3 options for easy and relatively non-cheezy holiday greeting cards
Can you imagine what it must have been like to be offbeat and try to send holiday cards 15 years ago? I can picture the aisles of stationary stores, where a sad looking proto-hipster can’t find a box of holiday cards to fit his family. Hokey Christmas angel? Goofy reindeer poop humor? He picks up box after box of beautiful cards, but they just don’t feel right.
Thank you, internet, for solving this problem for us. Now you have fine-grain control over precisely how sappy or serious or nerded out or swear-filled your end-of-year cards are. These three services will get you started on making a card PERFECT for your household.
A very gigantic age-appropriate gift guide for the adult and child geek(s) in your life
Here are three things I really, really love: holidays, geeky stuff, and gifts. I love giving gifts and receiving gifts and in general just having an awesome time with gifts — especially if they’re remotely geeky in general. Here are some of my favorite things I’ve found online — I felt like I couldn’t possibly pass up the chance to share them with ya! Some are kid-specific, and some are for adults, and some are just… for whoever loves them the most.
Undersea creature Christmas ornaments (including a Seussian fish, and a sexy merman)
My Christmas decorations are all ocean-themed. The santa on our stocking isn’t on a sleigh, but paddling a canoe, our tree is covered in shells and ocean critters, and our color scheme is turquoise, green, and silver. So, I set out to find some of the best ocean-themed Christmas tree ornaments out there — and came away with a big haul, all sea creatures, some more fantastical than others.
Just in case you’re cruising for gifts today… check out this butterfly that’ll never die
I don’t know about you guys, but I plan to stay inside all day today. Luckily for me, ThinkGeek’s Black Friday Sale is handing out deals on all kinds of cool shit, including the ever-amazing Electronic Butterfly in a Jar.
The objects that make my house a home
I’m about to move with my husband and toddler son from a much loved house that we own, in a city we know well, to rented accommodation in a town we’ve visited once.
We are nervous, excited, and deeply nostalgic. These are the items that make our house a home — and will make our next house a home.
Sweet organic goodness your offbeatling can wear, play with, or sleep in
The first thing I do whenever I find a new place online filled to the brim with sweet baby-and-toddler clothing goodness is cruise over to the “sale” section. This is half because I have this thing about buying new clothes (why do it when there are so many gently used clothes just lying around) and partly because I can’t bring myself to justify spending a third of my rent on something for my two-and-a-half-year-old to wear. SO color me stoked when I discovered that Wild Dill’s sale section is the cutest thing this side of… wherever they’re from.
The generous materialist’s confession: I give stuff away so I can get more stuff
First confession: I am a materialist. I like stuff. I like acquiring it, I like having it, and I like organizing it.
Second confession: I am a preener. I need to interact with my possessions — I need to use my things, touch my things, smell my things, and wear my things, to fully appreciate the things. This love of interacting with my stuff combined with sharing a one-bedroom home with my family of three means that I am a hoarding materialist. I need my possessions close at hand — if it’s stored, I can’t touch it and I might as well not have it. My friends with overstuffed, intimidating storage units packed tight with crap will tell you this quirk is a blessing. As much as I love something, if I’m not actively engaging with it, then it’s time to get rid of it. And if I want to get something new to preen over, then I need to get rid of something old. One in, one out.
This means I give a lot of stuff away.
Funky monster-themed accessories for your kid… or for you
I actually met the brains behind Htavos Kooky Monster Art Shop at Geek Girl Con, and purchased one of their “La-La Monsters” (they’re designed by his five-year-old niece!) — which unfortunately don’t appear to be listed at the shop! But you can snag one of these Toaster and Pop Tart Twin Plushies, which are suuuper cute.