How This Black-Owned Christmas Shop Is Diversifying Holiday Home Goods

Online shop SUNNY&TED is expanding to allow families of all backgrounds to see themselves through all seasons.

When Jasmine Williams was pregnant with her first son in 2018, she immediately began envisioning spending Christmases with him. She set out to find a Black Santa coffee mug as part of that vision (she was drinking a lot of hot cocoa at the time) to represent her own family—but quickly discovered it wasn’t an easy task. After scouring the Internet and even calling a friend living on the other side of the country to search for one, she decided to take matters into her own hands and make her own line.

SUNNY&TED, named after Williams’s children, went to market with the mugs she created two years later in November 2020. Since then, the online shop has grown to include products like ornaments, plates, partyware, pillows, and more.

“The inspiration just came from wanting something whimsical and beautiful and classic that represents the Black community,” Williams says. “So our mug has curly hair, eyelashes, and I went through Pantone colors to pick the three shades of brown. I just wanted something that I do to be really proud of our people of color, and Black people could be really proud to pass down to their kids and grandkids.”

Along with creating products for families to enjoy on a daily basis, Williams wanted her home goods to be something adults could display at a nice dinner party. She describes the Mrs. Claus mugs as classy and beautiful, but also durable enough for kids to use. To ensure that they can last many holiday seasons, her second launch included dishware made of non-breakable melamine. After the success of that line, she figured, why not expand? Working on the designs with the owner of Kinfolk Dolls, another Black, woman-owned shop, the Santa pillows and ornaments came about.

One of the main goals Williams had when starting SUNNY&TED was to provide families the opportunities to create new memories, and seeing people tagging her shop in their social media posts has been a highlight.

“I'm so honored that people are using SUNNY&TED products as part of their memory making,” she says. “Last year [during the holidays], we got so many tags where people were making hot cocoa and using our Santa plates for cookies for Santa, and I was just welling up with tears of joy.”

Williams wants to continue to expand the shop to include families of all backgrounds. A book retelling a traditional holiday story with underrepresented groups, like adoptee and single parents, is currently in the works. She’s also planning on creating diverse home goods for other holidays.

Now, having a cup of hot chocolate in the Santa mug she created and sitting down to read with her first-born every day is a treasured time—especially during the holiday season.

“As much as possible, [we want] different people to be seen,” Williams says. “We’ve grown from being a diverse brand for Black people to being a diverse brand for everyone, and just really hoping that everyone can see themselves, and if not themselves, someone they love.”