Wantist: Give Amazing Gifts

Posts Tagged ‘stylish’

Make This Gift: Cheerful Paint-by-Numbers Coasters

DIY Paint-by-Numbers Style Coasters

DIY Paint-by-Numbers Coasters, photo by Halligan Smith

You guys, please tell me I’m not alone in my obsession with coasters… I mean, I really can’t get enough of them! Good thing there are so many fantastic DIY possibilities out there, including these colorful paint-by-number style beauties created by Halligan Smith. The way I see it, everyone needs coasters, right? Consider making and giving a set for birthdays, thank-yous, house warming parties, or just because! Halligan shares the process (and even offers free templates for all four designs) over on Design*Sponge, so go check it out!

Have you spied any other clever DIY coaster designs? Let’s have a coaster part—share your faves in the comments!

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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

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

Capricorn Zodiac Print by JSGD on Society6

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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Funny Office GiftsCurve_Touch_Lamp and Fluent_Stash_BagCord Organizers

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 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 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 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 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