Unique Gift Ideas
I love gift giving. Can you tell? Every gift has a story with it — some are practical, some are impulsive, some are luxurious. These are some of my favorite gifts from the last few years that I have given or received. Enjoy!
And don’t forget to stop by my shop for your own copy of The Nice List, my Christmas planner, stickers, or my other books, too. They make wonderful gifts.
Emma Bridgewater Mugs
I have a confession: I am completely obsessed with Emma Bridgewater mugs. I am a consummate tea drinker, and having just the right mug for my cup of tea in the morning makes that spicy deliciousness all the better. Emma Bridgewater’s mugs fit my hand perfectly. They hold a generous cup of tea — I don’t run out too quickly. And their artwork — well, they are absolutely beautiful! So many of the designs celebrate gardening and the natural world — including birds, flowers, and puttering in the garden. But the series of dog breeds is fabulous as are the cityscapes.
An Emma Bridgewater mug is a bit of a splurge, but they are beautifully made and cleverly designed. Anyone would be delighted to recieve one!
PlusTek Photo Scanner & Slide Scanner
I reviewed the PlusTek Photo Scanner a few years ago, and then during the pandemic they were nearly impossible to find. But they are back in stores, and I highly recommend this as a gift for anyone who has piles of photographs which need to be digitized. The ePhoto z300 is soooo easy to use, and it scans photographs beautifully — and quickly. I spent one afternoon scanning and accomplished nearly all of the loose photos I had in my home — thousands of them — which are now digitally stored and labeled. It was so easy!
When PlusTek sent me their scanner, they also mentioned a slide scanner. Well, that’s available now, too. So if you or your parents have a lot of slides around which you’d like to scan, here’s an easy solution! I haven’t used it yet, but I’m excited to see it has come to market.
Recently I gave my mom the photo scanner, and I’m looking forward to spending time with her sorting through old photos and putting them on her computer together!
Coolaroo Dog Beds
Ole and Pippa love their Coolaroo bed!
We can’t forget our favorite furry friends at the holidays, and my little pack loves their new Coolaroo dog bed! I was a little unsure when it arrived — they get freaked out by new things. But they immediately settled in and snuggled down like they knew exactly what to do!
These elevated beds are easy to clean (just hose them off), collapsible, and come in a range of sizes. My two pooches are snuggled up on a medium-sized On the Go Bed — the foldable, portable version. It’s great for our house, because we can set it up when and where we need it, and then put it away when we don’t.
I suspect this will be particularly popular outside in the summer since it is elevated. Ole and Pippa tend to flop in the dirt when it is hot. A breezy perch in the shade will be their favorite, I am certain!
Aren’t they lucky that Santa will be dropping off a new bed!
Joe Wos’ A-maze-ing Books
One of our favorite discoveries during the pandemic is the author and illustrator Joe Wos. A syndicated cartoonist, Mr. Wos illustrates mazes and puzzles with an amazing cartoon style which kids absolutely love. But not only does he illustrate books, he also teaches fabulous online classes, too. He can keep a whole panel of kids mesmerized for two hours on Zoom — all busily drawing at his quick clip. It’s remarkable to watch! He also won two Emmys this year for his program Cartoon Academy which is available on PBS.
You can find Mr. Wos’ schedule of classes and events on his website. My son has taken them through the Charles M. Schulz Museum’s online classes. If there is a budding cartoonist in your life, I can’t recommend his books and classes enough!
A Sewing Machine
When I finished my master’s degree, my grandmother sent me a second-hand sewing machine as a gift. To a feminist this might seem a bit strange, but that sewing machine was incredibly useful. I have sewn almost every window treatment for every home I have lived in over the years. I altered clothes, learned to piece and quilt, and made pajamas and fixed tears — always thinking of my grandmother. She is a venerate seamstress, and while my skills can’t compare to hers, I’m happy to follow in her footsteps.
A few years ago it was time to upgrade my machine, and I got a Janome QOV which is fabulous! I absolutely love it.
Sewing is back in vogue — why it ever fell out of fashion I will never know. But if there is a young person in your life who is crafty, a sewing machine might be a great gift! They don’t have to know how to sew — there are wonderful classes online as well as at your local sewing machine stores. But having a sewing machine around can be a great entry into a new making genre. I’m not a tailor, and I don’t make clothes generally, but I do lots of decorative sewing and know that I can figure out how to make something when I want to — or need to.
And you never know what door a gift like this might open!
Penzey’s Spices
When we got married, my college advisor gave us a set of Penzey’s spices. I had no idea at that time how special they are. Now I do! Over the years our spice rack has become a Penzey’s rack. We love their Northwoods Seasoning on chicken, and their Chicago Steak Seasoning makes for a fabulous grilled steak. Frankly, I don’t think we have ever tried something from Penzey’s that we didn’t enjoy! They have some wonderful gift selections on their website, too.
Works of Art
I follow a lot of artists on Instagram, and I find so much inspiration in their unique and personal styles. Many of the artists I follow sell their art or licensed merchandise — some through Etsy, some on their own websites or on Instagram itself. Each year in the giving guide, I celebrate a few artists. Buying a piece of art from an artist makes a great gift in two ways: you give something beautiful and unique, and you are also supporting the work of an artist. Here are some of my favorites:
Paul Murray
Paul Murray is a fascinating mixed-media artist from the US. I included two of his pieces in my Hygge Child’s Bedroom because they are both cheerful and include animals. He does lino-cut prints as well as acrylic mixed media pieces on a range of subjects. And just because I included them in a child’s bedroom does not mean they are childish — far from it. Murray sells via Instagram and also has an Etsy shop.
Lexis Krieg: LexisWorks
Lexis is a Denver-based artist who specializes in watercolor. Her work is cheerful, colorful, and happy — just what we need now! And she is a fabulous teacher. I have taken several of her watercolor classes (all on Zoom), and I have loved every single one! Lexis sells prints, cards, and home accessories with her beautiful designs printed on them as well as her original artwork. And her classes would make a wonderful gift, too!
Solo Stove or Pizza Oven
Roasting a bratwurst over the Solo Stove. Easy and fun dinner!
We absolutely LOVE our Solo Stove! With our chilly winters, it is so nice to have a safe way to have a campfire outside off our back patio. It’s a wood-burning fire, but it is portable and fairly compact, too. We love roasting hotdogs or marshmallows on a chilly evening — such a fun way to make a quick dinner!
And now Solo Stove has a pizza oven, too! We have a pizza oven (not the Solo Stove one), and our pizzas are amazing! It’s really easy to make a restaurant-quality pizza. Highly recommended!
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For Christmas, Hanukkah, or any time, this list includes unique and awesome gifts for men, women, teachers, friends, teens, kids, moms, dads, grandparents, boyfriends, girlfriends, sisters, coworkers, couples, boys and girls. With cool suggestions at any budget as well as DIY gifts to make and simple, personalized gift suggestions, the Mid Modern Mama Giving Guide has gifts from cheap to lavish.
DESCRIPTION:
- 30 weekly spreads with places for photographs, sketches, lists, and planning in any number of ways
- 6 monthly spreads designed for planning or for reflections
- Blank and dotted pages for notes and planning, sketches and photographs
- Printed on 70# paper – thick paper with a good tooth that holds ink well
AVAILABLE IN TWO SIZES:
- Classic (approx. 110 mm x 210 mm or 4.25 in x 8.25 in | same as the Traveler’s Notebook Regular)
- Wide (approx. 127 mm x 210 mm or 5 in x 8.25 in | an A5)
- Notebooks are made and trimmed by hand. Measurements are approximate.
Like all of the Owl & Ember notebooks, Garden Notes is designed to fit in a traveler’s notebook cover and is available in two common TN sizes, but it works independently as well.
MORE ABOUT GARDEN NOTES:
Garden Notes is a simple notebook: a place to make notes about your garden. It looks both forward and backward: both journal and planner. It’s a place to mark the months and the sowing which lies ahead as well as to reflect on the blossoms and harvests as the weeks of your growing season slip past. As you garden, year upon year, it also becomes a record. What flourished? What perished? When did the tulips emerge? The carrots ripen? The dahlias sing?
Whether you are a beginning gardener, a small flower farmer, or a dabbler with pots on a balcony, Garden Notes gives you a place to noodle about your plot of earth. With blank space for sketching, spots for list-making, lines and dots, and lots of freedom, this notebook leaves room for making it your own while providing just enough suggestions to help you get started, too.Garden Notes is the perfect gardening journal – created by Angela, a passionate gardener, and designed by Holly. In creating this journal, Angela looked at the scribbled notes she keeps about her own garden – pasted into a not-perfect journal. She considered the notes she and other gardeners want to keep:
- What is planted where?
- When was it planted?
- When was it harvested?
- How well did it do?
- What should we change next year?
Those big questions are particularly important when a garden is buried in snow, but the gardener like Angela is ordering seeds and plotting for spring. Frustrated by gardening journals that just didn’t quite work, she created her own. The result is Garden Notes – a beautiful, simple notebook with room for everything.
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INSTAGRAM: @owlandember / @midmodernmama and @messymamaholly
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A NOTE ABOUT RISOGRAPH PRINTING:
Garden Notes is produced using a Japanese Risograph printing duplicator. Imagine an old-fashioned printing press and a fancy copy machine had a baby -- that’s the Risograph. Each color of soy-based ink is laid down separately -- like a printing press -- on rich, toothy paper. Like screen printing, each page must dry completely before the next color is applied -- a process which takes days.The soy inks are applied like paint, and occasionally some smudging may occur. This is to be expected. And as with any handmade product, imperfections are part of the charm! The result is a beautifully printed, handmade product with rich colors and an artistic feel.Owl and Ember produces each printed product in small batch runs at our headquarters in Menlo Park, California. All Owl and Ember products are printed on FSC Certified papers.If for any reason, you are dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact us so that we can make it right.
ABOUT THE CREATORS:
Angela K. Nickerson (@midmodernmama), author, and Holly Kennedy (@messymamaholly), designer, both love office supplies, planners, stickers, and creative living. They have been producing The Nice List, their first journal product, since 2016 and have been collaborating on projects big and small for almost 15 years. Together they are @owlandember and owlandember.com.
All designs © Angela K. Nickerson and Holly Kennedy, 2015-2025
Reproduction rights do not transfer with sale of items.