Gareth’s Tips, Tools, and Shop Tales is published by Cool Tools Lab. To receive the newsletter a week early, sign up here.
Don’t forget about my Holiday Giveaway Challenge. I’m giving away a bundle of both my tips books (Vol. 1, Vol. 2) and three of my favorite everyday tools: The Williams ratcheting screwdriver, the Canary cardboard cutter, and a plastic razor blade. To be eligible, all you need to do is convince three people to sign up for my newsletter (and then send me their email addresses). If you sign up 5 (or more), you get two entries in the drawing. Contest ends Midnight, Dec. 9. Sorry, but this contest is US-only!
One of the things I love about holiday gift exchanging is getting to ask your loved ones for things you might not normally think about buying for yourself. That’s the premise behind this video on A Glimpse Inside. Honestly, I was expecting less common, everyday tools, but the stuff on here is definitely things you might not think about or know about that would make great practical gifts. A couple of things he mentions that I think fall into that special “I wouldn’t likely buy this for myself” category are the Viewtainer storage system, the GRABBO electric vacuum cup lifter, and a benchtop tape dispenser.
If you’re looking for great gift ideas for any maker on your shopping list, consider my two Amazon best-selling tips books (Volume 1, Volume 2). They are filled with tips on things like cutting, gluing, fastening, painting, finishing, electronics, soldering, 3D printing, hobby tips, and much more. The books are designed to appeal to DIYers of all skill levels and interest areas.
Isn’t it time you gave yourself (or someone else) a little Artistic License? Years ago, I created these cards and they’ve been a hit for the holidays. Perfect stocking stuffer! They are $5 each or 5 for $20 (post paid). They come in a wax-sealed white envelope. The cards are credit card sized on thick, laminated card. If interested, email me and we can arrange payment and shipment. Foreign orders will require full postage.
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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
Self-syllabus - Every few months, I make a physical list of books I want to read. It's not everything I want to read. It's just the ten or so books I want to get through next. Sometimes it's thematic. Sometimes it's not. But it makes it easier for me to get through my reading list, while keeping some variety. And it's fun checking things off as I read them. It takes the mystery out of wondering what I should read next.
Library card - Related to the self-syllabus, my library card is incredible in terms of access to books and reducing book clutter at home. People think librarians love owning books, but I prefer reading them, only owning the ones I love and want to revisit (or write in!).
Mechanical pencils - I was a fountain pen person for a few years, but they were a lot of work. I have two young daughters, and no spare time, so mechanical pencils are a more realistic and time efficient writing implement. Mechanical pencils feel great, are neater, and can be erased, which is kind of a game-changer I hadn't considered. I love these Pentels. Cheap and durable. I have them stashed everywhere for when I want to jot something down.
DIGITAL
Org-mode/Orgzly - I use org-mode, part of the Emacs editor, to organize myself. It's the best, and easiest to-do list I've ever used. It's flexible and while there's a learning curve, it was well-worth a quick (and fun!) Udemy class. Orgzly is the Android interface I use to manage my to-do list on the go. It's also amazing.
WebDAV - WebDAV is the protocol I use to sync my to-do list on my phone. As I use it, it's basically file space I can access on my desktop and phone, and which I get as part of my Fastmail subscription. It's easy-to-use and very convenient for syncing tools, like org-mode, but also Joplin, my note-taking app. It's a solid option if your file-sharing tools don't work with your digital tools.
INVISIBLE
Subscription creep - Pay for what you like for as long as you like it, like software, magazine, newsletters, streaming services, etc. But when you don't like it anymore, stop paying for it. I try to think about what I'm paying for and if it's worth it. For instance, I got into WebDAV when I was looking at how much I was spending on hosting certain applications. Support and pay for everything you enjoy! But when the joy passes, empower yourself to shift the money to other projects.
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