If you like GeekGirlCon, you may have a geeky mom in your life. In between May the Fourth/Star Wars Day and Geek Pride Day, there’s a holiday called Mother’s Day. A collection of geeky moms let me know what they would want for the holiday, and your geeky mom may just love these too.
Tristan also added, “As for me, I would be cool with getting some sweet gardening stuff, a gift certificate to my favorite local farm store, or Welcome to Night Vale t-shirts/swag.” Don’t forget geeky moms can love traditional hobbies like gardening and knitting.
Sharon Feliciano of Parenting Geekly fame proclaimed, “I want the R2-D2 measuring cups from Think Geek!”
Now, I ask you, what do you want to give or receive for Mother’s Day?
It’s a few days before Christmas; the malls are mobbed from open to close, and you really need to find a stellar gift or two for some geeks in your life.
Who you gonna call?!? I’m pretty sure the Ghostbusters won’t be able to help on this one…
Never fear! GeekGirlCon’s Last Minute Geek Gift Guide is here!
Kinda Last Minute
There’s always Amazon, but if I can, I like to think a little smaller. CafePress, ThinkGeek, Etsy, and HalfPrice Books have a wide variety of products guaranteed to appeal to the geek in your life: t-shirts, toys (both pop culture and scientific in nature), coffee mugs, movies, books, bumper stickers — and the list goes on!
Local comic and games shops may offer gift cards or gift certificates if you’re overwhelmed by the amount of geek one place. Find out what genre your geek loves the best, then ask an employee to point you in the right direction. It saves time, and gives your shopping experience a personal touch–as well as giving that employee the opportunity to show off their own geek cred.
Mostly Last Minute
It’s definitely time to go local, people. If you’ve got a steampunker or a scientist in your midst, shops like UW Surplus, Second Use, and Hardwick’s are goldmines. New and used machine parts, tools, building materials, furniture, and stuff you never thought about using might be just what your geek is looking for.
There’s also a search option on Etsy for “shop local”. Find something you think your geek will like, and contact the artist. If that handmade awesomeness is available, it’s as easy as meeting the artist at a local coffee shop to exchange your money for the nifty gift.
TOTALLY Last Minute
Tickets to local events can be found on Brown Paper Tickets, a fair-trade ticket company; you can print them and hide them in a festive box for your geek to open. Brown Paper Tickets sells tickets to concerts, movies, author readings, and conventions. For instance, you can gift your geek with passes to GeekGirlCon ‘13! (shameless plug, I know…)
You can order tickets to other awesome Seattle geek events like Emerald City ComicCon and Sakura Con from other sites, as well.
I don’t know about you, but I love to poke around in museums and educational attractions. Don’t tell the kids about the educational part, though, or you might have a fight on your hands! Some suggestions for local places and events:
Pacific Science Center: The big one going on now through January 6, 2013 is the King Tut Exhibit. There are also rotating movies at the IMAX Theater, as well as camps and scientific exploration stuff for the kids.
Woodland Park Zoo: Memberships, which help support both the zoo and animals in the wild all over the world, start at just $42 for adults for an entire year.
Seattle Aquarium: Learn to make fish faces of all kinds at the Seattle Aquarium! Special exhibits and fun, on-going classes for kids make this a fantastic gift.
MOHAI
Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI): The grand opening celebration of the new MOHAI building at 860 Terry Ave N in Seattle promises to be a day to remember in the history of Seattle!
Starbucks
NO TIME WHATSOEVER
As an absolute last minute option, there is probably a gift card rack at your local supermarket or convenience store. Those racks have gotten bigger over the years, and sometimes that card is the gift your geek will value most. They get to pick what they want at their leisure, online or in a store, and you don’t have to worry about having your gift exchanged or returned. Some racks contain gift cards for iTunes, a favorite restaurant, or online gaming sites. Even a gift card to that Seattle coffee chain looks pretty in its little envelope, and geeks love their caffeine.
Barnes and Noble Gift Card
My favorite gift, for anyone looking, is a Barnes and Noble gift card. Any denomination welcome. *wink*
Holidays are for the kids! Whether you have a geeky kid or are a geek who needs to buy for a kid, here’s your guide to geeky gifts for kids. Your guide writer here has kids ranging from baby to teen to buy for, and I’ve got some ideas for you.
We’ll start at the top: the teenager. Buying for teenagers is almost the toughest. They can be really picky and also pricey. First to ask, what is your teenager into? Mine is into cosplay. Here’s just a few:
Do you have a tabletop gamer in your universe who has been on the AWESOMESAUCE list? Can’t figure out what to get that d20 high roller? Well, take a gander at a few of these gift suggestions!
What’s great about DiXit is there are 3 expansion sets! That means more illustrations and endless fun!
Asmodee’s Dixit is a favorite in my household. My husband and I have introduced many of our friends to this fun game, which is recommended for folks as young as eight. With beautiful illustrations and tons of replay value, this game is sure to be a favorite with your geek.
Guesstures, 1st Edition
Guesstures, a table top twist of the game charades, is a classic for players 12 years old and up. Act out suggestions from drawn cards and have your team guess them all before the “mimer-timer” runs out.
Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook, 4th Edition
Now, I just started playing Dungeons and Dragons, and I am having a blast! Whether you’re a seasoned GM (game master) or it’s your first time picking up a character sheet, one can always benefit from some D&D swag!
Do you like some crafting along with your tabletop game? Warhammer is going strong. Visit the Seattle Bunker or a store near you to learn about all the armies and games Games Workshop has been developing. If you are a fan of The Hobbit, there’s a game to go along with it.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey — The Bundle.
You can never go wrong with a couple of accessories! For the steampunk enthusiast, check out this steampunk dice set:
A plethora of dice is a tabletop gamer’s ally.
So many dice and no bags of holding in sight? Check out a few of these dice bags on etsy!
It’s Black Friday, and you know what that means! We are gearing up for the holidays, and GeekGirlCon brings you a series on geeky gifts this year. We start off with some geek gifts on a budget. Whether you are creating your own wishlist, or buying for a partner, child, companion, or fellow-saver-of-the-universe, we’ve got some goodies for you! Some gift shoppers are looking for deals, so we present to you: Geek Gifts on a Budget.
GeekGirlCon encourages you to patronize our past and current sponsors, exhibitors, and artists alley residents. In addition, Small Business Saturday® arrives tomorrow and presents an opportunity for you to support your local business and get good deals. If you live in the Seattle area, both today and tomorrow, visit etsyRAIN’s 4th annual handmade holiday show. You’ll find many geeky gifts for every budget.
Every geek needs a wash (who doesn’t?). They’ll enjoy their baths and showers more if they have super geeky soap, such as these SNES parody soaps.
SNES Parody Soap
After getting nice and clean, the geek in your life may like to dress up a bit. Geek jewelry is prolific on the internet. Is your geek giftee a fan of Sailor Moon? Check out these Sailor Moon ribbon necklaces (inner senshi only at this time – great for all ages – although it has small parts, and if you have skin sensitivity issues, some extra precaution)!
If gaming or science is more the style, here are a few more pieces of jewelry:
Orange and Blue Portal Friendship Bracelets
1up Necklaces
Handblown Glass DNA Strand Capsule Pendant
Now dressed up and all set to go, the geek in your life may wish to decorate their accessories with these Smartphone Earphone Jack Plug – they add decoration to your phone and keep the jack free from dust. For example, this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Earphone Jack Accessory:
If your geeky cook is a Star Wars aficionado, be sure to accompany the Star Wars cookbooks with Star Wars spatulas, cookie cutters, or pancake shapers from Williams-Sonoma. Or maybe your geeky cook is more into the Marvel Universe, and loves the Hulk, Cap, Spidey, and Iron Man. Williams-Sonoma has you covered on that, too.
Star Wars Cookie Cutters
Star Wars Pancake Shapers
Marvel Cookware
There are any number of books and movies available this holiday season, which are always a great budget item. While reading a book or watching a movie, the geek in your life might like something to cuddle with. What better than a plushie? Super Mario Fans may enjoy an Invincibility Star or a Red Power Up Mushroom.
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