Meryl's Notes Blog

For the person who has everything or you’re out of ideas, sometimes going the original or unique route does the trick. Here you’ll find political satire, handy gadgets, mini people, and others.

Second Term Edition Bush Cards are a cross between a book and a game. They’re targeted towards Bush non-fans, but they are funny enough that even Bush fans with a sense of humor could enjoy them. Even cabinet members that are subjects on the cards buy them.

While on political satire, a great gift for political fans are CDs from Capital Steps. I’ve heard they’re a riot.

Miss a Kit is a pocketknife style gadget that has a flashlight, keychain, needle and thread, perfume bottle, mirror, pill box, knife and more. If you’re like me and don’t like cutesy pink, they’re available in other colors. Unfortunately, they all have a cutesy heart on them. But I’d love one of these anyway. There is one with a star, but it’s for men and has different tools than the Miss a Kit.

Silver Jewelry Club has free jewelry where you only pay $5.99 per item for shipping. I’ve gotten stuff from the site and my daughter likes them. She thought they were fancy (for an 11-year-old). For me, I could get some specific colored jewelry and stones like Garnet and London Blue Topaz (no Sapphire here). I am stocking up on nice ones to give as gifts to girls. One item is on display for 15 minutes or until it’s sold out.

Know someone who is into herself or himself? Get them a mini-me from Microdwarf. The site has hundreds of themes from which to choose. Creative.

Found Objects has many creative and original gift items. For example, these push pins are a nice change from the boring thumb tacks.

Know a Howard Hughes or Adrian Monk? Perfect gift: Toothbrush Sanitizer and Storage System

Chick-fil-A has an adorably clever calendar displaying 12 months of cows in shining armor. Who can resist the fun the company is having with this? “From out of the mists of history come 12 heroes and heroines of cowdom from ages long past. They fought the forces of burgers with courage, cunning and cud.” Okay, maybe PETA wouldn’t like this. The company is having fun with its marketing and it’s working as a bunch of us parents (our school partners with a nearby restaurant for spirit night) bought the $5 calendar. You can watch the commercial.

DailyCandy provides the scoop on what’s hot, new, and undiscovered from fashion to gadgets. It has nine daily email newsletter editions covering eight cities and one “everywhere” so you can get ideas for the next time you’re reminded it’s someone’s birthday, anniversary, or job promotion.

My son’s school is having its twice yearly book fair this week and I always know I’m in trouble when that time comes. He wanted a building cards that builds castles from Klutz. I asked if he would really use it. He started building a tower before bed time in my room. Taking a look at it, I ended up building a full castle. This set comes with 150 pieces and you can buy more (of course) so you can build the giant castles shown in the booklet. One problem — Klutz doesn’t include a container to keep the puzzles in. The pieces come in plastic that you have to cut open and can’t be reused.

Updated: November 16, 2005

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