Handmade gifts under $150

Full Grain Leather Messenger Bag

by Trip Machine Company

For the one gift that has to carry a milestone. A full-grain messenger with an adjustable strap, priced where a serious gift starts.

Leather bags are where the gap between the photo and the object is widest, because a bonded-leather bag photographs identically to a full-grain one. What separates this listing is that the grade is stated outright and the capacity is described in objects rather than liters — it is sized for an iPad, documents and a couple of shirts, with two internal pockets and one at the back. Expect it to arrive stiff and darken over the first year. This is a retirement, graduation or milestone-birthday gift rather than a casual one.

Tommy Lion Alpaca Wool Blanket, Blue

by Tommy Lion

For the person who is always cold and owns four inadequate throws. Alpaca at bed size — warmer than wool for the weight, and it does not itch.

Alpaca fiber is hollow, which is why it insulates better than sheep's wool at a lower weight, and it has no lanolin, which is why people who react to wool usually do not react to it. At 90 x 80 inches this is a real bed blanket rather than a throw, and that size is what makes it a serious gift. It is a three-figure gift and the piece on this page most likely to still be in use in twenty years.

Colorado End Grain Cutting Board

by Independent maker

For the cook who actually chops, and will keep it twenty years. A true end grain block from a Handmade storefront, at the price where end grain starts.

End grain means the wood fibers stand vertically, so the knife edge slots between them instead of scraping across them. Two things follow: the board is kinder to your knives, and the cut marks close up rather than staying as scars. It is also heavier and more expensive to make, which is why edge grain dominates the shelves. This is the entry point to the real thing.

Ceramiche d Arte Parrini Dinnerware Set, Grape Pattern

by Ceramiche d Arte Parrini

For hand-painted dinnerware, from several people together. A hand-painted Italian dinnerware set, and the price is a group-gift price.

There is a category of wedding gift that only works when four people go in together, and this is it: hand-painted Italian pottery that nobody buys for themselves and everybody keeps. Painted by hand in Tuscany. If the couple already has plates, this is the set that comes out when they have people over.

Engraved Teak Tray with Handles

For two names and a year on a wood that ignores water. Teak, handled, and engraved with names and the established year.

Teak is the outlier among serving woods: it is oily enough to shrug off water, which is why it ends up on boats and in bathrooms. That makes an engraved teak tray unusually practical for something bought as a keepsake. This is the top end of the tray category and it earns the price on material.

Handmade Breakfast and Dipping Set, Turquoise

For the couple who host and have nothing for small food. A handmade multi-bowl serving set in turquoise, built for small dishes at once.

Serving several small things is a completely different problem from serving one big one, and most kitchens have no equipment for it. A dedicated dipping set solves it and looks intentional doing so. Handmade, colorful, and priced around a hundred dollars, which puts it in serious-gift territory.

Purpleheart and Walnut Round Board, 12 in

by Independent maker

For someone who has a perfectly good board and wants a beautiful one. A round board in purpleheart and walnut, which is a color combination nobody expects.

Purpleheart really is purple, and it is the wood that makes people pick up a board and ask what it is. Round format pushes it further toward serving than chopping. This is a decorative buy and we would rather say so than pretend it is the practical choice, because the 10 x 14 rectangles above are better at the actual job.

The Gates Personalized Money Clip Wallet

For the man who carries cash and hates a thick pocket. A bifold with an integrated clip, so cash lies flat instead of folding into a lump.

A money clip built into the leather solves a specific problem that separate clips do not: the cash stays with the cards. The construction here is conventional and well done rather than clever, which is right for a wallet. At this price it sits above the impulse tier and reads as a considered gift.