More Christmassy content: some gift ideas
Sorrynotsorry, as they say (or, I started making a brief list and this happened). Mostly small gifts in the €5-€50ish range, including work from small businesses/creatives.
(I had a lovely organised plan for December that involved just doing the Advent writing prompts, but then I began link-gathering… so am squeezing it in before November ends.)
A disclaimer: I am not nearly organised or savvy enough to have arranged any kind of sponsorship or bribery or affiliate links or anything for the things on this list. (I am also not fancy enough for anyone to want to bribe me about such things, to be fair.) I’ve just been eyeing up other people’s gift suggestions and wanted to throw in a few things that might be of interest for people looking for gifts for others, particularly things in the €5-€50ish range from small (often but not exclusively) Irish businesses/creatives.
That being said, suggestion #1 is sort of the exact opposite. Flying Tiger have reindeer slippers. For anyone working from home, especially, or in this everyone-is-sick season, recovering at home, it can be pleasing to have warm and ridiculous things on your feet. (This list basically exists because I put a pair on yesterday.)
Next one is kind of niche but also perhaps perfect for the Irish-lover/tarot-card-appreciator in your life (I am neither of these, I must admit, but know many of them): the Irish Rider Waite Tarot. They may already have a set of the Tarot as Gaeilge, but you can also book a Year Ahead tarot reading.
I am a big fan of ArtbyKerBear’s stickers, which I feel are useful for journaling/progress-tracking/basically-brightening-your-day/life purposes. Honestly, I think we could all do with more stickers in our lives. “Do the things that made you happy as a child” is advice often given to people in a slump, and, well, stickers!
While I have you here… these are not Irish-based but other good sticker-y Etsy shops I would recommend: Wonder Doodles (cute-ness/mental health), Bare Bookish (books), Bibliofic Designs (more books), moehren kunst (readerly/cute-ness), Jellyfish Stickers (bit of everything).
Another thing I’m a sucker for on Etsy - earrings. But first a preamble. Like many humans, I have many thoughts on the commercialisation and corporate-pink-washing-ness of Pride, and whether it’s useful to keep having more and more highly-specific labels for sexual orientation et al (“in my day…” she began), and also how increasingly I think of that Alan Bennett line (when asked about such matters, he replied - and this may be apocrpyphal but it’s also so very much his wit that I don’t care - “that’s rather like asking a man crawling across the Sahara whether he’d prefer Malvern or Perrier”), because if you’re not On The Apps it is hard to do the dating thing, these days.
So all that, all those thoughts, which go out the window when I see these earrings.
Yes, that is the Bi Pride flag with books. Shiny Stuff Creations (Netherlands-based) has a variety of flags for you, along with a lot of other cool/quirky things. In a similar vein to the above, there is the risk of mental health issues becoming the sole way people think about themselves, and the potentially limiting effects in many cases, so consider that a disclaimer or acknowledgement or something, but look look look, serotonin earrings and necklaces! (Craftchemy also have lots of other cool things.)
Other things are cool. Space, for example. I love these solar system earrings from yugenhandmadeco, who do lots of space/galaxy/the-universe-is-cool jewellery, and also regularly have good deals on slight-imperfection or remainder items.
Once you’re into your mis-matched earring sets (channeling Claudia Kishi from The Baby-Sitters Club, maybe), future options open up. I love this pen-and-ink-bottle pair from Mixed-Up Dolly, which would be my number-one shop suggestion for ‘affordable quirky jewellery’ for people who appreciate such things (Christmas-wise, one might look at the mulled-wine-bottle/glasses necklace/earring set, the roast-dinner necklace, or brussel-sprouts cufflinks).
More jewellery recs: one-of-a-kind statement/pop-culture-icon necklaces from Kiki Na Art; addictively-pretty acrylic jewellery from Autumn Aurelia.
(Note from editor/self: can we get back to bookish things, Claire?)
This one, The Irish Writers' Handbook, I confess I have a vested interest in as I contributed a piece to it - but it’s a tiny sliver of a big book of wisdom on the Irish writing/book/literature/publishing scene and it’s one of those things that would be really useful for anyone writerly in Ireland unless they’re at, like, Booker-Prize-winning stage. Also, it’s just out, and it’s handy to have something more local given how many of these resources are UK- or US-specific (UK stuff in particular becomes a little further away the more the Brexit impact is felt, even though it’s still such an important market for Irish books).
For non-Irish writers/readers, a gift subscription to a literary journal is a good idea - sort of mini-anthologies of work from new and established writers. Tolka are bringing out gorgeous stuff at the moment. Winter Papers (annual production) vol 9 is out now.
Personalised notebooks are also a lovely treat and these can be as classy or silly as you like, depending on what text you add. Celebrating Great Irish Writers can and perhaps should be done with magnets - see Maeve Binchy below. Literary lip balms are also an excellent notion.
For the home, candles. Cailleach Candles are utter beauties (several people reading this will, I know, already be aware of them). A little bit witchy, as you might gather from the name, but very pleasing and beautiful even for those who are not into such things. Handmade soy wax candles with crystals/stones and nature-y bits in them - their Robin Redbreast is a gorgeous example of the kind of thing you might get. Warning: they are slightly addictive.
A more recent arrival on the candle scene: Pebbles and Kale. Unscented, soy wax, handpoured pillar candles embracing the joys of Hiberno-English. For all the eejits and gobshites in your life, but most especially for anyone with notions. I’m a tiny bit obsessed. (If you’re in Dublin, they’re in Arnotts now also!)
For nerdy/pop-culture-ish candles, try these Catholicism-meets-mostly-90s-TV Madonna votive candles (coming from Europe) or scented sci-fi/fantasy ones (from Canada - a better option for North Americans in terms of arriving before Christmas) or indeed these sci-fi ones (also North America).
And who doesn’t need a tiny moon lamp that changes colours with a little remote yoke and is USB-charged? They are beautiful and soothing on a dark winter’s night. (The smallest one is about the size of a tennis ball, if that’s helpful to know.)
(But books - !)
… I’ll get back to you on that front.
All images are from the individual shops, copyright their owners, etc.
Thank you so much for including my stickers! 💕
You had me at “channeling Claudia Kishi from The Baby-Sitters Club” lol. Also, I had never heard of Cailleach Candles! Thank you for the rec, I just bought a pile of them (for myself)