Smudge Ink's Sip + Shop Event

Image courtesy of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project

We understand it’s not always easy to get into the holiday spirit. Temperatures are dropping, snow is preemptively falling, and your bank account will soon be dwindling. Luckily, Boston-based stationers Kate Saliba and Deb Bastien, of Smudge Ink, are providing a way to ease you into the shopping season. The Charlestown company, whose products can be found at Boston shops like Wink and Trident Booksellers, will host a Holiday Sip + Shop event this Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. inside their letterpress studio.

And let’s be honest: nothing helps ease the stress of buying gifts like an afternoon tipple — shoppers will be able to enjoy beer from Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project, which will help wash down snacks from Boston Organics and Food Should Taste Good — all while accomplishing a bit of early holiday shopping. Expect a large selection of stationary, calendars, handmade soaps, body products, soy based candles, and baby clothes from local suppliers like Crash, Stella Marie Soap Company, and 2 Fresh Threads. The free stuff doesn’t stop at drinks, though: the first 50 customers get a free gift, and every customer being eligible to enter a drawing for a gift basket. “It’s a way to get the name out for a neglected group of companies,says Saliba. “It’s a yearly event we hold, but this is the first year we’ve invited [the other companies]. We wanted to put together a small collection of great wares and support local businesses.”

And if you’re not sure the environmentally friendly candle you chose will be, ahem, appreciated by your loved one, you can at least ensure that it’s beautifully wrapped in one of Smudge Ink’s vibrant wrapping papers. After all, isn’t presentation the most important part? No? It’s the thought you say? Oh. Well, at the very least some eye-catching packaging, an adequate bow, and a unique holiday card is a sure way to make any gift feel ten times classier. And giving presents, a portion of whose proceeds will be donated to the The Greater Boston Food Bank, and that are worthy of a spot beneath Martha Stewart’s Christmas tree will surely make up for last year’s newspaper-as-wrapping-paper faux pas.

Thursday, November 3, 4 to 8 p.m., Smudge Ink, 50 Terminal St., Bldg. 2, 2nd Fl., Charlestown, 617-242-8228, smudgeink.com.

—Ashley Wood