2014 Gift Guide, Part IV

Today, I’ve got some practical and useful gifts to recommend. Ready?

First, back by request, here are the Smart Bitches Reading Time Gift Certificates. (Please right-click and download, k? This is a PDF file).

Each one offers reading time in 30, 60, or 90 minute increments, and is backed by the full faith and general mayhem of everyone at Smart Bitches. Print them out, sign them, and hand them to everyone who should go read more often.

They pair excellently with bookstore gift cards, tea, chocolate, warm socks, flannel blankets, what have you. And if you’d like to create a thematic set, the SBTB Zazzle store has been updated with some new things, including t-shirts, zip top accessory bags, stickers, mugs, and flasks.

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This is more practical than whimsical, but I know there are some practical people on my gift list.

Last year, I bought myself a set of these  containers, and then I bought a second one because they were affordable and hella useful.

The Rubbermaid 12-Piece Premier Food Storage Container Set is $20, and the lid of each piece snaps onto the bottom of the container so they stay together. But that’s not how I store mine. I stack the similar containers together, then stack the lids beneath into one slim tower.

Either way, because the containers and the lids stack and nest neatly, I don’t toss all the storage containers around trying to find one. They’re all together, all the time. Food storage containers might not be the most romantic gift (and they don’t have to be used for food, necessarily. Beads, project pieces, legos for travel, whatever) but these things are ridiculously useful. They don’t stain, they heat up in the microwave well, and since I’m into making big honking dinners then freezing the leftovers for another week, I love these.

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If you know someone who goes to the movies a lot (or you are someone who goes to the movies a lot), movie chain gift certificates might be a great gift. Most theatre chains offer gift certificate programs at varying levels (I know AMC and Bowtie, which are my local chains, both offer a lot of options).

There are also ticket packages available at places like Costco, you can also buy a 10-pack of AMC Gold Tickets, which are valid at a bunch of different theatres. The 10-pack costs $85 plus shipping and tax, which works out to about $9 per ticket. I don’t know about movie theatres near you, but where I am, a new movie during release weekend could be $13-15 per person (OUCH), so dropping ticket prices to less than $10 is all kinds of OK in my book.

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 Carrie reviewed Saga a while ago, and since then, I’ve recommended it to several people, all of whom reported back that they were immediately hooked and ordered all available issues the  following day.

On November 25, a hardcover edition was released and it’s about $30. According to the release information, it includes “the first three trade paperbacks (issues #1-18)… [plus] special extras, including never-before-seen sketches, script pages, and a roundtable discussion with the creators about how Saga is really made.”

Carrie adores this series, and gave it an A+, saying, “Saga is the strangest, most twisted, perverse comic ever.  It’s also the sweetest, most romantic comic ever.   This is a story about a happily married couple, and a story in which the fate of many, many planets hinges on a romance novel.  It’s funny and touching, and I did mention strange and twisted?”

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From Melonie comes this adorable set of used library card ornaments for your nearest evergreen holiday tree. Each one is about $12-15, and there are a variety of shapes to choose from.

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If you’ve ever said to yourself, I wish I had 4cm balls floating in my cocktail right now, well, I can help with that. Via Sarah Burningham comes this link to an ice cube mold that allows you to make 4cm frozen balls.

I mean, why WOULDN’T you want balls in your cocktail? Right?

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Speaking of Sarah Burningham, I’ve recommended her 2013 book this year to two moms I know whose daughters are going through that terrific, rainbow-filled joy festival that heralds the onset of puberty. So this recommendation comes with the caveat that I know Sarah (that Sarah, not me Sarah. I mean, I know myself but I didn’t write this book) professionally, but I had no idea she’d written a book (let alone three) until someone I know on my personal Facebook was like, “This book is really great and my daughter really likes it,” and I was all, “WAIT I KNOW THAT SARAH. NOT ME SARAH.” Or something like that.

Girl to Girl: Honest Talk about Growing Up and Your Changing Body is a nonfiction guide for girls ages 8-12 about the sparkly unicorn hoe-down of effervescent benevolence that is pre-teen adolescence. It doesn’t discuss sex, but it covers braces, menstruation, body hair, breast development, bra shopping, and all the other fun stuff that comes with caring for yourself as your body changes. (Oh, I look back on those days with such sighs of contentment and nostalgia.) (Snort.)

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I have three words for you: temporary literary tattoos. Cool, right? Lithograph has several designs from literary sources, so if you’ve been thinking about a literary tattoo (I have, I admit) but weren’t sure what or where, one of these might make a terrific temporary solution.

Each set is $5 and comes with two tattoos of the same design, and there are children’s books, sci-fi, Shakespeare, and more to choose from.

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I’ll be back next week with more options. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please email me!