Each year, Church Production gives your friends and family a list of gift ideas. Why?
Because, you—my friend—have a particular set of skills, and that makes you incredibly difficult to shop for.
To help your friends and family out, we've assembled this handy shopping guide to make the holiday season a bit less stressful for them. **Spoiler alert**If you want to truly be surprised, stop reading this article now and just forward the link to the people who love you.
Get a Next-Level Basic Black T-Shirt.
Of course you are probably sick of seeing your favorite church tech in their favorite black t-shirt, but what if it were a really awesome one?
Onno Bamboo T-Shirts are outrageously soft and comfortable, come in men’s and women’s cuts and range in size from XS to 3XL. Plus, because they are made of bamboo, your church tech can feel environmentally superior to their plain Hanes t-shirt wearing counterparts. Warning: if you are buying for your spouse, you are not allowed to steal this shirt to sleep in. Get your own.
These shirts are available from Onno $29 with free shipping in the USA.
Empower Your Church Tech to Hang Keys Like a Rockstar
Chances are the tech in your life has a lot of keys. What if you made them crack themselves up every time they hang them up?
The Jack Rack Guitar Amp Key Holder includes the wall mounting bracket that looks like an amplifier and four keychains with the musical input jack that allows your tech to plug the keys into the wall.
The Jack Rack Guitar Amp Key Holder is available via Amazon and shipping is free if you have Amazon Prime.
Defeat the Sharpie Burglar
When you are in technical production, you bleed Sharpie. (And you may want to make someone bleed when they keep stealing yours and not putting it back.) What if your favorite church tech had their own Sharpies with a theft deterrent?
MySharpie.com sells personalized Sharpie markers. You can either put your favorite tech’s name on them or a hilarious threat that will fit in 34 characters or less. An order of 6 is $12 plus shipping.
Now if we could just figure out how to get the burglar to put the cap back on.
Up the Coffee Game with a Pour-Over Station
Everyone knows that church techs run on coffee, but unfortunately, your church probably isn’t providing coffee as early or as late as your favorite church tech needs it. Pick up a gooseneck kettle (for slow pouring) and a paperless pour over coffee maker with stand along with a pound of your favorite neighborhood roast.
The cool part of the pour over is that not only does it make good coffee, but it also prompts your church tech to pause and take a real break.
Frame a Favorite Song or Album
Your church tech lives in a digital world—which is why sometimes analog feels great for the nostalgia factor. If you can find the sheet music or vinyl album that your favorite church tech loves, you can frame it and share it with them just to make them feel like you really get them.
Bestow them with Power
Chances are your church tech has a lot of favorite devices. And the more linked, connected and well used they are, the more quickly they run out of power. Mophie makes external power for a variety of devices. Figure out your favorite tech’s gadgets and search Best Buy for a compatible Mophie.
Give them a Ukulele
We are not 100% sure whose fault it is that the Ukulele has recently risen in mass popularity. (Though Zooey Deschanel, Tony Blair and Eddie Vedder have all been implicated.) But if you think your church tech might like to learn one, you can start with an affordable model from Amazon for around $35. Free shipping if you have Prime.
Make their iPad Either 18% More Retro or 13% More Functional
Headcase makes two things: iPhone/iPad covers that look like Etch-A-Sketches and iPad Turntables that make it easier to hold your iPad while walking around using it to set lights or other functions. If your favorite church tech is the class clown, go with the Etch-A-Sketch model. Both for around $40 plus shipping.
Go for the Heart with a Personalized Bracelet
Whether you decide to go with a word, favorite verse, or geo-coordinates, there are a wide variety of personalized bracelets for men and women on Etsy making it easy to find one that matches the style of your favorite church tech.
Prices range from $20 - $50 depending on materials.
What about a Church Sign for the Office?
We’ve all seen both fantastic and terrible memes using church signs. What if your favorite church tech had one of their own for the office? Could he/she wield that power responsibly?
This DIY Cinema Lightbox includes 72 letters, numbers and characters and is 12” x 9” x 2”. The lightbox is wall mountable and requires 6 AA batteries. (It has an AC/DC adapter port, but the adapter is not included. Don’t worry about it. Chances are there is something compatible lying around the shop.)
The DIY Cinema Lightbox is available from Uncommon Goods for $50 plus shipping.
We hope you find that perfect gift. And if it isn’t on this list, consider just packing everyone up, leaving the house, and letting your favorite tech take a well-deserved nap!
