Shopping in Woodbury

The whimsical rhymes and quirky cartoons coloring most greeting cards are occasionally amusing, but their stock sentiments and broad jokes engender little intimacy. Pear Tree Greetings curates a deeper connection by stocking an online store with hundreds of customizable greeting-card designs, nearly all of which are constructed from 100% post-consumer materials. Uploaded photos personalize traditional cards or unconventional booklets shaped like strings of holiday lights, which landed Pear Tree in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. Cards come printed on a 100-pound matte card stock that can be coupled with magnets, napkins, and address labels celebrating birthdays, graduations, and weddings. Since there’s no charge for double-side printing, graduation announcements can easily detail party logistics and wedding invitations can list the funniest things to shout when the officiant asks if anyone has objections.

Minnesota Valley Garden Center's hundreds of verdant acres stretch across the Shakopee countryside blossoming with trees, shrubs, and perennials. Purple dome asters, multicolored pansies, and a variety of ornamental grasses bloom in the garden center, while the outdoor nursery houses homegrown trees, including maples and evergreens, planted each spring and fall. The facility's garden gurus—who have helped area gardeners for more than 50 years—can also help customers with landscape projects and irrigation setup for commercial and residential projects.

Birdstone Bead Studio's savvy instructors teach jewelry-crafting techniques that range from basic beading to complex methods of cutting, filing, and riveting in a quaint BYOB studio. They welcome up to eight guests at a time, granting students ample breathing room as they sift through piles of beads or try reviving a CPR dummy. The teachers drop pearls of wire and wisdom during each hour of instruction before empowering pupils to make their own jewelry.