Below are but three of many beautiful things I have been patiently waiting to show you while I was busy with the holiday gift guide:

#1: New Zealand Book Council’s “Going West” (via designboom)

#2: Susanne Ludwig’s “Feasible Fantasies” (via it’s nice that)

no, you are not dreaming, that IS a flying bouncy castle you see. (there’s even a video of it flying through the treetops. yay.)

#3: origami tree roots, by Steven Beckly

just plain old whimsy-ful prettiness.

So anyhow, happy 2010 eve, kids!

I am the last person who can be judgmental that you have waited until 11pm on xmas eve to get something for everyone on your list, so here’s some ideas for other procrastinators like me.

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Tiny Gingerbread Houses (for your mug) from Not Martha.

When in doubt, bake. And these little mug topper gingerbread houses could quite possibly win the Most Adorable Mug Accessory award this year. recipe here.

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DIY Bubble Wrap Calendar

If you hadn’t spent so much time procrastinating, you could have skipped the work and bought one of these for $22, but here we are, xmas eve and you will just have to grab some of your leftover bubble wrap and get started making your own.

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DIY Potpourri

Give your friends with babies or pets the gift of good-smells – this gift recipe seems incredibly simple and I know these scents go perfectly together.

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Make a Paper Wallet

I have made many a paper wallet in my day and they are far far sturdier than you might think.  Takes 5 minutes and you could draw a dinosaur or a space ship or a peanut, whatever, on the top – to personalize.

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Wrap *anything* in a Piñata

Seriously, grab a can of creamed corn from your pantry, a pair of your own socks that still look relatively new, a live wasp nest, anything at all - stick it in a piñata and it becomes an instant awesome gift. Big discount stores (any of the __-marts) tend to stock them year-round and tend to be open on holidays.

Here’s a short one (a couple of hours late) for our corporate boss friends – doing bossly things. in that bossly way.

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Shredder Scissors: $8.99

For those must-destroy-now moments, a pair of shredder scissors is far more discrete than the electric version.

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I suck, I’m sorry letterpress cards: $4.50

If your CEO friends are laying folks off, at the very least, they could do so with lovely letterpress cards.

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Chocolate Pie Chart: $20

Edible pie charts are the bees knees.

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9 to 5 DVD: $11.99

One of my favorite 80s movies, and it can help our CEO pals avoid being ’sexist egotistical lying hypocritical bigots’. plus, it has the greatest leading cast ever.