In 2005, I created a list of original gift ideas and popular 2005 gift items. I thought it would be helpful to create an entry of this sort without a year tacked on. So I’ve combined web sites mentioned in the past and will continuously add to the list. Of course, no gift beats one from the heart — writing a note by hand. This list will grow as I add more categories. Of course, gadgets and geeky stuff is included!
Gifts and Surprise offer ideas for the difficult to shop for person (I have a few of those in my family). The Obsession Gift Box Company focuses more on corporate gifts.
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.
Old-fashioned gifts (Read: no batteries required!)
Books are almost always a winner. You can check my reviews on Amazon to see what I liked and didn’t like. Or just go through the reviews here. A little self-promotion here, but my story is only one of 100 stories in Stories of Strength — I don’t get a penny as all of the proceeds go to charity.
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. Of course, a year later — the cards are buried somewhere in the junkyard… known as the game room.
Games are responsible for many fond memories when I was a kid and they continue to make memories in adulthood. I never get tired of Scrabble
I like to play these occasionally or my family does: Tri-Ominos
Newer games worth checking out: 20 Questions Handheld Game
Got Cranium Hullabaloo, a cross between Twister and musical chairs. My six-year-old liked it. The 2 1/2-year-old can’t follow the directions, but he played with the set. Join the kids and get some energy.
My middle child and I played Guess Who? At first, I thought this game was a blow off and too easy for an adult to win. But then we played it a few more times and I finally saw how it could go either way for either adult or child. If you ask, “Does your person have blonde hair?”, you either get to put down a lot of characters or only a couple of them depending on the answer. A good one to play with kids around 1st grade.
Front Porch Classics believes games should be showcased instead of hidden behind closet or cabinet doors.
Gamesake lets you create a game about the recipient. It’s ideal for parties, showers, and group gatherings.
Players aim to lose all 10 of their inalienable rights in the Feel Safe Game of Homeland Security.
GiftTRAP takes a creative approach where players receive cards with different gifts. They have to decide what they think their friends would want to receive. Like other social games, this starts conversations so whip it out at the start of the party and avoid that awkward period.
Jewelry: 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.
Just Ask Leslie is a blog that spots jewelry, provides tips and suggests jewelry gift ideas.
Watches still make great gifts. I miss wearing a watch, but it got annoying to have my medical ID bracelet clashing with it. The Watch Report watches watches.
Original and Unique Gifts: For the person who has everything or you’re out of ideas, sometimes going the original or unique route does the trick.
Second Term Edition Bush Cards are a cross between a book and a game. They’re targeted toward non-fans of Bush, 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 (no pun intended).
Know a Howard Hughes or Adrian Monk? Perfect gift: VIOlight VS100 Toothbrush Sanitizer and Storage System.
Chick-fil-A had an adorably clever calendar in 2005 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. Every year the theme changes and 2007 it’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Hairy.” You can watch the commercial for the 2005 calendar.
Whoopass Enterprises creates custom bobbleheads that can look like the recipient or an animal.
Self-contained fish bowl requires no feeding, no filters and best of all, no water changes!
Then these funky shirts from Sharp as Toast have funny political cartoons, sayings and other non-political stuff.
Running out of time? Know someone who gets bored at work and can play games at lunch? Old-fashioned PC games from Big Fish Games where you won’t find violent or mega-games. Instead, it has family games like FizzBall, Cake Mania, and Haiku Journey.
Geeky Stuff
They’re getting cheaper and bigger in capacity every minute. flash drives
Get a second monitor or even a third and the recipient will love you for it. When I first started working with dual monitors, I found it weird and annoying. Now I can’t stand being without them! I’ll have to write up something about it in the future. All you need is a video card that can handle dual monitors like VisionTek VTKRAD7K64P Dual Monitor 7K 64MB Ddr Pci
Just about anything from ThinkGeek and lots of good stuff at Newegg.com.
DocuPen scans a whole page and works with Windows and Mac systems. Oooh.
Migo has a USB thumb drive for taking your data with you including Outlook, emails, contacts, and other stuff. Four versions available.
Gadgets for women at Popgadget. Must.Stay.Away.
Give Your iPod Character
Does your iPod scream for stylin’ clothes? Is she a princess or perhaps,
a cowboy? Maybe she wants variety?
Mini and Shuffle.
Prefer fur? Try
dressing up objects? Maybe babies?
Rather just have something simple like
lines? Sporty folks can make the iPod look sporty with a
Make it a guy, put it in tights, or removable wrappers. OK, OK, I’ll stop already.
Unique Stores
These stores sell the kind of things you don’t find everywhere. They may also have a unique theme.
eLuxury sells designer stuff that isn’t sold anywhere else online. Just like its name, the things it sells are expensive.
Poketo! finds art that you can use everyday in your home, on you (apparel), and stationery.
Alphabetsync has an assortment of classic toys from the ’50s and ’60s along with new items on the market including t-shirts, fine gifts, jewelry, wacky cards, and everything in between.
Chiasso, Clio Home, CB2 (Crate and Barrel 2) and Swoozie’s have a variety of fun items.
I loved playing sports while growing up. It was my “thing,” where I spent all my free time outside of school. Girls’ sports has grown and places like Just for Girls Sports let us show off how proud we are to be athletes.
Woozie Wear: Clothes for dogs.
Punkster: Funky tees for babies.
Shop Composition and The Guild are all about design and style. It sounds like this site prescribes to Donald A. Norman’s Design of Everyday Things and Emotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things. To see the different items, click the box NEXT to Select a Vendor. Took me a minute to figure out.
Art lovers will love artnet, a resource for serious art buyers to buy, sell, and research fine art online.
Car collectors, check out Hemmings, which claims to be the largest collector car marketplace.
Not exactly a store, but design*sponge and Shelterrific share neat products for the home.
Sporting Reviews blog provides ideas for the sports fan like my dad.
Someone on her second, third or fourth child? She might have all she needs by way of hand-me-downs, so get ideas from Babygadget. With three kids of my own, people surprised me with something different — just make sure it’s usable.
Food
Ah, food is a popular choice. Though you can find plenty of good eatin’s in your area, there are some delightful items you can get online.
Dale and Thomas Popcorn gave away free popcorn and became overwhelmed with free order requests. But the move paid off. The popcorn was SOOOO good that I didn’t share (I think I’m good about sharing). I keep the company info handy as I do want to shop there when the right opportunity comes.
Know a foodie? Someone who loves to watch Food Network? The Original Food Lover’s Trivia sounds like a winner.
I’ve been sending gift baskets and towers from Wine Country Gift Baskets as thank yous and they’re always a hit. They have great prices.
Can’t beat a food blog from Paris. Chocolate & Zucchini shares thoughts, recipes and cooking tools.
Thanks to WSJ article on shopping by blog for some of these resources.
Updated: December 13, 2006
I love Scrabble and geeky stuff. Enter the perfect gift for people who like the same: L33T Tiles. But when do I have time to play Scrabble? Maybe the tiles will still be around a few years from now when all of my kids are old enough and can play the game.
From the sponsor: Why is a hair restoration ad in here? ‘Cuz Meryl is a sellout. 
Mugs, ties, shirts, sweaters… tired of giving those as gifts? Or does the recipient have just about everything you can think of? Not likely when you check out these sites with original and unique items.
I could spend hours on many of these sites. Instead, I forced myself to break away and post them here. This way, I have them all bookmarked in one place.
Kevin Kelly’s Cool Tools isn’t a shop stop, but Kelly finds a lot of cool stuff. Kelly writes, “I am chiefly interested in stuff that is extraordinary, better than similar products, little-known, and reliably useful for an individual or small group.”
Etsy sells handmade gifts. You can shop by color, location (geolocator), time (time machine), material, tags, and category. Click on Sampler to get top sellers, top items, random sellers, random items, and recently sold items.
’80s tees brought on lots of memories from my child of the ’80s days.
Eco-Artware.com has artful, creative, and environmental-friendly gifts. Street signs have been recycled into keychains. Motherboards become coasters.
Surprise.com gives you gift ideas from all over the Web. Know someone who’s all stressed out? Loves to talk politics? Is socially-conscious? The site provides ideas for all of them and more.
t spheres help the overly stressed folks by combining massage and aromatherapy.
Turn Your Head makes an optical illusion of your profile into a three-dimensional visage.
Big Feet PJs sells grown up PJs with (drum roll) feet! If you or the recipient lives in a cold place, this might be the answer to warm nights (insert crack joke here).
Do you know someone who is slow to wake up? With this Puzzle Alarm Clock, he has to wake up and put the four-piece puzzle back together to shut up the clock.
For the traveler, Weekends Away has theme gift suitcases and gift cards so you can pick the right one to fit the occasion or the recipient’s personality.
Individual Icons recycles jewelry made out of objects like chainmail, grommets, and rulers.
Find unusual and lesser known games at US Games, which also carries tarot cards and has a Web museum of rare cards and games.
Satinbox.com carries a variety of original and unique lifestyle product gifts that you would normally find in different specialy stores and boutiques. With Satinbox.com you find products categorized by your recipient’s lifestyle. One of its bestsellers is the fashionable apron.
Wootini sells three-dimensional art from artists all around the world.
Uniting word fans and geeks with L33t tiles.
Have fun with strangers with Flapart Covers in which you put your real book inside these phony books and the titles will shock your friends and strangers who look at the cover to see what you’re reading. Sample titles: Do-It-Yourself Liposuction, Coroner by Correspondence, and How to Steal From Your Employer and Get Away With It.
Don’t know if your recipients have food allergies? Play it safe with Divvies, which sells good food that are free of nuts, milk, and eggs. The only thing is those with gluten allergies aren’t covered. The food is even Kosher.
For book lovers and book club friends, Overdue Media sells items that say things like “WWDD: What would Dewey do?” “What happens in the library stays in the library.”
Can’t find the right accessories for your iPod? Think Different Store is a real brick and mortar store that — of course — sells online. Sure glad it’s not located in my town. Heck, not even my side of the country as it’s in New York.
Give your flashlight some legs with Flashlight Friend. No more rolling off the table.
Elsewares carries products from independent designers like the Egglings and iPod flourish.
Museum of Useful Things is about beauty and function.
Pixelgirlshop has fine art and homemade items.
I heart NY, I heart TX. What do you heart? Show it off with jewelry from State of Mine. [Last few Links: Daily Candy]
StitchPixie sells vinly and jewelry pop art and retro novelties in bright colors.
Dora’s book from Nick Jr. Personalized Books was a slam dunk with my three-year-old, a big Dora fan. He took it to school and the staff loved it. He told his teacher, “Zachy book.” She thought he meant that it was his book; she looked closer and realized he was IN the book: name and face. Current offers are Dora and Blue. I’m sure it changes as different characters get popular with kids.
Four Idle Hands has devilishly good stuff. I loved their 6/06/06 contest and lucked out in coming in second place. I ordered insomnia bookmarks and they’re wonderful. Unlike a typical flat bookmark, these stay within the page nicely because of their thin string, which doesn’t slip considering both ends have an object.
Quirky Gift calls itself the “home of really unusual presents.” For the person who can’t quit smoking, you might consider the coughing ashtray — if you’re brave. For the hosts of the New Year’s party, a champagne parachute.
American Science and Surplus is passionate about “discovery and invention.” The site contains closeouts, surplus and overruns of eclectic products related to science or education. The business has been around since 1937 and you can learn more from the manifesto.
My 10th grade computer literacy teacher wrote notes in shorthand. None of us could read it and it intrigued me. Shorthand classes are hard to find, but it’d be cool to know how to write in “code.” Shorthand Press attempts to revive the art of writing shortcuts with its products.
Don’t trash those special tees. Recycle them into quilts. I collected uniforms, shirts from shows, and others over the years and had them made into a quilt at Old Town Quilts. I love it. I want to add on to it, if I can as I’ve collected more.
Daydream Toy showcases original toys for all ages including a beanbag doll (Beanstalks) that can stand on its own feet.
Office Playground: Gifts for coworkers, bosses, and even yourself.
Pylones: Fish pens, crocodile staple removers, colorful sugar pots, whimsical umbrells are just of the few of ordinary items receiving a personality. One caveat, the site is difficult to browse but it’s worth it when you find the right thing.
TreasureKnit: Photo blankets, pillows, towels, tapestry.
Knock Knock: Greeting cards, stationery, organizers, and other fun stuff.
Grandma’s Chicken Soup: Winter… love it… hate it… we don’t want to think about it, but
people often get sick with a bad cold or G-d forbid, the flu. Of course, chicken soup is wonderful in the winter, not just when you’re ick.
Barbara K 30-piece signature tool kit: All the tool basics in one case along with instructions, which have a place in the case so they don’t get lost.
BeyondBookmarks: Know someone in college? Far away? Recovering? Send ‘em a fun care and gift package.
Wishingfish.com: “Eclectic mixture of styles: vintage and modern, funky and sophisticated, East meets West.”
See Jane Work: Stylish and useful tools to help working women manage their time and stay organized.
Toss Designs: Bags and designs that combine style and function.
Purseket: Switch purses in an instant and find everything.
Dynomighty: Recyclable goodies like wallets, tags, jewelry.
ModCloth carries affordable and trendy accessories and clothing.
day-lab stocks retro, vintage and eclectic jewelry, accessories, and knickknacks.
Modern Tribe has unusual Jewish gifts like No Limit Texas Dreidel.
Teramasu has the latest in fashion accessories. Cute stuff!
LittleSomething.com: Small gifts priced under $10. They will mail your gift with a message.
Fred Flare: Stay cute! I’d love to have half of these products.
PexagonTech: Personalize USB drives. Pick the color, storage size and content to personalize it.
Unemployed Philosopher’s Guild: Find unique gifts involving politics, philosophers, pillboxes and lots of other funny bedfellows.
Perpetual Kid: “Entertain your inner child.”
Foodzie: Etsy for foodies.
Updated: 30 December 2009
With all the price comparison sites available, I’m posting them all in one post because it’s just tough to keep up and remember them all. The first three places I go whenever I shop are Froogle, Pricegrabber, and ISBN.nu.
I don’t just buy from the place offernig the best price. It also depends on the business’ reputation. If no ratings are available for the business, then I search elsewhere like the Better Business Bureau and BizRate. Offertrax lets you store, compare and receive price alerts.
Pronto is a Firefox shopping comparison plugin.
Another thing to consider is the best time of the year to shop for certain items. MSN Money lists the best times of the year for the following:
Air conditioners best time: winter
Airline tickets best time: Depends
Big appliances best time: September and October
Bicycles and outdoor gear Best time: January
Boats best time: January, February and March
Cars best time: September
Cell phones best time: any time
Computers best time: July and August
Cookware best times: April and May; October and November
Furniture best times: January and July
Gas grills best time: winter
Jewelry best time: Avoid the holidays, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day
Linens and bedding best time: January
Mattresses best time: always
Real estate best time: spring
Recreational vehicles best time: fall and winter
Toys best time: October and November
TVs and home theaters best time: winter holiday sales and January
Vacuum cleaners best time: April and May
Wedding best time: winter
Most Often Used
Froogle results look like typical search engine results. It also explores sites that often don’t appear in the comparison shopping site lists. I’ve found some great deals here.
Pricegrabber is the one I go to the most outside of Froogle. I think its comparison chart is the easiest to read and scan.
PriceScan is similar to Pricegrabber and easier to read than the ones listed further down.
Books
AddAll does books, music, movie, and magazine.
Best Book Buys also compares book prices as well as music, videos, electronics, and bikes.
BooksPrice searches for lowest price on new and used books, CDs and DVDs. Also includes a feature for finding the best price when buying more than one book since shipping costs could be lower due to the combined order.
ISBN.nu does only price comparisons for books. While I find better deals through Amazon Marketplace or elsewhere, this is a great starting point.
Local Stores
General Price Comparison Sites
The following sites are similar in how they produce their results and they don’t have a neat chart like Pricegrabber or MySimon. Their results are similar to Froogle, but I think Froogle provides better results. I recommend using a few sites when looking for a specific item as every site links to different stores.
CostHelper reports what people are paying.
MySimon is one of the first price comparison sites I’ve used. Its site doesn’t look good in Firefox.
SearchAllDeals searches all deals and coupon sites in one shot.
Coupons and Discounts
Most of these sites are junky or have a ton of popups, but I’ve found coupons here.
CoolSavings requires free registration.
SmartSource – grocery coupons
Online Deals
These sites list bargains and big sale items. The best place is Woot, but it only shows one item per day. Once in a while, it’ll post a new item as soon as one sells out for a certain amount of time (usually 24-hours).
ugenie provides discounts on bundled items.
Discounted Shopping Stores
American Science & Surplus – science bargains
Cheap Tickets – travel
Dawdle: Buy and sell new and used games
Deep Discount DVD for DVDs.
Expedia Travel – travel
Farecompare – travel
Farecast – travel
Kayak – travel
Lowestfare.com – Travel
Priceline – travel
Updated: September 29, 2009
I’ve added a few more gift ideas since originally posting the entry. You can see the 2005 gift ideas here.
I’ve gotten most of my shopping done. Whew. Now I have to figure out birthday gifts for Paul (celebrates 40 in January), my middle child, my daughter and my dad.
I’m staying calm about the whole thing as this is a time of year where we should enjoy our families and be grateful. I haven’t even done my annual letter (yeah, I’m one of those!) and I’m not even in panic mode.
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.
(more…)
Got a list of Amazon deals and I think there are a few goodies worth sharing.
50% OFF Quickbooks 2005 Pro – $149.99 after rebate: I finally got around to USING Quickbooks more than a year (or maybe two) after I took a class. I tell ya that accounting is my weak spot.
Start Date: May 01, 2005, at 12:00 a.m. Pacific time
End Date: June 4, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time
Over 70% OFF until Mother’s Day – 1ct. tw diamond ring – $169.00. Not a bad price and it’s a nice simple ring.
Start Date: Current
End Date: May 08, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time
80% Off – Sharper Image’s Portable Arm-Cuff Blood Pressure Monitor. Measures blood pressure and pulse rate in 30 seconds. $19.95. Hmm, I should get this for Paul. His family has a history of high blood pressure. Interesting, the price says $49.95 on Amazon, but that’s half off. Be sure to contact amazon about this, if you want to buy it.
Start Date: Current
End Date: May 13, 2005, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time
Last time I reported on the Home Cafe, I indicated I had a problem with the reservoir as it leaked. I finally got a replacement and it doesn’t leak. Based on my research, getting one that leaks is a matter of luck. Some people get it and some don’t. My mom didn’t. I did. Sounds like a 50/50 chance.
If you get one that leaks, contact Black and Decker to receive a replacement. I still prefer a regular coffeemaker. Paul is the one who uses it when I am using the coffeemaker to make my coffee, which is too strong for him.
When the replacement came, it also included a long cylinder-shaped container for the pods with a tight lid. Much better than just keeping the bags around since it takes up less room. Obviously, I would not have this as the only coffeemaker here. I think the best situation to have one of these is at work or if you don’t mind Folger-type coffee and make coffee only occasionally, then the Home Cafe might be ideal.
Just discovered another way the Home Cafe comes in handy. We had family over to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. Only a couple of people wanted coffee. Rather than go through the coffee maker process, we made a cup for each person. Much easier, faster, and more convenient. The coffee drinkers were happy with their cups.
Yesterday, I wrote a review of the single-brewer coffee machine. Got a few comments about these don’t compare to the old fashioned coffee makers. I agree. More at Old Coffee Makers Are Still Cool!
Happy New Year!
Search and archives
Get Updates
-
Categories
Archives
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
-
Other Stops
-
Recommended
Blogroll
All Content © Copyright 2010 Meryl.net. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Privacy Policy | Thanks to Blue Flavor and Fireside Media for WordPress Consulting | Valid XHTML and CSS