Whenever I see something that seems like it would make a good gift, I make myself a note. Sometimes these notes clump into categories, and sometimes not. This is post of gift ideas I’ve been meaning to mention, but they keep not fitting with other posts.

Marmar Magnetic Necklace Sets (photo from the shop). Wait, because these are even neater than you think. FIRST, they’re neat because to change the pendant on the necklace, you just click a new magnet into place. But THEN, they’re ADDITIONALLY awesome because they work with all the Marmar refrigerator magnet sets! So, like, you get yourself a necklace, and you have magnets all over your fridge, and in the morning when you’re getting ready you can PICK A MAGNET OFF YOUR FRIDGE AND PUT IT IN YOUR NECKLACE. A squirrel one day, a cupcake the next! A famous scientist one day, a Santa-hatted cat the next! This idea appeals to me so much, I really really wish I wore necklaces. I would buy ALL THE MAGNET SETS.

Sons of Anarchy temporary tattoos (photo from fxnetworks.com). (I mean, clearly the photo is from fxnetworks.com. Clearly I do not have this nice young man in my living room posing for a photo for me.) I saw a mention of these in an interview with one of the cast members, and I immediately thought “OMG THAT WOULD BE SO COOL FOR A FAN OF THE SHOW.” Or for the partner of a fan of the show. Ahem. No-judging zone.

Melissa & Doug Frame Paper (photo from Amazon.com). I saw this frame paper and immediately bought one (1) million pads of it, just in case they stop making it and I can’t have any more. The package was shrink-wrapped so I couldn’t tell if the paper was as awesome as I was imagining—and it is EVEN MORE AWESOME. It looks like REAL FRAMES. Like, from a distance, if you have some pictures on this paper hanging up on the wall, they look like they are ACTUALLY FRAMED. This is perfect for Elizabeth, who wants all her pictures up on her wall. And it’s a nice big pad: 48 sheets of it. It would be a great stocking stuffer—or a great present, especially with a set of crayons or colored pencils or paints. I’m planning to give it that way for future birthday party gifts.

Squish Colanders (photo from Target.com). These caught my eye at Target many times, but with really pretty stuff I usually assume it doesn’t work as well. Then the children broke my metal-mesh colander AGAIN, and I was in a pinch and I bought the 2-quart (green) Squish colander—and it’s great. I love it. It’s even prettier in person, and it looks nice hanging on a hook on the wall, and it collapses flat when you’re not using it, and it’s just been a very satisfying purchase. I wish I had a use for the smaller and larger ones so I could buy those too. The set of three would make a nice wedding gift—or a good gift for a collage student, for all that spaghetti and Kraft mac.

Building Stories (photo from Amazon.com). Nothing is going to blow my mind the way the Griffin & Sabine books did back in college, but this looks SIMILARLY mind-blowing: it’s a set of 14 little books and booklets and pamphlets and comic books that can be read in any order to make up one complete story. This is on my own wish list, and seems like it would be good for anyone who likes reading and is kind of difficult to buy for.

Mechanical Kitty Bank (photo from thinkgeek.com). My parents are getting this for Elizabeth this year. What I like about it is that I’ve seen variations on this theme since childhood and yet the idea STILL appeals to me. I’m imagining that Elizabeth and the other kids will finally get tired of playing with it, and then the years will go by and I will still have it, and all my grandchildren will want to play with it when they visit: it seems like it has the perfect level of small-but-PERSISTENT appeal that will put it in the Childhood Memories category.

Remote / Key Finder (photo from Amazon.com). This will not be the last time I mention this item (EVERY GIFT IDEA LIST FROM NOW ON) because it has so improved the quality of our lives. I gave it to Paul for Father’s Day this year, thinking it probably wouldn’t work or else everyone would have one—and now, five months later, we are still marveling to each other about it at LEAST twice a week. We use it CONSTANTLY for finding the remote, and many mornings Paul uses it to find the little thing he uses for listening to audio books on his commute: he’ll leave for work, and then he used to come stomping back in to spend five exasperated minutes tearing the house apart and getting me all agitated first thing in the morning; now, he comes back in, presses a button, and all is calm. We keep the finder thingie nailed to the wall so we don’t lose THAT; if we ever DID lose that, within microseconds I would have a new one on overnight shipping.

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