Here are some gift ideas from local merchants and businesses:

For the food lover

In Champaign-Urbana, a number of shops offer food-and-beverage gift baskets already made up or allow you to choose the fillers – some of which are made in Illinois and even the C-U area.

— Jackie Yarbrough, vice president of Sun Singer Wine & Spirits, 1115 W. Windsor Road, C, often includes in gift baskets Toffee by Audra, made by Audra Martin in Urbana. Sun Singer also carries wines and beers made in Illinois.

Sun Singer (351-1115) also sells Toffee by Audra in individual jars, as do the following places: Art Mart (344-7979) at Lincoln Square Village, Urbana; World Harvest (356-4444), 519 E. University Ave., C (it also sells gift baskets); and the Early American Museum gift shop (586-2612) in Mahomet. Martin sells her "ridiculously delicious" – as one person once called it – toffee at the Holiday Market on Saturdays inside Lincoln Square Village.

— Curtis Orchard, 3902 S. Duncan Road, C, also sells gift baskets, either made by an employee or do-it-yourself.

"Sometimes we have some big orders for them for employee parties," said Carissa Graham, manager of Curtis Orchard and Pumpkin Patch. "It's a pretty fun gift."

Curtis Orchard will remain open through Dec. 20. Call 359-5565.

— For cheese lovers, an assortment of Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery goat and sheep cheeses would be greatly appreciated. Made in rural Champaign, these artisan French-style cheeses are fast gaining a national reputation. You could also toss in Prairie Fruits honey and fruit preserves.

Or you could "adopt" a Nubian or La Mancha goat at the farm.

"We are working on a 'Community Supported Goat' share program that we will offer through our Web site," said Prairie Fruits co-owner Leslie Cooperband. "Basically, the share includes a certificate of support featuring their goat's photo, a Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery organic cotton T-shirt with goat photo on the back and quarterly shipments of goat cheese throughout the year. This might make a nice gift for a family."

For information, visit online www.prairiefruits.com. Prairie Fruits (643-2314) sells its cheeses and other products at the Holiday Market on Saturdays at Lincoln Square, the Common Ground Food Co-op at Lincoln Square and other groceries in C-U.

— Like Prairie Fruits cheeses, Rubens Chocolates is another world-class product made locally, by Belgian master chocolatier Chris Nuyts, in Mahomet. Rubens are available at Art Mart in Lincoln Square; Garlic Press, 108 W. North St., Normal; and online at www.rubenschocolates.com/. Call 586-2031 for information.

— If you want locally produced wine, look no further than Sleepy Creek Vineyards south of Oakwood. The winery makes reds, whites and a rose, from sweet to dry, with some stops in between. The wines range from $12 to $17 per bottle.

If you make it out to the vineyard (find easy directions at www.sleepycreekvineyards.com), browse lots of other gift items. You can even have the vineyard make you a gift basket including a bottle of vino.

To make an appointment, call 733-0330 or e-mail info@sleepycreekvineyards.com.

— If you're shopping for a meat lover and you want to support local food, check out Champaign resident Laurence Mate's This Little Piggy Club.

The private club, at www.thislittlepiggy.us, allows members to donate for the chance to sample Mate's craft of charcuterie, or the curing of meat.

You can join the club for free online to order apple-smoked or black bacon, corned beef, sausage and other meats Mate produces. Bacon costs about $10 for a pound (it varies among different kinds), and Moscow and Spanish chorizo sausage cost $12 per pound.

Also available to club members are chocolate made by Urbana resident Dan Schreiber and artisan bread from Mahomet resident Stewart Pequignot.

"Someone who's a member of the Morsel of the Month Club can always make special requests, but otherwise I try to pull together special combinations," Mate said. "For example, I might take a beef sausage, find one of Stewart's breads that goes really well with it, and make a small batch of mustard to suit them perfectly."

— Another great gift might be Mate's Morsel of the Month Club, which costs $60 for four months or $180 a year. Members receive a pound of Mate's favorite product that month, plus something exclusively for Morsel members.

And you don't have to be a member of the This Little Piggy Club to purchase a gift certificate for someone who might enjoy being a member and sampling Mate's meats.

— Popcorn and caramel popcorn lovers, take note. Popped Bliss, a new popcorn shop at 75 Chester St., C, just west of First Street, sells its own handmade kettle corn, caramel popcorn, other flavored popcorn, popcorn balls and tins of various sizes containing the stuff. Call 355-0655 or e-mail poppedbliss@sbcglobal.net.

For the eclectic taste

— Jennifer Morris creates jewelry in Urbana and sells it for her jewelry company, Bumblesea.

Her pieces are made of silver, clay, crystals and gemstones, and finished off with combinations of pigments, powdered minerals and enamel. They include "heirloom-like pendants with a contemporary feel," according to Morris' Web site, bumblesea.com.

You can browse the delicate necklaces at bumblesea.com – they range from $35 to $275. And you can order any kind of custom jewelry, too.

And remember, as Morris states on her Web site, "Bumblesea isn't only about jewelry; it's a company fueled by my lifelong obsession with creating unusually beautiful things."

Not only will a purchase of Morris' jewelry support a local artisan – repairs on silver jewelry from normal wear and tear are free of charge.

— If you're shopping for the kind of person who likes to make his or her own items, you might be interested in Urbana resident Rachel Suntop's hand-spun yarn.

Her yarns, which can be purchased on her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/coolclimates, are inspired by everything from her travels to nature and even celebrities.

She'll hand-dye a variety of fibers to be included in her yarns, like wool, mohair, tencel (a fiber made of wood) and bamboo. She'll sometimes include other materials, such as beads, lace, fabric flowers, fabric strips, sequins and pompoms.

Suntop's yarns range in price from $20 to $60, with many in the $35 to $50 range. She'll also take custom yarn orders.

— If you love the idea of turning something landfill-bound into something beautiful, you'll be thrilled to support Champaign resident Leslie Kimble.

"The items that I make are from things that people would usually consider trash and just pitch in the garbage, but I love finding the beauty and functionality in the overlooked and forgotten," Kimble said.

Her items, which she sells exclusively at B. Lime Green Store, include cards and envelopes, bags and even pan scrubbers, pencil cases and lunch bags.

All are made from recycled items: the cards and envelopes from magazines, bags from empty rice bags or juice packets fused together (and lined with secondhand material), and the scrubbers from the nets swaddling your produce in the grocery store.

Items range in price from 25 cents for a single envelope to $20 for a handmade bag.

— If you need for a gift for him this holiday season, you might want to check out Dustin Wood's HANGER 3 transit token necklaces.

Wood lived in Champaign for seven years. B. Lime Green Store in downtown Champaign is the only physical store where his HANGER 3 necklaces are sold.

Wood ages the tokens and uses them as pendants on chains or leather cords. They range in price from $19.99 to $39.99 for harder-to-find tokens, like from Chicago and Philadelphia. Wood also makes token wine glass markers and sells transit tokens from New York City, because he hasn't been able to get the license necessary to include them in a necklace. HANGER 3 necklaces have been featured in Real Simple magazine, on CBS' "Early Show" and, most recently, in "1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse" by Garth Johnson.

And now through the end of the year, HANGER 3 items are 30 percent off online to celebrate the line's third anniversary. Prices on http://hanger3.com, where you can also buy Wood's items, are already marked down.

For the art lover

— Cinema Gallery owner Carolyn Baxley hears it often from gift-buyers – they would like to buy art but are not sure whether the recipient would like what they choose. They feel especially challenged if thinking about a more expensive piece.

"To counter that, I tell them the recipient can return the gift by the end of the month and exchange it," she said.

When people do buy gifts of art for others, they tend to buy less expensive objects such as ceramics, packets of greeting cards, glass vases and lamps, Baxley said.

Pointing to a multicolored table-top lamp by Curtis Brock, Baxley said she sells a lot of his lamps even though they are $400 each, because, like some ceramics, they are functional.

Baxley also sells a lot of Champaign artist Toni Putnam's encaustic paintings, especially smaller ones. Putnam supplied her with an assortment of pieces that sell for $150 each.

She's also seen couples who have considered buying a certain painting. During the holidays, they might decide to forego smaller gifts for each other and buy the one painting as a gift to themselves.

— Larry Steinbauer, owner of Wind Water & Light, a gift shop and gallery at 10 Main St., C, also said couples might come in, look at a larger artwork and then return later to buy it as a gift. But for seasonal gifts, most purchases at Wind Water & Light are smaller items and stocking stuffers such as nail files, pens, T-shirts and earrings, he said.

Wind Water and Light (378-8565, www.windwaterlight.com) has a huge assortment of handmade items by 200 artists, half of whom live within 50 miles of C-U.

— Several other galleries in C-U and the area sell handcrafted items and artworks by local artists. Not all are open every day, so call ahead: Heartland Gallery, 112 W. Main St., U, 337-4767; International Galleries, Lincoln Square Village, 328-2254; Boneyard Pottery, 403 S. Water St., C, 355-5610; Framers' Market, 807 W. Springfield Ave., C, 351-7020; Glass FX, 202 S. First St., C, 359-0048.

And, Griggs Street Potters, 305 W. Griggs St., U, 344-8546; Techline, 24 E. Green St., C, 352-5570; LaPayne Photography, 816 Dennison Drive, C, 356-8928; and Kanfer Photography Gallery, 2503 S. Neil St,. C, 398-2000.

— There are other galleries to visit in Champaign, such as the Old Vic Gallery, 11 E. University Ave., C, 355-8338, and the nearby Indi Go Gallery, 9 E. University Ave., C.

— And, in Urbana, there are Amara Yoga and Art on the east side of Lincoln Square Village (328-9642) and Shared Space, a new retail-focused art cooperative in Suite 103 of the Main Street Plaza building, 123 W. Main St., U. Call 377-5290 or e-mail marlenepiecebypiecedesigns<@>gmail.com.

— If you have enough jingle in your pocket, you might want to consider as a gift jewelry handcrafted by local artists and artisans. An impressive number of them set up Saturday mornings at the Holiday Market inside Lincoln Square Village.

— Several area artisans get together one weekend each year to open their studios and homes during the Old East End Art HooHa in Urbana. Today is the last day for HooHa; the venues are open from 11 a.m. to 4 today. They are: Hooey Batiks Open House, 905 S. Lynn St., U, 344-7637; Firefly Jewels Open House, 712 S. Maple St., U; Dragonfly Press, 2108 S. Vine St., U; Glasslake Studio, 2908 E. Main St., U, with demos today; Griggs Street Potters, 305 W. Griggs St., U; Beads N Botanicals, 117 N. Broadway Ave., U, 365-9355; Heartland Gallery, 112 W. Main St., U, 337-4767; and Furniture Lounge Consignment Gallery, 126 W. Main St., U, 344-1500.

— Also, Michelle Plante of Urbana will sell her freshwater pearl jewelry from 2 to 6 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Corkscrew Wine Emporium, 203 N. Vine St., U.

— Many jewelry shop owners also design and sell fine jewelry at their shops; ask your favorite at your favorite jewelry store. Among those that do are Robert's the Fine Art of Jewelry, 28 E. Chester St., C, 352-8618; and Christopher's Fine Jewelry Design, 124 N. Neil St., C, 352-2415.

— Further afield, there are even more galleries featuring work by local artists.

In Tuscola, Dogtown Artworks Gallery & Studio recently opened a holiday shop inside the old Jarman Hospital, 704 N. Main St.. Call 867-2486 or visit online www.dogtownartworks.com. The photo gallery features dogs dressed as people; owners Kirby and Cindy Pringle offer to photograph your own pets. Dogs are welcome in the gallery, by the way.

Travel to Monticello to check out galleries, among them Paper Crane Gallery & Studio, 216 W. Washington St. (762-2686), and Prairie Fire Glass, 217 W. Washington St. (762-3332).

For the pets

— The Champaign County Humane Society is selling fleece-braided tugs for dogs – some even include a tennis ball for your pooch. Also available: crocheted catnip toys. They're handmade by volunteers.

The shelter itself is selling some toys, but you'll find the best selection at the Dec. 19 Holiday Market at Lincoln Square Village in Urbana.

The cat toys cost between $3 and $5 and up to $10 for the dog toys. The dog toys available at the shelter cost $2.

— If your pet prefers eating to playing, he'll want to try some of the homemade treats from Bone Appetit Pet Boutique and Bakery, 1912-B Round Barn Road, C.

Bulk treats range in price from $2.99 for a quarter-pound to $7.89 for a pound. The store features plenty of other treats, like a dog bone shaped cake for a special occasion, which is $12. Mini-cupcakes are 75 cents, and bigger cupcakes are $2.25. Large bone-shaped treats are $7.

Other treats vary in price and selection, though Bone Appetit makes dog-safe s'mores, treats in the shape of mittens, Christmas trees and holiday light bulbs. The bakery also makes Catnip Crunchies, which are sure to drive any feline crazy. These sell for $2.50 for a paw-print-covered container.

The store is open between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturdays. It's closed Sundays.

— If your pup wants to accessorize or nibble on some homemade dog biscuits, you'll want to know about The Cousins Dog Biscuit Co.

Diane Cain, who lives in Urbana, makes a range of dog biscuits, like Rascal's Peanut Butter Biscuit and Winslow's Award Winning Cheesie Bacon Biscuit. Many of the treats cost 40 cents for one, $2 for half a dozen or $4 for a dozen.

Cain also sells handmade doggie coats, dresses, toys, blankets and even hair bows. They range in price, but the most expensive items are the dog beds, at $22.50, Cain said.

You can find Cousins at Urbana's Holiday Market at Lincoln Square Village between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Dec. 12 and Dec. 19, and at the Gordyville Flea Market between Rantoul and Gifford from Dec. 11-13. (That weekend, you'll find biscuits at the Holiday Market and the rest of Cain's merchandise at Gordyville.)

If you can't make it, you can order through Cain's Web site at http://thecousinsdogbiscuitco.com, where you can find Cain's contact information.