There is something inherently magical about moments of gifted mystery. The instantaneous delight of breathless excitement while tearing through wrapping paper to unveil a secret treasure is one of our most cherished holiday experiences. Today, we're sharing gifts that extend that moment of anticipation and curiosity: book blind dates and secret silver screenings. Not only are these gifts exceptionally excellent, they can be assembled with a simple trip to your local bookstore or an efficient Amazon Prime order making them an ideal and thoughtful last-minute gift option.
If you aren’t familiar with the book blind date concept, the general premise is you gift someone a series of books, fully wrapped—typically in plain brown or white craft paper—to obscure any identifying features. Onto the wrapping, you note a few vague characteristics of each story, much like the basic personality outline often offered to those about to embark on blind dates! With a small collection of wrapped tales and a series of hints as to the contents, the recipient then gets to go on literary blind dates by selecting Stories and uncovering their true personalities. When paired with a cozy blanket, some sensory snacks, and a breath-taking bookmark, a book blind date gift is an intimate experiential journey that everyone on your holiday gift list will adore!
As we have team members with dyslexia here at ARCANISA, we appreciate that novels are sometimes more challenging than charming, So for those on your list who would prefer cinematic explorations, exchange the paper pages for blockbuster boxes and gift secret silver screenings instead of book blind dates. The concept is the same, wrap movies in unrevealing paper, jot down a few teasing tid bits about the tales and let your loved ones find excitement in exploring unfamiliar film! DVDs work incredibly well for this given their book-like rectangular shape, but we also adore downloading a digital film file into a USB drive and wrapping it in a tiny box or even a velvet jewellery clamshell. And don’t forget to throw in some snacks—purely for sustenance of course!
For inspiration, here are a few of our current favorite movies and be sure to browse our Pictorial Pages Book List for some phenomenal paper presents. You can also share playlists with personality or even artworks in place of movies and books. The possibilities are endless!
Explore the full Holiday Gift Guide for even more gift giving inspiration!