Everything Here is Wonderful: Screen-Printed Maps by Best Made Co.

It’s that time of year when we all start thinking about going somewhere. Getting outta Dodge and hitting the road, en route to somewhere wonderful. Lucky for us, this country is full of wonderful destinations, many of them right under our very noses.

It’s precisely these places that Best Made Company's Everything Here is Wonderful map series was created to celebrate—the parks, cities and the journey in between across these United States.

Hand-printed in Saint Paul, MN, numbered, and embossed with a Best Made seal, these topographic survey maps represent “some of the more remarkable and cherished locations you’ve ever (or never) explored.”

Give a Wonderful Map in recognition of a wonderful place they dream of visiting, or the one they call home.

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Wonderful Silk Screened Maps by Best Made Company - Anchorage

Wonderful Silk Screened Maps by Best Made Company - San Francisco

Wonderful Silk Screened Maps by Best Made Company - Austin

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Happy Friday, Happy Notes!

Photos by Tokketok

I was so excited to find out that Joke of Tokketok would be making more of these, and this time in a notepad form. Gold-foiled and on heavy paper stock, these colorful happy notes are a great gift for anyone who loves to spread a little cheer.

Have a super weekend!

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Lytro: The No-Focus-Necessary Camera

I’ve decided that today’s Gift of the Day needed a little extra attention. It’s that rad. It’s a whole new kind of camera, and it’s pretty amazing.

The Lytro Light Field Camera uses new technology that captures all the light traveling in every direction of the scene you’re snapping a photo of. This means your subject, the foreground, the background, and everything in between is recorded in focus, without you having to adjust anything.

You know those gorgeous photos with a shallow depth of field where the most important part of the image is in focus and everything else is a little fuzzy? Well Lytro lets you take the photo and then decide what’s most important (what you want to be sharpest) AFTER you take the photo. And if that’s not impressive enough, you can focus and re-focus the image again and again.

On top of the no-doubt-about-it greatness of all that, Lytro has a slim, portable form factor. Because of the technology inside, there’s no lag-time before or between snapping photos which helps you capture moments right when they happen, and not a split second later.

Have a go at it with the pics in this post. Click on an image and watch the focus shift. So cool!

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Create a Custom Photo Strip Phone Case

What do moms love? Moms love photos of their babies. And what do moms use every day more than any other thing in their bag? Their phone. So doesn’t it make perfect sense to make mom a super cool case that lets her take her favorite faces with her wherever she goes? Of course it does!

That’s why we’re all over Case-Mate’s new DIY features to customize a case for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Best-Friendship Day, any day!

Use a single photo, or pick several!

Choose your layout using Case-Mate’s DIY Tool

In addition to decking out your case with a single photo, now Case-Mate’s easy DIY tool let’s you create collages, photo strips and other arrangements. Tell the story of a favorite memory—a big trip, an anniversary, a family photo session, a messy time baking in the kitchen—by recreating it on the back of her phone.

The DIY tool works with many many smart phone styles and you can upload images straight from your photo library or even right out of Facebook or Instagram—hello filters!

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Scrabble Typography Edition

Scrabble Typography Edition, designed by Andrew Clifford Carpenter

Hey typography fans, here’s a gift for you!

Last year Andrew Capener had an idea. He wanted to revive an old, but loved game. The idea was to excite people about typography by giving them the ability to choose what font their Scrabble set would come in.

He created a prototype and won over the hearts of the people at Hasbro. After months in production, a limited edition set is now available for pre-order!

This is no ordinary Scrabble game. Oh no. It includes a beautiful solid walnut storage case with drawers and metal tile racks. The gameboard is made of six panels of solid walnut that are lined with cork and magnetized so that they snap together and create a smooth playing surface.

And the most exciting part of this luxury edition? The walnut game tiles feature a variety of beautiful fonts. Additional fonts are expected to be available for purchase after this initial release.

Time for a typography geek-out game night, friends!

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Feet on the Ground and Eyes on the Prize – 10 Serious Gifts for Capricorns!

Capricorn Zodiac Print by JSGD on Society6

Ambitious, sincere, competitive. Hardworking, committed and determined. These are all qualities of the Capricorn, born December 22 – January 19. Unfortunately, with a birthday that close to Christmas, more often than not, it gets overshadowed by the holiday and their gift becomes a dual purpose holiday/birthday kinda thing.

This year, don’t let the season overshadow their day! Celebrate your Capricorn on their birthday and make them feel special—even if their birthday is on December 25th.

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Give & Tell

Give & Tell with Amy Turn Sharp of Little Alouette

I 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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Wantist: Give Amazing Gifts

Posts Tagged ‘engaging’

Everything Here is Wonderful: Screen-Printed Maps by Best Made Co.

Happy Friday, Happy Notes!

Lytro: The No-Focus-Necessary Camera

Create a Custom Photo Strip Phone Case

Scrabble Typography Edition

Feet on the Ground and Eyes on the Prize – 10 Serious Gifts for Capricorns!

Give & Tell with Amy Turn Sharp of Little Alouette

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

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

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