Who knew a story about the desert's UFO history would lead to a DIY leather craftsman who makes, you guessed it, UFO-themed leather belts and purses? 

Or that there exists an homage to the Bonaventure Hotel as wondrous as a snow globe?

In looking for interesting stories to tell this year, the Explore LA team found some cool gift ideas. So take a moment to reread some of our favorite stories while putting in a few orders for the hard-to-shop-for people on your list.

A funk opera art book. A beanie in honor of the Big Bear eagles. A free app that names the bird singing outside your window.

Every gift comes with a story. And now you know it too.

The Jackie and Shadow beanie ($20)

A Big Bear Valley beanie.

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Makenna Cramer

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After three years of reporting on Big Bear’s famous bald eagles, I’ve collected a decent amount of merch. Friends of Big Bear Valley, the educational and environmental nonprofit behind the popular YouTube livestream, is your official one-stop shop. The beanie ($20) is my personal favorite for when it finally gets cold enough to wear one in Southern California. If the item ever sells out (it's restocked quickly), there are plenty of other apparel and keepsakes to choose from. Proceeds from the shop support the nonprofit’s work in Big Bear Valley and beyond.

— Makenna Cramer, LAist reporter

Merlin Bird ID app (free!)

The Merlin Bird ID app for eavesdropping on your avian neighbors

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Courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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How about a gift that takes you into the natural world? Let me recommend an app. Sounds contradictory, but listen up: The Merlin Bird ID app, from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is a kind of Shazam for birds that tells you who’s singing in your backyard (or wherever you may roam) at any moment.

Someone mentioned it to me and assured me it would change my life, and I must confess ... it has. I had no idea that the dark-eyed junco and the spotted towhee were regulars in my garden until I watched the app perform its magic. (You can read more about my exciting discoveries in my recent essay.) Now I wake up every day to the house finch, the first bird in the dawn chorus, and thrill to its melodic sound. It’s true you can’t wrap an app, but it is free, something that’s welcome in today’s economy, and it’s also one of those rare gifts that keeps on giving.

— Suzanne Levy, LAist senior editor

UFO-inspired leather goods (prices vary)

A collage of handcrafted leather goods, including belts with UFO motifs, a purse and the leather band Don McKinney handcrafted to cover the base of the Integratron architectural model on display at the Huntington.

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Josie Huang

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LAist

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Recently I shared the story of Don McKinney, a pool deck contractor whose ufology collection landed at the Huntington in San Marino with help from an unlikely duo: a paranormal podcaster and a historian.

McKinney spent decades collecting the belongings of George Van Tassel, a leading figure in SoCal’s UFO movement, before the pair convinced him to move the archive from his high-desert home to a museum.

While reporting, I discovered that McKinney is also a skilled leatherworker who decorated a model of Van Tassel’s architectural wonder, the Integratron, with a leather band that curators say is being kept as part of the display at the Huntington.

McKinney’s fascination with UFOs shows up in much of the leatherwork he sells. He says he doesn’t work with faux leather, which can melt when heated instruments are applied. Hand-carved, painted hair barrettes and key rings run around $30, belts cost $150 and purses range from $300 to $600.

— Josie Huang, LAist weekend host and reporter  

Lauren Halsey art book ($60) and airbrushed merch (price varies)

Lauren Halsey's "Emajendat"

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Kevin Tidmarsh

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LAist

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Multimedia artist Lauren Halsey’s visions of Black South-Central L.A. (now called South Los Angeles) are culturally omnivorous, psychedelic and anti-gentrification. They’re also one of the most exciting things going on in today’s art world.

In September, Halsey branched out and took over the Hollywood Bowl with a “funk opera” headlined by Erykah Badu.

Over a month later, I’m still thinking about emajendat. It’s maybe the coolest concert I’ve ever experienced, not to mention the coolest block party (and minigolf course!) I’ve ever been to. See my video recap here, and if you missed it, Halsey told me year 2 is already in the works.

It was inspiring just to talk to Halsey, so I bet the artistically inclined in your life will also get inspired leafing through her emajendat art book, which features images from Halsey’s exhibitions. And if you know someone who could rock her airbrushed, Funkadelic-meets-MySpace aesthetic, you can check Halsey’s merch out here.

— Kevin Tidmarsh, LAist producer

Bonaventure snow globe ($50)

One of two Bonaventure snow globes.

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Courtesy Apogee Graphics

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The release of Harry Styles’ “Aperture” music video threw me back to years ago, when I spent many lunch hours traipsing inside the Bonaventure. It led to one of the most enjoyable pieces I wrote this year — and a lovely email from Apogee Graphics.

The design and publishing company, headquartered at the Bonaventure, read the piece and shared its own love for the iconic hotel. The note included a link to a new Bonaventure snow globe it designed ($50). It’s both a wondrous and earnest tribute, with no less than a quote from Marxist theorist Fredric Jameson (whose ponderings gave the mirrored, mazelike behemoth its postmodern cult cred) inscribed at the base. I smile big every time I shake my snow globe, mesmerized by the white stuff twirling around the toylike miniature.

— Fiona Ng, deputy managing editor, Explore LA and Weekend