Melissa's Crafty Holiday Gift Guide
[1]Hansel From Basel [1]
Los Angeles-based Hannah Byun makes cute knee-high socks and tights. Her fun patterns instantly make any outfit not boring.
Poketo [2]
The purveyor of art wallets and T-shirts has also started carrying accessories, housewares and prints. Right now they are having a sale on their packs, where they bundle up a bunch of items for a discount. There's an additional 25 percent off stationery packs, T-shirt packs, and wallets packs. Buy a pack and knock a few people off your list.
New Leaf Clothing [3]
There's also a sale at New Leaf Clothing, maker of organic, handmade, and arty limited-edition clothes. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area and want to see the goods in person, New Leaf will be one of the featured companies at StoreRoom [4], a five-week long pop-up department store offering up to 40 percent off modern designy goods.
The Paper Princess [5]
Vintage-inspired stationery, cards and stamps by Southern California-based Leslie Saito. She takes custom orders and can put the name of a friend or family member on a sweet stationery set or rubber stamp.
Little Otsu [6]
Little Otsu collaborates with artists to design and print small runs of books, calendars, cards and other lovely paper goods. Their pocket calendars make scheduling your appointments a bit snazzier.
[7]Creature Co-op [7]
Plush animals and funny-looking creatures made in Los Angeles. But why stop at plush animals? Why not monster hats and bags too? A good place to find something for that little one, and for that grown-up with a playful side too.
Children's Book Press [8]
This San Francisco-based company makes multicultural children's books, including bilingual editions. Where else will you find a picture book about the internment of Japanese Americans next to Latin American folklore?
Streetnoodle [9]
One-of-a-kind jewelry, bags and more, all with a vintage twist and handmade by Ellen Ikemoto.
Best of Slant Volume 1 [10]
This is a collection of fun and quirky Asian American short films. This is also some self-promotion here, because I curated the collection. I don't think you can go wrong with the filmmakers on this disc though, like Wes Kim, Nobu Adilman, Dino Ignacio and Kip Fulbeck, just to name a few. And lucky you, it's on sale now here [11] and here. [12]
And lastly, how about a membership to Center for Asian American Media [13] in San Francisco or Asian CineVision [14] in New York? Your friends will be thanking you when they get priority seating, invitations to members-only events, and advance and discounted tickets to the Asian American film fests run by each of these orgs.