12 Things We Wrote About Last Week That’d Make Good Gifts

“Socks might seem like an unexciting present to some, but here at the Strategist, we politely disagree,” says our writer Brenley Goertzen. As we see it, “Certain socks can make for very delightful gifts, often because they’re both practical and cozy, which is a hard-to-beat combination.” And so, she perused our archive and the internet for some especially appealing pairs, like these from Alex Mill that she suggests for the relative who’s hosting the holidays. “Give them something stripy to look at when they finally put their feet up,” Goertzen suggests.

If Waris Ahluwalia is working with a $25 gifting budget, he turns to Mason Currey’s anthology of the daily rituals of more than 150 novelists, poets, playwrights, and other artists. “These rhythms become the architecture of who we are,” Ahluwalia says. “I love this book — it’s a peek behind the curtains of individuals we have long admired.”

“Luckily for me and all my fellow elder millennials and Gen-Xers, it feels like just about every ’90s band is back on the road,” says our senior writer Lauren Ro. For anyone who, like her, scored Oasis tickets and is eyeing the new Nine Inch Nails tour dates, she gathered some obligatory presents — T-shirts, remastered albums, and limited-edition LPs — and not so obvious merch — like this “Karma Police”–inspired teapot and two-teacup set — that would make a fantastic gift for the ’90s kid in your life.

Ever since KPop Demon Huntersbecame Netflix’s No. 1 most-viewed movie of all time earlier this year, it’s been even trickier to identify the actually good merch amid the sea of low-quality products and ones with long lead times saturating the market. To help you find the best gifts for all the Huntr/x and Saja Boys fans in your life, Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo pulled together a list of delightfuloptions, including a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl, a Yoto card, and this Derpy Tiger claw clip.

If Laila Gohar had to give the same present to everyone for the rest of her life, it’d be handwritten letters on her favorite stationary from Pettinaroli Milano, which we recently included in our gift guide for stationery freaks. While Gohar customized the cards with her name, she’s not precious about her pens: “I’ll use any pen. I have ugly handwriting, and no pen will fix that, unfortunately.”

“There’s nothing inherently wrong with candles, but their ubiquity — from Yankee Candle to Diptyque — makes them feel like something you buy when you’ve run out of ideas or time or just can’t be bothered to come up with something else,” says our writer Martha Tuber. As such, she makes a point of giving gifts that smell good but aren’t candles. Her shortlist includes these playing cards that are meant for scenting rather than playing. “Use them individually as mini-potpourris, bookmarks, and note cards, or leave the whole deck out as a bit of décor,” she says.

[Editor’s note: Antoinette Poisson lists all prices in euros, so the price shown is an approximate conversion in U.S. dollars.]

Until recently, the highest concentration of rock-based design Strategist contributor Mackenzie Wagoner had ever seen was in the 1994 Flintstones live-action movie. Thematically, that makes sense, she says, but lately, she’s been noticing design-y rocks — including boulders and pebbles — appearing everywhere from Marta and Blunk Space galleries to stylish homes in London and Los Angeles. Among the shoppable rocks she’s spotted is Keisuke Iwata’s rather realistic stone vase. “Smaller than a fist, each one has a small hole to hold water and a single stem,” she says.

[Editor’s note: The Keisuke Iwata vase is currently unavailable, but we’ll let you know when it’s back in stock.]

“At the end of the day, the menorah you pick should be determined by aesthetics rather than nitpicky functionality. Ideally, you’re getting one that can be used for many Hanukkahs to come and possibly even passed down to the next generation,” says Tuber. When celebrating with children, that might mean buying a menorah you can build yourself, like this one from the Jewish Museum that comes as a kit of 252 bricks to build a menorah that’s nearly a foot tall. Just a note: You can’t actually light the Build-a-Brick Menorah — but for plenty that you can, Tuber has you covered.

If you’re struggling to find a gift for the most discerning person in your life, Ro suggests focusing on craft and material. To guide you, she rounded up an array of options across categories, including handmade ceramics, museum-worthy jewels, and this heated outdoor lounger for alfresco entertainment even in the winter. It is large enough for two and can heat up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Traditionally, cookbook author Naz Deravian says, one must first parboil rice and then steam it to make a perfect pot of Persian-style rice that includes both fluffy, elongated grains and tahdig, the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot. But that all changed with the invention of the Persian rice cooker, which Deravian gifts to everyone in her life. “To make it really sweet, you can put a bag of rice in it, too. Then I hand it off with my own instructions,” she says, which she details to us in her ode to the easy-to-use kitchen appliance.

Every year, relatives of the Strategist face a daunting question: What do you get the person who writes gift guides for a living? As it turns out, the gift-giving talent rubs off because many writers are still using or reminiscing about the best gifts they received last year almost a full 12 months later. Writer Dominique Pariso’s caviar supply may be gone, but she still thinks about the gift that combined the twin loves of her life: caviar and The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. “I would absolutely steal this idea for any other RHOSCL superfans,” she adds.

If you’ve had the chance to catch up with Strategist writer Tembe Denton-Hurst recently, she most definitely mentioned her favorite pants from Everybody.World. “I mostly work from home, so I’m often searching for the perfect kick-around-the-house pant that I can also wear to a quick lunch or for running errands, and these are perfect,” she writes in her “Strategist Brain.” “Somehow, they’re both waist-cinching and slouchy but so absurdly comfortable.”