I want this gift to count

May 11, 2017 11:40 AM

I need an emergency graduation gift for a friend. Her degree is in accounting. Must be orderable on Amazon. More specs inside.

Long story short, I ordered a handmade gift (of pottery) as a commencement gift for a dear friend, and it arrived shattered. Now I have to get something else by tomorrow.

The specs:
- She went back to school after a 15+ year career in IT to get her degree in accounting
- She's a big nerd
- She plays a lot of Warcraft
- I'd like it to be something reasonably nice, not jokey
- We have a shared love of fine rustic pottery
- She's passionate about gin (but I don't dare get her gin, because I choose poorly and also because I want this to be a lasting gift)

For reasons, must be available via Amazon Prime for delivery tomorrow. I'd like to keep it under $50.

Suggestions?

posted by anastasiav to Shopping (7 answers total)

There are probably reasons this won't work, but you can search for pottery local to you through Etsy by setting the location to your town

158 hits for "pottery". A lot of sheep-themed items, for some reason.

Of course you can look for other stuff too. Items with the word 'Graduation' near you.

Anyway, you might be able to get a vendor to deliver/ship for tomorrow, but it would take some doing.
posted by amtho at 11:54 AM on May 11, 2017

Does she have any interest in perhaps trying her hand at pottery herself? Is there a pottery studio near where she lives that you could get a gift card or coupon for an intro session? Possibly combine with some basic pottery tools as well?

In a similar vein there's this Homemade Gin Kit which would let her make gin to her own tastes.

Here's a nice handmade mug with good reviews, so it's probably either sturdy enough or well-packaged enough to survive shipping. You'll find more like it, with Prime, if you search "handmade pottery" on Amazon.
posted by brook horse at 12:07 PM on May 11, 2017

As a nod to her accounting degree, you could get her an abacus necklace.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 12:23 PM on May 11, 2017 [3 favorites]

Is the shattered one to be replaced ? Or can you reorder? A picture of it in a card with a note of explanation would be perfectly acceptable.

Another thought might be a downloadable print from ETSY. Have it printed at a local place and pick up a frame.
posted by Ftsqg at 12:24 PM on May 11, 2017

Response by poster: > Is the shattered one to be replaced ? Or can you reorder?

The shattered one was a one of a kind piece and will be refunded. I might be able to replace it eventually but not right away.

I appreciate everyone's comments about local purchases and Etsy (I actually sell on Etsy myself) but I am working about 20 hours between now and Friday when I sleep, and then I have a Mother's Day related obligation on Saturday morning. It has to come directly to my door, so i can have it in hand when I leave the house on Saturday.

Thanks for restricting your ideas to items on Amazon that I can simply order and have brought to my door.
posted by anastasiav at 12:33 PM on May 11, 2017

Here are some ideas:

Abacus necklace (comes as a set of two, not sure why)
Perpetual Calendar
Lamay fountain pen
posted by OrangeDisk at 3:27 PM on May 11, 2017 [1 favorite]

Nicely wrap one of the more interesting looking shards and then let her help you pick out the replacement with the artist you ordered it from.

I don't know your friend but I gotta say, this is something that would be charming to me. It's one of those friend bonding moment kind of things that I would adore and would remember fondly, and it would probably become an in-joke.
posted by vignettist at 5:10 PM on May 11, 2017 [3 favorites]