Special Gifts for Your Favorite People, 2015

Admittedly this pairing seems at odds: The first is a gigantic hand-knit Merino wool blanket with 3-inch-long stitches promising a calming warm-cozy embrace, while the second is the product of a father and son who told me their pillows represented their love for the outdoors and pillow fights. I’d give this pairing to my friends with kids, the blanket set aside for those rare moments when they can find time for themselves to relax, the pillow ready to instigate fun with a carefully aimed reminder that a big kid still resides within.

—Gregory Han

If you ever find yourself driving through Razorback territory, keep an eye out along the tables of Arkansas gift shops and roadside vendors for what sometimes looks like a mineral that might make a red-caped Kryptonian weak in the knees. Slag glass isn’t a mineral at all, but the industrial by-product of a steel foundry, produced when silica is removed from iron ores. The resulting slabs form into endless combinations of color, opacity, and shapes. A pair of these exceptionally beautiful algae-hued bookends from Arkansas will make any rock hound’s eyes glitter and gleam, and will dutifully hold up their library of tomes dedicated to rocks, minerals, and gems. The Ernst Haeckel T-shirt will further solidify that you didn’t just make a lucky guess—you really did do your homework before choosing gifts for your precious (or semiprecious) friend during the holidays.

—GH

Karen Aragon is a New York–based Web developer during the day and an accomplished ceramicist “all hours in between.” Her handmade collection teeters between the imaginary and the practical, like geometric architectural elements that fell off an Escher landscape and then got retooled into one-of-a-kind vases, mugs, or planters that wouldn’t look out of place on the set of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Friends who like to arrange flowers and fill their homes with all varieties of plants will delight knowing you’ve given them something made once and only once.

—GH

I can think of so many reasons to like this planter, not the least of which is the great (but simple) longhorn design. The price-to-aesthetics balance is good, and the container is big enough to fit a variety of plants, succulents, and cactuses. (I like my indoor succulents a little on the larger side, so I find planters like this more useful than itty-bitty bonsai planters.) More important, if you’re gifting this to a real green thumb, they’ll truly appreciate the fact that it has a drainage hole on the bottom—something not every planter has. This design does mean you’ll have to put a tray or plate under it if you keep it indoors, but it also means you have’ll more control and ability to give your plant the exact amount of water it needs. This gift is even good for people who aren’t green thumbs, because when this planter is paired with an attractive cactus or succulent, they can largely ignore it without its suffering.

—Jacqui Cheng

I remember years ago hiking to what I had believed to be an empty stretch of beach, only to discover a mysterious tent already parked on the sandbar of my “secret spot.” The tent entrance was flapped open, but its occupants were otherwise indeterminable from the distance I suspiciously eyed it from. A few minutes later something unexpected and remarkable emerged: bubbles, floating out like musical notes liberated from a sheet of music, a silent symphony of soap. For several minutes the mysterious occupant filled the air with a joyful cavalcade of bubbly shapes, some floating as far as where I was seated as audience, a few popping right before my eyes. And as quickly as it began, it stopped. It was one of those random and beautiful moments that didn’t need an explanation, simply appreciation.

The memory flooded back upon my seeing this suspended half-tent, half-hammock by the punny-funny Hang-In-Out, a UV-protective hideaway where an accompanying bubble-blowing trumpet doesn’t seem ridiculous but practically required.

—GH

Nisaku Hori Hori stainless steel straight edge ($30) and Kitazawa Seed Co. seed packs ($25)
Last winter I had the honor of sitting with the head gardener at Nanzen-ji, an emperor’s villa turned into a picturesque Zen temple with a history dating back to 1291. While the master gardener pointed out the gentle mounds of carefully tended moss blanketing the grounds and the azalea-lined streams winding through a private wing of the temple garden like a babbling haiku, my eyes kept wandering to watch his team using only handheld tools to prune and trim the garden, each of their instruments beautiful and timeless in appearance, making sounds harmonious with the surroundings. There was not a power tool in sight. From that day forward, I decided I was going to try my best to use traditional gardening hand tools, rakes, and shovels—preferably ones made by Japanese craftsmen.

This serrated-edge hori hori is part trowel and part saw, the sort of multiuse tool capable of doing the job of numerous others, and a great introduction to traditional implements that the container gardener or backyard gardener will immediately find useful. Throw in a couple of packs of Japanese heirloom seeds from Kitazawa Seed Co., a family-owned vendor operating since 1917, and the green thumb in your life has the outline for growing something different.

—GH

This innovation purports to ease and speed up the process of splitting wood. Ayla Hutchinson was only 13 years old when she was compelled to invent the Kindling Cracker after watching her mom slice a finger using a hatchet; Hutchinson flipped the script and integrated an upturned ax blade into a steel ring enclosure, creating a safer way to split kindling. So smart.

Your resident woodchopper who has to brave winter weather deserves one of these faster, safer, and cooler-looking chopping devices (as well as some hot cocoa).

—GH

This is an ideal gift for the person who loves museum display cases, whose skin tingles at the mention of “collections” and “prized specimen,” and whose nose presses against glass more often than not during observation of flora or fauna in captivity. Think of these handcrafted plant display vases as miniature terrariums where the entirety of a cactus or succulent, sitting on a metal grid holding the plant aloft over water, roots exposed, remains visible growing both upward and downward, in a sort of plant peep show where nobody needs to feel dirty peering in.

—GH

Astro Gallery of Gems fossils ($30–$1,500)
On an early autumn morning about five years ago, while trail running along the jagged coastline of Palos Verdes, California, I discovered something wedged halfway into the tumble of rocks and cliff’s-edge soil. I had found a calcified whale bone, a large white gavel of cetacean past exposed after a particularly violent storm. It wasn’t quite a fossil, but I understood the thrill of uncovering, inspecting, and feeling something that was once swimming alive, imagining the span of its life and the scale of its body. Would-be David Attenboroughs of any age—but particularly curious young ones—will turn wide-eyed and slack-jawed when given their very own shark tooth, calcified ammonite halves, or (even better) dinosaur tooth. These are the sort of gifts that spark imaginations into career paths.

—GH

Give these gifts to your nature-loving friends who delight in the seasonal (re)appearance of feathered friends in their own backyard. This laser-cut birch birdhouse kit designed by a husband-and-wife team in Los Angeles is special for its miniaturized California Craftsman–style architecture and easy-to-construct design. The Sibley’s Backyard Birds poster is a perfect companion piece that will aid in the identification of the new winged neighbors who will move in soon after the “open house.”

—GH

It’s comforting to know that decades may pass and tastes may change, but the appeal of LEGO endures. The LEGO Architect isn’t just an inspirational showcase of architectural designs re-created with LEGOs, spanning the ancient to the postmodern; its nearly 200 pages are an instructional guide for any aspiring architect (or well-established one) to reconnect with the satisfaction of building something block by block. Give this book to the Legomaniac in hibernation, the one who still has some childhood LEGO sets in storage and needs a nudge to dust them off and get building again. If that doesn’t do the trick, give them this Nanoblocks set. Its enormity isn’t so much a gift as it is a challenge. The level of detail in this reproduction of the Romanesque Revival Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria is so high, and the building blocks are so small (5,800 in total), tweezers are practically required.

—GH

If you’re going to splurge and buy someone a gift that costs $1,000, why not make it something as ridiculously awesome as their very own 30-inch-long remote-control submarine? The SEAWOLF Sport Version, designed to investigate to a depth of 5 meters and at a distance as far as 50 meters away, is outfitted with a clear bubble front for mounting a GoPro HD camera (not included) to capture investigative journeys below. This is undeniably a luxury toy, but one that will probably underscore the fact that you don’t put a price on fun.

—GH

Google Maps struggles a bit if you’re trying to find your exact location in the universe, but this celestial cartographic scope can do the job with just a few turns of its dials. Stargazers of any age simply need to match the calendar month and time, and then aim The Stellarscope toward the North Star to chart a slice of the heavens, 1,500 stars and 70 constellations in all. This item is a great present for the young adult who has a propensity for identifying constellations, faithfully memorizes the meteor shower schedule for the upcoming year, and is obsessively following news about the Kepler Space Telescope discovery.

While they await any updates about the mysterious star KIC 8462852 and its hypothetical alien civilization, the littleBits Space Kit designed by NASA scientists and engineers will help the young mind get started on dreaming and scheming about how to reach that distant star system (and its hoped-for inhabitants) with pieces that will allow them to build their own satellite dish, Mars rover, energy-reading meter, or several other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics projects.

—GH

This kit is for a curious kid of any age who has mastered Lincoln Logs, Erector sets, and LEGOs but isn’t quite up for soldering (or old enough for an electrical engineering degree program). The Kano kit includes everything they’ll need to build a computer over the course of a weekend afternoon. A simple Linux-like operating system and a collection of gaming and music projects teaches useful programming languages like Python—but more important, it lets just about anyone get creative with technology. And it comes with cool stickers and a clear plastic case so they can customize to their heart’s content. The Kano can connect to pretty much any display with an HDMI cable, but a matching Screen Kit ($130) is also available.

—Dan Frakes

Beer hadn’t been a beverage I professed much love for—until a few months ago, when I sipped (and sipped again) this “gastronomic beer” concocted by one of the world’s best chefs, Ferran Adrià of El Bulli fame. The Guardian calls it “arguably Spain’s best beer,” and I won’t disagree. The lingering memory of spice, malt, and an undeniable flash of Japanese muscat gummy candy all encompassed by a creamy wash compelled me to actively hunt out a bottle when I got back home. Designed to accompany and elevate the taste of food rather than wash it down like a typical ice-cold brew, this beer is a great choice for the beer-loving friend who is fostering an appreciation for wine. Throw in the battle-axe-shaped bottle opener to remind them you haven’t gone completely fancy-pants.

—GH

—GH

Picture this: a room full of scotch-drinking enthusiasts, all holding their breath as a famous distiller pulls the name of one lucky winner to be served a dram of 57-year single malt scotch, one of only 400 bottles drawn from casks first sealed in 1952. That’s historic liquid gold. Now imagine that winner is someone who doesn’t drink because of allergies, the only teetotaler in the house. Even years later I can remember the complexity of taste unfolding as the alcohol told its history across the palate, probably magnified by the thrill of fortune.

Your first—or even hundredth—go at home-concocting a batch of whiskey using a moonshine still is unlikely to result in that sort of complexity, but you won’t really know until five-plus decades later, will you?

These are gifts for your most patient friend. Distill a small oak cask’s worth of whiskey, label the year, and let time do its thing. Promise to reconvene 10, 20, 30 years later to see how it all turned out. In the meantime, while you’re waiting, bust out these delicate Usuhari glasses—made using the same technique as manufacturing a light bulb—to sip something more readily available. My recommendation for something unexpectedly different in the single malt whiskey category is The Glen Els The Journey. A thoughtful friend sent me a bottle of this German-produced spirit as a housewarming gift, and I was immediately impressed by the smoky butterscotch palate accompanied by the perfume of sweetened vanilla bean that lingered after each sip. Mixed with 5 percent wood-smoked malt in lieu of peat then aged in a combination of six cask types—Madeira, Marsala, Malaga, cream sherry, tawny port, and grand-cru Bordeaux—the resulting scotch whiskey is a smooth detour from the usual suspects by Scottish, Japanese, and American distillers.

—GH

Remember Pulp Fiction’s $5 shake? This $8 popcorn is kind of like that. Why would you pay $8 for a bag of popcorn? Because you’ve never tasted anything like it: salted caramel and a spice merchant’s stash of cinnamon turn what would otherwise be a healthy snack into crunchy, bite-sized nuggets of fragrant brittle that happen to have popcorn in them. Utterly addictive and totally worth it.

—Ganda Suthivarakom

Smoker by Francesco Sillitti ($70) and Relæ: A Book of Ideas ($35)

Designed to perfume foods with an air of smokiness using sawdust, dried peppercorns, or herbs set aflame, this gift invites endless experimentation. Smoke enters through a series of holes arranged in a circle, imparting to neutral-tasting foods like tofu, rice, fish, or mushrooms a new carbonized personality after they spend a few minutes bathing within. Give this item to the home cook who believes cooking isn’t about just the results but also the technique, someone undeterred by new ingredients or novel ideas. Your gift recipient will likely also find inspiration within the pages of chef Christian F. Puglisi’s unconventional cookbook, an essay-driven idea guide with sections like “Manipulations,” “Texture,” and “Theory.” Expect to taste some innovative creations in short time.

—GH

Many coffee aficionados/snobs scoff at the idea of iced coffee. The reason why: Adding ice to drop the temperature mellows the roast’s intensity, literally watering down the flavor. The Coil Chiller circumvents coffee ever touching ice, cooling the liquid down from 210°F to 48°F in just a few minutes using 9 feet of coiled stainless-steel tubing surrounded by user-added ice. Out comes an unadulterated serving of cold brew, still as potent as when it was poured over and ready to enjoy after a bit of showmanship. Throw in a few Mayven Coffee Pins and tell the gift recipient they’re for a new iced-coffee drinking club, each of the pins identifying membership and signifying that the wearer shares an appreciation for coffee done right.

—GH

Like the spore-bearing bodies themselves, mushrooms as a design motif reappear every few years. They’re a little bit weird, a little bit cute. This mushroom-shaped condiment set is a gift for the friend who has a thing for midcentury design and mycology (hey, that’s me!), someone who enjoys a touch of humor with their high design. A pair of ceramic cruet bottles, a salt shaker, a pepper shaker, and a custom-fit beech tray together make for a playful centerpiece that will look equally at home at the center of an expensive Eero Saarinen tulip table or atop an affordable IKEA dining surface.

—GH

Driftwood Forts of the Oregon Coast ($20) and Atelier Ace x Vacation Days Silk Scarf ($120)

Not everyone goes to the beach to relax. Some people venture to the coast to explore and to build things out of rocks, sand, and driftwood. Industrious souls can’t just sit still tanning and lollygagging around when natural materials sit nearby promising the rewards of architectural expression through carefully arranged, notched, and interlocked pieces of driftwood. Such types will rejoice in the ideas sparked by this how-to guide’s 106 photographs, 68 illustrations, and six hand-drawn maps outlining how to turn coastline detritus into oceanside forts. On those days when driftwood isn’t plentiful, your gift recipient can longingly admire Ace Hotel’s silk scarf designed by artist Hamish Robertson—adorned with an artful arrangement of driftwood—while muffling whispers of, “One day, soon….”

—GH

The connection between man and machine doesn’t get any more intimate than during a ride on a motorcycle. Having hundreds of pounds of metal vibrating loudly between the legs while hurtling down the road begets respect. Besides a helmet, a good pair of riding gloves is essential equipment for any rider. Gloves guard against the elements, and more important still, protect the hands in case of a spill. The Herbie Belted glove is handcrafted from 100 percent Napa cowhide leather, made in Japan, and styled in memory of motorcycling’s most triumphant figures, the sort of riding accessory that gives the motoring lifestyle its mystique. Give a pair with a subscription to Iron & Air, a publication with prose and photography to inspire weekend-long great escapes onto the open road. The easy rider in your life will know that you want them to look the part while riding safe.

—GH

A Red Dot Award and Norwegian Design Council Award for Design Excellence winner, these Nordic snowshoes are like ergonomic polar bear paws next to the competition’s oversize duck-feet designs. The honeycomb rocker unibody shoe flexes with a hinged weight-distribution feature to keep a grip at all angles. The shoes’ extra-flexible Dupont Hytrel, a temperature-resistant thermoplastic elastomer, is the same material used in automotive shock absorbers and rated for a million cycles in continuous -40°F temperatures. Durability won’t be a concern.

Give a pair of these snowshoes to the friend who never lets winter weather get in the way of an outdoor excursion, whose steamy breath in cold conditions never comes from exhaustion but from exultation—someone known for always asking, “What’s over that hill?”

—GH

Of everything I’ve listed, this is the gift I most want for myself. But I’m having difficulty determining exactly who else I’d give this strange cardboard-and-mirror contraption to. Probably someone with regularly unkempt hair and a shockingly high IQ, and who naturally perceives the world on a different spectrum than most. Or maybe just someone really short or extremely tall.

The reconfigurable periscope mask allows its wearer to see the world as if their neck craned 3 feet higher than normal, or as if their eyes sat positioned at their belly button, even looking backward and upside down. Inspired by the works of neuroscientists Oliver Sacks and V.S. Ramachandran, and the strange ways our minds play tricks on us, the EYEteleporter is pleasingly antiutilitarian and experimental, a bizarre design that exists only for illusory pleasure and sportive exploration. I can guarantee that whomever you give this to, you’ll see a lot of laughing, experimentation, and fumbling about after the unwrapping.

—GH

This beautiful hatchet has a hickory handle and a handmade head. I’ve been using one for years, and it’s great (not to mention, it’s a fraction of the price of some European brands). All of the small irregularities of the handmade head give it a unique look and feel—this is not a tool that looks as if it came off an assembly line. You can also upgrade to the company’s Ultimate Survivalist Hatchet($135) for a harder edge and a slightly thicker handle (Zombie Apocalypse models also available).

—Doug Mahoney

Clifton Engagement Ring Case ($100–$110) and Nervous System Silver Bryozoa Ring ($175)
The elements of surprise and anticipation are two of the most powerful emotions to tap into when you’re giving a gift. That idea lies at the heart of the Clifton Engagement Ring Case design, a flat jewelry box that opens with the dramatic flair of an arcing rainbow, offering a ring on its very own pedestal, without giving away the contents hidden within beforehand.

Similarly surprising: intricately 3D-printed jewelry pieces modeled after computational simulations of aquatic invertebrates known as lace bryozoans. Give this ring to someone who always picks up pieces of lichen to inspect while hiking, collects the smallest shells along the seashore to categorize, and finds beauty in the overlooked details of nature’s geometric formulas. They’ll forever love you for giving them something to touch and inspect that’ll always be at their fingertips.

—GH

The Danish have a word, hygge, symbolizing a state where coziness, camaraderie, and contentment are paramount, where happiness even on the coldest and darkest nights can be found in sharing a fire, food, and friendship. Give these gifts to the person who fosters friendly, warm companionship in your life when you most need it, the one who makes you feel happy even when the weather is anything but outside. A cozy Italian-wool-fabric-lined pocket pillow for keeping toes toasty, partnered with an 18K rose gold molecular representation of happiness itself in pendant form to stay near their heart, should sufficiently say tak (“thank you”).

—GH

If I’ve learned one thing about my friends, it’s that the most passionate of the pet-owning bunch will accept gifts for their furry friends with the same enthusiasm as if the presents were intended for themselves. And the dog owners you know are likely to be wagging their hindquarters as vigorously as their canine companions do when they realize you’ve given them a toy that will keep their furry friend engaged, challenged, and amused—a sturdy geometric dog puzzle that spills out treats as the pup lifts, pushes, and carries it around the house. And when it sits out between play sessions, the sculpturally geometric Odin won’t spoil the lay of their interior land like other gaudy pet toys, making this the gift I’d give to the pet owner with a modernist neat-freak streak (you know, the one with every back issue of Dwell). An additional feel-good note: 1 percent of all purchases go toward saving animals at the Pasado’s Safe Haven animal sanctuary in Sultan, Washington.

And so your friend doesn’t think you have a bias against fellow bipedal types, wrap up a copy of the reissue of the 1959 Geometric Patterns Book as a companion piece. Inside, 64 pages of beautiful monochromatic line work guided by symmetry will keep them preoccupied (crunchy treats not included).

—GH

One only has to take a look at this pencil portraiture to recognize that artist Corrie Wessman has a gift for capturing not only the likeness but also the unique personality of her animal models. Her custom-drawn pet portraits are the perfect surprise for any pet owner—every pet owner, in fact—because everybody knows that their canine or feline is the most beautiful, intelligent, and special four-legged companion the world has ever seen. With photos for reference and a detailed description of the cat or dog’s personality (“What do they love? How do they act? Mellow and lazy? Energetic and playful?”), Wessman does a humorous job of capturing what we most love about our furry companions: their humanity.

—GH

These are gifts for the quiet soul, the friend who can sit content for hours without uttering a word, the embodiment of “peace and quiet.” Their introvert heart will scream (silently, of course) in approval of this pairing conceived to foster a peacefully immersive evening. First is a coloring book compendium with 100 different line drawings by graphic designers, street artists, and other contemporary creatives, inviting anyone of any age to revisit the joys of staying within the lines. This calming activity deserves a tranquil soundtrack; kyouei design’s record perpetually loops an endless calm of recorded rainfall. You’ll know you’ve done well when your gift recipient nods quietly in approval and offers you a colored pencil and a page to share.

—GH

For our first anniversary, my wife gave me what might be the best gift I’ve ever received. She commissioned a printmaker friend to design a custom bookplate emblazoned with our beloved cat jealously guarding a stack of my favorite novels, which we could get made into a stamp or print on a sticker and put inside our books. It’s a beautifully designed way of customizing your library. Martin Clinch specializes in making these from images of your own pets, and they’re a wonderful gift for loved ones who are both book lovers and animal lovers—a Venn diagram that’s all but a circle. For those who don’t have an animal patronus, you can probably commission a plate with just about anything else, too. And with a custom bookplate, your gift recipient is far more likely to get their precious reading material returned after they loan it out, which will protect their hoard of books from dwindling too much.

—Tim Barribeau

—GH

I find being around the gentle sounds of knitting extremely pleasurable. The sensation that comes from the tiny percussive taps of wooden needles touching with each looping motion, accompanied by the elongated sounds of yarn being stretched and tightened, is the very definition of autonomous sensory meridian response. Give these tools of the soft arts to the knitter in your life, the one who can turn their warmest affections into the warmest of winter clothing—and then ask them if you can sit beside them as they make something with the soft recycled silk yarn that will undoubtedly sound oh-so-nice while being looped over and over.

—GH

Artist Sigmar Polke once remarked, “Drawings are things I make for myself—I do them in sketchbooks. They are mental experiments—private inner thoughts when I’m not sure what will come out.” Even today, for many visual thinkers the mind is more apt to venture into unexplored territories of experimentation with the hand grasping a pen rather than a mouse. Given these tools—a handsome brass and copper rollerball pen that will patina with age and a notebook designed by Princeton Architectural Press specifically to spark ideation and imagination—the visually attuned will have everything they need to engage both sides of the brain and to sail into the uncharted waters of new thoughts and solutions.

—GH

When people hear the word “puzzle,” they probably envision 1,000-piece sets of cardboard bits with saccharine images of baskets of puppies or English garden cottages rendered in watercolors. In reality, though, you can find some awesome kits that expand upon the definition of the traditional puzzle. For example, Bonelab’s Rattlesnake 3D puzzle and model kit challenges builders to piece together a complete skeleton of a venomous reptile, bone by acrylic bone. Logifaces, on the other hand, is also a puzzle, but one presented as a geometric landscape challenge: Players take turns attempting to create a continuous surface, piece by triangular piece. Together or separately, these two puzzles make an excellent gift for the person who loves rainy days because they mean quiet time with a favorite challenge.

—GH

This is a gift for the friend whose fingertips are always tinted with dye and paint, the committed spirit who will attempt to figure out how to make something rather than buy it. Artist Shabd Simon-Alexander’s all-in-one dye kit includes a silk crepe de chine scarf and a colorful cocktail of permanent nontoxic dyes and fixatives ready to be combined with water to transform the all-white fabric into a random patterned Milky Way of dye or a subtle patterned wash of color after a single hour. It’s something purchased yet also handmade.

—GH

Super Mario Original Video Soundtrack Vinyl 7ʺ ($18) and The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia ($25)

Think of this gift as a game-themed, co-op pairing for the friend who remembers when gaming didn’t include painfully long load times, whose finger muscles still twitch at the mention of ↑↑↓↓←→←→BA, and who purses their lips in memory of cartridges that required a resuscitative gust of breath. This very limited second pressing of Koji Kondo’s 8-bit soundtrack from Super Mario Bros., given with a historical account of the realm of Hyrule, should please any die-hard gamer—the completist with a résumé extending back to the days when video gamers were still considered a subculture.
—GH

Ghostly Zoots ($115)
For your musician friend who’s always gently humming a tune under their breath, their musical mind always skimming the surface of their next great melody, give this diminutive electronic instrument modeled after the mbira, the African thumb piano. This battery-powered, finger-plucked instrument is the handmade handiwork of New York woodworker, engineer, and designer Richard Upchurch. Each tiny thumb piano is designed with loop, pitch, and output options so that the owner can listen to their performance with headphones or share it with an audience via speakers. Left out on a desk or bookshelf, the Zoots is the sort of toylike object that will draw curious fingers to it within minutes, a tactile and aural reminder that creativity is possible only when the mind is allowed to play.
—GH

Seaboard RISE ($800)

The Seaboard RISE is a Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression controller—that is, it’s a pressure-sensitive keyboard that allows the owner to manipulate and modulate notes directionally with a swipe, pinch, strike, glide, press, slide, or lift. The 25 silicone-covered “keywaves” allow performances as on a standard keyboard, but the user can additionally stretch and wiggle each sound, giving it the emotive warble of a voice. The ideal recipient: the musician who always speaks with their hands, who’s already known for accompanying every emotion, intention, and thought with a gesture. They’re already halfway to mastering this newfangled instrument.
—GH

turneDesign Banksia pod teleidoscope/kaleidoscope ($80) and Voynich Manuscript Reproduction ($250 and up)

The Banksia is an Australian tree mostly known for producing otherworldly, miniature-mouthed seed pods, some so large that artists can carve and wood-turn them into weird decorative items like these mushroom-shaped kaleidoscopes to peer into for a new perspective. Definitely do not give this item to someone with trypophobia. Save it for your hippy-artist friend who walks around barefoot all the time, knows what a “scoby” is, and who will delight when you give them their very own psychoactive-emulation accessory.

They’ll be especially pleased when they receive such a strange object alongside possibly one of the strangest books ever published: a reprint of the the Voynich Manuscript, a mysterious 15th-century tome penned by an unknown author in an undecipherable language that has entertained and challenged cryptographers and linguists for years. It’s not difficult to imagine finding a Banksia pod hidden among the numerous wondrous illustrations within the 208 pages of this high-quality reproduction on vellum, bound in covers made of wood, cloth, and cowhide.
—GH

CJW NYC Chocolate Fudge Cake scarf ($275)

Last year I gave my mom her very first Hermès scarf, a silken layer of je ne sais quoi that exists as art, accessory, and fashion piece all in one. She wears it now on special occasions when she wants to feel beautiful and be noticed. In the process of picking the Parisian staple, I came to understand that a beautiful scarf offers an opportunity for expression and also works as a conversation starter. And what better topic to spark a conversation with a stranger than food? Artist Christina J. Wang covers 53 by 53 inches of lightweight wool with an illustration of a decadent chocolate fudge cake broken into its individual components, creating a lip-smack-inducing accessory that will placate the fashionably famished and spark conversations about everyone’s favorite desserts everywhere your gift recipient wears it.
—GH

ProjektMosko Futuristika geometric bib necklace ($120)

Geometric jewelry is becoming even more complex (and common) these days thanks to the consumerization of 3D printers and laser cutters. I like that stuff, but in reality, that's why I like ProjektMosko more—this company makes "modern" art shapes out of traditional materials like porcelain, glass, and steel instead of using space-agey technology. The balance of traditional jewelry-making styles with three-dimensional shapes and unexpected designs appeals to me, especially when I’m checking out the bib necklaces, though ProjektMosko's 2D jewelry is also eye-catching. Art and architecture lovers would be into these designs.
—JC

Boo and Boo Factory holographic fringe necklace ($70)

Yet another example of the latest trends in Southwest style in 2015, this metallic fringe bib necklace has everything you need to send millennial-haters screaming. It's made of fringe-cut leather—hipster alert—with a holographic print, which is making a grand comeback after a drunken stint in the ’80s. This item would make a fun gift for jewelry-lovers who have everything, or those looking to break out of their normal style, and would probably be appropriate for anyone between the ages of 13 and 40 (or over—we don't judge). I want this piece for myself, but everything made by Boo and Boo Factory is pretty interesting, especially if you know someone who likes oddball materials or loud colors.
—JC

Diamonds Are Evil jewelry ($20–$120)

I like wood jewelry and art deco shapes, but I hadn't really seen them together until I found a pair of earrings from Diamonds Are Evil. The company was started by two Texas-based hobbyists who bonded over their love of lasers and their hatred of the diamond industry, and they make a plethora of jewelry from necklaces to rings to cuff links and everything in between. The materials are sustainably harvested birch plywood or maple hardwood, and the shapes are a mishmash of art deco, modern geometric lines, and maybe even a touch of space-age. Plus, because it's wood, this jewelry is especially lightweight, making it easier to wear day to day.
—JC

Peggy Skemp Original Silver Anatomical Heart Locket ($305)

I used to be really into lockets when I was young—I loved the romanticism of the days when people kept photos of their sweethearts or loved ones locked away around their necks. These days my tastes are a little more obscure, so when I saw this anatomical heart locket at Chicago's Renegade Craft Fair this year, I couldn't stop thinking about it. The piece is pretty straightforward: It's a heart, but an anatomical one. It opens and closes like a traditional locket and snaps shut. Handmade in the USA by Peggy Skemp Jewelry, the locket is one of a handful of pieces that depict other dark oddities such as tentacles, snakes, and fungi. The jewelry is unisex and would make a great gift for a variety of friends who like baubles, not just those who are inclined toward the weird.
—JC

Hechizo Accessories bolos ($70)

There's no way to open this entry with anything but a pithy comment: Bolos are in. They're beginning to show up everywhere as Southwest style and patterns begin to appear in more designer collections, and some artists are using the opportunity to get creative with the humble bolo. These, made by Brooklyn-based designer Hali Emminger for her company Hechizo Accessories, caught my eye with a bright pop of color in an unusual material (ceramic and glass)—not what you usually see in a field mostly made up of leather and silver. I like to wear them as a necklace or as an actual bolo around a collared shirt. Men and women who follow fashion trends would love these (along with Hechizo's earrings), and so would those who like the desert, cacti, longhorns, and boots. But I think what makes these pieces especially cool is that, because they're somewhat of an old-fashioned item, you can give them to your more traditional family members, too. (I know a couple of seniors who are getting these as gifts—true story!)
—JC

APPAREL K Pocky sweater ($90)

This fire-engine-red sweater provides all the joy of opening a fresh package of Pocky without the calories. I found this machine-washable jacquard sweater at a pop-up boutique in Mexico City. I’m wearing one on the first really cold day this year, and I find that it makes people who love Pocky (read: everyone) smile.
—GS

Luis Ocádiz handwoven shawls ($140)

Handicraft thrives in Mexico, and some of the best gifts I found while on a trip there were these organic cotton shawls. Cozy, warm, and chenille-soft, the textiles are designed by artisan Luis Ocádiz, handwoven in Hidalgo, Mexico, and dyed in gentle colors inspired by nature. Running your hand over the dense, perfect weave, you can sense the care that’s gone into each piece. They’re perfect for curling up on the sofa or warming up in the car. National Geographic’s NOVICA sells these and other unique craft items from around the globe at fair prices that directly support the artists.
—GS

KiliDesign leather beetle backpack ($435)

Fashionable backpacks are enjoying a serious revival, especially when it comes to leather bags. I found this leather beetle backpack during one of my insomnia-fueled 3 a.m. Etsy binges, and I’ve been dreaming about it ever since. The Hong Kong–based designer sells a variety of not-your-usual bags under the brand KiliDesign and even offers a few sizes to choose from in the beetle shape (in addition to the large backpack, I'm partial to the hand-sized wristlet clutch). The prices match the design work—this is not a bag for the budget-minded—but it is a gift that will get a reaction out of everyone, including bag snobs who think they've already seen it all.
—JC

Hedoco Design The Eleven Brothers bag ($260)

You can detect something almost sinister about the Eleven Brothers bag even before taking into account the dark Hans Christian Andersen fairytale reference. The 324 interlocked leather geometric pieces look in their entirety like the abandoned abdominal carapace of a giant arachnid or the eggshell of something prehistoric and intentionally long forgotten. It’s one of the coolest-looking handbags I’ve ever seen because it’s so strange yet so obviously still a bag. I’d give this accessory to the lady who professes to always wear “black on the outside, ’cause black is how I feel on the inside,” the one who survived their awkward goth years and metamorphosed into someone with a wicked fashion sense today.
—GH

CYCL WingLights Mag ($50), Portland Design Works BARkeep Inflator ($35), and The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles: Craftsmanship, Elegance, and Function ($30)

These cyclist’s accessories are intended for the quick-twitch urban commuter who has to navigate the obstacle course of traffic, pedestrians, and crumbling infrastructure to get to and from work daily. WingLights pop onto the end of handlebars via a magnetic mount, essentially adding a layer of visibility at night similar to a car’s turn signals, while the BARkeep Inflator by Portland Design Works is a CO2 tire inflator with a built-in pressure gauge compatible with both Presta and Schrader valves for times when the tires look in need of a lift. Giving these two items says, without a word, “Come home safely, come home fast.”

The Golden Age of Handbuilt Bicycles: Craftsmanship, Elegance, and Function is for the pedal pusher with an appreciation for tradition and history, the one who rides outfitted with a throwback Eddy Merckx jersey and owns a pooch named Peloton. Cycling enthusiasts of this degree will find the hardcover, penned by Bicycle Quarterly editor Jan Heine and accompanied by the photographs of Jean-Pierre Pradères (the talent behind the Guggenheim Museum's The Art of the Motorcycle), an exceptional pleasure to longingly gaze over page by page. It’s 168 pages of pedal porn filled with lavishly detailed descriptions dedicated to the craftsmanship of 50 of the most beautiful bicycles ever (hand)made.
—GH

FluidStance The Level ($290–$430)

I found myself months ago standing on The Level at a trade show with my mouth agape in joy. Why? The sensation was like being freeze-framed in the middle of a rail slide on a skateboard. Any shift in weight required micro-adjustments to maintain balance, while a slight hip twist would produce a fluid pivoting motion. Surfers, skaters, snowboarders, and other active types chained to a desk and antsy for physical activity beyond mouse clicks will enjoy the challenging action underfoot, which supposedly offers a heart rate increase of 15 percent on average when compared with sitting.
—GH

RumbleRoller Beastie massage ball set ($60)
Spiky, yellow, hard. It’s difficult to believe that this mace-shaped torture device will be remembered as the best gift you’ve ever given to your most fit and active friend. That is, until your marathon-running, break-of-dawn-surfing, CrossFittin’ recipient runs the penetrating Beastie Bar across their sorest muscle. Their face will then melt into embarrassingly honest expressions of pain and pleasure—you might want to give them some private time—as the knobby ends work under the muscles for the sort of myofascial release that a trained therapist normally charges for by the hour. I’ve used the individual extra firm spiky massage ball for a couple of months, and I already wish I had ordered this dual configuration for home treatment and relief—because the way I look at it, what feels so good by itself must feel even better multiplied.
—GH

Commodity Goods Scent Fitting Kit ($30–$100)
They’re not picky, they’re particular. Not difficult, discerning. Whatever you want to call them, it’s okay: Scents are as individual as fingerprints, and finding a signature scent worthy of dabbing on the wrist or neck should take time. It’s only what you smell like to everyone else around you, right? What I like about Commodity Goods is not only that it mixes its unique aromatic-oil scent profiles to conjure memories of whiskey, books, moss, rain, sheets of paper, gin, wool, tea, mimosa, and gold, but also that it offers a Fitting Kit with 10 1-milliliter samples to mix and match to your fussbudget’s liking.
—GH

Vibram Furoshiki shoes ($110) and Runbell Wearable Bell for Urban Runners ($25)

Your runner friend, the one who logs double-digit mileage every time they step out the door? Yes, even they need comfy shoes for just walking about. Tell them that the first of these two gifts is for their days off, when they’re giving their legs a rest and they need something comfortable to wear during more leisurely pursuits. Inspired by the traditional Japanese art of wrapping gifts with fabric, this alternative footwear looks like futuristic ninja gear, enveloping the wearer’s feet with manta ray fins of stretchable fabric secured with Velcro, all sitting on top of a grippy Vibram sole. They’re not for everyone—frankly, they’re weird, cool-weird—but they’re envisioned for the runner with an affinity for the novel and a preference for minimalist footwear.

The Runbell is a pocket-sized runner’s accessory, a ring with a built-in tiny brass bell, which your gift recipient can use to signal to others that it’s time to look up from their cell phones and make way. Unlike shouts of “On your left” or “Heads up,” the merry melody of this bell-chime alert is more likely to prompt pedestrians to greet your runner friend with a smile instead of a scowl.
—GH

Andrej Urem Collection Candles ($35)
These 60-hour soy candles are definitely not your usual Yankee-branded holiday novelties. They're weird, but that's exactly why they're worthy of gifting. Designed by sculptor and poet Andrej Urem, the shapes are so fascinating, they might spark some inner illumination even while unlit. Give one of these to your friend whose interests walk the line between art and science; the person with an appreciation for formations of slime molds and an affinity for artist Matthew Barney's The CREMASTER Cycle. Just don't be surprised if these candles never see the end of a lit match and instead stand cherished as a sculptural keepsake too beautiful to melt away.
—GH

Lino Letter Knife ($60) and 3Doodler ($100)
All the way through my mid-20s, I had pen pals. Appropriately, my last pen pal became my wife. Although over the course of our courtship we graduated to more technologically advanced modes of communication, I still remember that first snail-mail correspondence as the most magical. It's where we coded our affections into every carefully penned missive, and in turn, we learned to read between each other's lines. I remember opening each envelope she sent with surgical care using a letter opener left to me by my father, a tool that allowed me to keep the entirety of her correspondence intact. Give the Lino to your dearest pen pal, the friend (or more) whose handwritten letters are similarly anticipated and deserving of special attention. Sending this stainless-steel letter opener says you'll continue to return the favor with many more letters of your own. Include with it a 3Doodler—the world's first 3D plastic-filament-printing pen—along with an explanation that you want to take their penmanship into a whole new dimension.
—GH

Nubbin of the Month Club artwork subscription ($450)
Talk about recycled culture. It's junk mail, newspapers, and old bank statements, all shredded, stewed into a pulp soup, and then compressed and shaped into a collection of hand-painted imaginary horticulture, adorned in retina-burning hues. If Pee-wee's Playhouse had a succulent garden growing out back—embellished with chrome, flocking, glow-in-the-dark paint, and micaceous iron oxide—this is what it would look like. Your friend with the red shoes, blue hair, and orange-painted nails will be delighted that you've gifted them not just one but half a dozen of these "Nubbins"—an imaginary garden they can keep without worries about soil, sunlight, or watering.
—GH

T-Lab wooden animals ($11–$55)
Certain toys are not just loved in childhood but also remembered long afterward. Mine was a small stuffed gray elephant that I carried around everywhere throughout my lil' folk years (and kept bedside for longer than I'd normally admit openly)—an elephantine Hobbes to my bowl-cut Calvin. Even decades later I can still picture the mute face and remember the plush hug of my toy animal companion. Though this menagerie of carved wooden toys isn't as soft to the touch, they're still heart-achingly touching in appearance, each one with a distinct personality that will undoubtedly spark the childhood adventures that, as adults, we shouldn't be so foolish as to ignore.
—GH

Oxford Pennants ($20–$25) and Georgia Perry Pins ($14)
Pins and pennants—there's probably some store in Williamsburg that goes by that name. That said, these gifts offer an opportunity to create some fun and frivolous combinations for a hometown friend (whatever their hometown), pairing local history with the cult of celebrity: a Brooklyn wool-felt pennant with a pin fashioned after the likeness of Hova, say, or a Chi-town banner with an Oprah pin, or the City of Angels pennant with a Kim K pin. These are gifts for the family members and friends who perpetually and proudly remind you which city is the "best"—the one they call home.
—GH

Negative Collection ($100–$200)
If you've ever gone to a flea market or perused vintage shops, you've undoubtedly run into a few trays or boxes of Kodachrome slides. These forgotten images of strangers can evoke surprisingly powerful emotions and memories of our own, intimate moments that we recognize as universal and cyclical, costumed in the fashion of bygone eras. An item from Negative Collection—limited-edition prints produced from vintage negatives and slides of notables and nobodies alike—is for that person who has insisted on numerous occasions that they were born in the wrong era, whose wardrobe could pass as the selection for a costume drama, and whose sentimental hopes lie in the belief that tomorrow might one day be as special as yesterday.
—GH

Dario 2 villain gloves ($55) and Triumph & Disaster Stash Box ($150)
These gifts are for your friend who is comfortable with being labeled the "bad guy," the one with a penchant for imagery of the dark, macabre, and villainous. For these aren't just regular leather gloves but leather gloves inspired by the wickedly stylish characters strewn throughout the canon of Italian arthouse-horror filmmaker Dario Argento. Get them with the red cotton lining for an extra detail of killer attitude. A complementary accompaniment: a gift set of shaving and skincare products with grotesque anatomy illustrations and luridly named products, wrapped in packaging that doubles as a stash box for all of your giftee's deepest secrets (bad angsty poetry, love letters better left forgotten, awkward high school photos).
—GH

Cooking for Geeks ($25) and Hinged Iron Utensil Sculptures ($70)
Wirecutter's pick for flatware should please the majority of folks looking for a balance between ergonomics and design in their knives, forks, and spoons. But for the relative or friend who follows the beat of their own drum, "different" or "unique" might be a better choice than "best." I'd give these hand-forged iron utensils to my geeky-cool friend with a steampunk streak, the type whose eyes and touch drift to the unfinished, raw, and primitive in everything they do, use, and make. Give a set with the science-oriented cookbook by Jeff Potter (a Science Friday regular guest), and you've established the menu for many future meals where rough meets refined.
—GH

Catchitecture Octacat ($30)
Writer and fellow cat lover Jean Cocteau once professed: "I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul." How such a small and particular creature can come to represent everything beloved under one roof can be hard to describe, but it's harder to deny. Recognizing this connection, how appropriate that you gift your cat-loving friend something that will provide a home within the home for their purring pal, a geometric hideout made of folded corrugated cardboard where kitty will feel safe to observe and pass judgment. Unlike typical cat furniture covered in carpet (and the tears of designers everywhere), these forms are modern and architectural, likely to please both the four- and two-legged occupants of the home. You'll be telling your friend that their crazed love for felines is okay in your book—even if it might be parasitically induced.
—GH

Arckit ($70–$400) and The Furniture Bible ($25)Maybe you can't buy your architecture-obsessed friend their dream house—but you can gift them one of these model kits from Arckit so they can explore all of their home-design fantasies in miniature. Here, LEGO modularity meets Dwell-magazine aesthetics: The sets consist of interlocking components suitable for anyone, Regular Joe and Joseph Eichler alike, who wants to design their perfect modernist home in 1:48 scale. Adhesive sheets printed with surface textures sourced from real building companies offer an additional layer of detail for exteriors, and 3D-modeling software compatibility allows more serious planners to use SketchUp to build their homes on screen before "construction" begins in earnest.

The encyclopedic The Furniture Bible, penned by professional antique-furniture restorer Christophe Pourny, is a fitting accompaniment, a 304-page instructional tome dedicated to the identification and care of furnishings, whether antique, modern, or anything in between. Think of it as a Haynes or Chilton's auto-repair guide, but for home furniture. Giving these two gifts together tells the recipient you hope they realize all of their domestic design dreams, inside and out.
—GH

Hauscraft Spell Kits ($45–$55) and Obsidian Pyramid ($10)
The free spirit. The hippie. The slightly loopy, lovable friend who believes in the powers of the celestial and the geological. Instead of trying to reason with them—again—stop citing science just for a moment and embrace their "inner vision" during the holidays, and give them something from the heart (even if your brain says otherwise). How surprised will they be to receive this pair of spiritual tools from a nonbeliever? They'll know that you care and that you respect them for who they are, juice-cleanse delirium and all.
—GH

ROOST barrett leather toolbag ($400)
This is the sort of expensive but thoughtfully utilitarian gift you give someone who: 1) regularly enjoys fixing things in and around the house (perhaps the same person you call when something needs to be repaired) and 2) harbors an appreciation for things that become more beautiful with time. The heavy-gauge burnt-caramel leather of this large strapped bag should patina beautifully and deeply like a baseball mitt, in time reflecting all the hours it has been handled, hauled, and tossed around from one project to another. Nine interior pockets and a front divider keep tool time in orderly fashion, and fashionable in its order.
—GH

Western Honey Bee Ring ($90)
Mathematician Jan Brożek believed that bees' hexagonal honeycombs were the efficient eventuality of insects evolving the least amount of material to generate a cell. Biologist D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson guessed that the cell's six-sided shape was the by-product of surface tension among the winged occupants' building in relation to one another. Whatever the reason, the geometric architecture of beehives is captivating. This detailed ring is for your most entomologically minded friend who appreciates the builder and the building, the one enamored with the charms of the six-legged, winged, and compound-eyed. They might be a backyard beekeeper or simply have an affinity for a bug's life, but you know them because they always stop to admire the pollinators. They'll consider you the bee's knees for giving them this 3D-printed polished brass shaped ring fashioned after the industrious Apis mellifera, aka the western honey bee.
—GH

'The Thinker' Ferrofluid Display ($50) and Page Thirty Three Tripod Oil Burner ($190)
Maybe you know an amateur scientist with a compulsive urge to ask, "What would happen if ____?" Give your citizen scientist this pairing and tell them you admire their experimental approach to life, no matter how wild or strange: a vial of mysterious magnetic liquid nanoparticles to tease their sense of sight, and a lab-style oil burner to please their sense of smell. In tandem, these laboratory-equipment-shaped objects will reflect the mind of someone always in pursuit of answers—and the next great mystery.
—GH

Lava Trays ($155 for two, $275 for three) and Meteorite Fragment 3 Pack Collection ($30)
So many goods sold today are mass produced, consistently and exactingly reproduced. That's why I tend to appreciate those objects made with materials inherently unrefined, their inconsistencies making each object truly individual. Take for example these Lava Trays, sourced from the volcanic rock of Querétaro, Mexico. One of five artisans works the magma-formed igneous rock into beautifully pitch-black serving trays, the sort of accent piece that not only looks beautiful but also feels tempting to touch over and over again, each rough edge and porous nook an inscription in geologic Braille. Similarly, a collection of meteorites gathered from around the globe—fragments from the Sahara Desert, the Campo Del Cielo crater field in Argentina, and Canyon Diablo in Arizona—offers similar visual and tactile appeal. Displayed atop one of the volcanic rock trays, it's a miniature tableau of the history of Earth and the celestial bodies that occasionally cross our planet's path.
—GH

Momofuku Home Run Ssäm Sauce Gift Pack ($40) and TOOOLS Banchan ceramic set ($150–$225)
Bossam is to pork-loving Koreans as brisket is to beef-smitten Texans, a tender pork-belly dish served sliced and unadorned, accompanied with various fixings on the side to customize each mouthful. Alongside thinly sliced garlic, fermented shrimp paste, kimchi, and greens, Koreans traditionally like to spice things up with an umami-laden red-pepper paste and then wrap all the contents up in a piece of Napa cabbage to consume in its in entirety like a megalodon. The taste is an orgasmic pleasure: Fat, heat, and garlic's pungent kick all get busy with each chipmunk-cheeked chew. It's the sort of meal best enjoyed with good beer and better friends, and a worthy alternative holiday-gathering menu proposition for those sick of turkey and honey-baked ham. This gift pack from David Chang's Momofuku Market is a new-school variation on the traditional hot red-pepper paste; the same sauce is served with Chang's slow-roasted interpretation of bossam. This set should make any spicy-food-loving friend grow bored with that ubiquitous red-rooster-adorned bottle—they'll be thrilled to introduce their taste buds to something new. But why the two-bottle set? So you can gift yourself a bottle too, of course!

If you've had Korean food you've undoubtedly been surprised and impressed by the array of small dishes—banchan—that parade forth onto the table before the main course. Artist Caroline Hwang and designer Joel Speasmaker's one-of-a-kind ceramic sets stand as sculptures when stacked, then split to reveal the perfect vessels for a banchan, tapas, or any other small-dish meal to share among friends you love dining with.
—GH

Technology Will Save Us DIY Speaker Kit ($40)
If nurtured and fed, a certain type of child's precocious inquisitiveness can blossom into something greater, as questions about "why" evolve to actions exploring "how." Give this DIY Speaker Kit, which turns any object into a most unusual audio device, to that gifted child who is already taking things apart and putting them back together. By presenting these tools you'll amplify their young curiosity, making it loud and clear that you believe that although necessity may be the mother of invention, creativity is the father of reinvention.
—GH

Slowtide Beach Towels ($50)
This pick comes by way of our head honcho and avid wave rider, Brian Lam, who calls Slowtide's Hawaii-and-California collaborative efforts in partnership with artists and designers "the best beach towels ever." Pick one for a friend who is always checking the tide charts, who lives for the sunrise and sunset swells, and who achieves their best body of work while in a body of water.
—GH