I must admit I was surprised at first when I heard the EGG bag gift item. I heard it last April, on my birthday when my special friend texted me that he will give me an egg bag as a birthday gift when he returned from an educational tour. …

The ‘Lamaze Octivity Time’ is one of the best gifts my baby has ever received. It is a cute little colorful octopus with every one of its eight legs providing an opportunity to explore and learn.
My baby used to spend hours engrossed in the octopus. This plush colorful green …

I often find that the quality of assorted boxed chocolates is all over the place, and doesn’t necessarily correlate to the price. In fact, if it’s up to me I prefer not to buy assortments at all. I’d rather pick out only what I like at a specialty shop. …

I found the Fright Fest set at Meijer for less than $20 yet I continued to avoid the set for the longest time because I didn’t know if I would ever actually sit down and watch everything in the set. It includes six discs with two movies on each …

Now as I wrote in an earlier review,my grandaughter had given me a Scooby Doo musical toy. Well seeing as though I liked Scooby so well, she thought I would like another one for Christmas. Shelly is 8 years old. She also lives with me, anyway I think she …

Prestige Art Glass Studio creates handmade glass pieces (paperweights, figurines, etc.). I actually have two of these glass teapot ring holders — one in blue and one in pink. Yes, that’s right. You can use this little teapot to hold some of your rings. But it will only hold …

Happy Holidays I always say with a gift that is part homemade and partly bought materials. I have found that you can go creative and use Dollar Stores to really make your gift special. Last year I went to the Dollar General and picked up some cute …

I saw this paperweight in a gift shop in Chesapeake City, MD, when I was visiting relatives. I was in the process of buying a couple of other items in the shop, and my eyes kept resting on this paperweight. I couldn’t leave the shop without buying it, knowing …

If you have a difficult man in your life to shop for, Omaha Steak Company can be found online at omahasteaks.com. They offer a wide variety of meats, side dishes, fish, and cookingware. One thing that most men have in common is that they enjoy good food, …

After having the commercial crammed down our throats through the television and listening to my seven year old beg for these for years, I invested in picking up a small, $5 kit from WalMart. After having them out of the package for just a few hours, I was …

I recently purchased a hand-soap making kit at AC Moore made by Soap Place called Spa Indulgence. The kit included all materials to make two bottles of hand-soap and four bars of soap. I came with complete instructions and claimed even a beginner could make this soap. …

This domino set from Chad Valley is, I think, one of the absolute bargains to be currently available from Argos, seeing as it cost me just three pounds in their sale, but I consider that it looks a good deal more expensive than that, and is of remarkably good …

It’s nice that Swarovski gives names to some of their little crystal animal figurines. I believe this was a limited-edition figurine, so I purchased it as soon as I had the chance. I am an animal lover, and I have enjoyed collecting Swarovski animal figurines for about ten years …

My mother in law brought me a gorgeous ceramic figurine with metal swirling wings. The figure is so beautiful that I would like to collect others like it. The angel is ivory colored with a pearlescent finish and has beautifully elegant lines, and is holding a gold olive branch …

A friend bought this for my (then) weeks old son - she was on a shopping trip to New York and this was his ‘birth’ gift, along with other similarly themed decorative presents. It’s not the largest piece of wall art, measuring just 9″ high and 7″ wide but …

I bought my husband, who must make many business trips out of town, a complete kit for the man who forgets to put certain items in his bag, when packing! This black, zippered kit is really terrific for him, and he doesn’t find himself in need of the items …

If you plan on traveling to the Sedona area of Arizona, and are looking for some local artwork, and possibly some gifts, Sedona Green Gallary and Gifts is the place you want to go. This extravagant store carries many gift ideas, as well as pieces of artwork from …

I love to give gifts that are unusual, can’t be found in our town, and are totally practical, as well as being ‘bling! bling!’! I came upon this site on Ebay that is owned by Steelyblue-rain, and she has totally fixed me up for my Christmas surprises that will …

This is the very first paperweight that I ever purchased, and it is almost 20 years old. I purchased it some time in the early 1990s. Since then, I have collected dozens of glass paperweights and figurines. But this is the one that started it all and got the …

I bought this crystal peacock about fourteen years ago, but I still love it as much as I did then. I have not grown tired of looking at it. It has no logo printed underneath it, though, so I don’t know the name of the company that created it. …

It is always sad to see Swarovski retire a gorgeous crystal figurine, especially when it is a piece that hasn’t even been on the market very long. That was the case with this little violet figurine. When I heard it was being retired, I made sure I got to …

I have been collecting Swarovski crystal for quite a few years now, although I have not been purchasing as many pieces lately, because I really don’t have any more space to put these figurines! But this little Christmas tree is a piece that I bought several years ago. I …

I have collected a few Lalique and Baccarat crystal animal figurines. Their pieces are similar in many ways. I like some of the colors that they use in their collections. At the moment, their website features a lot of black crystal, and that is always very cool and classy. …

Kohl’s department stores make this really adorable looking Ceramic Holiday Candle (for Christmas) in the shape of a cupcake that can be purchased now on their website or at their department store site for three dollars. The original price was close to ten dollars, but since it is after …

I bought this perfume bottle in a gift shop called People’s Pottery, which is where I used to work. They sold all kinds of handmade metal sculptures, art glass, and ceramics as well as handmade sterling and semi-precious gemstone jewelry. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to work there very long, …

There is no real secret behind snow globes. They come in various sizes, themes, and some even come with a wind up lever to play music. But even though there is no real secret behind them, the joy that they bring is inevitably apparent. What I feel makes snow …

I bought a few glass pieces from Marilyn Kimble Holt at an expo several years ago. This piece was one of them, but she told me that her son Zeke made this particular piece. He even signed it underneath. I had never seen any of Marilyn’s work before that, …

Shadow puppets are something that I have always been fascinated with as a child for some reason, but could never really figure out how to do myself. Especially during the Halloween season, where I would see shadows of all sorts of creepy and spooky figures like ghosts and pumpkin …

I remember when we used to have irises growing near the front porch of my house when I was a kid. But those were yellow irises, and this one is a purplish blue color. Crystal World does a nice job of making their flower figurines look realistic. I have …

One big reason why I purchased this piece was because a local gallery had it in their section of “Half Off” merchandise. But I don’t remember what I paid for it. I would imagine that it was around $50 or so, because I know that particular gallery carries some …

This is a very unique piece, because it’s not every day that I see a crystal figurine of a treasure chest. And what’s more, it is petite! It’s only about an inch and a quarter in length and an inch and a half in height. So of course it …

Recently my daughter received a party pack from her cousin. She did not go to the party though, since we were away on a holiday then. Anyway, when she saw the see-through plastic packaging, she wanted me to open it for her.
We took out the items in the Barney’s …

Every year I do stocking stuffers in some sort of Christmas themed bag that I can attach to gifts. This year I am using Secret Santa Gift Bags. Each bag features Santa with a finger over his mouth and a gift tag that says “Secret Santa” on …

I really hate shopping for gifts. Rather than spend hours looking for just the right present, I usually end up grabbing a gift card and letting the recipient get whatever their heart desires. After a few rounds of giving people gift certificates, I finally found a way to liven …

I have been using Harney and Sons teas since 1996 when I had a small bakery. They have a very large collection from green to black and everything you can imagine in between. I have tasted many but my personal favorite are the greens. They have at …

I think I have come up with the ultimate gift for Christmas for my children. It is the Little Tikes Bouncer. It is not cheap, and costs two hundred dollars, but it is awesome! I already went to my local Toys R Us, and checked out …

I know that friends back home would be expecting some nice gifts when I return from Bangkok, Thailand.
So, the last evening of my stay in Bangkok, the City of Angels, I went around looking for some Thai gifts. There were so many nice and beautiful items, Thai traditional …

We found this wonderful toy at Toys-R-Us while searching for a Christmas gift for our son. For those of you who have a female child, the girls version of this dog is called Violet. This toy is fully customizable, meaning that you can download your child’s name, favorite food, …

My son who is about 4 years old. He loves cars and spots costumes a lot. He love motor bikes. Me and my husband bought him a Top Gear The Stig Easter Egg for Ester from Marks and Spencer. The nice thing about this Easter egg is that the …

This is a piece that I bought about ten years ago, which was around the time that I first started collecting Swarovski crystal figurines. I like the faceting on Swarovski’s pieces and the way the light reflects off of them so that you can see virtually every color in …

Valor Mediterraneo chocolate is imported from Spain. The chocolate comes in a stylish round box; each piece is individually wrapped into a shiny golden wrapping. There are three kinds of chocolate in the box: milk chocolate with hazelnut praline filling, milk chocolate with almond filling, and white chocolate with …

One day while shopping in the small downtown of Oshawa I stumbled upon a small store named “The Gift House”. In this store it was like a wonderland of unique gift ideas and the Tea Forte: Kati Tea Brewing System caught my eye.
It was a basic idea for loose-tea …

I bought a copy of Don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements shortly after he appeared as a guest on Oprah years ago. I remember this book as being one of the few new spiritual self help books to come out that didn’t strike me as absolute nonsense.
I first …

This piece is fifteen years old, and yet Glass Eye Studio is still creating it. It is featured on their website. I think that is amazing, because I have a few other GES pieces that are no longer being created. I guess they were either limited-edition pieces, or they …

The way I ended up getting this piece is an interesting story. I was in the Norman Rockwell Museum in Philadelphia, PA, because I had done a charcoal drawing for the president of the museum. It was a drawing of Norman Rockwell himself, and I went there to see …

My husband carries appliances and furniture around all day in his store. He comes home exhausted and in need of relaxation. A nice smelling, wonderfully organic, wild honey bath kit from the healing garden really helps him to relax, smell great, and to stay really clean.
This kit is altogether …

I bought this paperweight at a store called People’s Pottery in Willow Grove, PA many years ago. I used to work in that particular branch, although there was a bigger and more beautiful People’s Pottery store in King of Prussia, PA. The Willow Grove store was a mini version …

With the change of season vastly approaching, the leaves turning burnt reds and orange, and the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, a Pumpkin Pie from Yankee Candle’s would be an ideal gift. Any home would instantly become welcomed and uplifting as the scent of this candles carries through …

Emily’s Dark Chocolate Covered Fortune Cookies are the perfect gift for any occasion that not only taste good, but also deliver an entertaining fortune inside each cookie. The price of these cookies varies however depending on where you purchase them, but if you purchase them at Wal-Mart then the …

My friend just gave me a Love the Earth 2011 CD Case Desk Calendar. I love nature and the environment so among all the gift calendars I have received throughout the years, this one is one of the few that stand out. Each Christmas and New Year, …