Cute Cats–Cool Gift Ideas for Cat-Lovers

Da Vinci was most certainly right when he said that the smallest feline is a masterpiece! I mean, who wouldn’t stop and stare in googley-eyed awe at the sight of a kitten? Likewise, cats are a popular subject for online entertainment. From YouTube to blogs, nearly everyone everywhere is showcasing or parodizing the cat’s personality and antics in some form or fashion. More popular and successful works have been published, publicized, and franchised—which is convenient if you’re stuck trying to find a gift for someone who adores cats. There are a few cute and cool cats on the internet that I know which also have some of their own merchandise! Their comic craftsmanship and charming nature will make them the gifts you’re looking for to give to that cat-loving friend or family member!

Simon’s Cat—Simon’s Cat is a delightful cartoon phenomenon from YouTube! Hand-drawn frame-by-frame, this feline is aesthetically simplistic, but lives the hilarious and crazy life all cats lead!  Just recently produced for Simon’s Cat are a brand-new cartoon book, an animated short, and even a few iPhone apps!

Pusheen the Cat—Pusheen the cat is a cute, plushy GIF character that lives on Tumblr! In addition to being a blog-able statement, Pusheen is quite a fashion statement too as she is on a number of apparel and accessories.

Gemma Correll—Gemma Correll is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist. Her artistic interests are a wider range beyond just cute pets and her style, especially those of her cat cartoons, is satirical and sketch-like. Her cats can be found on several of her nick-knacks and in her book “A Cat’s Life”.

Naturally, felines are beautiful and graceful creatures. Artistically, they are even more ingenious as a statement on their dispositions is expressed for entertainment! Any feline-fan will appreciate a gift with any of these internet sensations this holiday season! They’re each a masterpiece in their own right, and totally the cat’s meow!

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A Whimsical Twist on Practical Houseware

Wolfum creator Annabel Inganni spent nine years in apparel design before her designs took an interesting turn in 2010. Inganni is now creating household items like linen napkins, bookends, and coasters, but her flair for the unique provides a whimsical and stylish twist to these seemingly traditional pieces.

Los Angeles based Wolfum makes simple, everyday products from organic cotton, recycled poly twill, and FSC certified walnut. Quality materials mean lasting items, and lasting items mean less replacement and waste. If that wasn’t enough, bold patterns and colors like sage, olive, and navy adorn each hand-made product.

Wolfum’s collection of unique linens have a timeless appearance, with patterns that could have easily been taken from a trunk of beloved vintage items or used to embellish a modern tabletop. Wolfum’s colorful animal bookends and wall hangers also add a fanciful feel the the collection. Tigers, rabbits, coyotes, and a slew of other creatures in a variety of delightful patterns and colors would be perfect for a child or adult.

Whether it’s a mix-and-match collection or a coordinated set, Wolfum products are Inganni’s answer to a boring room. U.S. made and built to last, Wolfum’s whimsical products can be purchased at California shops like ST&NDARD GOODS and La La Ling, as well as Wolfum’s website.

Nanoblock

Sometimes the older crowd misses the days when they were able to play with building blocks and get away with it. One company recognized that and decided to do something about it! We all used to love building crazy creations with blocks and wasting countless hours making intricate structures out of blocks to then just take it apart. Nanoblock is all about the building of smaller block creations only not to be taken apart afterwards but instead collected and displayed! Nanoblocks are the building blocks designed for those more skilled than the average child and more patient. These little blocks are really quite small and measure smaller than a coin. Patients and time is no doubt a factor required when building with Nanoblocks, but one that pays off in the end with an individual piece of collectable art!

It makes sense really, why spend time building something only to take it apart? You don’t have to with these tiny building blocks, in fact they come packaged to where you have enough blocks to build the specific design that you buy. It’s not hard to build with them, but it does take some time compared to throwing a few big toy blocks together. So if you fall into the category of those “too old” to play with blocks, then Nanoblock are most certainly for you! With plenty of designs to choose from and a continuously growing catalogue you are sure to be entertained with these little blocks for a big amount of time!

Hot Chocolate Bliss, The Best Hot Chocolate Ever!

Imagine you’re outside on a cold winter day, snow is falling around you, your teeth are chattering from the cold. You’re freezing when you finally go inside to warm yourself. What’s the best thing on a cold winter day, after being out in the cold? What warms you from the inside out? That’s right, delicious hot chocolate.

The shop Hot Chocolate Bliss, has some of the most delicious hot chocolate imaginable, and the shop contains a vast variety of flavors. Currently, Hot Chocolate Bliss is featuring three flavors: Stephen’s Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate, Godiva’s Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa, and Land O Lake’s Raspberry Hot Chocolate. If you order over $25 worth of hot chocolate, you will also receive free shipping, until October 30th.

The Land O Lake’s Raspberry Hot Chocolate, is a mouthwatering drink, its sweet, smooth, and it’s topped off with the delicious taste of raspberries. It is the perfect drink after a day out in the cold. The Godiva’s Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa, is amazingly rich and sweet, more so than any other hot chocolate I’ve ever tried.

If you need to buy some gifts for friends and relatives, who happen to be hardcore hot chocolate fans, I suggest purchasing them from Hot Chocolate Bliss’s website. It will be money well spent, and the recipients will love the hot chocolate!

Visit www.hotchocolatebliss.com, to view the different flavors of hot chocolate available for purchase and place an order. You will not regret it!

                       

Cloth and Patina

If you are looking for unique, vintage decor, Cloth and Patina in the place for you. Cloth and Patina Vintage, Rustic Home & Wedding Decor has a variety of home decor that is very cool and almost whimsical. Shop owner Tammy Serrano says that she likes adding a “little sparkle” to old and warn pieces. She collects antiques, vintage and salvaged items and restyles them. She is very happy to answer questions and concerns.

Cloth and Patina is “adding elegance and charm to the unexpected”. The unique items include everything from antique glasses and plates to homemade knickknacks that would add a unique touch to any home. There are burlap wall hangings that have rusty frames and simple buttons and subtle jewels, spelling out sweet and inspirational words. Neat vintage metal and wood magnets. She also has wedding items, and is willing to work with people to create custom wedding decor. She has a few holiday items. For fall, there is a French-inspired paper mache pumpkin. For the coming Christmas season, there are unique Italian made gold candle ornaments.

All of the items on Cloth and Patina are unique and handmade. Tammy Serrano resides in Florida, but it willing to ship world-wide. She is not willing to provide quantity over quality! All her items are special. There are easy ways to pay, and she ships as ECO-friendly as possible. Her neat and exclusive items make for a beautiful or vintage way to style your home!

Dream Weaver Shop

The shop Dream Weaver is home to some pretty amazing tea, and you can find nearly any natural tea flavor you’re looking for. This shop makes buying tea as easy as placing a simple order, and waiting! According to Bob, the man who runs the Dream Weaver shop, “I prefer to sell whole leaf teas because they have much better flavor since when you cut the teas very fine to put them into tea bags they lose flavor from being exposed to air.” The tea also comes with a reusable tea bag that can be rinsed out after each use.

Bob’s site offers many options to customers, available for your purchase, he sells; green tea, black tea, chai, white tea, herbal tea, herbs, resins, and fudge. Bob sent two sample fall flavors to the magazine earlier this week, English Toffee, and Pumpkin Pie herbal tea; both of which were very refreshing. The two flavors, which were very different from one another, had a way of warming you after a day out in the cold.

If anyone has a strong love for tea, this is the place to go! Your quest for delicious, natural teas is over, just visit www.etsy.com/shop/dreamweavershop and get shopping, either for yourself, or for friends and relatives who love tea! This would make an excellent gift during the holidays!

Shop Michelle Rose

It is almost impossible to find cool things that are different and unique anymore, with all of the chaos of industrialized clothing and gifts. Yet, we sought out an amazing artist who creates unique things, and guess what? We found one! This jewelry creator describes the style that she creates as “Retro Futuristic Rock Star Style”.

Michelle Rose is a Los Angelas based entrepreneur who is making quite the impression on those who buy her jewelry. While her main talents consist of jewelry making, she also does her own graphic designing and promoting, and she does it well! We had the opportunity to get the inside scoop on what is behind this amazing artist with jewelry’s self made store.

When asked what got her started with jewelry making, Michelle told us,”I’ve been dabbling in jewelry making since I was a kid but was frustrated by my lack of training in creating components of my own design. Soon I found a way to laser cut plastic, which excited me, but that method has its limitations. I hope to take a metal casting class soon so I can create my own designs in three-dimensional metals, and perhaps other materials.” The fact that she uses different mediums when creating her jewelry is perhaps what makes it so unique.

We were curious if she does it for just a hobby or as a career, so we asked her and she responded with,”I left my job in the garment industry this year to pursue self-employment as a sole source of income. It’s been tough, but I am hoping to see an upswing within the next year as I realign myself and use my time to explore more creative outlets including creating more artistic clothing & jewelry pieces, handbags, paintings, and home decor items.” It’s possible to have a career in a field that you do enjoy working in, and Michelle is living proof of that. She currently only sells on the website called Etsy, but it appears that this business plan is serving her well.

Finally, we were curious as to what her plans are for the future of her business. We assumed that a business this creative has to have plans for expanding. She told us,”You’ve caught me in a major stage of transition! Many new things are coming up. It’s hard to say what exactly they will be, but as I said I want to work in a lot of other mediums. My new goal is to create more unique pieces with plenty of artistic value.” We can’t wait to see what is in store next for this artistic entrepreneur, but we have no doubt that it will be creative and surprise us all! With her unique sense of style and drive to make her brand successful, we know we will be hearing more about her in the future!

If you want to learn more about her business and where it is headed just check out her website at Michelle-Rose.com or to buy some of her uniquely styled jewelry pay a visit to her shop on Etsy by going to ShopMichelleRose.Etsy.com!

Sugar + Spice Cookie Bakery

Have you ever found yourself yearning for homemade cookies, but not had the actual desire to make them yourself? Sugar + Spice, a cookie bakery takes the hassle of baking cookies, and makes it as simple as placing an order.

According to Kim’s website, “I combine my own recipes, perfected over the years, with the highest quality ingredients to give you a truly outstanding and unique product. My cookies are baked with love, and carefully packaged in a beautiful box ready for gift giving.”

This shop has a total of 37 different items available for purchase. When it comes to paying for your homemade cookies, they accept all forms of payment. When shopping, the price of cookies from sugar + spice ranges from the very low price of $14 for 2 dozen cookies, to $28 for the Surprise Box which includes 4 dozen cookies.

According to Kim’s information, “Don’t see a cookie you’d like me to make? I love a challenge so please let me know if I can help to recreate a memory for you.” In order to get in contact with Sugar + Spice, you may send a message to sugarplusspice@comcast.net.

If you would like to know more information about Sugar + Spice’s homemade cookies, please visit her at the Sugar + Spice online storefront by clicking anywhere here!