Gift Ideas: African Gifts and Cards Online

I chose to start this list with African Art gifts because they are popular with people all over the world. So it is hard to go wrong with them. When selecting an art gift think of what you have seen displayed in the gift recipient's office or home and also of their personality. The best known African art is tribal African masks. African carvings and sculptures are also extremely popular. Other African art forms include African batiks, soapstone sculptures and banana leaf art. You can also buy contemporary African art which includes original African paintings and African Art prints. Another option is functional African art gifts and home decor like African key rings, papyrus bookmarks, letter openers, bottle openers, pen holders, ebony pens and African Art drink coasters. Last but not least you can buy African Art greeting cards, batik cards or postcards which can be framed. You can find all of these online at eBay.com and Amazon.com, my personal favorites are Shona African Sculptures and colorful African batiks.

Image: African Map Holiday Ornament at Zazzle.com

Another popular gift item is African clothing. You can find more traditional African wear like Dashikis and kaftans here. If you like t-shirts you can find lots of cute and cool African t-shirts at Zazzle.com. For more formal African wear consider African dresses and outfits made from fancy African fabrics. To complete the look you can buy colorful African beaded sandals and African belts. My personal favorites are Maasai beaded sandals and belts from Kenya. You can buy these at eBay.

Most women love jewelry (not just diamonds). In Africa both men and women wear jewelry so you can also find African jewelry for men. Popular African jewelry includes beaded jewelry, brass jewelry, cowrie shell jewelry, Maasai jewelry, Tuareg silver jewelry, copper and bone jewelry.

One of the most popular African instruments is the d'jembe drum. You can use the drum both as an instrument and home décor item. You can even buy DVD's to teach you how to play it. Other less known African musical instruments include gourd shakers, tambourines, tic toc drums, gankeke bells, kalimba thumb pianos and bamboo flutes. Some of these like the kalimba and tambourine can also be used as décor. Films and music are a significant part of almost all cultures around the world. While films are more a part of modern culture they can also be used to document history and traditions. The most popular contemporary African movies are Nollywood films. You can also buy DVD's of award-winning African films. If the gift recipient is a music lover you can buy them a CD with African music.

Children can be introduced to African culture with African toys and games. These include African dolls, puzzles, chess sets and traditional African games like Awale. They can also be introduced to African culture through story telling. In the past storytellers played a key role in many African societies. African folktales are particularly enjoyable for kids and usually contain important life lessons. You can also buy African history books for children. For the adults on your list you can buy autobiographies of famous African leaders or African novels by leading contemporary African writers like Chimamanda Adichie. You can also consider anthologies of African poetry or short African stories and African literary classics like, "Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe. You can also buy an African bookmark to go along with the book gift.

African cards reflect African people and their culture. They are as diverse as the African people and include regular greeting cards, handmade cards, African Art postcards, metal greeting cards, batik cards and African proverb postcards. Some of these cards like batik cards, handmade metal cards and art postcards can be given as a gift to be framed and used for home décor.

Image: Dancing African Women,
Handmade Metal Art Cards by Injete
Source: http://poetry-and-art-by-injete-chesoni.blogspot.com

As part of the Kwanzaa holiday festivities it is customary to buy children books and give them a heritage gift. The heritage gift should be something that helps teach children about African culture and traditions. Some ideas for heritage gifts may include traditional African Art, traditional African Jewelry like cowrie shells, or traditional African musical instruments. Kwanzaa greeting cards should reflect the customs of the holiday and the symbolic colors of green, red and black.