Jane Austen Etsy Gift Guide 2012

Austenacious readers, today’s post is not for you. Today’s post is for your loved ones—those wishing/required to give you a gift this holiday season. Specifically, those hoping not to find themselves in a picked-over Walgreens on Christmas Eve (or, you know, Hanukkah and/or Kwanzaa Eve), weighing the costs and benefits of a pair of LED-lighted Babylon 5 socks. So just hand this on over to them, and you’re welcome.

To the friends and family of the reader at hand, it’s nice to meet you. We’re here to help—we’ve scouted the coolest, funniest, prettiest, and Jane-iest stuff at our beloved Etsy and laid it out here for all your gift-giving needs. We recommend shopping early, as shipping time is of the essence, but we hope you’ll find what you’re looking for and give the Austen fan in your life something a little special to get excited about this season.

 

Pride and Prejudice locations t-shirt, $25 at Brookish

Students of modern typography and/or fictional geography, take heart! Brooke and Justin made you a shirt. From Longbourn all the way to Pemberley, this top is stylish and modern, and also offers endless chances to say to yourself, “IN CHEAPSIDE!” (Austenites, you know what I mean. Confused non-Austenites, nothing to see here. Except a really cool shirt that your loved one will wear all the time.)

 

Captain Wentworth proposal print, $20 at Domestic Notions

Are you looking for a way to show your lady friend how much you care? Has it been more than half a decade? Are you handsome, and basically a friendly pirate? This print commemorating the proposal of Captain Frederick Wentworth to his once and future intended, Anne Elliot, should do the trick. Also comes in black on white.

 

Captain Wentworth proposal scarf, $25 at Brookish

Wrap your favorite Austenite in romantic angst this holiday season. Like, literally. Around the neck. But not like a psychopath! More like a Naval captain who’s been pining for his ex-girlfriend, who has, thankfully, been pining right back. Does that sound good? Then give someone this scarf. Also comes in Darcy’s proposal.

 

Pride and Prejudice Doctor Who print, $16.95 at ParodiesLost

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single lady in possession of a sense of adventure (so, not Fanny Price) must be in want of a nine-hundred-year-old anthropomorphic alien to  whisk her around time and space in a blue police box and then probably be separated from her in some amazingly poetic and heartbreaking manner. At least, we THINK that’s how the saying goes. Anyway, anybody who loves Elizabeth Bennet AND Doctor Who cannot go wrong with this set of prints commemorating their theoretical meeting.

 

Sense and Sensibility book purse, $45 at Novel Creations

For all the essentials: pragmatic elder sister, romantic younger sister, handsome tool, guy who regrets promising himself to someone else, older gentleman who doesn’t mind an age difference. Also keys, phone, wallet, lip gloss, mints, emergency earrings, tiny notebook of mostly to-do lists and brunch menus, The New Yorker, half-empty tub of hummus. (Just me, then?) Also comes in Persuasion and, for the heavy packer in your life, Seven Novels.

 

Happy shopping!

 

There’s no place like Jane for the holidays

Is it just me, or are people diving into the holidays with extra gusto this year? More than one of my friends confessed, with a definite air of asking for forgiveness, to breaking out the tinsel and Bing Crosby before Thanksgiving. (They shall remain nameless…FOR NOW.) My day-job officemates hung lights before I even arrived at work on Monday, and keep them lit despite the specter of blowing various circuits in our electrically dubious building. I even realized earlier this week that, if I don’t cool it, I might be sick of my favorite Andy Williams rendition of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” before it’s actually time to hear what Andy hears. What is going on here? Is it because Nordstrom wouldn’t decorate early? Whatever it is, apparently we all need a little Christmas, right this very minute. (If the New Christy Minstrels just popped, fully formed, into your head…well, you’re welcome.)

If you’re feeling the Christmas spirit this first day of December, well, you’re in luck: get to know this pile of classic Austenacious Christmas cheer! And if you’re not yet in the groove, what are you waiting for? Pull your Action Jane off the shelf, turn up your preferred version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” and consider the month ahead. After all, you only have twenty-five days to explode from holiday-induced stress/joy. Better get on it.

– Looking for the perfect gift for the Austenite in your life? Check out our 2011 Jane Austen gift guide! Still looking for some inspiration and maybe some Etsy stores to peruse? See previous gift guides here and here.

– Everything you can do, Jane can do better: Action Jane’s Christmas!

– There’s no combination like Jane, classic holiday ballet, and a short-story contest: Jane and Mrs. Fitzpatrick take on The Nutcracker.

– Looking for a Christmas craft with a Jane twist, or just need something to put on top of the tree? Make your Action Jane into a Christmas tree topper!

– For your holiday cheer and possibly a nice outing for the fire extinguisher: How to make plum pudding!

– From the English countryside to the north pole: Play the Letters to Santa game, Jane Austen style!

2011 Gift-Buying Guide

It’s that time of year again. Yeah, that’s right . . . it’s not even Thanksgiving, and Christmas songs are on the radio and glittering lights are out on the streets. In case you’re like me and haven’t started buying holiday gifts yet, here are some suggestions.

Are you unable to “flatter with delicacy” with an unstudied air the way Mr. Collins does? Look no further, and express to your sweetie how much you love him/her with these love notes from BHLDN:

Are you tired of searching through the piles and piles of holiday cards at Target? Try these handmade Regency Christmas Cards from Etsy:

Who hasn’t had to separate the Fighty McBickerson family at holiday dinners? Now you can assign seats with these awesome teapot place card holders from BHLDN:

Looking for some new wall art to remind everyone that you (heart) libraries? Try this photo of Bath (Circulating Library and Reading Room) from Etsy:

And for the bookworm who has everything, how about this Pride and Prejudice necklace from Etsy:

On Jane and Street Fashion

Photo credit: Brookish

Readers, let’s chat.

Mrs. Fitzpatrick sent me this listing from Etsy, prompting a moment of daydreamy bliss followed by the sharp shock of reality. (It’s a hard world in which we live, people.) Heaven knows we at Austenacious are fans of Brooke and her shop, and this is a really cool shirt—but a teeny, tiny, whispery voice of dissent persists. While any gentleman wearing this sort of t-shirt on the street would, obviously, get the automatic “how you doin’?” treatment from this lady, two things stand out:

1) Mr. Darcy would never actually wear such a shirt. And I don’t mean because it has short sleeves and no collar and—gasp!—words on it; I mean that half the reason Mr. Darcy is Mr. Darcy is that he isn’t into self-promotion. This is a man who swears everybody to secrecy anytime he does anything nice, which is surprisingly often—and if he’s willing to go to all that trouble just to hush everybody up about the occasional midnight douche-hunting expedition, somehow a braggy t-shirt doesn’t seem…quite right.

2) I don’t care if he’s alone: there’s no way this guy’s single. There just isn’t.

Jane Austen Etsy Gift Guide 2010

Austenacious readers, today’s post is not for you. Today’s post is for your loved ones—those wishing/required to give you a gift this holiday season. Specifically, those hoping not to find themselves in a picked-over Walgreens on Christmas Eve (or, you know, Kwanzaa Eve; Hanukkah folks, it’s probably too late for you), weighing the costs and benefits of a pair of LED-lighted Babylon 5 socks. So just hand this on over to them, and you’re welcome.

To the friends and family of the reader at hand, it’s nice to meet you. We’re here to help—we’ve scouted the coolest, funniest, prettiest, and Jane-iest stuff at our beloved Etsy and laid it out here for all your gift-giving needs. We recommend shopping early, as shipping time is of the essence, but we hope you’ll find what you’re looking for and give the Austen fan in your life something a little special to get excited about this season.

My Other Ride is a Barouche decal,  $3 at eaton

Pimp out someone’s actual ride and test the historical knowledge of everyone around them with this hotass “My Other Ride is a Barouche” car decal. Just remember: in keeping with the spirit of this gift, Regency folks had big rims. Like, really big rims…which we promise to bring up and then leave to the discretion of you, the esteemed gift-giver. Who, we’re sure, has excellent judgment and in no way deserves financial pressure towards excess in the area of transportational luxury. We would never! We’re just saying: RIMS.

Staying At Home travel mug, $26 at aedrieloriginals

On the long trek home—or, hey, maybe Aruba? Just a thought?—for the holidays, keep an eye on every drop of your favorite Jane fan’s favorite hot beverage. Or cold beverage. Or whatever it is he or she’s taking along to drink out of a coffee mug/coconut. This mug is charmingly hand-lettered with a travel-oriented quotation from Jane and colored on the inside with a pretty modern-y robin’s-egg (or shall we say…Tiffany?) blue, and we’re pretty sure it’ll make any journey a better one…even if all that waits on the other side is fruitcake and a man in a reindeer jumper.

Jane origami lotus flower, $8 at fishandlotus

Every girl likes flowers—and what Austen fan wouldn’t like this beautiful lotus blossom made from the pages of a vintage Jane Austen novel? Each five-inch flower is handmade and attached to a bed of green paper lotus leaves; whether it’s romance, spiritual peace, or just a one-of-a-kind gift (or, hey, gift topping, if you’re Donna Reed or are just a terrible gift-wrapper, like me) you’re seeking, surely an Austenian paper lotus is an appropriate and not-to-be-forgotten choice.

Sense and Sensibility wedding heart confetti, $5 at anovelamore

The listing says “wedding confetti,” but this is a space for honesty, people, and so let’s all bare our souls, shall we? Whether someone’s getting married or not, nobody (or, nobody we know or want to know) doesn’t love/deserve a good whoosh in the face—if said whooshing involves whimsical, romantic heart-shaped Sense and Sensibility confetti floating down around them, showering the world with romance and happiness. Well, okay, maybe not Colonel Brandon. He’s not so much into the parties or the spontaneity, or, for all we know, the adorable paper products. But, you know, everybody cool likes the confetti. (Sorry, Colonel. Hugs and kisses!)

Jane Austen vintage handbag, $75 at alanamalia

This holiday season, give the Jane fan in your life a lesson in meta. Let her put her entire life—including the Austen novels we assume she carries around at all times, as we ourselves have been known to do—inside an Austen novel. She takes it everywhere! Brilliant, am I right? This handbag is made from a gorgeous, repurposed copy of Seven Novels (for maximum completeness, don’t you know) and lined in a pretty speckled blue, with a blue-and-white beaded handle, and is sure to blow the mind of any bookish young lady. Or gent. We’d never dream of judging.

Pride and Prejudice ornament, $10 at excessivelydiverting

The only problem we can see with incorporating some Jane—in the form of this classy and beautiful Christmas tree ornament, naturally—into one’s holiday decor is, we think, the constant temptation to hold it in one’s hands, rotating it like a globe to get the full effect of the novel at hand. Even if it’s just bits and pieces chosen at random. Because how can you have a story, in words, on your Christmas tree or hanging in your house somewhere, and not want to know how it goes and how it ends and oh gosh, do they fall in love at the end? Unless you’re using it to sub in for mistletoe, in which case we say: more power to you. Jane says yes.

Happy shopping!

Jane’s Etsy Gift Guide 2009

Happy Thanksgiving, readers! Have some pie, on us!

Now that that’s over with, let’s be serious. The holidays are coming, and you know what that means: joy, wonder, and sparkly lights? No. (Well, yes, but…no.) Think shopping. Think six a.m. crowds. Think finding the perfect gifts for your loved ones, unless you’d rather bless them with a mounted faux fish that sings “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” every hour on the hour. Fun for the whole family!

We at Austenacious are here to help, whether you’re making up your own wish list or shopping for the Austenite in your life. We’ve scoured Etsy—land of the vintage, the handmade, and the vintage handmade—for the coolest, prettiest, funniest Janely goods out there, and we think you’ll like what we found.

Happy shopping!

Do Not Faint Jane Austen Moleskine journal, $16 at yardia

Paper and pen! How quaint! Give the writer in your life a bit of Janely advice and a cool place to record Important Thoughts. This medium-sized Moleskine has 96 pages (80 plain, 16 detachable); the cover features an original illustration of a Regency-era dress and a quotation from Jane’s early novel Love and Freindship (sic). Jane would have loved it; we certainly do.

Wallet made from print of a P&P first edition, $19 at bookity

Calm down: It’s not a real page. (We checked.) But it is a reproduction of the title page from a first edition of Pride and Prejudice, printed on 100% cotton, lined with striped pink fabric, and made into a wallet/card-holder, and it’s also a pretty awesome gift for your favorite P&P fan, especially if he or she tends towards disorganization or likes giving heart attacks to fellow book-lovers. Not that we know anybody who needs this. Ahem.

P&P Christmas ornaments, $7 at  Brookish

To be honest, practically everything from Brookish would be a great gift for the Austen-fan set, but we think these Christmas ornaments filled with nearly two sliced-up pages from Pride and Prejudice (again, copies—we hope) are especially elegant. Did we say Christmas ornaments? Nothing here is red or green: keep them out all year long for a shot of literary decor whenever you need it.

Mr. Darcy proposal dish towel, $10 at Brookish

Need a little romance in your life? What about your kitchen? This dish towel screen-printed with Mr. Darcy’s proposal (in pretty handwriting, no less) to Elizabeth Bennet is just the thing to put you in the mood…what for, we don’t really want to know. Just promise us you won’t swoon with anything hot in your hand, okay? Safety first.

Eight letterpress cards with Jane quotations, $16.95 (or $4 each) at letterarypress

Words escaping you? Really need to get your point across, but not looking forward to catalyzing epic drama over the holidays? Maybe Jane can help. Say what you really mean with these eight beautiful and beautifully snarky Jane-quotation greeting cards by letterarypress–after all, Jane says it best, and she’s not around to get in trouble!

Regency couple suitcase, $52 at BrightWall Studios

Carry your baggage—emotional and otherwise—in style with this vintage suitcase hand-illustrated with the silhouettes of a Regency couple. Lined in red, with amenities of the luggage of yesteryear (movable compartments!), the suitcase measures 18″ x 21″ x 8.5″—perfect weekend size—and trust us, you’ll never lose your stuff on the airport baggage carousel again!

Jane Austen finger puppet greeting cards, $3.25 at DearDeerDesigns

Looking for a gift that doesn’t require extra postage? This gift is the card: a double-sided Jane Austen finger puppet greeting card! Make a cut-out or leave her whole; if you think a paper finger puppet isn’t hours of entertainment for the likes of Jane’s fans, well, we must have just met. Nice to meet you.

You Have Delighted Us Long Enough switchplate, $10 at alamodestuff

For the reluctant, impatient, or charmingly sarcastic host in your life, Mr. Bennet comes through…as always. Guests staying too long at the piano? Guests staying too long, period? This switchplate comes in a variety of styles (to accomodate all your lighting-control needs) and is certain to make your friends laugh…as the door shuts behind them. See? Form and function: together at last.

Now, get out there, people! Shop! Find cool handmade stuff for the people you love!

Oh, and one more thing:

Happy holidays.