It's time for the 2012 gift guides, where I go catalog and online shopping for gift ideas that would work for all the avid readers you know. I have a lot of fun building the gift guides, especially when I find something like the Lowood Lacrosse tshirt and so many people go, 'HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS MUST BUY CLICK CLICK.' It's a relief I'm not alone in these things.
I've got a file of a few ideas already, but I wanted to put out a call for submissions. If you have a gift that works wonderfully for romance reading book loving folks in your life, I would LOVE to hear about it. Please email me at SarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOTTYcom with “Gift Guide” in the subject line, and tell me about it!
You are welcome to tell me about your Etsy store, your line of handmade fountain pen inks, your knitted slipper business, or your friend's boutique. But please make sure that there is a reason what you're sending to me would work as a gift for a book loving person, and that I can link to examples online.
I may not use every submission, but I will do my best to include your gift suggestions in this year's gift guides.
Let's get started – and keep reading because there's a giveaway at the end!
Classic Literature Board Books
Speaking of Jane Eyre, Carrie S sent me an email with a link which said, “How is it possible that I don't have this???” I replied, “OH MY GOD THERE ARE MORE OF THEM WANTWANTWANT.” What were we talkign about?
Classic literature board books.
Awwww, yeah. If there are new babies and little kids in your world, you can get counting primers based on Jane Eyre or Romeo and Juliet, or Pride & Prejudice. There are color primers based on Alice in Wonderland, too. These are counting and colors books, so it's not as if they're toddler-retellings of the books themselves, but if you're friends with readerly parents, these might be a very appreciated gift.
Sidenote: while we're talking board books, there is a Pantone™ Colors boardbook, too.
And I totally want a set for myself, even though my kids are no longer toddlers.
Leather Ereader Covers and Pewter Jewelry from Oberon Designs
Moving on: I've talked about my love of Oberon leather covers for ebook readers (and am sad my Oberon cover doesn't fit my new Kindle, so I've started saving up to buy a new one). This year, Oberon is trying to get more of my money, as they have leather cuff bracelets and pewter cuffs as well – in addition to the really beautiful tooled leather ereader and iPad covers.
They also have jewelry like scent amulets, necklaces of pewter charms on leather cord, and earrings. And hairclips, too.
Yeah. I'm sorry.
Multicolored Set of Disposable Fountain Pens
If you like pens, or know someone who does, here's a very simple gift that's great for a coworker or stocking stuffer or one of those nights of Hanukkah where you're not sure what to get someone because you've got 7 gifts and you just need one more – not that this has happened to me (Every Year) (ahem): the Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pen set.
It's $15-$20, and features fountain pens in red, blue, balck, green, purple and pink. I have two Pilot Varsity pens on my desk (I have a little thing for fountain pens) and I love mine. It's lightweight and doesn't make my hand tired (I have one fountain pen that I bought on clearance that I could use to build my biceps, it weighs so much. Probably why it was on clearance) and it doesn't dry out easily, either. And they last a long-ass time.
So if you know any Pen People, or People Who Obsessively Buy Blank Notebooks, this might be a fun gift for them.
BookBoxes!
And here's your chance to get a gift early! I'm not usually the type to get excited about tchotskes, but I like hiding stuff (especially from myself, like when I put something in a special place so I won't forget, and then promptly forget) and I love hiding stuff in plain sight.
Misiu from BookBoxShop contacted me awhile back about doing a giveaway, and I wanted to save the idea for the holiday season. I think these would make a spiffy gift, especially if filled with candy, lip balm and tissues, or book gift cards. (Question: is a stack of bookstore gift cards the equivalent to a stack of books? I get the same rushed-heartbeat thrill at both, honestly. So much possibility).
The boxes have different themes, such as music or religious imagery, and some are really breathtaking.
Misiu has offered a box to give away, winner's choice, so if you're interested, now's your chance! I'm adding a $25 gift card to the bookstore of the winner's choice, so you get books in a book! Want to win? Leave a comment and tell us what you'd put in the box (aside from your junk, obviously) and you're entered to win.
Open to international residents. Must be 18 or over and near a bookshelf to win. Void where prohibited. Do not cut a hole in the box, no matter what Justin Timberlake tells you.
I'll be picking the winner at random on Friday, 23 November. Good luck! And happy Thanksgiving to all of you consuming turkey this week.
I would put a note in it that said, “Good try, Dr. Jones, but I’m afraid I’ve already retrieved the idol!”
Thanks for the giveaway!
I’d store the postcard collection from around the world that I currently keep in a paper bag. I like to do Postcrossing and save the cards for my kid(s). You never know what countries might have changed by the time they’re adults.
For a box that pretty? I’d probably put jewelry in it.
I would give an artist box as a gift with tickets to a museum, and DD keeps all of her ticket stubs from exhibitions, so it would make a great place to keep those mementos. Great ideas for gifts, thanks.
I would keep bookmarks and the bits of paper with new titles on them (I tend to lose them).
Oooh, I would use it to store bracelets, maybe. Bracelets never quite fit right in my jewelry box.
Having done more than one evacuation, I have to say an essentials kit would go in a book box…cds of most precious photos of my children and wedding, chocolate, the spare coffee club card, a book gift card and the usb key with a complete household inventory and a list of my “must replace” books. Plus more chocolate if it fits.
I have a bunch of stone necklaces that I would love to store in one of the boxes. Now they’re all piled in a drawer and it would be great to get the space back.
Oh beautiful! I love things that hold other things, hence my epic collection of chests and reusable grocery bags. I would put one of these on my bookshelf in the living room and use it for receipts. Lame I know, but they are currently stored in a photo box on the bottom of my coffee table. From so ugly to so pretty!
If it was the skull one in the picture, I’d using as wrapping for my son’s present. He loves skulls. 🙂
I love the Shangri-La box – it’s so elegant. I would use it to store mementos of my beloved Basenji girl, Ellie, who unexpectedly left me two months ago today. It would be lovely to have a special place for her collars, tags, pictures, and things I’ve written about her.
I would keep the horseshoe, piece of wheat, chunk of amber, and Lithuanian woven thingy that my long-lost relatives brought for me a couple of years ago when we finally met (after never knowing they existed) at a family reunion. The horseshoe is ceramic, so I’m afraid I’m going to knock it off something and break it. A safe place would be really nice! And, it would have the added benefit of not looking out of place on my book-laden coffee table!
That box looks really awesome! Hmm.. I’d probably keep small mementos.. photos, letters, a couple of cute figurines I’ve saved for a million years.
Most people over the years have stopped buying me books and just go with the giftcards. My tastes have varied throughout the years, so I’m guessing people just figure it’s safer and easier to go with a giftcard.
I would use it to store all the cards and notes my husband has sent me over the last 17 years. I have them in a drawer but they keep slipping down the back of the chest and making me remove all of the other drawers to retrieve them.
Flash drives and usb cords/connectors. I always have too many and no neat place to hold them.
Oooh, I think those board books just solved a gift dilemma for me.
As for the lovely book boxes, I’d probably use one to store photos. Mine are currently all over the place as I work on scanning in old ones, and it’d be nice to both store and organize them.
Perfect place for all my ereader cords
The ashes of my deceased love one.
Maybe a candy stash like Eve in the In Death series.
It would probably turn into a keepsake box where I store things that spark cool memories. Which probably means flash drives, photos, memorabelia and the like… or i would put it in my living room with some candy in it for any soul brave enough to open it or something.
Thanks for the ideas!!
What to hide?? Chocolate of course!
Wow a lot of comments. I’d probably put chocolate away, or perhaps some books 😀 if they could fit.
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Those book boxes are amazing! So gorgeous!
I’ve been looking for something to stash my packets of electrodes (they deliver waves of electric feel-goodness from a Tens unit for pain management). Or maybe my iPod and all the little bitty cords I’ve collected to attach various devices to my laptop for transferring files.
Think I’m gonna need a set of those fountain pens, too. Wow. <3
I like to place little mementos from happy memories in the boxes and drawers around the house. I forget about them, then it’s like reliving that memory again when I find whatever it was I hid! Also, I got lost for about 30 minutes on the Oberon site just looking at all the pretty. Man, I really want one now!
I’d store those little packets of screen wipes in the box and keep it beside the computer. They are fantastic.
I’d stash cash. That way I can go on a book shopping spree!
These are some great ideas. I have to hunt down those disposable fountain pens as soon as humanly possible! In the meantime, I’ll covet the Celtic Knot book box which would be perfect to corral the chargers and cords for all of my random devices!
I’d probably put my makeup in there. I lost all of my storage (as well as everything else) because of Hurricane Sandy. I did save my makeup (a girl needs something, right?), but lost all of my books. A $25 gift card would be a great start to getting everything back—and it would be a nice birthday present as my birthday is Thursday the 22nd.
I’d keep my secrets in it.
My husband isn’t usually the romantic type, but I’ve got a few little sappy notes he’s stuck on the mirror for me to see when I get up over the years. Some of them are on envelope backs, some are post-its, one is on the back of a bill. Because they’re so rare, I treasure them all the more.
It looks like a perfect place to store greeting cards received (especially as I rarely get them nowadays). But I’ve also been looking for a spot to store all little perfume imps I get from BPAL, or other places that give out perfume samples.
I would store my photos in there!
I’d store recipes or maybe the kids’ school papers.
I have a collection of all the ticket stubs from concerts and plays I’ve been to and this would be a great place to store them. I just love the Le Chat Noir one. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
I’d fill it with either all my double-point knitting needles and stitch markers or some really really good chocolate I want to enjoy without sharing. A secret stash!
::dying of laughter at the “Dick in a Box” reference:: When I was in college (I was an “older” student), my friends and I put a little rubber penis pencil topper in a little jewelry box. And proceeded to sing that song. Yea. We were grown-ups. LOL
I would put the jewelry I inherited from my maternal grandmother in the box. Most of it is stuff her older brothers brought back from Europe after their service in WWII.
My friend Rachel bought a Blue Banana V-Neck Bell Sleeve Top for a medieval chorus performance. Looks good! It’s at http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ…
I want to have some kind of juicy secret, the evidence of which I’d hide in a book box . . . but I’m afraid I’ve led quite the law-abiding life. Why don’t I have pictures of my Secret Baby or perhaps the few solitary clues to my true identity? Or evidence of my dead/mad/incapacitated father’s shady dealings with a Greek tycoon, which said tycoon is trying to seduce out of me?
Hell, I’d probably use it for the same things I put in the book I hollowed out myself a few years ago—the stuff I rarely use, but would be seriously pissed about if I lost, given my penchant for putting things in Very Special Places, which I promptly forget. At this moment, my hollow book contains: my passport, my birth certificate, a letter from my grandma . . . and my notice for jury duty from three years ago? How on earth did that get in there?
I tell ya, my filing system is a thing of beauty. Obviously, I need another hollow book to add to my miscellany.
This is tricky. I love beautiful boxes. I think I’d put my earrings into one as I love the idea of having them in one place and having the container be a book and beautiful.
Love the box! I would put all of my “little” things that are laying around the house that I can never find, such as my car keys, watch, favorite bracelets and tiny notebook (with grocery list!!)
I am constantly “losing” my treasures and then having to tear my hair out looking for them!