D.I.Y Holiday Gift Guide
The holidays are approaching us and sometimes it’s nice to get a more creative gift rather than a sweater or a pair of socks. The theme here is D.I.Y. We posted a few links from some of our favorite artists, crafty websites and a few book ideas.
These holiday gift suggestions are for girls, boys and everyone in between!
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One of the first sites I should mention is Threadless. It’s a site full of really great t’shirts designed by artists who submit their designs to the site. Whoever wins the votes gets their t’shirt printed. Until Dec. 16th they are having a $10 sale!!!
POKETO WALLET, $20
Poketo’s claim to fame began with wallets, and their line has expanded to apparel and stationary. Wallets (and other items) come from many emerging artists with so many styles leaving something for everyone. Wallets are very thin and durable with enough room for cash, credit cards, and change. Check out the site and pick one up for yourself, too!
STORYPEOPLE PRINT, $30
“I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.” (taken from print)
Brian Andreas has been one of my favorite artists and writers since I was just a young melodramatic teen. There is truth and humbling beauty in his “stories”. His sculptures and are handmade from found wood and each letter of the selected story is handstamped. Those are beautiful, but not the best choice for someone on a budget. A less expensive alternative is to opt for a print of your favorite story. Take your time and read through the stories until you find the one that leaves your heart aching and saying “Yes, exactly”.
Etsy- $5 to whatever you are willing to spend.
An amazing website that was launched not too long ago but has caught on with different DIY artists and shoppers is Etsy. You can do a search on the site by typing in an object, a color, an artist, a category, etc. It’s very easy to navigate and once you find some things you like you can view them in the categories of low to high price, most viewed, recently posted. I used this site last year and bought my g/f a couple art prints and pins.
One of my favorite artists on Etsy is Matte Stephens. He has several prints for sale at really inexpensive prices. He also has his originals posted but you will have to pay a lot more for those.
Indie Fixx is another online shop similar to Etsy. It has a smaller selection but still really good. It has categories of jewelry, bath & body, art, etc.
Eleanor Grosch who owns Push Me Pull You Design is a local artist based in Philly, she has done posters for several bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, Wilco, Architecture in Helsinki, etc. I have been following her work for the past few years. When Jaime and I first met I knew there was something to be said for a girl who owned 3 of Eleanor’s prints and had them hung on her livingroom wall. Eleanor has a very unique style and now on her site she offers a variety of things such as posters which are screen printed, mugs, tote bags, baby clothes, and much more!
Susie Ghahremani at Boygirlparty.com is another great artist we should mention. She does really great artwork and has a lot of gifts on her site with her signature illustrations that have been featured in several magazines and art galleries.
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Here are a few book ideas. They are continuing with my D.I.Y. theme here. Enjoy!!!
1. A Lifetime of Secrets: A PostSecret Book: A book full of handmade postcards mailed into Frank Warren. This book is the latest of the Postsecret editions.
2.D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself: If you are not a graphic designer this book is pretty handy. Even if you are a graphic designer I still recommend it.
3. ReadyMade: How to Make [Almost] Everything: This book is a best of from the ReadyMade magazine which is full of house projects. It’s hard to sum up all the great projects in this book so check it out!
4. Other People’s Love Letters: 150 Letters You Were Never Meant to See: The title explains it all. I saw this book at the bookstore the other day and couldn’t put it down.
5. The Guerilla Art Kit: by Keri Smith–Keri is another great illustrator, writer and guerilla artist. This book is full of step-by-step exercises, cut-out projects, sticker ideas, and has both fun assignments and handy tips to help you unleash your creative energy into the streets where you can really make an impact.
It would be nice to see some more street art here in the Lehigh Valley.
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This is the end of my extremely long post and just let me say that Jaime and I have been working on this for a few days. So I’m hoping that some of these links in this post have sparked some gift ideas for you, your partner or whomever.
Happy Holiday!!! xoxo
