1 Week to Christmas: Backup Gifts

Figuring out a "thoughtful" gift for someone you don't really know well is really challenging so I get really excited when I find universally appealing gifts. I think these two gift ideas should adequately cover your gift giving needs for most older kids and adults you don't know well for under $15 that's a little more unusual than a liquor [for the adults] or gift cards.

PocketMonkey Tool - $12

I've come back to this PocketMonkey gift of a workhorse again and again this year. It was created by a friend of a friend so I can play up the "ZIT" connection and the "created in Somerville" aspect. It's not yet widely available so it's still a novelty and broadly appeals to most people age 8+. It's also super compact and TSA compliant so you can carry it on planes. When I traveled this summer, I brought five PocketMonkey tools to give away as gifts to relatives I had never met and they went like hotcakes. plasticmom emailed me this week, "I need 5 monkey tool cards for Taipei gifts" because "everyone wants one when they see it." The only small challenge is finding them, but fortunately EMS carries them in Boston and you can check store availability and reserve them online which is how I acquired 10 more "monkey tool cards" for plasticmom.

Pilot Hi-Tec C Maica Pen Set - $15

I am obsessed with these Hi-Tec C pens from Japan, but that's not exactly news. I use those pens almost exclusively because they write very smoothly and the colors are really lovely. I seek them out when I travel in Asia and I possessively hoard my pens. If you "borrow" a Hi-Tec C pen, you can be confident I will ask for it back even if the next time I see you is not for a long while. My friend Zara ran out [virtually] to JetPens.com to buy herself a set after she tried my pen. The newest version of the pen is called the Maica so it looks a little different, but the reviewers on JetPens really like it. I usually buy them from JetPens, but I see that even Amazon sells them and will Prime ship them to boot.