Help with gifts

I don't know how to do gifts but I recognize a good one when I see it... and I'll see them here where the time comes

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Last Minute gift ideas

Some ideas for Christmas

Some ideas for Valentine's Day

Some help with gifts... based on aesthetic and vibes

Academia (STEM, Dark Academia)

Coquette

Mermaidcore

Nerd

Old Money

Retro-futurism

Royalcore (see also Princesscore, Knightcore)

Vintage Americana

Witchcore (see also Forestcore)

⚠️ I do not earn anything from this profile because I am not affiliated with any website and any online shop. ⚠️

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LMAOOO I NEED THIS FOR HALLOWEEN!!! I FOUND IT HERE BTW

[oddlyspecificgifts]

🍦Gift ideas for gelato and ice cream lovers🍦

Ice-cream churn

A gift card for their favourite ice-cream parlour

Recipe book for ice-cream

Sprinkle toppings and syrups

Mini-fridge

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Gift Ideas for Ancient Rome enthusiasts 🏛️

Books by Roman authors

Books about Roman history

Bottle of Garum

Ludus latrunculorum

Roman armour replica

Roman coin

Roman-inspired home accessories (here)

Roman-inspired jewelry

Roman mosaic

Roman mosaic kit

[littlealienproducts]

Big Cat Mini Crystal Ball Moss Terrarium DIY Kit by TheMossBossStudio

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I just found the funniest pen sets and I can't stop thinking about them LMAO

**For the people asking I bought the pen sets HERE

[yournewapartment]

10 Gift Ideas for the Broke Person

Gift season approaches, and I’ve been struggling on how best to spend what little money I have on all the people in my life who I want to give holiday presents to. I’m sure I’m not the only one with this problem… so I thought I’d share some ideas.

1. Mix CDs - make your friends/family a mix CD with handmade cover artwork. If you can’t afford a stack of CDs, make a virtual CD and share the mp3s with them over Dropbox.

2. Homemade Cookies - Spending $7 on baking ingredients allows you to make a large batch of simple cookies. Divide them and use as gifts for multiple people. Throw on a handmade card and WHAM you got yourself a spiffy gift.

3. Cooking supplies - I’m not talking top of the line Kitchen Aid shit. Go to your local dollar store and buy things like wooden spoons, platters, funny mugs for under $5. Everyone needs at least some cooking supplies!

4. Cacti - Don’t go to a nursery, go to a grocery or department store with a plant section. Cacti are some of the cheapest and easiest to maintain plants, they only really need to be watered once or twice a week. And they look awesome. If the person you had in mind likes to cook, you might want to consider buying them some sort of herb like rosemary or thyme.

5. Bulk food - This might not work for everybody, but I’m sure your broke roommate wouldn’t object to a bulk package of ramen or mac and cheese. They sell 12 packs of ramen at my local dollar store for $1 each. ONE DOLLAR FOR TWELVE MEALS.

6. Unused Books - I’m betting that there’s a book in your apartment/dorm room that’s in perfect condition, but for whatever reason that you will never use again. Wrap it in some gift wrap and scrape off the price tag.

7. Spa Day - For those of you in relationships (or who feel safe touching your close friends/family in that way) make mock “spa coupons”. Offer services such as manicures/pedicures, hair stylings, massages, etc.

8. Use your talents - Are you an artist or musician of any sort? Make a piece of artwork or write a song. Buy a large piece of poster paper at Home Depot for $5 and make a funny collage full of inside jokes that only your friends will understand. Are you a knitter? Make mittens for people.

9. Weird clothing - Go to your local Salvation Army or Goodwill and spend a couple hours combing the shelves for weird items. Funny t-shirts, strange hats, etc. Don’t go to department stores looking for clothing, it’ll be too expensive.

10. “Fancy” Meal - Spend $20 and invite several friends/family members over for a fancy dinner. You don’t need to be a chef or to spend lots of money to make something “fancy”, just make the atmosphere “fancy”. Make pasta with some sort of red sauce and possibly meat. Insist that everyone dresses up, light candles, play jazz standards, take pictures- make a real night of it. 

ALSO! If you can’t afford gift wrap use newspaper. 

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Cat paw glasses ♡♡♡

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OMG FINALLY I FOUND THE LAMP HERE!!

[asweetsimmer]

“christmas stocking stuffers” CC finds

⟡ stacked books ⟡ candle ⟡ glossier cloud paints ⟡ lotion tub ⟡ mugs ⟡ monthly journal ⟡ glossier makeup bag ⟡ nail polish ⟡ washi tape ⟡ sticky notes ⟡ scented candle ⟡

all CC is free/public access! all credit to the amazing creators @lilaccreative @pierisim @madameriasims4 @dscombobulate @peachtry @simkoos @charlypancakes & mycupofcc <3

check out my other socials for more sims content!

⟡ tumblr ⟡ pinterest ⟡

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Gift Ideas for Cinephiles 🍿

Books about Cinema

Cinema critics Masterclass

Favourite movie original poster

Filmmaking Masterclass

Local Cinema Gift Card

Movie Night Popcorn Kernels and Seasoning

Mubi Gift Card

Popcorn Machine

Projector + projector screen

Re-usable popcorn containers

Screen Magnifier for Smartphone

Tickets for a Film Festival

Top 100 Movies Scratch Off Poster

[70sscifiart]

The Last-Minute Sci-Fi Gift Guide

There's only one thing worse than procrastinating on getting gifts for your loved ones, and that's procrastinating on putting together a guide to help out everyone else with all those gifts. It's Dec 12, so you can decide for yourself which I'm doing.

Art book: Worlds Beyond Time, $32

If you follow this blog, you might have heard of this one. I published Worlds Beyond Time: Sci-Fi Art of the 1970s this year after five years of work on it, and I think it's really good! 400+ images, 100+ artists, with lots of fun art history and jokes.

Also, it's just $20 right now if you order through my publisher and use the code SKIPTHELINE! Cheapest it's ever been!

Card game: Coup, $14

In this "social deduction" card game, you play as a government official in a future dystopia who needs to backstab their way into power. Everyone starts out with just two cards in this bluffing game, so the tide can turn pretty quick when players start assassinating each other's cards. The fast pace makes it a good gift for someone who loves spies but thinks they don't like card games.

Game to play over Zoom: Bad Spaceships, $3

If a bluffing game stresses you out, try Bad Spaceships: It's a collaborative world-building game in which you roll dice to see what area of your spaceship connects to another, forcing you to spitball exactly why this is the case. As the game puts it, you might fix the hull by playing Tetris, or charge your weapons in the swimming pool. You're basically getting weird prompts to tell a story that can evolve over the course of the game.

It's such an indie game that it comes as PDFs you download from itch.io, but you can play it just as well over Zoom, if you're looking for an excuse to catch up with your old digital nomad college friend.

Movies/TV: Streaming service gift card

Gift cards are all well and good, but you can personalize them by recommending a few of your favorite shows as well. I suggest:

Hulu: Cowboy Bebop

Apple TV+: Severance

Criterion Channel: Ravenous, Paprika, Strange Days

Paramount+: Yellowjackets

Amazon Prime: The Devil's Hour

But to be honest, this entry is just an excuse to talk about the new Max show Scavenger’s Reign. Inspired by the work of French artist Moebius and with a clear debt to famed 70s animated film Fantastic Planet, this stylish sci-fi show features a bunch of humans trying to survive on a beautiful but hostile alien world. Perfect for lovers of fictional nature.

Vintage sci-fi

This Etsy shop has some good stuff, like the 1971 Frank Kelly Freas NASA poster above, a bit of history that I even mentioned on page 167 of my art book.

Penguin science fiction postcards, $28

These postcards have a ton of very cool sci-fi covers I've blogged in the past – great value if you want a lot of art for a low cost.

Meteorite pendant necklace, $34

I think we all know what kind of rock your loved ones need around their neck: A chunk of meteorite straight out of the 1576 Argentinan meteorite fall.

Book recs

For astronauts: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach, The New Guys: The Historic Class of Astronauts That Broke Barriers and Changed the Face of Space Travel by Meredith Bagby

For comedians: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Even Greater Mistakes: Short Stories by Charlie Jane Anders 

For sleuths: Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty, Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

For crafters: Knits of Tomorrow: Toys and Accessories for your Retro-Future Needs

For the resistance fighters: The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

For slasher movie fans: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Syd Mead "Biomorph Vehicle" button down shirt, $49

T-shirts aren't classy enough for the world's coolest visual futurist, Syd Mead. I haven't actually bought this incredibly odd shirt, but I really need to.

Art prints (and more) from 70s sci-fi artists

Artist shops can be surprisingly hard to track down on the internet, but here's a short list of ones I've come across. All of these artists are featured in my book (except one), so you can read up on them before you commit to a print.

Michael Whelan 

John Harris

Syd Mead

Don Maitz

David B Mattingly

Peter Andrew Jones - Jones was one of just a few artists who declined to be included in my art book, but he has a distinct, colorful style that I would have loved to have featured!

Finally, here's one extra bonus, just for everyone who made it to the end of this article: The UK-based educational charity Centre for Computing History sells three big officially licensed John Harris posters featuring these three artworks, famous for their use as covers for Sinclair programming manuals.

It's a great deal that I've never seen mentioned anywhere, and Harris' work has a timeless quality that makes it great for an unassuming wall decoration. If you're outside the UK, the shipping costs will be a pain, but there's no better deal for a classic sci-fi poster.

[chandelyer-deactivated20241003]

Spiderweb chain🕸️ - 10% off code: chandelyer

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Gift Ideas for Philosophers 💭

Black chalkboard

Book page holder

Book stand

Chess set (other gift ideas for chess lovers)

Famous Philosophers Linen Tote Bag (here)

Favourite philosopher's biography

Favourite philosopher's books

Golden Ratio and Greek architecture A6 Notebook (here)

Journey to Athens or the city of their favourite philosopher

Model of Divine Proportion

Owl of Athens figurine

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Gift Ideas for Agatha Christie's fans 🔎

"A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie" by Kathryn Harkup

Cluedo (board game)

Cruise on SS Sudan on the Nile

DVDs of "Agatha Christie's Poirot" with David Suchet

First editions of Agatha Christie's books

Harney & Sons tea blenders inspired by Agatha Christie's books

Orient Express tickets

"Recipes for Murder: Agatha Christie's Cookbook" by Karen Pierce 

Stay in Greenway Apartment, Agatha Christie’s former holiday home

"The Complete Christie: An Agatha Christie Encyclopedia" by Matthew Bunson

The World of Agatha Christie 1000 Piece Puzzle

Tote Bags inspired by Agatha Christie's works

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Gift Ideas for Chess Lovers ♟️

Travel chess set

Vintage chess set

Handmade chess set

Star Trek Tridimensional chess set

Camaratta's Championship chess table

Carrying case for chess board, pieces and clock

Chess coaching lessons

Chess.com membership

[oddlyspecificgifts]

Gift Ideas for Alchemists ⚗️

Aesthetic Terrarium Vase (here)

Alchemy book

Alchemy Zipper Bag (here)

Lab Storage Jars

Materials for their alchemy

Models of Divine Proportion

Test Tube Vase (here)

Vintage Style Candle Holder (here)