It’s a rough time of year for us procrastinators. It feels like we just got the last bit of fake blood off our faces from Halloween, and suddenly it’s time to start trading gifts for Christmas.
Not to worry. Here are five Austin companies with truly unique—and kind of weird—gifts for everyone on your list.
For: Your favorite ranch hand
It doesn’t matter who you are—you can’t go wrong in Texas with a classic pair of leather boots. Show your favorite cowboy you care with a pair of Tecovas handcrafted kickers that are built to last as long as he does.
Price: $195 and up
For: Your bandmate
Austin's most visible disruptor in music tech may be Livid Instruments, whose lightweight and relatively inexpensive USB MIDI controllers look like toys, but have the guts for serious music making.
Give your axe a digital edge with the Guitar Wing, or nerd out with the Builder Box and build your own MIDI modules.
Price: $99 and up
For: Your roommate
Love the idea of a smart home, but don’t have the budget or patience for installing a house full of gadgets? Knocki makes it easy to turn any surface of your house into an Internet of Things sensor. Just attach Knocki to one side of it, assign an action and a vibration pattern, and tap it out to trigger the sensor.
Pre-order price: $79
For: Your homeroom teacher
Ah, the gift candle. A favorite fallback when you don’t want to show up empty handed, but know so little about someone you have to rely on the assumption they like things that smell nice.
The Burlap Bag will drastically improve your clueless candle giving game with scents like unicorn puke, nerd alert, cuddles, grandpa and puppy farts (sold out).
If you’re going to go the candle route, at least make it funny.
Price: $16
Purpose OutfittersFor: Your dad
Everyone needs socks, but for some reason dads seem to enjoy unwrapping them as gifts. Purpose Outfitters has your bases covered, and every patriotic pair is designed to memorialize a fallen hero from the U.S. armed services. Proceeds from the sale of each sock benefit the veteran charity of the soldier’s family’s choosing.
Price: $18
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