Let's Shop!

                                                                        Let’s Shop!

It’s less than a hundred days until Christmas and high time you started planning your gift lists.  Catalogs are arriving daily, making choosing the right gift for friends and family more difficult with each mail delivery.  I will help you. Here’s a partial list of what has attracted my attention as either “Cool” or “OMG!”

Hubby is at the top of my list.  Edumnd Scientifics (scientificsonline.com) features “The Wizard’s Wand Universal Remote” a must have for your favorite guy. The vibrating wand can be programmed for 13 commands that will control all your home entertainment systems. Wizard hat not included. Smithsonian (smithsonianstore.org) has a cool book, In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History Making Aircraft that enables the reader to get behind the controls of “groundbreaking domestic and military airplanes, jets, and helicopters” with incredible photos and textual explanations.  BasBleu (www.basbleu.com) offers Twelve Days of Christmas Regulation Golf Balls for the festive husband-athlete. The Paragon (www.theparagon.com) can spruce up the outdoor guy’s auto with a set of Car mats that resemble tree bark or river stones.  Finally American Science&Surplus (www.sciplus.com) can spiff him up with a red German Military Beret, slightly used and made to fit snugly. Used?

Pets are family too.  There are a plethora of Warm Coats and Sumptuous Beds—from an army style cot to four poster—for the dog in your life available from Harriet Carter (www.harrietcarter.com).  I must confess that I do worry about some of the offerings for cats. There are cat toys that seem a bit sadistic, but I am not now nor have I ever been a cat owner, so maybe they like stuff like this:  Harriet Carter’s Electronic Cat and Mouse Chase is a battery operated toy with motion sensor that detects your cat’s presence causing a mouse to race around the track so that the cat can see the mouse, but can never catch it. Acorn (acornonline.com) has the Fling-ama-String Cat Toy that you hang on a door nob, enabling kitty to stalk, pounce and leap for it, while never quite succeeding. It is battery operated with two speeds.  Why cats are considered superior to dogs I will never know, but the following from both Young Explorers (YoungExplorers.com) and Mindware (www.mindware.com) reflect that inequity with the Pet Science Dog School (read remedial) and the Pet Science Kitty College products that challenge dogs to problem solve (?) and obey commands while the  little kitties can improve their memories and fine motor skills…  You can determine your dog’s IQ with BasBleu’s book How Smart is your Dog?  (No refunds on that one, I suspect!) Of course the Mensa-eligible cats get a book too:  Why Cat’s Paint from The Paragon.

Grab Bag Gifts are always tricky, especially when the exchange group is at work or your in-law’s holiday gift exchange.  Fear not, be the first to give the Solar Powered Waving Queen from Collectibles Direct (www.collectablesdirect.com) a source for all things British. Imagine the fun everyone will have to see Queen Elizabeth II giving a dignified royal wave. Head moving Corgi sold separately.  The same company also offers two sound machines, Cartoon Classics that will have you rolling in the aisles with sounds like the banging of a head, falling down stairs, and gunshots. Applause will provide your favorite narcissistic with hours of clapping, laughing, drum rolls. Keep this one in mind if you draw your boss’s name.  If you want something a bit more dignified consider these two products from American Science&Surplus:  Wind-up Walking Teeth (with legs) will bring a smile to your “secret Santa” friend.  No office should be without the Screaming Parachute Monkey.  Be sure the boss is out of the office before you launch this baby into the cubicles, sling-shot style. The pièce de résistance is Edmund Scientifics’ Hand Runner. Imagine a fully operational severed hand crawling up you walls, walking across the ceiling or the kitchen table. AND it comes with a comic book!

Enough suggestions for now.  Coming soon, gift ideas for the lady in you life, the home, and, of course, the kids.  There may be some overlap between toys for kids and items for hubby in case you haven’t quite settled on what to get for your better half.  Watch this space for more!

NOTE:  Caveat emptor!  Although I have purchased different items from most—but not all—of the companies mentioned I have no relationship with any of them except as a customer who has been generally satisfied with her purchases. I can make no claims on the quality of any of the items mentioned above; I make no profit if you purchase anything.  There are many nice products featured in these catalogs—some I really like—that I have not mentioned.  Visit the company websites if you’re curious.  The items I have featured should not be regarded as a recommendation of either the item or the company. I gain nothing if you decide you wish to do business with any company. My list is intended to be fun.