I love the festivity of Christmas, I do not love the frenzy of Christmas. As the years pass ever more quickly by, I have learned that if I do not begin slowly making plans for our family’s Advent + Christmas celebrations, I slide into December 24th (which is also my birthday) feeling jittery, empty, and decidedly un-festive.
So. Yes, while it is only October, and there are holidays to be celebrated between now and Christmas, I wanted to offer a simple gift guide for the readers in your life (or perhaps for you, my fellow readers). Here are the criteria I used for creating this list of gift ideas:
-All are items I actually own and love
-All are sold by a company who won’t pester you with two emails a day for the rest of your life. In fact, Book Darts is so good at this that they may only send one email per year. You’re welcome.
And while I love a thoughtful and delightful gift guide as much as the next gal, I also notice that my eyes start to glaze over when I’m reading one with 37 items in it; this guide has only five; again, you’re welcome!
I have been using and loving these America-made notebooks since about 2019. From the brass wire binding to the cotton bookcloth covers in beautiful hues, these notebooks (the lined ones are my favorite but they come in grid and blank, too) are a lovely way to journal, jot down ideas for the upcoming holiday season, or (my favorite) to commonplace with. So many wonderful ways to use them. I prefer the Notebook size (their largest one at 7.5” x 9.5”), but I have used and loved the Workbook (6.5” x 8.5”) as well. They also monogram beautifully.
Beautiful as an understated bookmark and also fantastic for marking favorite passages, I am a book darts devotee. I bought a tin for each of my oldest four children before last school year, but since none of them really took to using them, I now have an even larger collection for all my book-marking needs. I have also used the darling ombre sticky tabs for marking pages I want to remember in my books…but I have no idea if those can easily be removed without causing damage in the years to come. Book darts, on the other hand, always remove without leaving a stain or damaging your beloved copy of Jane Eyre.
Okay, so a candle may seem a bit odd to include in a gift guide for readers, but let’s be honest, is there anything better than a just-right setting or ambience when you settle in for a cozy autumn/winter afternoon of reading? And what is an essential component of said ambience? That’s right, fire. Whether a roaring fire in the hearth (not so practical for those of us in places that are still hitting the 80s currently) or a few candles scattered in your living room, the flickering amber glow of a flame, large or small, adds that je ne sais quoi to any reader’s favorite nook.
I’m pretty picky about scent in candles; many are so fragranced that they give me a slight headache. This one by Trapp, however, is subtle but noticeable; their orange vanilla votive is zesty from the orange, with a slight warmth & sweetness from the vanilla—it is, for me, a perfect candle scent. My mother would buy these when I was a teenager, and it took me years to finally notice what made our house smell so lovely. I’ve been enjoying these for over 20 years!
Yes, you can buy these in larger jars, but I find that the 2-ounce votives are cheaper per ounce, and they add the perfect hint of fragrance to a room. Pop them in a glass votive holder and settle in for a cozy evening with a moody autumnal read.
Ah the charm of the Felix Doolittle watercolor paintings! I have loved Felix’s notecards/labels/etc since around 2007, and these bookplates are simply delightful for any reader’s collection, young or old. These smaller bookplates are darling, too.
These linen-bound classics, with silk ribbon markers and gilded page edges, are gorgeous, and while I’m breaking my own rules for this gift guide, (I don’t own any of these yet) I do plan on acquiring one or two, perhaps as a gift for my older daughters, because what lover of literature wouldn’t want a(nother) copy of Emma, in a beautifully unique edition?
Sometimes, despite all the beautiful gifts one can buy, a thoughtful handwritten Christmas card/letter is the very best gift of all (really!). One of my favorite books about letter writing is by Nancy Reagan in which she lovingly chronicles the letters her husband wrote to her during their marriage. If you want to have a good wholesome cry, go read this letter he wrote to her one Christmas (he gave her a handwritten letter every single year on Christmas morning).
And on the subject of sending Christmas cards, I wrote this last year to help myself answer the question: should I send cards this year? Sometimes, the answer is no, and that’s okay.
Should you send a Christmas card this year?
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October 29, 2024
From cookie decorating to caroling, concerts to parties, gift wrapping to menu planning, the Christmas season can be a time of anxiety and overwhelm, and even discontent and depression.
May your gift-giving (and letter-writing) be joyful!
-Shannon
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