MetaFilter posts tagged with gifts

when you need that unusual gift ...

madamjujujive — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:50:24 -0800

Matchbox Project

Fiasco da Gama — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:50:52 -0800

Each week, a decorated matchbox with a tiny present hidden inside is left by a girl (and sometimes willing friends) somewhere in her travels.

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.

jbickers — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:45:13 -0800

"This year, Americans are planning to spend over $400 on Christmas gifts. Instead of buying things we can’t afford, here’s a way to do something more meaningful." Via

So Bad They're Good (At Being Bad)

amyms — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:32:30 -0800

Bad Gift Emporium. Can't stand to look at that glittery unicorn statue from Aunt Ethel any longer? Can't bear to wear the hand-knitted sweater from Grandma Agnes (made from her own cat's hair)? Want to offer your horrific gift items to people who can truly appreciate them, or just share the misery? The Bad Gift Emporium is for you.

The whore you know...

psmealey — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:19:35 -0800

Hieronymus Bosch Action Figures: Bosch action figures; a perfect gift for that special niece or nephew whose tastes tend toward the demonic and grotesque.

Holiday Gift Guides

lalex — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:57:06 -0800

Need some help with holiday shopping? Me too. Here's a gift guide roundup: NY Mag * TimeOutNY * Wired * Engadget * CNET * Salon * Time * Newsweek * WaPo * Cool Hunting * DesignSponge under $25 and affordable art guide * Etsy * NOTCOT * Lucky * In Style * Style.com * Travel & Leisure * Treehugger * BoardGameGeek * Babes in Toyland (NSFW) * Babble

Guides from Design*Sponge.

dobbs — Sat, 12 May 2007 08:49:25 -0800

Yesterday, Design*Sponge added a city guide for Toronto to their small but growing list of Guides. The list also includes a Letter Press Guide, an Affordable Art Guide, a Gift Guide (2006), and guides for Brooklyn and LA.

Holiday gifts for the world.

divabat — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 17:46:00 -0800

In need of last-minute Christmas gifts? Want to help the world in some way? Websites like ChangingThePresent and Alternative Gifts International allow you to buy or sponsor something useful as a present - from an hour with a creative coach, to wheelchairs in Cambodia; from walking children to school in the West Bank to flighting corruption. Maybe even a charity gift certificate? [more inside]

unregiftable

nickyskye — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:30:33 -0800

Awful Christmas gifts come in many varieties. For starters, there's Yule Doos or Jingle Smells.

Christmas, it seemed, doesn't come from a store...

anastasiav — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 07:32:14 -0800

Hundred Dollar Holiday

MAKE's open source gift guide

mathowie — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 10:57:32 -0800

There are a lot of gift guides for the holiday season, but Make Magazine's open source gift guide skews towards the cool, techy, but also hackable products. Lots of great things listed including: display images in your bike spokes with a POV kit, an open source media server, control your house lights with perl, and free planetarium software.

Guides To Giving

jack_mo — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 06:41:20 -0800

Guidestar.org.uk offers detailed information on all 167,000 registered charities in England and Wales, as well as guides to giving and volunteering. And, should you wish to give Christmas gifts that make a difference, The Alternative Gift Catalogue and Good Gifts can help.

I need more money

cleverusername — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 13:29:47 -0800

So, d o e s a n y o n e h a v e a n y s u g g e s t i o n s o n w h a t t o g e t t h i s h o l i d a y s e a s o n ?

Online gift manager

cerebus19 — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:44:25 -0800

GiftBox is a new web application that allows you to keep track of gifts you've given to others, plan to give to others, or that people have given to you. It lets you create wishlists and send thank-you e-cards. All info is password-protected, and their privacy policy seems better than most. Free for up to three holidays, or $19/year for unlimited holidays. (I am not affiliated with the site in any way; I just admire it and thought that, with the holiday season upon us, others might like it, too.)

Because it's too big a sack for one man to carry.

FlamingBore — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 07:13:39 -0800

Elfster is a free web-based utility for automating Secret Santa gift exchanges. My office is Holiday-Cheer-Challenged this year, but after finding Elfster, things are looking up. There's nothing a tech company likes more than a new-fangled spin on a classic.

Computer Rage is all the rage...

mhaw — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 19:42:54 -0800

At least 10 percent of high-tech gifts this holiday season may fall victim to "computer rage" - acts of uncontrolled frustration by their owners - estimates University of Maryland professor Kent Norman, a cognitive psychologist who directs the Laboratory for Automation Psychology and Decision Processes.

Buy Nothing Christmas

Doohickie — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 22:10:48 -0800

The perfect Christmas gift for the geek in your life. Or maybe you need something for your new niece or nephew? Then again, this site may have all the stuff on your gift shopping list.

Give a goat. Send a sheep. Lend a Llama.

holloway — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 17:37:17 -0800

Dude, sending money to other starving dudes is so...abstract. Give the needy what they need. Like ducks or something!

Craft Templates

jonah — Wed, 21 Jan 2004 13:46:33 -0800

Templates that you can use to make custom cards, envelopes, and boxes , requires only minor paper folding skill to make one of a kind gift holders/presenters. I like the take out box and the trapezoid box for some reason.

Gee, thanks

essexjan — Sun, 28 Dec 2003 05:02:52 -0800

Er ... thanks, just what I, er, wanted. Hate the sweater you were given for Christmas? It could have been worse ... far, far ,worse.

The Deadweight Loss Of Chistmas

KirkJobSluder — Wed, 24 Dec 2003 11:49:39 -0800

Some economists debate why we can and if we should give gifts for Christmas. Because a gift is likely to be valued less by the recipient than for the giver, Christmas has been considered by some to be a "deadweight loss" equivalent to tearing up banknotes. To get around this, other economists propose that the value of the gift for the recipient comes from the process of finding a rare gift. On the other hand, perhaps this is one case where we should rethink the basic rationality assumption that economic decisions can be explained by models that maximize individual wealth.

All I want for Christmas...

sanitycheck — Mon, 24 Nov 2003 09:27:43 -0800

Want to create a Christmas list that's not limited to items available at Amazon? There are several universal wishlist websites at your disposal.

Holiday geek shopping ideas

madamjujujive — Sun, 15 Dec 2002 10:04:45 -0800

Last minute shopping? Still looking for the right thing for that special geek in your life? Perhaps you might cater to the fetish for the modern-day Mona? Or maybe a propeller beanie? Some sophomoric seasonal gag gifts? Some retro kitsch? Some religious memorabilia? Some odd surplus? Or if money is no object, gadgets and robots are always a safe bet. But you better hurry - you're down to the wire! thanks, amberglow!

Help save the woodland by covering your vagina with dead marsupials.

XQUZYPHYR — Mon, 09 Dec 2002 10:31:53 -0800

Possums are labelled an ecological pest in New Zealand, so apparently it's considered "pro-environment" to exterminate the little buggers. With that good feeling about wearing fur in your minds, save the forest and ease your holiday shopping at the same time with some fine New Zealand Possum Fur G-strings and nipple warmers. (Probably NSFW) But don't leave out the kids' Christmas lists! Make sure they get this season's hot toy- a possum hand puppet fashioned straight from the carcass of the real thing! Mmmm, it's still warm.

MeetMegan — Fri, 03 May 2002 11:07:27 -0800

Mother's Day is coming up! What's the coolest gift you ever got your mom? Any ideas for the rest of us?