Send someone a tiny message in a bottle

Miniature message in a bottle by Miniature Rhino on sale for $18 at Etsy. Via these sites.

*Buy ships in bottles at Amazon.

Almost free gift guide

Last week, I posted my favorite books, comics, toys and other oddities that I obtained this year. But you don't have to spend a lot of money to give someone a good gift. Here are some almost free gift ideas.

Music
1. Learn the words to a love song and serenade your loved one. I do this for my wife's birthday every year. But be careful which site you visit when looking for song lyrics. Many are designed to infect your computer with viruses.
2. The deal expires today, so act fast to download three free mp3s of your choice from Amazon.
3. Hype Machine is also a good source of free music for people not interested in using torrents.


Games
1. Download Popcap's free Peggle: World of Warcraft Edition.
2. Download the demos for Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode One and Two.
3. Download video game playthroughs of the latest games, including Bayonetta, Uncharted 2, and Assassin's Creed 2. Here's incredibly easy instructions for how to download Youtube videos.


Toys
1. Toys don't have to be expensive. You'll find dozens and dozens of easy to assemble paper toys here.
2. Here's a huge collection of downloadable masks.
3. If you have Lego lying around, then put together microscale Star Wars spaceships. Here's the parts list for a microscale Star Wars walking tank.


Other
1. Assemble a collection of desktop wallpaper or screensavers.
2. Download and print out posters. A few I've featured over the years include: poster by James Jean, Abe Lincolnstein poster, castle and jellyfish posters, Tekken 6 character posters, and collage posters.
3. Cory Doctorow makes his novels available for free download in a variety of formats. My favorites are Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town.
4. iTunes has tv shows, songs, and short films available for free download. Some are available on the main page, and some are available only if you look in the tv show section. There's also a huge selection of podcasts. My favorites are the Penny Arcade Dungeons & Dragons adventures and Ted speeches.

Simple gift of love

Flower and love note photographed by Amy Nieto, whose blog features one vibrant photo after another. It's the perfect antidote to a drab winter day.

*Previously: Pixel Flower Necklace.

*Buy love poem collections at Amazon

Elongated chair (link rondup)

Odd-shaped chair by Valentin Loellmann, who has more furniture on display here. Via.

And a few more links:

1. Funny/accurate observations about shopping at Ikea. Via.

2. The opposition continues to assemble for large protests in Iran. Via.

3. Sometimes a good gift isn't about spending money at all.

*Previously: Pasta chair.

*Buy The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of Seattle at Amazon.