The ARCH-HIVE Gift Guide 2021
Updated: Feb 4, 2022
The holidays are upon us, and the ARCH-HIVE has once again compiled the perfect gift guide to fill all your peculiar Mormon shopping needs. Did we miss something great? Let us know in the comments!
For Book Lovers
The Bollywood Lovers' Club, by Janci Patterson & James Goldberg
A delightful, warm-hearted read that engages thoughtfully with some complicated questions about identity and family and religion, but above all is about young love. Starring a Sikh girl and a Mormon boy. What could be better?
Zion Earth Zen Sky, by Charles Shirō Inouye
A stunning, moving portrait of a life devoted to "raking," and an evocative blend of Mormon & Buddhist thought & form. One of the most beautiful, enjoyable books we read this year.
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops: A Memoir, by Allison Hong Merrill
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops is for anyone who enjoys a combination of women's literature and a human interest story, and for anyone who has struggled with gender inequality, racism, and immigrant injustice. Ultimately, it’s about a strong woman of color determined to create her own path--including joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving a mission, and more.
Matt Page does it again! The second volume in Matt’s planned FUTURE DAY SAINTS trilogy extends and deepens the lore of New Zion, weaving in complicated themes and ideas from Mormon theology and folklore into a moving and at times jaw-dropping and gut-wrenching zany adventure. Who wouldn't love a utopian fantasy that mixes Mormon culture/history/folklore/mythology with 1980s cartoon and toy properties??
The GlassLooker, by Mark Elwood
In this first installment of Joseph’s journey, learn about the local folklore that inspired American treasure digging culture and meet the early influences in young Joseph’s life, as illustrated directly from historical sources. "The Glass Looker is as thoroughly researched as any major academic biography of Joseph Smith. The stories in it incorporate many sources and hard-to-find facts. The Glass Looker may be a graphic novel, but it contains important and fascinating history.” (Andrew Hamilton, AML) Includes more than 150 full-color pages, plus maps, end notes, and sketchbook pages. A must-buy for your favorite Mormon history buff.
We would also be remiss if we didn't recommend checking out everything our friends at BCC Press are working on and publishing!
To Wear
For weird Mormon apparel, we have to recommend our own ARCH-HIVE Shop. Plenty of options sure to spark conversation and help you find (or start) your own weird Mormon hive, wherever you are.
We also recommend Deseret League Baseball tees to show your support for your favorite team from Mormon History (watch for hats to become available soon, too!)
If you saw and loved the image of "Jesus Breaking the Rifle" by Otto Pankok, we have good news! Latter-gay Stories sells t-shirts of that image with a metallic rainbow background.
If they're all sold out, (they go fast!) Zazzle also has shirts with this print (but without the rainbow background).
If you already have every ARCH-HIVE t-shirt you could possibly wear, David Habben also puts his cool artwork on t-shirts. We recommend In the Garden, but really you can't go wrong (& check out his prints, too!)
If you're good on shirts, but looking for Bee-Themed Jewelry, the ARCH-HIVE has got you covered.
This Bumblebee Ring is handcrafted by artisans working with Asha Handicrafts Association, providing opportunities for artisans in and around Mumbai, as are the matching Honeybee Stud Earrings (check out their Clear Vision posts, too)
The Honeycomb Silver-plated Stud Earrings are made by fair trade artisans in Mexico
The Gold Honey Bee Studs are from fair trade collective Mata Traders
The Bee Supportive Enamel Pin was designed by Michelle Lowden, who is Acoma Pueblo (check out her prints and stickers, too!)
The Benevolent Bee Stud Earrings were designed by Catherine Weitzman in Hawaii
For Kids (and Kids-At-Heart)
Our very own Ash Rowan has illustrated three children's books the kids in your life will love:
For heirloom-quality wooden toys, we recommend Flourish Heirloom:
Amazing Scriptures is an exciting game book with a unique blend of mazes and comics, inspired by stories from the Book of Mormon.
Space to Grow is a visual novel where you play as a farmer, father, and community member. Decide what to plant, which faction to support, and what kind of dad you want to be. How will you react when your daughter won't stop crying? When she bullies her friend? Or when she wants to hang out with the cool kids? Designed by an ARCH-HIVE member!
For the Home
Beehive-themed candles are available from:
Ioway Bee Farm (owned and operated by the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, also sells raw honey, creamed honey, lotion bars, lip balms)
River Fair Trade (helps to support the protection of forest habitats, in addition to providing 10,000 sustainable beekeeping jobs in Tanzania)
Honey Soap is available from Vi Bella & supports artisans in Haiti and Mexico (also available in a Honey Orange scent).
Our friends at Flourish Point provide therapy and resources for Queer BYU-Idaho students and have this great mug in their shop, the perfect gift for someone who would love to support this great cause. They sell holiday cards & birthday cards, too!
If you're ready to make a stand and tell that world about your belief that Bigfoot IS Cain, grab this yard sign from our etsy shop (also available as a poster.) Seen in yards around the country and even making its way to ExMormon reddit!
Mormon Art
And of course, it wouldn't be an ARCH-HIVE gift guide if we didn't recommend some great places to get cool Mormon ART:
ARCH-HIVE etsy shop (of course, but seriously check us out.) We've got posters, stickers, prints, postcards, and even a cross stitch pattern.
Hayley Labrum Morrison has prints available in her online shop:
We love absolutely all of Melissa T. Kamba's work, especially Bloom, Honey & this Ascension Gold foil Print:
Ben Crowder is another favorite of ours:
For the Come Follow Me/Old Testament Enthusiast
Nothing New Under the Sun: A Blunt Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes and The Sun Has Burned My Skin: A Modest Paraphrase of Solomon's Song of Songs, both by Adam Miller. Adam Miller's paraphrases of scriptural books are some of the best things to come out of modern Mormon publishing. These quick, accessible works will bring new light to old stories and enhance your study of the Old Testament in surprising, exciting ways (& the Song of Solomon book in particular is very, very sexy).
The Vision of All: Twenty-five Lectures on Isaiah in Nephi’s Record, by Joseph Spencer
In The Vision of All, Joseph Spencer draws on the best of biblical and Latter-day Saint scholarship to make sense of the so-called “Isaiah chapters” in the first two books of the Book of Mormon. Presented as a series of down-to-earth lectures, The Vision of All outlines a comprehensive answer to the question of why Nephi was interested in Isaiah in the first place. Along the way, the book presents both a general approach to reading Isaiah in the Book of Mormon and a set of specific tactics for making sense of Isaiah's writings. For anyone interested in understanding what Isaiah is doing in the Book of Mormon, this is the place to start.
For Everyone Else
You can't go wrong with sad cowboy noises from our good friend Brandon Flowers:
For a great unique stocking stuffer, try one of our HIVE-ZINES!
Or, if you're really stumped and want to get your weird Mormon vibes on, try Salted Caramel Flavored Crickets!
For The Holidays
The ARCH-HIVE's collaborative 20 piece paper nativity! 25% of all sales will go to The Road Home to help the homeless in Salt Lake City this Winter. Art and stands come printed on six 5.5"x8.5" cardstock sheets, along with instructions and notes. Some assembly required.
We hope you found something to add to your peculiar Mormon shopping list! Let us know in the comments--what would you most want to see in your stocking or under your tree?