Gift ideas · Updated November 2026
Gifts for artists and crafters
The short answer: Give better materials for the thing they already do, or a small kit for the thing they’ve said they want to try.
Makers are picky about the tools for their main craft and delighted by nice materials they’d never splurge on. If they paint, better paint. If they keep saying they want to learn crochet, a kit that ends with a finished thing.
Don’t mix those up. A beginner kit for something they’ve done for ten years stings a little.
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Better materials for what they already do
- Find on Amazon
Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolor sketchers’ pocket box
A palm-sized set of real watercolors with a little brush inside. For painting on trains, trails and café tables.
- Find on Amazon
Sakura Pigma Micron pens
The fine black pens illustrators and journalers reach for. The ink stays put and doesn’t fade.
- Find on Amazon
Prismacolor Premier colored pencils
Soft, rich colour that blends. The set that makes a sketchbook look better straight away.
- Find on Amazon
Strathmore 400 Series sketch pad
Good paper changes how drawing feels. A well-loved pad for pencil and pen.
- Find on Amazon
Posca paint markers
Paint in a pen: solid colour on paper, wood, glass, rocks and sneakers. Ridiculously fun.
A kit that ends with a finished thing
- Find on Amazon
The Woobles beginner crochet kit
Teaches crochet with step-by-step videos and ends with a small, round, very cute animal. The kit that actually gets people started.
- Find on Amazon
Speedball block printing starter kit
Carve a design, ink it, print cards and tote bags. Old-school and very satisfying.
- Find on Amazon
Sculpey polymer clay
Bakes hard in a home oven. Earrings, tiny dishes, fridge magnets: an afternoon project with something to show for it.
For digital artists
- Find on Amazon
Paperlike screen protector for iPad
Makes drawing on an iPad feel more like pencil on paper than plastic on glass. Check which iPad they have first.
What to skip
- Giant “200-piece art sets” in a wooden case. The quality is rarely there.
- Supplies for a craft they’ve never mentioned.
- A beginner kit for something they already do well.
Make it personal
Ask to see what they’ve made lately. What they’re proud of tells you what to feed.