i love a gift guide full of pretty bits, but let's get real for a second - here are the things i've really given, and will give again this year. a little personalized, with a lot of personality.

i love this idea my friend jeff had - he framed hotel room keys from memorable trips.  the big frame with the mat is major drama - you could totally do this with framebridge (they're doing 15% off with code SANTABABY).  send in special bits, like the room keys, or matchbooks, notes, whateve and have a whole little series going on.  super easy to gift and worth a million bucks to the lucky recipient.






artifact uprising prints gorgeous custom photo books - i did this last year and it was a breeze. the linen foil stamped cover looks super high-end. they're offering a new service called 'volumes' which will automatically print a book of your mobile photos each time you add 50 images. whether it's a vacation memory book, a year-end review, a collection of themed photos, or an ode to a special friendship, i think this is a great gift, and there's still time to make yours!



the smithsonian national zoo has an adopt-an-animal package that's pretty cool. for $100 you can adopt an endangered elephant, a panda or leopard (to name a few) and the zoo will send a package with a stuffed replica of your new friend, a personalized certificate and photo and a matted replica animal track print, which is pretty cool.

for 1million dollars, you can design a custom charm necklace at jennifer fischer.  the enamel heart charms are so freaking cute - especially paired with the pave lightning bolts.  i love this idea, but perhaps it's more reasonable to start this year with a chain and 1 charm, and maybe it's a christmas tradition to add one each year.