Holiday Gift Guide 2011

December 2, 2011 9 Comments

Since Monday’s proclamation of the official start of Christmas Time (read up on more of that here if you missed it), it’s time to unveil DG-DIY’s first annual Holiday Gift Guide! I have scoured the internet for the last couple of weeks (and also consulted with John on men-related wish list items), looking for unique gift ideas for all genders, ages and interests. I’ve thrown in some inexpensive things and some for a bit of a splurge…But hopefully you’ll be able to find something for your picky family member, your special someone or just a good friend/acquaintance. There are even a couple of quick holiday treat recipes at the end in case you’re planning on gifting the joy of freshly baked goods to save a little $$ this year (go you!!).

Just to preface, I am not being compensated in any way for these suggestions – Most of the sellers (whether big or small) don’t even know I’m shouting out about their products! I like free advertising just as much as the next person, so here’s to them and their creativity - They deserve it!

For the ladies in your life:

  1. Pai Macadamia & Rose Organic Dry Skin Cream from Spirit Beauty Lounge – $38
  2. Glass shadow boxes from West Elm -$24 t0 $79
  3. Rodna Halter Dress from Anthropologie – $158
  4. Luxe Face Cream from Una Biologicals – $25
  5. BDG Suede Stiletto Heel from Urban Outfitters – $49
  6. Back in the Game Dress in Dutch Darling from Mod Cloth – $95
  7. Cotton full length leggings from OnlyLeggings.com – $15.00 (Come in 9 different colors!)
  8. Antique bronze filigree rose long drop earrings from oldisnewnow – $3.95
  9. Floral paisley print scarf (lilac) from My Scarf Shop – $12.72
  10. Owl charm brown leather bracelet from pinkyourlimb – $8.50

For the men in your life:

  1. Krups Beer Tender from Crate&Barrel – $99.95
  2. Retro Series Hot Air Popcorn Popper from Nostalgia Electronics – $39.99
  3. Sony Bloggie Touch 8GB HD Camcorder with 3″ LCD Touch Screen from Best Buy – $159.99
  4. “Pugs Not Drugs” tee from Urban Outfitters – $24.00 (John would love this one – He gets a kick out of anything with a pug on it)
  5. 4-in-one pocket screwdriver from Amazon – $4.97
  6. Men’s Hipster Wallet from Overstock.com – $24.49
  7. Col. Conk lime shave soap from Target – $3.49
  8. Swiss Army Classic knife from Swiss Knife Shop – $14.95 (BONUS: Can be ordered in one of eleven different free color choices)
  9. Bar III Tie (Elliot Skinny Stripe) from Macy’s – $31.99
  10. “Wilco: Ashes of American Flags Live” Concert DVD from Hot Movie Sale – $8.07 (This gift could be an inexpensive alternative to actual concert tickets)

For the home:

  1. Herringbone throw from West Elm – $59 (BONUS: can monogram with the recipient’s initial!)
  2. Burgandy and mustard wreath from The Yarn Barn – $35
  3. Lights/Darks laundry bag from Crate&Barrel – $22.95
  4. Looking Glass Decanter from Anthropologie – $48
  5. “Flying Bird” rubber stamp from BlossomStamps – $5.50 (I bought these to decorate envelopes and the stamped image is exquisite…seriously)
  6. “Battle of the Sexes” board game from Amazon – $14.97
  7. Happy Family Illustration from oohmoon.com – $99 (your family portrait, cartoon-ified!)
  8. “Mid-Century Chairs” printable calendar from bluetricycle – $5.00 (I have this and LOVE it  - she also sells a beautiful “Nature” calendar)
  9. National Geographic Magazine from National Geographic- $15.00 for 12 monthly issues
  10. “The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men” from AMC – $26.99

For the kids:

  1. Tic Tac Toe game from Pottery Barn Kids – $10
  2. Baby Octopus from thecuteoctopus – $25
  3. Barbie styling head from Mattel- $13.99 (will this ever get old? I don’t think so!)
  4. Moon Girl nursery wall decal from dezign with a z – $34
  5. Rock Star Mickey from Fisher-Price – $44.99
  6. Organic wooden rattler/teether from SmilingTreeToys – $14
  7. Nintendo 3DS from Nintendo- $169.99
  8. Kid-Tough See Yourself camera from Fisher-Price – $61.88
  9. Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes from Baby Einstein- $8.99
  10. Sassy Bathtime Pals Squirt and Float Toys from Sassy- $6.29

For the “kids” (i.e. pets):

  1. “All You Need Is Love” hemp dog collar from collarswithcolor – $17 (seller makes cat collars too!)
  2. Aluminum bar dog tag from DoglegLeftDesigns – $11.95
  3. Wood Chuck Orbee-Tuff Chew and Fetch Ball from Lands’ End – $24.50 (BONUS: Personalize with your pet’s name on the handle!)
  4. Fleece pet blanket from L.L. Bean – $29.95 to $79.95
  5. Home Again Microchip membership from HomeAgain – $16.99 per year (Ginny the cat had this when I adopted her and it gives me SUCH peace of mind…BONUS: You get emails of lost pets in your area and can possibly help reunite families!!)
  6. Zack and Zoey Brite Stripe Sweater from Zack & Zoey – $18.48
  7. Kong Wobbler from Kong – $8.99
  8. Bergan Turbo Track from Bergan – $24.99
  9. Custom pet portrait from Yellow Brick House – $44
  10. PetHoliday Rawhide Dog Treats from PetHoliday- $5.99

And as promised…Here are a few low cost recipes for delicious little Christmas treats in lieu of big store-bought gifts this season. Your friends will LOVE the taste and the special effort you put into it. Just click on the source links below the photos to get the full recipe info!

Treat: Holiday Chex Mix; Source: Living Locurto

Treat: Skillet Toffee; Source: The Kitchn

Treat: Snowman Brownie Pops; Source: Grin and Bake It

Treat: Holiday Pretzel Kisses; Source: Little Birdie Secrets

Well there you have it, folks! Hope you enjoyed this year’s gift guide and that we were able to help you pick out some fun options for your loved ones this holiday season. I LOVE Christmas shopping – I don’t think about it for a moment when dropping money on people who make my life worth living…Make it fun this year and remind yourself that this is the season of giving.

Merry Christmas!

Filed Under: Product Search, Seasonal/Holiday, Yummmm, Babies Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Giving In to the Kindle Sensation…

June 21, 2011 4 Comments

Not sure if you guys are Twitter followers (if not, be sure to click here and “follow” my random quips throughout the day), but I recently Tweeted about ordering myself a new Kindle…

For YEARS I have been on the I-hate-digital-readers-because-real-books-with-old-book-smells-and-real-pages-are-so-much-better bandwagon. But for WHATEVER reason, these two recent commercials pulled me over to the “dark side”:

Those two are so funny…Emmy nominees for sure ;) But really! They make me chuckle every time.

So I ended up on the Amazon site and, after reading the pros and cons of different models, I ended up ordering the white 3G with Wi-Fi Kindle. I decided on this slightly-more-expensive version because you can download books even if you don’t have access to or the password for the nearest wireless internet connection. I imagined myself on a train to New York City or lounging on a towel at the beach (two things I do allllllll the time ::sarcasm:: ) in desperate need to download the next book in a trilogy. The practicality of being able to download books instantly was one of the main reasons I wanted a digital reader in the first place, so being able to download even WITHOUT in-range wireless internet seemed like a no-brainer. Plus, there aren’t any contracts or monthly/yearly fees for the 3G network – It’s yours when you buy the device.

It came with free 2-day shipping, so two days later I had my brand new Kindle in hand! All of that pretentious loyalty to real books was forgotten in my excitement over holding this little gadget in hand…

(The above image is a dramatization. My thumb nail is NOT that manicured and that’s not the newest generation Kindle I bought – Also, I don’t tend to go for Einstein-based literature…Apparently this is a TERRIBLE dramatization, but isn’t that kind of always the way?)

So what on EARTH made me decide to change my mind?? Well moving actually! As you saw here, I’m a hoarder of books. I l-o-v-e to read and adore the smell of their pages (still do – having this new Kindle will NEVER replace the warm/fuzzy feeling I get from a real book), but they kind of add up fast in terms of storage. I have three book shelves, but they are already full to bursting. I needed to either stop collecting or get a library card, but realistically I know that neither of those things will COMPLETELY work for my reading habits.

So, to stem the flow of my book hoarding, I bought a Kindle. It was all in the name of storage, organization and pretty bookshelves (did I mention that a Kindle can hold 3,500 books??!)…In my opinion, bookshelves are NOT pretty when stuffed to the brim with novels. As you can see in the photo above, I like to throw a few non-book accessories in there too, but they were getting the boot because of my growing collection.

I was hoping my new Kindle would also be “in the name of money” as well, but it’s really not much of a cost savings…The downloadable books (at least the best-sellers or new releases I’m drawn to) are not much cheaper than real books, if at all. But apparently Amazon DOES offer a bunch of free or $1 books to choose from – I just haven’t gotten to that yet.

Since receiving my Kindle in the mail last Thursday, I have already started and finished one book (“Something Blue” by Emily Giffin in case you’re wondering) and begun a new one (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson and Reg Keeland) – In short, I LOVE my Kindle. With one click, Amazon sends new books to my device and it literally DOES only take seconds to get there!

It was a bit of an adjustment to get used to the lack of page turning (you just push a button to go to the next page) and to not see the page numbers (instead there’s a bar at the bottom of the screen that tells you at what percentage you are – i.e. 2% through the book or 98%), but getting lost in a good book is no different whether you’re reading it on a screen or flipping pages in a bound novel. While I will NEVER give real books up for good, I will readily admit that digital readers are really just as convenient as they say they are.

But one of the big drawbacks I wanted to mention today is that a Kindle is delicate – Unlike old paperbacks that I used to toss into my purse without a second thought, I have to be mindful of the soft Kindle screen in transport. I thought about buying an official Kindle case off of Amazon, but a lot of them start at $50…Not in my price range.

Luckily, Etsy came to the rescue yet again…

There are multiple Etsy sellers who sew up adorable padded cases for Kindles. Oddly enough, I found a BUNCH that matched other fabrics in our house!

Here’s one that matches the fabric art in the studio:

And these options that match the pillows in the living room:

Oh and here’s one to go with yesterday’s post all about ikat:

But I finally decided on this one…

This little beauty comes from Etsy seller, fernfiddlehead – Definitely do yourself a favor if you have a Nook, Kindle, iPad, etc. and check our her site for all sorts of beautiful cases!

What pushed me over the edge on this one was the soft colors and sketchy quality of the pattern – Plus it has birds on it so you know I love it :)

I also appreciate the attention to detail that the seller obviously puts into her pieces. Each case is lined with a coordinating fabric and has a zipper closure keeping all devises safe from crumbs, etc. The case is also reenforced with soft cotton and bonded poly foam for extra protection while jostling around in a purse or bag.

Gotta love something that’s practical AND gorgeous – Plus, it’s half the cost of the ones from Amazon! I can’t wait for my new case to arrive in the mail…

So in short, I highly recommend a Kindle if you are an avid on-the-go reader with the need for something small, portable and easy to use/figure out. I’m not a big techie person but I could figure this gadget out – And that’s saying a lot.

Happy reading!

(For purchase info on any of the products above, click on the links supplied in the “Photo Credit” section below – You don’t want to miss out on these great deals!! P.S. As always, I have not been compensated for linking to or promoting any of these products – I just think they are too handy and lovely not to share!!)

(Photo credit for Kindle image: here; for blue/yellow Studio art patterned Kindle case: here; yellow/gray kindle case #1: here; yellow/gray Kindle case #2: here; yellow/gray Kindle case #3: here; ikat Kindle case: here; purple bird Kindle case: here)

Filed Under: Product Review, Product Search Tagged With: , ,
Copyright © 2012 DreamGreenDIY.