Holiday gift ideas for the well-dressed, blob-loving creative in your life
Hello! I’m back with some more gift ideas for you! Sunday’s list was general gift ideas and Monday’s list was gifts for someone who reminds you of me; today’s list is gifts for someone who maybe reminds you a little bit of me, but whose taste is, say, 25% cooler and 60% more colorful. Like, this person fucks with a simple J. Crew sweater and a can of chickpeas, but also has good taste in music and wears hip art teacher earrings, you know? It is 100% inspired by my girlfriend and the things she owns/loves/has on her wishlist, though there’s definitely some overlap with my own. Anyway, if you are shopping for someone who is the Claudia to your Stacey, this list might be helpful.
Cold Picnic bathmat
I love this brand, and their bathmats are absolutely the gateway drug. I actually bought the one pictured at a sample sale in the spring, but there are a ton of other styles, including multiple boob mats. Buy it from Cold Picnic for $60.
Boy Smells candle
All the Boy Smells candles are beautiful, and the Cedar Stack is really nice but mellow woodsy smell. Buy it from Amazon for $36.
Supersoft mockneck sweater
This was in Tuesday’s gift guide, because, again, it’s so versatile. Available in 13 colors and sizes XXS-3X from J. Crew for $89.50.
Just Say No to Bullshit socks
For when you want to tell your coworkers to fuck off, but can’t. Buy them from Electric West for $15.
Face planter
You know Toilets With Menacing Auras? This planter is, like, the cosmic opposite of that. It’s charming but not overly twee, and has just good, sweet energy. Buy it from Group Partner for $65.
Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over
Another gift that would definitely appeal to Monday’s homebody! This is a great cookbook — even better than Dining In — and is aesthetically and spiritually aligned with many of the other items on this list. Buy it from Amazon for $20.12 or find it at a local bookstore through IndieBound.
Fujifilm Instax Mini 9
This camera is easy to use, takes super flattering photos, and is extremely fun at a party. (You’ll get way better fun action shots than you do with a phone, honestly.) It’s also a very gentle entry point for anyone who has been thinking about getting into film photography. It comes in 10 colors; get the camera and two packs of film on Amazon for $67.86. (Urban Outfitters also has some very cute exclusive colors, including lavender, yellow, orange, and rose.)
Enamelware serving bowl
This was a purchase directly inspired by the aesthetic of Nothing Fancy, and looks way more expensive than it actually is. It’s a good size for holding a few lemons or onions and some heads of garlic. It comes in four colors; buy it from Amazon for $14.88.
Bodum French Press
This is another gift that looks more expensive than it is. It makes a single cup of coffee or tea and is really easy to use. If someone is lightly interested in getting into coffee, it’s a good place to start. The Chemex gets a lot of attention because it’s so beautiful, but it takes a decent amount of effort to make coffee with it. Meanwhile, this little press is quick/unfussy enough to use before work.
The MoMA Design Store has the Caffettiera French press pictured and a second multicolored one for $20; Madewell has a pastel version for $15; and there’s a light green one and a light blue one on Amazon for $15. If you want to gift it with some coffee, Variety Coffee tastes good and has great packaging. (In Brooklyn, you can buy it at Whole Foods.)
Yellow silicone finger grippers and lavender scraper
These are good stocking stuffers and/or a great addition to the Nothing Fancy cookbook. (Alison Roman apparently loves a scraper.) Buy them from Amazon; the grippers are $6.06 and the scraper is $5.99.
Dusen Dusen hand towels
Dusen Dusen has really unique patterns and prints, and is good for anyone who has walked into a Madewell in the past year and thought, “Boy, everyone sure is depressed, huh?” Most of Dusen Dusen’s clothing and home goods are pretty expensive, so the hand towels are fairly affordable and offer a good amount of color/pattern bang for your buck. Available in four styles; buy them for $20 each from Coming Soon.
Bathing lady dish
Who is she??? This multipurpose dish (for keys, change, jewelry, etc.) is fun and kind of unusual, and has a vintage vibe that isn’t too stuck in a particular era. It comes in five colors; buy one from Coming Soon for $40.
Areaware goober candles
These candles are less “I’m burning my scented candle for self-care,” and more “I have cool blobs on my bookshelf that make me happy, and sure, I could burn them if I wanted to.” Available in four colors; buy them from Coming Soon for $26 each.
Catbird loopdie earring
This shape of these earrings — open at the top and bottom — is fairly unusual, but the earrings themselves are not fussy at all. They are basically gold hoop earrings…that fuck. (BTW, a lot of cool/weird earrings are hard to put on or take off, but these are very user-friendly.) Buy them from Catbird — $88 for the gold pair and $52 for the silver pair.
Catbird teardrop earring
Another pair of “classic silhouette, but more interesting version of it” earrings. They aren’t full-on statement pieces, but they are unique enough to communicate to the recipient “I noticed you have good style so I got you something a little bit interesting.” Buy them from Catbird — $52 for the silver pair or $88 for the gold pair.
And a year of Spotify Premium
Spotify is something most people use every single day, but it’s something most people don’t think about using every single day because it’s literally in the background. So a gift card for a Premium account (or to cover the cost of their current subscription.) ends up being a super practical gift that is still fairly unexpected/delightful. (It’s also a good one for a couple!) Get a 3-month ($30) or 6-month ($60) gift card from Target, or get the $99 annual gift card from Best Buy.
And, of course, you can’t go wrong with some of the OG gift guide items here: the hot honey, the Chups socks, and The Art of Gathering would be my picks. ✨