1. Cute and functional is always my favorite way to shop. Cable Bites are tiny critters that fit over the end of your phone-charging cable making the animal appear to bite your phone (cute) and protecting the weak cable joint from fraying (functional).
The 1.5-inch plastic animals are available in a wide variety of styles and sold for $6 each or two for $10 at 808 Craft & Gift Fairs alongside enough Japanese- and Korean-imported goods to occupy two stalls.
At Ohana Hale Marketplace, 333 Ward Ave.
— Donica Kaneshiro, Star-Advertiser
2. Lightweight and compact, these cork coasters from Workshop 28 are great for mailing or sticking in a stocking. I like their whimsical designs and the way they say “Hawaii” without screaming “aloha.”
Melodie Yoshida owns the company, designs all the items and does 90 percent of the production work. She started in 2014 after buying a laser engraver, a 400-pound behemoth that she says sat in her driveway until she could get it into her living room and figure out how to use it (from YouTube). Her first sales were later that year at a craft fair (“I think I sold like 20 coasters and I was so, so happy!”)
Now she’s got an office in Iwilei, three machines and three employees. Her full line includes tote bags, keychains, hats, T-shirts, ornaments, even swizzle sticks — but her main product is the coasters.
Find them for about $8 on Oahu at Eden in Love (Ward Villages), Sand People (Ala Moana Center, Waikiki, Haleiwa and Kailua), Turquoise (Waikiki) and Pineapples Boutique (Haleiwa, Ko Olina). Or shop the entire line at workshop28.com.
— Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser
3. Whether you’re looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer for your adorable granddaughter or hip grandma, these charming hair ties will elicit a smile from all who appreciate girly touches.
A bonus: They’re just $1 apiece. As the saying goes, you can’t put a price on happiness. Find the hair accessory at Charm Culture, where cuteness and bling reign supreme via phone cases, jewelry, keychains and purses.
The shop is one of the dozens of vendors at Ohana Hale Marketplace, housed in the old Sports Authority store at 333 Ward Ave. See Charm Culture Hawaii on Instagram and Facebook.
— Joleen Oshiro, Star-Advertiser
4. Just signed up for a three-month premium subscription with SketchBox, and I’m so excited. Like the presumably better known BarkBox, a shipment arrives monthly with goodies, only instead of dog toys or treats, it contains art supplies!
My first box arrived this month — an early Christmas present! I look forward to trying the Windsor & Newton Watercolor Marker.
There are two levels of Sketchboxes offered: basic and premium. Basic is the more-for-fun level, at $25 per month. Premium, at $35, offers quality name brands plus some things that haven’t yet been released on the market.
With different themes every month, you can also purchase boxes from selected past months if you missed one.
One catch: Though you sign up for subscriptions for different lengths of times — say three months or six months — you have to manually cancel your subscription on the site, or else it automatically renews when the time is up.
Visit getsketchbox.com.
— Jackie Carberry, Star-Advertiser
5. In “Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds,” this accessible volume by Gavin Pretor-Pinney offers a crash course in all things cloudy: How to recognize and categorize them, the physics behind their creation, the weather they foretell, mankind’s attempt to reverse engineer them and more.
There are a few corny asides, but his genuine enthusiasm for these visible masses of condensed vapor won me over. Now, I don’t just see a puffy school of fish swimming overhead, I see rows of cirrocumulus clouds. I still like to daydream as I cloud-gaze, but now I also think of Bernard Vonnegut, older brother to Kurt, and the cloud creation research he did for General Electric Co.
Available where books are sold (about $15) or through the Hawaii State Public Library system.
— Karen Iwamoto, Star-Advertiser
Please keep in mind that featured products may be in short supply and may not be available at all store locations; prices may vary. The information presented represents the authors’ opinions and experiences; your results may vary. Tell us what you are loving this week by emailing features@staradvertiser.com.
