A FEW OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS

This holiday season, we want you to know what we like

Photographs by David Lewis

Text by Tim Brookover

Forget raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. We crave art and jewelry and crafts for the home. And we know your loved ones want the same things.

For our wish list, we discovered works by local GLBT artists and craftspersons and finds from queer-positive merchants. So if wonder what to give us, consider these pages a starting point. You're welcome and happy holidays.

By the way, we have been naughty and nice.

DECK THE HALLS

This Daniel Salazar pressed-glass "Wisteria" vase, $400, is one of the treasures at Rick Wilcox and Tom Yerby's new Escarpa Gallery (2055 Westheimer; 713/807-8868).

Give your favorite glamourpuss a photo from a 1920s-era bathing-beauty contest on the Island, $59.95, available at Eiband's Gallery in Galveston (2201 Postoffice, 409/763-5495).

In their new shop Chachkas (902 Sul Ross; 713/521-7701), Benjamin Taylor and Damian Constantine carry offbeat items like this Zan wooden apple, $145, made from found wood in Guatemala.

Savvy shoppers will arrive early at the December 7-9 Glassell School of Art holiday sale (5100 Montrose Blvd.; 713/639-7500) for the best selection of student work, like David J. Webb's meticulously made linocuts, $25 each. Twenty-five percent of sales benefit the school scholarship fund.

Myron Morris offers an eclectic mix at his Artworks Houston (2470 Times Blvd.; 713/521-2233; www.artworks-houston.com), including this Hudson Beach Glass bowl-on-tripod, $75.

For five years, the Houston Lesbian & Gay Community Center has exhibited work by talented individuals living with HIV/AIDS who participate in the Positive Art Workshop. Program founder Patrick Palmer has donated a limited number of exuberantly colored acrylic-on-burlap paintings for sale, $75 and $100 each, with proceeds benefiting the Center (803 Hawthorne; 713/524-3818). Pictured is Thunder Storm by Javier Requena.

OUR GAY APPAREL

Release your beloved's inner monarch with a custom-made tiara, $36, from Sally Huffer's Houston-based Tiara Magic (www.tiaramagaic.com). Josh Mellen sports the crown.

New Yorker Jason Saft and three cohorts have created the new Jewcy line of T-shirts and other merch. "Jewcy is the by-product of being a part of and working with the gay community for the last seven years," Saft says. Don the hip cotton T-shirt, $20, for the last night of Hanukkah. Check out the rest of the line-"created for fashion-forward Jews and those who love them," says Saft-including the logo baseball cap ("this season's must-have yarmulke for the urban warrior") at www.jewcy.com.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Jewel Dean of Jewel's Boutique (2404 Taft; 713/523-3557; www.crossdressersboutique.com) recommends these particolor rhinestone earrings, $69, for making a brilliant statement at that New Year's Eve shindig.

Even folks without Showtime will like the cheeky cotton T-shirts, $22, created by Queer as Folk costume designer Patrick Antosh (CHANGE LINKwww.qafstore.sho.com).

Friendswood artisan Kandra Swope (www.kaleidoscopecreations.net) crafts an array of smart jewelry, including these ceramic bead bracelets, $5 each.

Mary Richards can still turn the world on with her smile. The 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment DVD boxed set of all 24 first-season episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, $49.98, provides proof (www.foxdvd.com).

In addition to terrific java, Greenberry's Coffee & Tea (2311 West Alabama; 713/522-7005; www.greenberrys.com/houston) stocks appurtenances for the caffeinated, including whimsical Karen Donleavy ceramic mugs with pet mugs (50 designs available, Jack Russell terrier pictured), $19.95.

Steven Bland builds an array of kaleidoscopes, including the Micro-Glitterscope, $28, for his Aseity Kaleidoscope (2828 Bammel Lane; 713/802-2008; www.aseity.com).

Many of us at OutSmart World Headquarters order the all-natural care products from Indigo Wild (800/361-5686; www.indigowild.com), including assorted goodies like the almond-clove-and-citrus Zum Yule bar, $6, the 6-soap sampler Zum Bundle, $5 each, and our favorite Zum tov.