The holidays are fast approaching and before the guests arrive and the stockings are stuffed, now is the perfect time to get the finishing touches and gifts for loved ones! Below are a few of our favorite listings to inspire and motivate that last-minute shopping.
Light-up Wreath Earrings
Nothing builds the holiday spirit like over-the-top earrings, and these Light-Up Wreaths are the perfect accessory for the season! These earrings pay homage to an oft under-appreciated piece of decor, and offer a number of customization options like the color of the wreath and the LEDs themselves! They come pre-assembled and just need coin-cell batteries to run. The makers, California STEAM, ship from the United States with multiple options for delivery speed.
Bee Merry Christmas Ornament
The Bee Merry ornament is perfect for the burnt-out corporate worker in your life who dreams of a tiny cottage in the woods with their own beekeeping options. Plus, giving ornaments is a fantastic idea for the new adults in your family! My own family has a tradition of giving Christmas decor to the newly-minted adults living in their first apartments and homes, and it’s always a smash hit.
The ornament features 6 RGB LEDs, mounted backward to shine through the translucent PCB, and can be bought as a kit or fully assembled. Made by Snurkle Engineering, this ornament ships from the United States and offers 2-day Priority mailing options.
Nerdy Hanukkah Card
With Hanukkah starting later this year, now is the perfect time to snap up this Nerdy Hanukkah Card for those who celebrate in your life! The onboard piezo speaker plays “Hanukkah O Hanukkah” and “Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel”, and the board offers two different modes. Menorah mode lets you light the LED candle each night and Dreidel mode lets you spin a virtual dreidel, giving you outputs of “nun”, “gimel”, “hey” and “shin”. Additionally, you can have the messages displayed on the OLED customized by the seller, MakeItHackin, who ships from the United States.
Festive Palm Tree Ornament
As someone who lives in warmer climates, a white Christmas is never in the cards for me, but a festively decorated palm tree is everywhere I turn my head! So this Festive Palm Tree ornament speaks to me on many levels, especially with the more “old-fashioned” wiring method used to assemble the kit. The 6 self-flashing RGB LEDs push through the laser-cut board and are powered by 1 CR2032 battery, but the design means you can substitute any power source you like easily! Undeniably, Alpenglow Industries are one of the best on the Christmas electronics kit market, and if palm trees aren’t your style, they have another option for you.
Merry Krampus Soldering Challenge
Another brilliant offering from Alpenglow Industries is their Krampus Soldering Challenge. Based on an ATTiny4, this board can be reprogrammed, but also comes preprogrammed with light-up eyes and tongue. The ornament is also purchasable in a couple of different options, either pre-assembled or just the PCB, or if you’re interested in a challenge, the Hacker Challenge lets you assemble the ornament yourself! Alpenglow Industries is based in California and offers a couple of different shipping options through USPS.
PCB Christmas Earrings
If more subtle holiday earrings are more your style, these PCB Christmas earrings are perfect. The tree PCBs are each powered by a CR1620 coin cell battery and have 9 LEDs controlled by an ATTiny microcontroller. The clever masking and traces make the adorable design of the earrings. Made by Seriousengineering in Poland, these ship across Europe via DHL!
Das Tannenbäumchen (LED Christmas Tree)
When the famous German Christmas markets meet the Shenzhen tech markets, you get this lovely RGB LED Tannenbäumchen (also called a Christmas tree!). The PCB is programmable over UART and can be powered over USB-C or battery. There are 24 brightly shining RGBW LEDs onboard, with 15 pre-programmed patterns and a potentiometer to control LED brightness. The assembled tree includes a satin acrylic front face, adding a tasteful piece of light diffusion. This ships from Germany from the L²ElectronDesignStore, perfect for European shoppers.
As always with last-minute online shopping, be mindful of where you’re ordering from and take into account potential delays with whatever postal service the store is using!
