brown, the one to hang low if there are kids or cats near the tree. There are Merry Christmas From Minnesota versions in all three materials, which cover the card and the present together.

These are the pieces that come back out every December, which is most of why people buy them.

Serving and Cheese Boards

The Minnesota wine bottle board is bamboo, seventeen by five and a quarter inches, cut long and narrow so it works as a cheese board, a charcuterie plank or a bar tray depending on the evening. Decorated on one face, working surface on the other.

This is what to send for a wedding or a housewarming when a coaster set feels too small.

Minnesota City Skylines

Plenty of people are homesick for a city rather than a state. The Saint Paul skyline is engraved on slate ornaments, wood ornaments, a bamboo board and a leatherette wall sign.

For someone who left a specific place, the skyline lands harder than an outline of Minnesota ever will.

Wall Art and Water Bottles

The Minnesota artwork is not limited to coasters and ornaments. The wall art is a 10 by 10 inch leatherette sign with a sawtooth hanger, in blue or brown. Minnesota designs include the Saint Paul skyline and a North Star State design that pairs the state outline with a loon, a canoe and lakeside pines.

That North Star State design also goes on a 32 oz insulated stainless steel water bottle in black or white, for the lake, the trail or the commute.

Minnesota Gifts by Occasion

A coaster set covers a housewarming or a closing gift without guessing at anyone's taste. The bamboo board suits a wedding, an anniversary or a host who actually cooks. Ornaments handle Christmas, a first apartment, a graduation move. A set of four is a fair thank-you for the neighbor who watched your dog.

If you are working through Minnesota themed gifts, their city is the safer bet for someone who moved away. For someone still in the state, the outline designs read as pride rather than nostalgia.

How These Are Made

There are two ways a design gets onto a piece here. Laser engraving cuts into the surface, which on slate reads pale against dark stone and on bamboo burns a shade darker than the grain. UV printing puts down full color for artwork that depends on it.

Since each piece is made once the order is in, turnaround is one to three business days. Coasters and ornaments ship in a protective sleeve, and cutting boards and wall art in a plain box, so plan on wrapping anything meant as a gift.

From the Journal

Shopping for someone who left Minnesota for somewhere warmer? Our guide, Gifts From Minnesota to Send Someone Who Moved South, has more ideas for that exact situation.

More Ways to Shop

All fifty states sit on one page: Shop by State. If you would rather browse by product, there are state coasters in slate and cork, state ornaments in slate, wood and leatherette, and engraved cutting boards.

Close by: Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Browse the Collection

Filter by product if you know what you are after, or scroll the whole Minnesota collection if you do not. The coaster sets are the most forgiving place to start.