VICE may receive a commission if you buy products through the links on our site. Read more here.
Shopping

The Best Cozy Gifts for People Who Deserve a Long, Warm Hibernation

We’re greeting soup season with electric blankets, candles that smell like ripe summer gardens, and a Matrix-worthy embryonic sleep sack.
the best cozy winter gifts including electric blankets
Composite by VICE Staff

I love all the seasons. But as a summertime child, if I don’t zhuzh my home in preparation for wintertime darkness, the SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) gets going fast and the Lana Del Rey (ILY) gets a little too much air time at karaoke. 

I Tried a Bunch of Stress-Fighting Products to Manage Anxiety

I'm not the only one who feels this way—the big winter chill is real, and you can’t fight it. But you can lean into it, and settling into the indoor days becomes far more bearable with fleets of earthy candles, ambiance lamps, and a heavy rotation of blankets. Amp up the humidifier and trickle some buttery CBD tinctures down your throat. Put on some Fleet Foxes, fill the electric kettle, and indie-LARP your brain back to the simpler, 95-degree days when there was but one weekend at Coachella, and the only big viruses in our lives came from Limewire. You may find that something magical happens: not only will you relax, but you'll feel coddled. That's the best feeling you could give to yourself, and the people you dig. 

Advertisement

The following make up my arsenal of cold-weather home essentials, from electric blankets to portable hand and foot warmers. Buy one for you, and another for your favorite person, or that one random uncle you need a present for, because nothing is as good—or toasty—of a slam dunk as the gift of warmth. 

I’m building a cult around this electric blanket

My friend and I belong to the cult of Sunbeam Electric Blanket Babes, sliding up the heat to level three on this silky boi like a Hard Chiller Bat-Signal anytime we get cold. This is just such a great item to have on-hand as a host, too; I can’t tell you the number of times I passed out on the aforementioned friend’s couch with only this walnut-colored blanket on, and slept like the sweetest, warmest dumpling. It also turns off automatically after a few hours, so you won’t roast yourself (or your belongings). 


$64.50 at Amazon

$64.50 at Amazon

Tomato candles that smell like sunshine

People sleep on this scent, man. Heirloom and tomato vine candles don’t smell like marinara, but instead recreate that optimistic whiff of juicy vines, dewdrops, and warmer days that you get when you pick a plump tomatah’ from the vine of your rich friend’s upstate New York garden. There’s a hint of citrus, but it’s blanketed by earthy, sunbaked notes. This Kobo Wild Tomato Vine Candle even comes with a plantable box.


$29.95 at Amazon

$29.95 at Amazon
Advertisement

Loewe also makes a Tomato Leaf Scented Candle in a terracotta pot that we would like to live inside of, please. 


$85 at Mr Porter

$85 at Mr Porter

A plushy weighted blanket

There are days when I want to feel like I’m being sat on by a massive rear end, like the Colossus of Rhodes crushes my face with his golden ass and my bones turn to jelly. So far, the closest I’ve come is the hour-long massage at Spa Heaven and this weighted blanket by Cottonblue. It has a 4.8-star average rating from over 1,000 reviews on Amazon because the weight is so evenly distributed, the material is super soft, and—as one convert wrote—it “knocks me out cold.” Use it to optimize a power nap and feel extra ~secure~ during a scary movie night. 


$66.99 at Amazon

$66.99 at Amazon

Silky pillowcases for silky dreams

It’s the little things in life, such as being able to rest your sweet Barbie head on a satin pillowcase, that make it all worth it. All I want in the summer from my bedding is cooling linen, but during the chillier months I crave the sweet, Danielle Steel caress of a satin/silk pillowcase on my pores. Props to the genie who figured out how to make one that’s vegan. 


$18.69 at Amazon

$18.69 at Amazon

Holy shit dude, they make mini Smeg kettles 

Owning a kitchen appliance by the Italian brand Smeg is the equivalent to having a 401(k), no more split ends, and a great ~working~ relationship with your mother.That is to say: so, rad, but hard to get. But I recently discovered that Smeg makes a miniature version of their iconic electric kettle, for those of us who moonlight as cottagecore hedgehogs. 


$134.95 at Verishop

$134.95 at Verishop
Advertisement

My own embryonic sleep sack

You know that scene in The Matrix where everyone is in their little embryonic sack? Disturbing, yes. But also kiiiiinda cozy! I’ll say it: I wanna climb back in the womb, and you do too. Not forever—just for an hour or twelve. In fact, I say this so often to my friends that my iPhone finally took heed, and served me an ad for this slumber sack by Hug Sleep, a husband and wife startup that first gained fame on Shark Tank. It’s simple, really: Just pipe your body into this soft and stretchy, totally machine-washable sack to feel a 24/7 (should you choose) hug. It’s similar to a weighted blanket in terms of providing you with sensory comfort, but it’s a lot lighter and more breathable, which I appreciate. There’s also a little foot flap at the bottom, so you can walk around the house like a floating chimichanga and scare your roommate.  


$89.99 at Amazon

$89.99 at Amazon

Heated insoles make a winter commute bearable

Once you live with them, you can’t live without them. Hand warmers are a must in New York City, and I usually end up stuffing them in my shoes during the really cold months, or days that I know I’ll be walking around the city. Unfortunately, they’re single-use, which is why I’m intrigued by these USB-chargeable, heated insoles. They’ve got top marks on Amazon for keeping ~consistently~ toasty toes. “I live in Denver and commute every day by bicycle,” writes one reviewer, “[And] these keep my feet as warm as I choose.” 


$63.99 at Amazon

$63.99 at Amazon
Advertisement

Your own personal sun 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: A sunset lamp is a serotonin booster in a box as far as vibes are concerned. I tested a sunset lamp last winter when they were first popping off on social media, and it’s still as central to my home’s nighttime vibe as it was back then. In fact, my roommate and I actually own two of them now in various colors to spread the warmth in our little railroad apartment, which always feels as if it’s cast in the glow of a slow burning fireplace. 


$27.99 at Amazon

$27.99 at Amazon

And if you’re in need of some light therapy-specific lamps, Olly makes a beautiful minimalist objet for better wake ups and tuck-ins. The bulb is meant to level out your melatonin, which is cool—but it’s also just a chic blast of Sunny D. 


$89 at Amazon

$89 at Amazon

Stay cozy, sweet beans. 


The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story.