Hither & Thither Gift Guide: For Everyone Else

Some ideas for those who don’t fit neatly in any category: the always-welcoming host, the white elephant recipient you just met, the neighbor who always brings back your runaway dog…

1. You wouldn’t need to wrap this lovely brass planter. Just add a bow to the leather handle.
2. Fine leather travel cases are one of those luxuries one rarely gets for oneself. (Tuck in some things for the road.)
3. A vintage-inspired desk pad (it also comes in pink and ivory) with the Weekly or Monthly Times would be a thoughtful gift for your cubicle-mate.
4. Coloring can be calming (even for adults)—this one is rich with detail. (My friend swears by these fine-tipped pens for the intricate designs—just make sure the edition has the thicker paper for ink.)
5. You can personalize these coffee samplers. (If they’re lucky, you’ll add a gorgeous walnut scoop to go with).
6. A glass cheese ornament for your favorite turophile. (Now there’s a word for Scrabble.)
7. I love a classic striped chef’s towel. This one also comes in blue or red and can be tied around one’s waist. (Here’s a referral credit—get a second for yourself.)
8. Friend from college? Skip the beer pong accessories and give them that Hook & Ring game from your favorite dive bar.
9. Clean Slate Cookbook (Also: Lots more. cookbook. suggestions.)
10. Isn’t this a beautiful Picnic Knife?
11. With low commitment—just a few lines per day—this Five year diary may actually get used. (I love looking at what Aron and I jotted down, our first year with Hudson.)
12. A mandoline is a perfect gift for the serious home cook (and the Japanese ceramic versions, like this one, are amazingly effective and affordable).
13. Sycamore Street Press makes such perfectly whimsical, simply pretty Custom Address Stamps.
14. For the not-a-coffee-drinker. I love this minimal Glass tea bottle. (Pair it with their favorite breakfast tea.)
15. There are all kinds of fantastic artisanal syrups to choose from these days, but you can’t go wrong with this little log-cabin gem: Pure Maple Syrup.

P.S. All of this year’s gift guides: For Her & For Him (in which I should note many of the selections are actually interchangeable) & For the Kiddo.

Hither & Thither Gift Guide: For the Kiddo

Top ideas for the younger set (especially in that 6-and-under category I know best)…

1. This tiny Vespa has got to be the cutest balance bike I’ve ever seen.
2. A sweet (gender-neutral) backpack for teacher’s pet—even if all it carries is their lunch and a collection of sticky treasures. (Sorry, sold out.)
3. We love this Balancing Cactus game: Toddlers will just enjoy getting the pegs in the holes; older kids can pick up speed as they see who makes it tumble first. (Also, good practice for not falling to pieces oneself when assembled toys do.)
4. The Land of Nod has a great collection of hallways activities. I could see this bean bag toss being a big hit. (One could also fashion a DIY version, if so inclined!)
5. I still have my Flower Press. A good gift for many ages.
6. Inspire their imagination with a fairy door—in your yard along a baseboard. (Sometimes you can find these in parks—Golden Gate, for one!)
7. If one can die of sweetness, I’m think I’m dying over this fawn bonnet and these bloomers. [Update: similar bloomers]
8. This VW Van pop-up tent can go anywhere.
9. Hudson loves playing with flashlights and is just figuring out how to make shadow animals with his hands. He’d love this Story Flashlight. (Or one could make up his own story with these nightime shadows.)
10. Practice for the budding explorer: A guide to tying sailor Knots. (It’s in French, but the diagrams are the key.)
11. Something to read. Consider: The Madeleine Treasury, Nature Anatomy, Atlas of Adventures, or Ballad. (And for you, for them: How to Make Toys.)
12. Magnadoodles are our new backseat sanity-saver. This one’s a beauty! (But they’ll love this more reasonable one, too—we have one for each child.)
13. Low tech and lots of fun: spinning Tree tops. [similar]
14. Real Binoculars are the coolest. (Similar)
15. The cutest Animal Patches for their knees (right where they can see them) or their rucksack.

Also, always safe bets: Magnatiles, Playdoh, and bubbles. (These ones are amazing—and stackable. It’s wild. But use them outside.)

And, an idea that doesn’t require wrapping: Passes to their local play center or children’s museum.

P.S. Previous gift guides. Also best toys for preschoolers, picks for one-year-olds, and a DIY felt-project.

A simple gift-giving philosophy

The gift guide for kids is coming up later today and I really had a hard time limiting this one. Children are so much more fun than adults to buy for, particularly because it can take so little to make their eyes alight. Case in point from two days ago: Our babysitter put a box on the doorstep that she’d addressed to the kids (because Hudson is always asking if the packages are for him). Inside were socks and antlers from the dollar bins at Target and some bubble wrap. Hudson carefully opened the box with his scissors and then practically screamed: “it’s the bubble wrap I love the most.” Then, when the two of them finally got to the socks and antlers, they roamed the house on their knees, playing reindeer. (Skyler followed Hudson in pure glee). We made gingerbread “bones” for them that night—because obviously that’s what reindeer eat.

It was at once a reminder of why one doesn’t need to go overboard and why it’s so hard not to. Those reactions are the best! But sometimes when you try too hard to fill the space under the tree and make that morning magical, it backfires.

So I like this simple philosophy that I read years ago for limiting gifts to four things. Give them:

Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read.  

What do you think of this? How do you handle gifts at your house? If you celebrate Christmas, how do you decide what comes from Saint Nick?

P.S. Gift ideas coming up next. Note to self: Put aside some bubble wrap for the oranges in the stockings this year.