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A lady with a love for literature and shiny things discusses books & bling.

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Non-jewelry gifts for jewelry lovers.

When your love is a jewelry lover, gift-giving holidays can get expensive. So what’s a boo to do?

Don’t worry – I’ve got you.

Here are some ideas of non-jewelry gifts sure to delight the jewelry lovers in your life. (Or to buy for yourself, because they’re cheaper than jewelry so it’s basically like you’re saving money, right?)

A beautiful velvet jewelry box by The Mrs Box and some fabulous ceramic crystal ring holders by Modern Mud.The Mrs Box / Modern Mud

If you’re not going to buy a jewelry lover jewelry, it’s always a good bet to buy them something fancy to put their jewelry inside of when it’s not on their bodies. Delicate jewels need to be kept safe, and even hardy favorites deserve to rest in style.

Here are two examples of that category: one beautiful box and one lovely ring holder. Also consider going for the luxury option.

A unicorn made of gemstones! This is an art print of Hannah Becker's original gemstone art, as seen on her popular Instagram account, DiamonDoodles.Art prints by Hannah Becker (aka DiamonDoodles).

If you follow Hannah on Instagram, you already know she’s a gemologist and her work features REAL gemstones. The high quality art prints Hannah is now offering are gorgeous. I mean, can you even with this unicorn?

If you don’t fall in love with any of the existing prints, Hannah is currently taking a limited number of custom commissions.

Two pouches from the Jane Tayor Jewelry x Paige Gamble collab.

Paige Gamble x Jane Taylor Jewelry

We’ve looked at some of the Jane Taylor Jewelry x Paige Gamble collab before, but they’re too perfect not to mention again. (Full article here.)

If you want all the extra bonus points, put a wrapped gift box containing actual jewelry inside one of these pouches. A beautiful leather pouch with a surprise inside…and the surprise is JEWELRY? Only use this technique if you want to win utterly at gift giving.

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Sarah Magid’s Delicious Candy Drop collection

There are a lot of different things jewelry can do: it can make you feel strong, elegant, sexy, refined, bold – but sometimes what you really want is a piece of jewelry that makes you smile.

Sarah Magid’s new Candy Drop collection is like laughter made tangible. It’s vivid, vivacious, and (ahhh I’m out of v words) just super fun. It’s also a delight for the eye to behold.

The chandelier statement earrings from Sarah Magid's Candy Drop collection! Enamel and Swarovski crystal. These are so fun.These chandelier earrings are the showpiece of the Candy Drop collection and a perfect introduction to its lurid, voluptuous appeal.

What you’re seeing here hand-painted soft enamel embellished with perfectly matched Swarovski crystals. When sending me the photos, Sarah Magid said of this collection that she always loves to use fine jewelry techniques to make costume jewelry. I’m glad she does, because the results are certainty fantastic.

A beautiful, bright cuff and ring from Sarah Magid's Candy Drop collection.The colors in the Candy Drop collection are inspired by the art of Yayoi Kusama. That makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? These designs embody the same kind of whimsical exuberance that makes Kusama’s art so irresistible.

I can’t quite believe we haven’t talked more about Sarah Magid here. She makes high quality costume jewelry and I’ve been a huge fan of her designs ever since I discovered a cache of her jewelry in my friend Hannah Becker’s luggage when we were consulting on each others’ outfits for the AGTA Spectrum Awards Gala last winter.

Beautiful pink and blue earrings from Sarah Magid's Candy Drop collection! Enamel with Swarovski crystal.I can’t decide which color is my favorite. And I love love love that this collection is being launched in Winter, a season so frequently treated as appropriate for nothing but metallics. We all need a little more color in winter.

Any time you’re looking for seriously good quality jewelry that’s below the four digit price range, Sarah Magid is a fantastic option. If you like the spirit here but aren’t quite ready to rock color this intense, you should definitely check out Sarah’s other designs.

If you hurry, you can get 40% off! She’s still running a Cyber Monday Special – and most of these pieces are under $200 to start with, so we’re talking fully splurge-worthy.

Images c/o Sarah Magid.

 Sarah Magid Candy Drop cuff bracelet in blue enamel with Swarovski crystal. The chandelier statement earrings from Sarah Magid's Candy Drop collection! Enamel and Swarovski crystal. These are so fun. Sarah Magid Candy Drop ring in cosmo pink with Swarovski crystal. Sarah Magid Candy Drop ring in blue enamel with Swarovski crystal. Sarah Magid Candy Drop linear earrings in blue enamel with Swarovski crystal. Sarah Magid Candy Drop earrings in cosmo pink with Swarovski crystal. Sarah Magid Candy Drop earrings in blue enamel with Swarovski crystal. Sarah Magid Candy Drop cuff bracelet in enamel with Swarovski crystal.

Feminist jewelry to wear while you smash the patriarchy.

Traditionally, I’ve tried to keep my political opinions and Diamonds in the Library pretty separate. You can tell what I think about certain things by looking at what links I share in my “What I’m Reading” posts, and even more easily if you follow me on Twitter, but I’ve kept my opinions about current events off of the blog, for the most part.

After this most recent Presidential election, I feel strongly that some things are just too important to stay quiet about. It is in that spirit that I bring you today’s roundup of feminist jewelry to wear while you smash the patriarchy.

A handmade 'Smash the Patriarchy' necklace, complete with cute little hammer.Say it loud, proud, and with a cute little hammer.

I love feminist jewelry because there’s something deliciously subversive about taking an item that’s ostensibly intended to adorn women, something delicate and pretty, and turn it on its side as an expression of defiance and strength instead.

Every single one of these picks is an individual designer or an independent artist – if you purchase any of these feminist jewelry designs, your money will be going to support the arts, not a big corporation.

Feminist fine jewelry from Wendy Brandes.When it comes to fine jewelry, few designers are representing the feminist agenda more thoroughly than Wendy Brandes.

Her “BOSSY” and “NASTY” necklaces come to mind first, but if you look through Wendy’s website, you’ll see that the majority of her high end pieces are inspired by great women of the past, and her entire “Maneater” collection is dedicated to the idea of powerful women. Then there are all of her delightfully irreverent emoji studs, which can be worn in any number of ways.

Purchase of the BOSSY or NASTY necklaces also gets you a donation to Planned Parenthood in your honor.

All of the proceeds from this Black Lives Matter button are actually donated to the movement.What is a Black Lives Matter button doing in a post on feminist jewelry? It’s your visual reminder that feminism is nothing if it isn’t intersectional. For more discussion on this topic, here are some excellent resources from Book Riot (a whole list of books!) or articles from Everyday Feminism, Bustle, and Jill of All Trades.

100% of the proceeds from this particular #BLM button are donated directly to the movement.

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