It’s shopping time, once again! Well, more like, I do a flurry of shopping for things I think you might like, then post them here for us all to covet, gift, and enjoy. Ready for round two of our annual gift guide? Let’s do this!
Last week’s guide was all about advent calendars, and there’s still plenty of time to shop for those if you are inclined. This week, gifts ideas that bring comfort and warmth. That’ll be a running theme with these gift guides, so prepare yourself for multiple rounds of suggestions that include gifts for soothing and solace.
And as always, if you’ve got ideas or suggestions, email me!
First, how about a book light? As in, a book that is also a light?
Wooden Folding Book Light, $32.00.
There are a number of these LED lights with glowing pages and hard covers. Charge the light, open the book, and you’ve got a soft, glowing book light. I love these so much.
There are also multicolored ones, which change color each time you open the book. (LED Book Light, Blue cover, $22.50) I think these would make lovely night lights for a hallway, or a great dorm room light, too.
One thing I love to send as a gift: fuzzy, warm lap blankets and throws. I’m one of those people who is always cold, and I have a bunch of different blankets and woven throws in my house. Giving one, maybe with a book or gift card to go with it, is a perfect grab bag gift for a workplace party, too.
Wilbur, who is snoozing on my desk as I write this, would like to advise everyone on behalf of all cats that these throws are very likely to be co-opted by the cat or dog of the house. You may want to invest in more than one.
And since Wilbur and Orville are hanging out on my desk now that it’s grown colder, here is what I gave them as a gift last year:
Heated cup bed for dogs and cats, $26.00.
I have one of those in the hallway, and this is on my desk (which is a very old Ikea table, so there’s room for a heated cat pad by the window):
Pet Heating Pad with cover, $29.99.
Does having a heating pad for the cats on my desk prevent Orville from flopping over on my keyboard when he decides it’s belly time?
No.
But you know, humans deserve some heated comfort, too, right? Like, maybe a heating pad that wants to hug you?
Sunbeam Renue XL Tension Relief Heat Therapy Wrap, $50.
I featured a few of these last year, and when I shared the link with Elyse, she grabbed one for herself. Elyse says, “I really like this heating pad because I get coverage over my whole back without having to move it around. As a bonus, it drapes nicely over your abdomen when you have cramps.”
There’s a smaller option, too:
Sunbeam Renue Tension Relief Heat Therapy Pad, $37.
This one is meant to go over an office chair, or it can be used on the sofa or even in bed:
Sunbeam Renue Back and Body Warming Pad, $50.
If you prefer an option that can be heated in the microwave or chilled in the freezer:
Herbal Concepts Comfort Neck and Shoulder Wrap, $30.
If you’d like microwaveable wraps for your wrists:
Heatable Wrist Wrap, $30. The same shop has warmers that cover your wrist and thumb ($29), and warmers that are like oven mitts of warmth and bliss ($37).
And lastly, while this isn’t heated or anything, I could not resist including this item, because it is just adorable:
Design Your Own Wings Dress Up Activity Kit – in Bird or Butterfly, $9.99. This kit comes with printed cotton wings with tie-on straps, permanent craft marker set, glitter glue, and instructions. While some of the reviews say that the markers that come with it are rather dark and somewhat “blah,” other fabric markers might help – and they’re not too expensive, either. But take this tip from a former arts & crafts instructor: cover your tables with layers of paper or cardboard!
Two last things!
One: I LOVE hearing from you with suggestions for the gift guide. As I said at the beginning, if you’ve got ideas or suggestions, email me!
For example, in a future gift guide, I would like to feature some of your favorite candles – got any to suggest?
I’m also working on gift guides for crafty folks, so if you have a crafting tool or organizer, or even a project you love, please share it with me? Thank you in advance!
Second: Any and all holiday and every day shopping you do through our affiliate links is immeasurably helpful to keeping the site going. I’m including links below for your convenience. Thank you in advance!
Happy shopping! I hope this year you both give and receive warmth and joy.
I JUST bought a heating pad for my cat today! Clearly, this is the site for me.
I have a full-size electric blanket on my bed, which serves to keep both me and the felines nice and warm. It also lets me cut down on the electric bill because then I don’t have to turn on the central heat until temps dip below 40 or so. Also a lifesaver in the event the heat goes out (which is why I bought it in the first place).
Not entirely thematically appropriate, but tea is warm and comforting while cuddled up with a heating pad and a fuzzy blankie and the code expires today (November 10), so here goes: Everything at teaforte.com is 20% off with code FAF20. Includes their really expensive but extraordinarily good tea (if regular tea was a grocery store peach, Tea Forte tea would be a tree-ripened farmer’s market peach), their 12-ounce diffuser cups, teapots, and everything else.
I have that green heated wrap. I got it for my mom who didn’t like it and I love it so hard. It’s incredibly comforting. I’m (full disclosure) a 32G so the shoulders and back, they always hurt.
My sister has the Super Cozy Fleece throw in the Festival print (you can find it on the Animal Rescue site), which she thinks is UGLY but holy guacamole, is that blanket soft. When we visit her, we always argue about who gets the blanket.
I literally woke up just this morning with my cat glued to my side shivering (it was not freezing in the house) and thought to myself “it’s time to buy a heated cat bed.” And here are links! Thank you for always being one step — the right step — ahead of me!
Sebastian will probably want to personally thank you for bringing the heated cat bed onto my radar. I’m betting he has no intentions of sharing it with his sister, so it’s a good thing she’s not really into cat beds.
Unique, handcrafted items
https://hugshandcraftedgifts.etsy.com
My cat also loves his heated bed, although he’s currently using me as a substitute since I come equipped with head-scratching capabilities.
I don’t have cats myself, but a friend on Instagram recently got a self-warming cat bed for hers, and they all seem to love it! Perhaps a good alternative if you’re leery about electric blankets?
https://smile.amazon.com/Aspen-Pet-80135-Self-Warming-Cat/dp/B00DJRCQBW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1510458495&sr=8-3&keywords=self+heating+cat+bed
Our ferrets tend to chew up their beds, so anything electric is out for them. But they like hammocks, and we have an oversized fuzzy Christmas stocking hanging from the cage ceiling, which is a favorite sleeping spot.
You’ve probably already heard of this but Tiffany’s has a sterling silver ball of yarn in their Everyday Objects collection right now. It’s going for the low, low price of only $9,000. :-/
Can anybody tell me, has the Vermont Country Store catalogue always been bizarre and disturbing, or is it just this year? I can’t remember looking at a holiday catalogue before and actually being repulsed…
@Christine: re the Vermont Country Store catalog – I just received mine. What weirdness should I watch out for?? (I’m silly levels of excited to read it now.)
@ SB Sarah Some of it was the products themselves, some of it was sort of the net effect of all the stuff in one place. A few things that struck me:
“Christmas” toe fungus and rash remedies (with photos/illustrations!)
Cassette players, an off-brand Walkman-type thing, a typewriter (kinda expensive but in no way awesome unless you’re really anti modern technology)–I think somebody found some unopened boxes from the 80s in a storage shed
There’s a couple modeling Charlie Brown PJs–my reaction was that he was way too old for her, and they were both too old for Charlie Brown PJs
Throat-to-toe flannel robes with easy-open snap closures (for your backwoods ravishing needs)
I’m sure there was more. I’ve never seen a less appealing holiday catalogue!
@Christine: I hold that you are never too old for Charlie Brown PJs, says the woman with their Snoopy and Woodstock flannel sheets currently on her bed.
(And yeah, that sounds pretty much like the normal catalog. I love flipping through it to see what odd things they’re selling.)
@ geecee: Really, I agree, re: the Charlie Brown PJs–I searched long and hard so that we could have dinosaur sheets on our queen-sized bed. The photo of that particular couple just didn’t look wholesome to me, though. I probably should ammend my comment to be that they looked too creepy to have the PJs…
Y’all, I cannot even tell you how excited I am to read this catalog. SO EXCITED.
@Christine I haven’t looked through the most recent one yet, but now I have to go dig it out of the mail pile just for this. 🙂 And I am envious of your dinosaur sheets.
Inspired by your list, I got my dad a contoured heating pad for his neck. He loves it, so thanks!