Hello friends.

Are you working on my holiday gifts?

What where are you at with that?

With your gift specifically?

Definitely.

I mean, we'll start with me and then we can [laughter]

It's getting to be that time. And of course, we're here on a Friday, which means we're doing a bonus episode.

That's right. This one is extra special. We're talking about gifting.

I think I love and hate this topic. I love this time of year. I feel so much pressure to get all the gifts, all the kid gifts, all the friend gifts, all the spousal gifts. Yeah, it's a lot.

It is extra hard, too, when you're a wire cutter employee because people really do expect you to get it right every single time.

The bar is high.

The bar is very high. I'm convinced that giving gifts, like good, thoughtful, and meaningful gifts, does get harder every year because I think even if you're inspired throughout the year and jot things down, by the end, there are always like four or five people you're like, "Shoot, what about them?"

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's also hard because everybody kind of already buys exactly what they want when they want it. You can get it delivered to your door within 2 days, sometimes within a few hours even. So, it's hard to get people something that they haven't already gotten themselves.

That's true. To that end, I am very, very excited to kick off a special bonus series we're doing this holiday season.

It's all about gifts and gift giving, and it features advice and expertise from our incredible colleagues on the Wire Cutter gifting team and throughout the newsroom.

We're really, really fortunate to work with really thoughtful people who kind of do this for a living and they are constantly just scouring every corner of the internet and the real world for the best, most creative, most thoughtful gifts you can give.

I think it's also fun because they are also scouring our guides. They they kind of try out a lot of things from our guides and a lot of our writers actually test things that sometimes don't make it into our guides, but they actually might be really cool for a gift for the right person.

Yeah.

And we wanted to bring all this advice to our listeners right now at the time of the year when you need it most to help make gift giving a little easier this year and hopefully a little bit more fun.

So, every Friday for the next 3 weeks, we're publishing bonus episodes focused on different aspects of gift giving.

That's right. We're going to cover people who are hard to shop for, featuring real conundrums from our listeners, and we'll talk about the best gifts for kids.

We're going to talk to the real children out there. We're not going to ask adults what to give children. We're going to ask kids what you should give [laughter] other kids.

We're also going to get into the dreaded zone of last minute gifts, which I always need help with. So, I'm really excited for that one.

Here for you, buddy. All right. Today, we're kicking it off with wall-to-wall dispatches from the wire cutter staff about the items they discovered this year that they truly loved.

These are things they came across throughout their reporting over the last 12 months or things they tested themselves and loved, items in their shopping carts or on wish lists to give to their loved ones.

I am super pumped to hear what these folks are going to recommend because in the past when I've gotten recommendations from our staff, they are always really unique. They're very interesting and they're also really well tested.

All right, let's get into it. After the break, we'll hear from wire cutter staff about the items they've loved in 2025.

Be right back.

Welcome back. Today we're sharing items that made it to the top of wire cutter staffers lists this year.

And don't worry, we will provide links to all the items mentioned in our show notes. Okay, let's get into it. Let's listen.

Hello, I'm Ann Marie Ki. I'm a deputy editor at Wire Cutter and I'm here to tell you that I love the Yummy Taper candles.

It's a top pick in our guide to taper candles. And I am not really a candle person. I don't love the idea of fire and wax inside my house.

But my 11-year-old is a fire person. She loves candles. She loves birthday candles. She loves the smell of blown out candles. She loves the atmosphere of candles on a table.

And so I bought our pick because they're relatively inexpensive. They burn well. They burn cleanly. And we have been using them for almost every meal that we eat together. And it's lovely.

It's a lovely way to upgrade the everyday. And so you can totally eat Cheerios by Candlelight. And frankly, you should.

My name is Jackie Reev and I'm a senior staff writer covering bedding for the home decor team.

The best thing I bought this year was actually a quilt that I've tested and recommended for a few years. The company stores company cotton vo quilt if you're feeling fancy and French or voil quilt some people say.

I have a lot of blankets on my test shelves, but if I particularly love something in testing, I will buy it. so I can keep it forever. And that's what happened with this quilt.

I just kept gravitating towards it during testing over the last few years. And I saw a color I liked on clearance at a great price. So, I bought a twin size to use as a throw.

And this one became particularly wonderful this year because I had to have surgery. And when I got home, it was my go-to comfort blanket for recovery.

You know, my other blankets, some of them were too heavy or too clingy or not the right texture or temperature, and it was perfect.

It was lightweight, super easy to wash that twin size. I wash it many times, even really hot. And it did the job and made me feel so much better physically, but I don't know, maybe also mentally, spiritually, emotionally.

There is something about a quilt that just makes me feel well taken care of, like it's all going to be okay. And I really needed that this year and this quilt came through.

Hello, I'm James. I'm the staff writer covering games and hobbies for Wire Cutter.

So, this year I happened to get married, which was a great time obviously, but when I was looking for gifts for my groomsmen, I ended up getting very special gemstone dice from a place called Norse Foundry.

But you can get them in a lot of places. Essentially, they're normal array of dice. So, D20 through D4 that are made of precious stones.

Like for my groomsman, I got lapis lazuli, blood stone, blue vein stone, malikite, jade, all sorts of stuff.

They're gorgeous, number one, and number two, they feel good in your hand when you're rolling them, and they make a fairly satisfying clacking noise.

Although, you shouldn't clock them together too much because they are precious stones and they will break. But, it was lovely. They all appreciated it.

It's my favorite gift I've given this year. And yeah.

Hi, my name is Amy Kravitz and I'm an editor on the baby and kid team at Wire Cutter.

I bought our 5-year-old a Swatch Flick Flack watch and she's loved wearing it throughout the year.

We recommend it in our gift guide to seven-year-olds. It's a simple analog watch. Nothing smart about it except for the fact that it's helping to teach my daughter how to tell time.

She doesn't wear it everyday. It's an accessory she asks to wear for a special event or if someone is visiting and she wants to show off a bit.

I think it's a nice accessory that's not too expensive, but just special enough that she knows to treat it with care.

The watch is very similar to the swatch I had as a kid. And I also love the nostalgia factor, even if that part's just for me. Thanks.

I'm Trey French and I'm a staff writer covering outdoor gear.

I like this Sawyer Squeeze water filter. I've kind of designed my life around hiking. I do it several days a week.

And I like to bring this water filter because it's small and lightweight. And it's really a no-brainer just to throw in my pack in case I run out of water and need to filter water from natural sources along the way or just so that I can bring less water, which is pretty heavy to begin with.

Hi, I'm Brent Butterworth, staff writer covering audio products for Wire Cutter.

I've been getting all my radio off the internet using smart speakers, but they go through services like TuneIn and iHeart Radio, which insert a lot of repetitive advertising, even on public radio stations.

So, I bought a Sanjen WR15, which is our top pick and tabletop radios.

It sounds really great. And there's an old school manual tuning knob on the front that lets me flick between my local stations as fast as I could probably give a voice command to a smart speaker.

I keep the radio within arms length of my desk chair, so it's always with me all through my workday.

Now, there are times when I still want to listen to internet radio, and I can get that off my phone. The WR15 doesn't have Bluetooth, but it does have an auxiliary input on the back.

So, I connected a Bluetooth receiver that lets me play the sound from my phone through the WR15.

It's a perfect blend of vintage and modern tech, and for a day-to-day audio listening system, it's just fantastic.

Hi, I'm Jennifer Hunter, Wire Cutter, senior style editor.

One of my absolute favorite style finds this year was the TWWP Next Morning shirt.

I am a button-up shirt connoisseur. I wear one almost every single day and I'm extremely picky about them.

And this shirt does all the details right. There are these ingenious buttons down the sleeve so when you roll and cuff your sleeve just right, you can button it in place and it doesn't come undone throughout the day like other shirts I wear.

It also has this really nice cut. It's shorter in front and it's perfectly slouchy.

And the fabric is gorgeous, too. It's this really lovely smooth, crisp cotton. It just feels so expensive and it better.

This shirt is a splurge. It's almost 400 bucks and I know that's painful, but if you're buying for somebody like me who likes to get one beautiful splurgy thing and then wear it forever, this is a great contender.

Happy hunting everybody.

Hey, this is John Chase. I am the smart home editor at Wire Cutter.

A gift I would recommend for kids around 10, 15 years old. And don't get upset when I say this is an Amazon Echo Dot.

I was reluctant to put one in my son's bedroom, but it was better than him having a device for when he wants to listen to music, if he wants to listen to the radio.

It gives him a little autonomy and allows him to experience music that he wants to hear and to explore music.

And it also lets me set alarm clock alarms, be a little creative. Sometimes I can use it to drop in like an intercom system.

So yeah, it was it was something I I thought a lot about and gave it to him and he's loved it and it's been great for us.

Hi, this is Rachel Sarakola, senior writer with Wire Cutter.

The gift I'm looking forward to giving this year is the bird buddy, which combines a bird feeder, a video camera, and a smartphone app.

I've filled a lot of bird feeders over the years, but I always seem to miss all the bird action, which just leaves me with a bunch of seed holes, and a whole lot of bird poop.

The Bird Buddy will alert your phone when birds come to feast and capture it videos and images that are bursting with color and detail.

The app also provides information about the type of visitor and trivia bits about the species. It even has a whole community of birders, so you can share visits or get a peek at other feeders all around the world.

It's like having your own private nature channel.

Just make sure to get the one with the solar panel so you never have to worry about charging the camera.

It really is a great gift for bird watchers of all ages and anyone just looking for a fun new hobby.

Hi, I'm Katherine Cast, a senior editor at Wire Cutter.

And the thing I've bought this year that has sparked the most joy for me is this $15 Oxo bench scraper.

It was recommended by my colleague, kitchen writer Mackie Aawa, who has used it since going to culinary school almost a decade ago and has cooked in restaurant kitchens.

It's one of those things that you don't really know that you need until you try it. It's awesome at getting every single chopped veggie from your cutting board into your pot without making a mess or losing any little pieces of red pepper.

It's also, weirdly, helped me scrape up baby food off of my countertop at meal times, which gets super messy.

The great thing about it is that it's under $20. So, it means that you can also buy just a bunch of them for gifts, which is what I'm planning on doing.

I'm going to give one to my father-in-law, who does all the cooking over the holidays. I think he's going to love it.

Hi, my name is Tom Dunn. I'm a senior staff writer here at Wire Cutter and I live in Boston.

The best pick I bought this year was easily the Kosori air fryer toaster oven.

We'd had our old toaster oven for probably 15 years or so and it was probably dangerously on the fritz for a while.

And then our main oven died and long story short, it was going to cost us several thousand to replace at which point we realized that we may as well just update the entire kitchen.

But that's not the kind of thing you can do overnight. So, in the meantime, we bought the Kosori air fryer while we figured out our plans, and it became the primary cooking source in our home for the next six months.

It did more things than our old oven ever did, and frankly, it did them all a lot better. It cooked more evenly. It It toasted more evenly. It broiled better.

It's just amazing. In fact, it was so helpful and convenient that we just kind of got used to it and kept putting off our proper renovation plans cuz they just didn't seem so urgent. Thanks,

Hi, my name is Ellen Lee and I'm a senior staff writer on the baby and kid team.

And the thing that was most fun for me to test this year and which I now plan to gift was the Oh My Hair Chalk.

My daughters have long, luscious black hair. And this stuff shows up.

It has clamps so it's easy to apply, but it's also very easy to wash out. And if you are inspired by the K-pop demon hunters, it adds a lot of color into your hair.

Hey, this is Liam. I write about home improvement for wire cutter.

The most surprisingly useful thing I bought and tested this year was this inflatable air wedge that I'd seen on Tik Tok that makes it really easy to prop up furniture or appliances a few inches.

I've used it to get a duster underneath my fridge. Uh, last night I used it to help roll a rug out underneath the legs of my couch.

It was about 18 bucks. It's not the kind of thing I use every day or even every week, but just having the thing makes me a little more likely to follow through on certain projects that would be uncomfortable or frustrating enough that I'd probably try to avoid them otherwise.

The thing looks sort of like a blood pressure cuff. You just slide this flat deflated bag under whatever you need to lift. Squeeze a bulb and it gradually fills up with air and then your heavy thing just floats there while you do whatever you need to do.

I keep the thing in a drawer. Doesn't take up much space. No indication that it'll wear out anytime soon.

When I need it, I'm really happy that I have it and it's even sort of fun to use.

This is Nicola. I'm a senior style writer. I was given a tube of Prada lip balm.

It's $50, which is an insane amount of money for lip balm, but it comes in this really cute metal tube that has the logo.

I personally love the way that mine looks kind of beat up from like being in my purse and having little like dings and nicks in it.

Kind of just makes me feel like it's mine. It shows the time we've spent together.

That's kind of what makes it charming is like it's a little bit extra for what it is.

And that is what makes it so fun to pull out of your bag and live with. And I am looking forward to refilling mine.

I think I'm going to get a color this time cuz I've had just the plain one.

Also, I think you can get this at like Sephora and Nordstrom and stuff, but I say buy it from the Prada website or go into the Prada store because then you get all the cute little packaging and it just makes it it's instantly giftable.

It just looks more special. I mean, you're spending $50. Get everything you can out of that $50.

Look, I love garlic. When it comes to adding it to dishes, I believe you measure that amount with your heart, not a teaspoon.

Hi, I'm Caitlyn Wells and I cover the home office beat and productivity for wire cutter in New York City.

And I love to cook. Chopping garlic has always been my mini meditation practice in the kitchen. And when I need to chop a lot in a hurry, I turn to my trusty OXO garlic press.

But last year, I developed peripheral neuropathy, which causes muscle weakness and tremors, among other things.

It's made completing basic tasks more difficult, including opening jars and chopping or crushing garlic.

Squeezing the oxo is no longer an option for me. So, I turned to the O2 Garlic garlic crusher, which has become my favorite purchase this year.

The Dracula inspired kitchen gadget grinds garlic, seeds, and spices with a couple twists of the wrists.

The back and forth motion is reminiscent of my chopping days, and I don't feel any pain while using it.

This is definitely a kitchen gadget to grab if you want to add a little whimsy to your space or just need something simple and effective to use.

Hello, this is Mel Plout. I am pets writer at Wire Cutter.

This year, the thing that I bought that I found on Wire Cutter that wasn't a pet product and that made a huge difference in my life is buried deep inside the guide to pocket knives.

And it's actually not a pocket knife at all, but it is a knife sharpener. And it's called the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker.

And it's this really cool thing where it's like this little plastic base that you open up and you take out these sharpening stones and you set them in their grooves and there's a little protective poles that you put on.

I have been able to sharpen every single knife in my house and is incredible.

So, not only can I open all the packages with all the products that arrive in my doorstep with a very, very sharp knife, but I can also slice tomatoes as if they had no skin at all.

Everything's different now when you're not fighting with a tomato in your kitchen knife.

Anyway, that's it. Sharpen your knives. Use a Spyderco. It's pretty awesome.

Hi, it's Kathleen Squires, staff writer for all things kitchen at Wire Cutter in New York City.

My favorite gift idea during my research and testing this year is a truly wireless meat thermometer.

I gifted our pick, the ThermoPro Temp Spike Plus to myself this year.

It's taken so much of the stress and guesswork out of my grilling game.

The Temp Spike Plus allows you to monitor your meat remotely from your phone or tablet, so you don't have to hover over your barbecue or oven while cooking.

And I love that it's accurate, easy to use, and works at up to 600 ft.

You can just stick a probe into your meat and walk away to watch your cooking progress in real time.

It is so convenient to keep tabs on my meat while I multitask or just simply take a breather.

The best part is I'll never ever have to fret about under or overcooked meat again.

Happy holidays, everyone.

Thank you so much to our colleagues at Wire Cutter for sharing their favorite items with us.

And don't fret, we will include links to all of the items in our show notes so you can easily find and click.

And stay tuned for the next few Fridays to hear from more Wire Cutter experts about giving gifts to people who are hard to shop for, gifts for kids, and of course last minute gifts.

And if you want even more gifting content, check out the Wire Cutter website or sign up for our gifting newsletter. It's called The Gift.

We'll drop links for all of that in our show notes as well. Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy the rest of the series.