Skip to main content
Handmade Arcade
  • Spring Market
  • About
  • Blog
  • Past Events
  • Donate
  • Sponsor the Spring Market
  • For Makers
  • For Youth Makers
  • My Favorites
Connect
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
Contact

Email: info@handmadearcade.org

  • For Makers
  • For Youth Makers
  • My Favorites
  • Donate
  • Sponsor the Spring Market
Handmade Arcade
  • Spring Market
  • About
  • Blog
  • Past Events

Gift Guide: Offbeat Offerings!

November 21, 2022

Warmest wishes, weirdos! We’re here for the freaks, the geeks, the free spirits, and the eccentrics.

By Jolene Miklas Schneider

Everyone knows weirdos make the world more fun — just don’t try shopping for them at the mall. If you’re looking for edgy and unexpected holiday gifts, we got you.


If your holiday shopping list includes a music fan, a grunge girl, a metal maniac, or a punk rocker who’s hard to please, give RPM Treasures a spin. They’re returning with handbags made from original 33 RPM vinyl records and album covers.

We could tell you about the adjustable handles, leather (or glitter!) materials, and roomy interiors, but really, the fun’s in finding your favorite band on a bag. From Billie to Bowie, Taylor Swift to Tom Petty, gen-X angst to retro pop, these bags are the perfect way to tell your giftee, “You rock.”


Looking for something for the offbeat home? The creative in your life is bound to love the unique goods by TOMO.

Light up a living room with a lamp inspired by twisting branches. Transform a home office into a creative retreat with a laptop stand that invokes a coral reef. TOMO specializes in usable, museum-quality products that are 3D printed in upcycled plastic that’s been removed from the ocean. The end results are beautiful, durable, and unlike anything your giftee has ever seen.

 


Or maybe you, yourself, are strange and unusual. Follow The Beetle’s Dilemma into a land of peculiar miniatures, lost treasures, and colorful beetles.

Ann, the artist behind these glass dioramas, invites you to see the world beneath our feet, and the lost earrings, buttons, and misplaced toys that fall between the cracks. Each piece, with its crystals, dried flowers, bees, and other insects represents an encounter between the natural and human worlds, and makes a memorable and unique gift.


“My underwear has a cult following,” says Nicole, the maker behind Junkella and, maybe soon, you.

Junkella brings original fabric designs featuring kittens, fruit, goldfish, eyeballs, and more — turned into underwear, hats, and scarves. These irresistible giftables are as comfortable as they are eye-catching. Look, we don’t know what else to tell you besides “Pugs in Space Infinity Scarf.” You definitely want to see these up close.


A giant bunny set in a dreamscape of thread and pincushions. A possum in a soup can crown. Let’s go deep with Leslie Norris of Sugar Pop Press, whose artwork explores themes of imagination at playtime, moments of reflection, and childhood nostalgia, set in a whimsical and retro Appalachian backdrop.

Follow your daydreams into a world of black cats, witches, and snakes in party hats. Just don’t miss these hand-pulled screen prints featuring eco-friendly water-based inks on archival-quality, recycled American-made paper.

 


These aren’t your grandma’s soaps … unless, of course, your grandma loves late-night monster movies, classic horror literature, and vintage Halloween ephemera! Hey, anyone could love Shoggoth Suds and their soaps inspired by the gothic and macabre.

It’s the Shrunken Head soap for us, which is cast in a ghastly green and deliciously scented with “Funky Fermentation” (AKA Apple Cider). Check out this Emerging Maker’s assortment of soap zombies, Krampus, VHS tapes, and more — all vegan, cruelty-free, and dusted with a touch of cosmetic-grade mica.

 


You know someone who needs acrylic statement earrings that announce, “I complete me.”

Come get dazzled by Electric Cat and her designs featuring glitter, rhinestones, lightning bolts, skulls, uteri, knives, and more. This jewelry brand is inspired by Masha “MouseBones” Vereshchenko’s club kid and drag scene roots. Bold, bright, and NSFW, these are the perfect accessories to wear to make a statement, stage a protest, and take pride in who you are.

Share on:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Categories

  • All Posts
  • Gift Guides
  • Shop Small
  • Announcements
  • Events
  • Shop Early
  • Sponsor
  • Vendor
  • Youth Makers
  • Friends of Handmade Arcade
  • Hands-on Handmade Activity Area
  • Uncategorized

Archives

Contact

Email: info@handmadearcade.org

Press

See our latest release

Subscribe
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Connect
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2023 Handmade Arcade. All rights reserved.

Website by Imagebox