Woodstock shops highlighted in state tourism office’s Illinois Made Holiday Gift Guide

The Illinois Office of Tourism created a statewide holiday gift guide filled with small businesses that provide unique gift ideas for anyone’s list.

This year’s guide includes two Woodstock-based businesses: Casting Whimsy Tea for special handcrafted tea blends and Hempstock Pharms with locally grown CBD hemp flower products.

“Promoting small businesses is key to the state’s economic growth as it drives tourism across Illinois,” Kristin Richards, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, said in a news release. “With the help of our guide, both residents and visitors to the state can discover the perfect holiday gift for everyone on their shopping list this year while supporting local businesses in every region of Illinois.”

Casting Whimsy Tea, at 203 N. Madison St., is owned by married couple Paula and Randy Aitken and describes itself as a small batch tea blend shop “with a nerdy twist,” according to its website.

The Illinois Tourism gift guide highlights the Eight Nights of Whimsy Tea set as a perfect Hanukkah gift. The set includes a mystery collection of tea flavors and a pack of their shortbread cookies. The gift set is available for pre-orders only.

The shop also has more than 100 handmade Advent calendars that feature 24 tea blends that include special never-before-seen blends that also are in the Eight Nights of Whimsy Tea set, Paula Aitken said.

The shop also has baked treats made in-house that change every month. This month’s afternoon tea menu is themed as “holiday comfort,” which include fan-favorites such as sticky pudding, salmon caper quiche and beef Wellington, Randy Aitken said.

“I literally make everything in-house,” he said, “from the bread that we serve our sandwiches on to our scones.”

On Dec. 16, Casting Whimsy will host a tabletop game called “save Christmas” that Randy Aitken describes as a multitable and multinarrator game. Participants can buy tickets to the event on the shop’s website.

“I enjoy games that are super narrative,” he said.

Also locally handcrafted, Hempstock Pharms, at 14023 W. South Street Road, is a women-owned business where they grow and create hemp products on-site.

Owner Stacy McCaskill and her wife, Ronda DeVold, started the hemp farm in summer 2019, soon after the CBD became legal in Illinois.

McCaskill and her team sell the line of CBD-infused products at county fairs, farmers markets and community festivals. The retail store is open Tuesday through Sunday and they also take on

line orders.

From THC to CBD and topicals to edibles, the industry can be confusing for customers, McCaskill said. The Hempstock Pharms team’s goal is to find each customer’s motivation for why they want the products and help create a plan of action.

“We feel the way to grow our customer base is to meet and personally consult every customer,” she said.

McCaskill became the “state’s expert” on CBD and hemp as the executive director of the Sauk Valley Community College Small Business Development Center, she said. She hosted workshops for farmers on how to get into the CBD and hemp industry.

“It was like getting a Ph.D. in plant medicine, farming and capitalism all rolled in together,” she said.

After spotting a farm for sale in Woodstock that is now the shop’s location, she figured she would try it herself. The first product McCaskill developed was the Joint & Muscle CBD topical ointment, which is highlighted as the top pick in the holiday gift guide.

Made with beeswax, coconut oil, essential oils and shea and cocoa butters, the anti-inflammatory ointment helps alleviate discomfort.

“That’s our No. 1 product,” she said.

All of their products come in travel sizes so people can try out what works for them before committing to the full size, McCaskill said. Right now, Hempstock Pharms is having a buy-two-get-one-free sale through the end of the year.

“They make perfect stocking stuffers,” she said.