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‘Give & Tell’ Archives

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Amanda Waas of You’re Welcome

Amanda WaasDon’t let Amanda‘s Scrooge face fool you. She’s actually one of the internet’s most thoughtful gift-givers. She’s a kindred spirit who dishes up gift ideas on her site, You’re Welcome. Yes, the name indicates precisely her sense of humor, as you’ll see.

You’re Welcome is “a gift guide for all of life’s awkward occasions,” including estranged family members’ weddings and assorted accidental pregnancies. She just wrapped her 12 Days of Gift Guides featuring 11 Pipers Piping: Gifts for a Stoner and 5 Golden Rings: Gifts for a Golddigger.

Amanda lives in Brooklyn and currently works in publishing in NYC where she interviews people such as Sheryl Crow, appears in publications such as Every Day With Rachael Ray, and writes “about ridiculous topics such as how to keep your lunch safe from a lunchroom bandit.” Thanks & happy gifting, Amanda!

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Amanda Waas's Gift Picks from Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Amy Ferguson

Amy FergusonToday’s guest gift-giver is the wonderfully fun Amy Ferguson. She’s a southern girl who has lived in New York for the past seven years. Amy’s a crafty, artsy, goofball—it’s no surprise why we love her so. She works as a freelance Art Director at various ad agencies in NYC and there’s a very good chance Amy’s work has popped across your TV and made you laugh.

She lives in the West Village, blogs happy things at Old Sweet Song, and has single handedly brought back the ultimate DIY gift idea here at Wantist, Rob Gordon style. Thanks, Amy!

Could you share a wrapping secret with us?

I really love the look and versatility of wrapping gifts with brown kraft paper. I like tying the gifts with string but I mix up the variety of string. Sometimes I use red and white bakers twine or just plain old white twine. And I just got an awesome spool of neon pink twine from the hardware store and it looks fantastic with the brown paper. There’s something sweet and retro about the look but it’s also polished and chic. Plus you never have to worry about holiday specific wrapping.

What’s the most inexpensive item you could receive that warms your heart every time?

I think there are few more personal and heartfelt gifts than a good old fashioned mix CD (Really, I miss mixtapes. But does anyone have a cassette player anymore?! And I wouldn’t even know where to buy a blank cassette tape). Mixes might be my favorite thing to give. I love curating the songs for the specific person, picking the order and then designing a personalized cover. I take it all very seriously! But getting a mix made with love is also really amazing. There’s something nostalgic about it that reminds me of my teen years. Can we all just stop what we’re doing right now and make a pact to not let the mix CD die? Long live the mix CD!
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Amy Ferguson's gift picks on Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Alyssa Yuhas of welikewelove

Alyssa YuhasAlyssa is all kinds of cool. She’s a tastemaker, trendsetter, and terrific graphic designer. She publishes a blog of inspiring things to like and love—music, art, fashion, it’s all there. In addition she’s also the creator of welikewelove, a quarterly magazine of wonderful things, currently in it’s 9th issue.

welikewelove is born out of a love for discovery, and the belief that discoveries are best shared with excitement and the barely controllable urge to include someone. You may remember this interview we did with the mag in the summer—so fun!

While I miss her IRL, she’s here virtually today to share gifting secrets with you! And for a dose of Christmas cheer, be sure to check out her Joyeux Noel board on Pinterest. It’s dreamy.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?

I’m not sure I have a favorite GIFT I’ve given, but I love giving gifts to my husband, family or friends when they least expect it. Any time BUT their birthdays, anniversary, Christmas, etc. (Don’t worry, I still treat them well on those days!) Randomly when I’m shopping at a store or online, I’ll see something that is so perfect for them– a record, t-shirt, necklace, book, etc– I’ll pick it up and either give it to them right away or save it for a special moment. I love giving when they least expect it. I love the element of surprise!

Tell us about a gift-giving ah-ha moment you recall.

Some people in my life are really hard to buy for– they have what they need and what they want. Or they buy it as soon as they want it. My ah-ha moment came when I realized I could buy them “an experience”. So, I buy a ticket or two to a concert, theatre, dance, orchestra, art opening, art class, restaurant tasting, cooking class, etc… and the best part is, buy yourself a ticket and you can do it together!
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Alyssa's gift picks from Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Chris Gardner of ManMadeDIY

Chris GardnerWriter and maker Chris Gardner is is the main man at ManMadeDIY, a crafting blog for guys (though this gal really digs it too). He’s also the editor at Curbly.com, a community of people who make things for their homes. As Chris explains, “ManMade recognizes that all sorts of creative outlets can be realized by, for, and with men. Rosie can rivet, Chris can craft, and all demographics can DIY!”

I’m been a big fan of Chris’s creative how-tos and crafty finds from around the web. In the spirit of the holidays, a couple posts of his you’ll want to checkout are Why You Have to Make Egg Nog… and How to Do It, How to Make Modern Perforated Tabletop Christmas Trees, and How to: Turn a Tacky Glitter Reindeer into an AWESOME Glitter Reindeer.

Oh and while you’re at it, don’t miss Curbly’s mega set of holiday roundups like 10 Other Places to Hang Your Christmas Stockings, or their rad gift guides like 30 Hip Design Gifts Under $25. Here he is sharing gifting tips and tales as only Chris can—thanks so much Chris!

Have you ever done any sneaky research to determine the right gift for someone?

Oh my, yes. I’m a total trickster when figuring out preferences or sizes for gifts. My masterpiece was giving someone a hug while secretly holding a tape measure. I also made up an elaborate story to snag my sweetheart’s fingerprint to make some original art for Valentine’s Day last year, and have managed to use calipers to figure out her exact finger size while she was taking a nap.

Could you share a wrapping secret with us?

I think brown kraft paper will never get old. It looks amazing simply tied up with string, but can be customized in all sorts of fun ways. Last year, I cut out the recipient’s name from old books I got for ten cents at the thrift store and simply glued them on. I also figured out a way to make custom gift “envelopes” by sandwiching the gift between two layers of craft paper and stitching it shut with a zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine.

Plus, it matches regular brown paper sandwich bags for those small or bulk gifts, which can look amazing with a simple stamp or hand-printed gift tag.
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Chris Gardner's Gift Picks from Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Amy Turn Sharp of Little Alouette

Amy Turn SharpI met Amy shortly after Alt last year. She’s a hoot, a poet, and the wood queen of Little Alouette, an organic wooden toy shop she runs alongside her master carpenter husband, Joe.

Their toys are beautifully handcrafted, wonderfully natural, and the kind you keep in the family for a long time. I gifted a wooden letter H to baby Harper last spring and I’m still waiting for the right little person to come along to give these gorgeous stackers to. Love the grain, don’t you?

If you need a gift for a wee one in time for Christmas or Hannukah, this wooden guitar and mustache rattle are in stock and ready to ship. And they’re awesome. Naturally.

Amy’s a mother of 3 in Columbus, Ohio. She’s also a public speaker, novelist, twitter addict, and blogger. Babble has named her as one of the top 50 Etsy Moms two years in a row. Thanks for joining us Amy!

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

When I had my last baby my friends bought me hours of mothers helpers in advance. That was ace. I will always think about that. Mother’s are good gift givers.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever given?

I think when I collected a life scrap book for my gran’s 89th birthday. I took photos and letters from everyone in her life and mementos and compiled them together in a large book. She cried for days and days. She held the book for a long time.
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Amy Turn Sharp's Gift Picks on Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with The Jealous Curator (aka Danielle Krysa)

Jealous Curator: Danielle KrysaHave you ever looked at a piece of art and thought, “Damn, I love that.” And if you’re an artist like Danielle, you might also be thinking, “Damn, I wish I thought of that.”

The feeling is, as she puts it, “a rush of uplifting inspiration… and total soul-crushing jealousy all at the same time.” A couple years ago Danielle started sharing her jealousy out loud on her blog aptly named, The Jealous Curator. The site features the work of emerging contemporary artists from a variety of disciplines and may in fact, make you quite jealous.

Whether it’s their talent that’s got you green or your wish to acquire one of the lovely pieces Danielle shines a light on, you’d be hard pressed not to find something you adore on every page and admire her great taste and beautiful curation. I certainly do.

She recently started taking her jealous curation from the blogosphere, to the white walls of actual galleries. (So jealous.) Today she’s here with us. Sharing her gifting tales and favorites from Wantist, it’s The Jealous Curator!

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

When I was twelve, I got a one-piece pink snowsuit, and ski lessons for the winter. That was the best Christmas morning ever! Oh boy, I was going to look sooo good on that mountain!

Have you ever done any sneaky research to determine the right gift for someone?

My husband, Greg, has always wanted a wooden ring but could never find one (they’re really hard to make for men, because the wood is so fragile so making a ring with a big enough hole is tough!). Anyway, our fifth wedding anniversary was coming up, and I remembered that “wood” was the traditional gift. I set out to find a jewelry designer that would make a ring for the love of my life… and I found one! An amazing woman in Seattle who made cuffs, earrings, necklaces, and yes, rings from salvaged wood. I had to do a bunch of sneaky measurements from old rings, and a few really good guesses, but it worked! She designed a gorgeous ring that fit him perfectly. On the night of our anniversary I gave it to him, and he was surprised/thrilled/stunned! He has a men’s lifestyle blog, and actually wrote a post about it (yep, that’s how you know he really loved it!)
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Danielle Krysa's picks from Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Badder Homes & Gardens

Badder Homes & GardensAs we begin to brine our brilliantly basted turkeys, spoon splendid stuffings and gather gorgeous gourds for our centerpieces, how about a break from the fancy finer things? In fact, let’s do the opposite of that.

If you’re easily offended and/or have zero sense of humor, stop reading and get back to that pie crust. But if you love a good laugh and girls who tell it like it is, then I’ve got a treat for you.

Say hello to the unMartha’s of Texas, Krista, Sarah, and Nikki. They’re smart, funny, sarcastic, and they swear a lot. They’re the authors of Badder Homes & Gardens—”the bad girls guide to good housekeeping”—and they’re sharing their gifting wisdom and woes with us today. Nikki even threw in a little tutorial for you.

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Nikki's Gift Picks on WantistKrista's Gift Picks on WantistSarah's Gift Picks on WantistNikki's Gift Wrap TutorialSarah from Badder Homes & GardensNikki from Badder Homes & GardensKrista from Badder Homes & Gardens

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Creede Fitch of Grassrootsmodern

Creede Fitch of GrassrootsmodernCreede coins himself a frugal design junkie. His site Grassrootsmodern is a long time favorite of mine filled with modern styled home goods at reasonable prices—in other words, many Wants!

He loves miminamist and mid-century influences and often finds himself with a hammer and drill in hand in order to achieve the style he wants without breaking the bank. He started Grassrootsmodern six years ago in order to share his ideas and inspirations on affordable design—you’ll recognize his blogging cohort, Wantist contributor Capree. (Design sleuth extrordinaire, that girl!)

Creede lives in Utah with his son, daughter, and golden doodle Ainsley. In between sharing awesome finds and working on his house, he took some time to Give & Tell with us today. Thanks, Creede!

What’s your favorite reason to celebrate with a gift?

I love holidays, and I definitely get into the giving spirit around Christmas. That being said, the best reason to give a gift, is no reason at all. I mean really, who needs a reason to be nice to someone, or show them you love them?

What’s the best food to give as a gift?

I could go two ways here. If the person is close by, there is nothing better than giving a gift of a home cooked meal. Everybody loves to have a nice dinner cooked for them, plus you get to share to food. Win, win. Of course that’s hard to do for you best friend out of state, so in that case I default back to my favorite food group. Chocolate. There is a fantastic selection of quality chocolate out there, my local favorite is Amano. If your friend isn’t chocolate savvy make sure you enlighten them as to the finer points of the bar you chose.
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Creede Fitch's gift picks from Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Emily Fitzhugh from Sodapopgirl

Emily FitzhughEmily is a design loving, coffee-drinking, bike-riding, Portland gal with amazing curly black hair. She’s a social media consultant with an interior design background and stays connected to the creative world through her blog Sodapopgirl.net. Her finds there are inspiring, beautiful, and just plain fun—hence her tagline, “shake it”.

After admiring others’ creative masterpieces for years, Emily started to make jewelry and just recently launched her new Etsy shop Sodapopgirlshop. Such lovelies. I’ve got my heart set on these!

Tell us about a gift-giving ah-ha moment you recall.

Choosing a gift for my Dad is the biggest challenge. He is a Boston businessman who seems to have everything. For as long as I can remember, there has been a collection of helicopters on the top of the bookshelves in his office—wood, metal, toy and pieces of art. Okay, Helicopters. He also is a self-proclaimed “foodie”. Well, a little known fact is that if you type “helicopter/cooking” into the Etsy search you will find a very handsome, handmade, men’s apron with helicopters on the front, made in Italy. It even says in the description “for helicopter fans to enjoy while cooking.” SOLD!

Could you share a wrapping secret with us?

My grandparents taught me a great wrapping secret. Save all your Christmas cards from year to year and then cut them into pretty pieces to create a little Christmas collage on the top of special packages. With a little snipit of a card, you can create a mixed media work of art. Using plain craft paper, a simple ribbon and a glue stick, let your upcycled Christmas card art shine!
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Emily Fitzhugh's Gift Picks form Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with TV Show Girl, Maggie Furlong

Maggie FurlongMaggie is an L.A.-based writer, TV critic and lover of all things pop culture (you can see her stuff at AOL TV and The Huffington Post or follow her on Twitter). She’s got more energy than a bumblebee and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. As you’ll read, her husband’s quite the sweet guy too.

When she’s not interviewing celebrities or scooping a story, her favorite multi-tasking hobby while keeping up with bad TV is online shopping—and she’s a big fan of Wantist. In all her adorableness, here she is. Thanks, Maggie!

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

The best gift I’ve ever received is a sun deck that my husband (and a few friends he bribed with tacos and beer) built for me for my 30th birthday. We’d lived in our house for a year, and it was so close to perfect, but my prized chaise lounges — once my grandmother’s — were always in the shade. The sun deck is a fabulous place to “work from home,” watch the sunset with a cocktail or get some quiet time with a great view.

What’s the best food to give as a gift?

The best food to give is anything homemade. From an assortment of pickled veggies your giftee can set out with dips at a party, to cookies or brownies straight from a package, food is always a gift that’s made with love. My new favorite that a lot of people will be seeing in their stockings come Christmas? Our house-made bitters in an assortment of flavors, suited to each recipient’s taste.
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Maggie Furlong's picks from Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Summer Robertson

Summer is the co-founder of 3 online shops (house&hold, fawn&forest and goodnight green) and lives in Portland, Oregon with her co-founder husband & three small sons.

Each of her stores has a clean and colorful modern aesthetic. fawn&forest, where I first met Summer, is one of my most favorite places to shop for kids and baby things. Their newest shop, house&hold, is full of wonderful housewares—both places teeming with great gift ideas.

In addition to her great eye and good taste she’s a really fun person with a super sweet family. I’m so excited for you to hear about her mother’s amazing number game, the drawings from her husband, and her wrapping plans for this Christmas!

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?

The best gift I’ve ever been given would definitely be my 3 sons. And the cast iron pan my husband gave me for Valentine’s Day when we were first married. I use the cast iron pan daily. It is sturdy, timeless & honest. Give it love and it will reward you. Just like my sons. Yes!

What’s your favorite reason to celebrate with a gift?

I like no reason at all! My husband is really amazing at this & I will randomly receive packages in the mail from him with great surprise. I also really like housewarming gifts. It is such a cozy occasion & a fresh chapter for new homeowners. I recently did a post on House&Hold on housewarming gifts. The products listed are my favorite 4!
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Summer Robertson's Favorite gifts on Wantist

Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Geek Dad, Ken Denmead

Ken Denmead is a husband and father from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he works as a civil engineer. He’s also the editor of Wired magazine’s parenting blog, GeekDad, where along with a group of other geeky parents, he posts projects, book and movie reviews, podcasts, and more about being a parent and being a geek.

You’ve seen Ken’s work around Wantist before—he’s also the author of the Geek Dad series of books, Geek Dad, The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun, and just released this month, The Geek Dad Book for Aspiring Mad Scientists, filled with science experiments and MacGyvery exploits for the family to do together.

Needless to say, he’s a busy guy, so I’m completely geeking out when I tell you that we snagged some of his time to Give & Tell today. Thanks Ken!

Could you share a wrapping secret with us?

My favorite tried-and-true technique is one I learned as a kid – curling ribbon with the edge of a scissors blade. But I always take it one step further. I will snip the ribbon into smaller strings, and then curl them, for a very interesting curly string effect.

Have you ever given a gift in an interesting way?

Especially with our boys, we love to do treasure hunts. And it’s a tradition in our family to put interesting clues to a gift on its tag. Sometimes they’re funny, sometimes obscure.
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Ken Denmead's picks from Wantist