Last-minute Christmas gifts: crafts and gadgets

Twentytwentyone seeks out impeccable and iconic design, be it a 1920s industrial lamp, Jasper Morrison’s Hal chair, or this pair of discreet and sturdy snippers.
Traditional Chinese scissors, £4.95, order by 19 Dec
Buy online at twentytwentyone.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

Cable candy for the tidy. These bright little plastic doughnuts open up so that you can wind your leads around their core and then snap shut. Available in a range of colours and sizes. (Cable not included.)
Cable turtle, From £6, order by 20 Dec
Buy online at madeindesign.co.uk Photograph: Staff and agencies

The pack provides tubes, mirrors, beads, lenses and instructions, plus you can use any other tiny objects you have lying around to make an endlessly fascinating magic machine.
Build your own kaleidoscope kit,£4.20 (mini)/£6 (medium), order by 20 Dec
Buy online at designmuseumshop.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

These have been around for ever, and that’s what makes them great – a disarmingly simple tool for keeping your camera dust-free.
Kenro blower brush, £6.98, order by 22 Dec
Buy online at hawksphotovideo.co.uk Photograph: Staff and agencies

Using these Makedo connectors, stickers and tools, you can build your own R2-D2, Metal Mickey, Wall-E … or any robot of your imagining. All you’ll need is a pile of cardboard boxes, tubes and containers for body parts.
Find & Make robot, £6.99, order by 19 Dec
Buy online at selfridges.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

This is a style of origami that includes cutting the paper to achieve more complex forms – and these 3D star shapes are bursting with intricacy. The kit includes sheets of patterned paper and detailed instructions.
Kirigami paper balls, £7.50, order by 20 Dec
Reader offer: enter the code MERRYGUARDIAN for a 15% discount on all online Tate shop products. Valid until 24 Dec
Buy online at tate.org.uk/shop Photograph: Staff and agencies

A cute joint listening device that looks like a little robot. You detach the head, plug it into the headphone socket on your MP3 player or phone, and use the eye sockets to attach two sets of headphones. It also comes with a handy key chain.
Splitterbot, £7.99, order by 23 Dec
Reader offer: enter the code GUARDIAN10 for a 10% discount and free delivery when you spend over £30 on Firebox products (except for Deal of The Week items). Valid until 19 Dec
Buy online at firebox.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

An oversized, cartoon-style plastic pencil for efficient and ironic touch-screen usage. Solves the problem of how to use your phone without taking your gloves off.
Touch-screen stylus pencil, £8, order by 19 Dec
Reader offer: enter the code GUXMAS11 for a 10% discount on all online Maiden products. Valid until 24 Dec
Buy online at maidenshop.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

This kit comes with three different moulds. Simply add water to the luminous glittery sand inside the mould.
Bouncy ball kit, £8, order by 19 Dec
Buy online at vandashop.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

One for the practical lover of all things minimal, efficient and digital. These three handy leads will keep your devices connected. The pack includes USB to mini-USB (such as cameras), USB to micro-USB (most smartphones) and USB to Universal Dock connector (iPods, iPhones and iPads).
Griffin mini-cable set, £11.95, order by 22 Dec
Buy online at cancomuk.com Photograph: Staff and agencies

Genius inventor? The most astute businessman in history? The world’s rudest boss? Walter Isaacson’s account of the life of the late Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, is studded (as Sam Leith put it in his review) with moments that make you go “wow”.
Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, £15, order by 19 Dec
Buy online at guardianbookshop.co.uk Photograph: Staff and agencies

This striking monochrome cross-stitch kit comes in a range of designs. Choose from keys, butterflies, birds, a stag’s head or a cameo. Each kit comes with a wooden hoop, black thread, a pattern sheet and detailed instructions.
Key No 2 cross-stitch kit, £24.95, order by 20 Dec
Buy online at liberty.co.uk Photograph: Staff and agencies