As we move into the main stretch of the Christmas 2009 Shopping Season many stores are running time specific deals. Similar to Black Friday or Cyber Monday something special is being offered. The Discovery Store from the Discovery Channel is running a 20% off if you order through their special links and banners that they are offering to their affiliates. I have always like The Discovery Channel. I admit I am a bit of a science and techie geek but that doesn't mean that the gifts offered at the Discovery Channel Store won't appeal to the masses.
A major selling point for the Discovery Store is that the products and toys they offer are educational in nature. There is always a cool factor as well especially with the Robot Toys they sell. Robot toys like Discovery Joebot and Rocky the Robot Dumptruck are great gifts for boys on your list. Remote Control toys like RC Stunt Psycho and Discovery Remote Control T-Rex are also good gift ideas for boys.
On the girls side The Discovery Ultimate Pottery Wheel or the Green Dollhouse with Furniture are just a couple of cool gifts that the girls on your list will love. Another gift that I found interesting was the Sticker Maker that they are offering at 20% off already. My children love stickers in fact they have been obsessed by them. They are also offering 2 best selling scientific/educational toys at discounted prices for the tinkerer on your list. The Discovery Electronic Gadget Lab and the Discovery Tornado Lab remind me of displays that my son and I played with at a trip to the local Discovery Museum.
The Discovery Store 20% off storewide sale takes place from Saturday 12/12 at 12:01am PST to Monday 12/14 at 11.59pm PST. Take an additional 20% off all Discovery orders when you click through this link. Shop now!
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Black Friday deals are starting early this year. What does that mean? Many people not into shopping or in the retail business are often confused about Black Friday. During the Christmas and Holiday Season Retailers sell a majority of what they sell the entire year. The reason why they call it Black Friday (for all you non-accountants out there) is because from a profit and loss perspective when a business starts making money they are "in the Black" versus "in the Red" when they are losing money.
Black Friday is usually the Friday after Thanksgiving. This year in 2009 we are seeing retailers starting their Black Friday promotions and deals early. There are a few reasons for this. The major one is the recession. Stores are afraid they are not going to get as many shoppers in the store so they are hoping to entice them with deals on what they consider hot items. This is good news for us the buyers because prices will be lower. The other reason is that due to the way the calendar falls there only 4 shopping weekends this year. That is why you see stores like Best Buy and Sears other major retailers offering deals starting as early as this weekend or Monday.
The good news is that you may be able to get your Christmas gift shopping done early. You also need to be careful this year because according to reports on CNBC retailers are not stocking up as much as last year. Last year they were burned with lots of inventory that they practically had to give away at the end of the shopping season. This year you may find hot toys and gifts being sold out much earlier so if you have one of those on your list shop early!
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As the 2009 Christmas season is almost upon us I thought I would point out a couple of websites that I have found useful for toy safety. As a parent I definitely worry about giving my children unsafe toys. Though most toys are generally safe some toys can cause injury and some even death. You also need to worry about toys that may contain dangerous chemicals.
In the past few years more visibility has been given to the dangers of high levels of lead in certain toys. The website that attempts to test and track results for a variety of chemicals in toys is HealthyStuff.org. They actually test more than just toys so here is the direct link to the toy section that allows you to search for toys in their database. They actually put out a list of toys each year. Their 2009 list does not seem to be out yet.
The other site that provides general safety data for toys is ToySafety.org which has come up with their 10 Worst List for 2009. Those toys would probably make for bad choices for gifts. Not everyone agrees with how either of these organizations come up with their lists but as a gift giver you definitely don't want to give toys that will be thought unsafe by the parents involved. The 10 Worst Toy list has been generated since 1973 and has helped determine improvements in the manufacturing of toys.
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It's never too late to show Grandparents how much you value them. Some Grandparents are heavily involved in the day to day lives of their grandchildren while others may not have that luxury or responsibility. Either way Grandparents Day is a great time to show them how important they are.
Grandparents Day Gift Ideas
Easy and affordable gifts can be homemade or just be thoughtful. If the grandparents are really involved in your children's lives and help take care of them and raise them maybe they need a night out. Treat them to a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant. If they like wine get them a bottle or even a wine basket.
Homemade cards from the kids are especially nice since it gets them involved in the gift giving and in understanding the nature of the special day, appreciating grandparents.
If the grandparents are not able to spend a lot of time with their grandchildren pictures and/or home movies are a simple yet usually much appreciated gift. My mother-in-law can never get enough pictures and sometimes we don't take the time to go through those pictures in our hard drives. You can put them in traditional picture frames or buy a digital one where you can load more than one.
You can make an album or slide show type of movie with pictures you just haven't had the chance to do anything with. Recently I have been using a software program called Muvee to produce slide shows accompanied by music and titles. My parents were blown away by one I sent them with pictures from our last visit with them. Not everyone likes video editing but you may already have an application that you can do this with on the computer you have.
You can always keep to the basics of flowers and wine and most importantly your time!
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Father's Day is Sunday June 21st, that's this weekend! Don't panic you still have time to get good Father's Day gifts but you do have to act fast. As the picture shows a tie is usually not the right choice. Like all gift recipients on your list getting the right gift for Dad depends on the Dad.
At this point you may run into shipping issues with some of your Father's Day gift choices but keep in mind that online gift stores know that time is running out too. They do their best to offer whatever expedited shipping options they can. Keep in mind you have until Saturday to get the gift delivered to you if you are going to be hand delivering it. You can also use my late gift strategy from my Mother's Day gift post if you think you are not going to get the gift delivered in time:
- Get a Great Father's Day Card
- Include a Printed Picture of the Present
- Make sure the Father involved gets the card on or before Father's Day!
So now that that's out of the way let's look at what will make a good last minute gift. Here are the top 5:
- Shaving Related
- Framed Picture/Digital Photo Frame
- An HD Camcorder or Camera
- A Gift Certificate to his Favorite Games Store
- DVD Set of One of His Favorite TV Series
These are not necessarily in order since I have used all of these before with success.
1)Shaving can be a man's biggest pain. My husband has sensitive skin and a year or two ago I was told of higher end shaving products from The Art of Shaving. You don't necessarily have to get that brand but you can check with clerks at your department store for something equivalent if you can't find this line. Their products can be expensive but they do offer a better shaving experience that results in smoother better looking skin. If the Dad on your list does not shave you can always get some grooming tools for his beard or goatee.
2)Framed pictures and digital photo frames are great because most fathers love to have the latest pictures of their kids. I am buying a digital photo frame for my husband this year because every year I end up buying a new frame for the most recent picture of the kids he wants in his office. You can add pictures and change them and most digital picture frames come with different color frames that can be swapped out depending on the decor. This is also great for grandfathers who want the latest pictures of their grandkids.
3)Men love tech toys. If the father on your list has not upgraded to HD and HD camcorder might just make his day. Nowadays you can get the Flip or Sony equivalents for around $200. You need to make sure it had HD capabilities though since the Flip still has the non-HD versions out on the market.
4)If the man is a gamer and you don't know the difference between World of WarCraft and Guitar Hero you might want to buy him a gift card or certificate at a place like GameStop. If you know the specific title he has been waiting to get his hands on go for it and really make his day.
5)TV Series on DVD have made a bunch of older and very popular TV series available for purchase. Men tend to love slapstick type of comedy and you can get them anything from the Three Stooges to Seinfeld. I have done well with Seasons of The Office and 30 Rock. You can also look at movie collections as well like The Matrix, The Terminator, Lord of the Rings, The Bourne Trilogy…
So there you have it, 5 ideas for great last minute Father's Day gifts.
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Choosing a laptop as a graduation gift seems like a slam dunk decision. Nowadays every college student needs a laptop. Your high school grad should already be pretty familiar with computers so they may already have something in mind. Be sure you understand the computer needs of your new grad before you commit to buying that laptop.
Some of you may be asking why a laptop and not a desktop. Today's student requires the mobility offered by a laptop. Though laptops are usually more expensive than desktops the additional expense is necessary. At time college students are taking notes right on their laptops in class. You can't carry around a desktop.
One big factor to consider when buying the laptop is the college or university that they will be attending. You need to find out what the requirements are and what software they recommend. You don't want to buy a PC Windows based computer only to find that a Macintosh computer is required. Many graphic and art schools rely on Apples versus PCs.
This leads us to the question of when you should buy the laptop. If you can get the requirements for the institution your grad will be attending I personally think the sooner the better. That can be as early as graduation. The main reason for this is that every computer and software program has a learning curve and you should have your high school grad hit the ground running when they start college.
Picking a computer may be hard but once you have the requirements regarding operating system, memory, processor and hard drive space I would recommend looking at reviews online. Amazon has a section with a breakdown by brand which includes reviews and best seller lists which may be helpful in picking the right laptop.
This is usually a graduation gift that is pretty hard to beat and will save the grad a buck or two come the fall.
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One of the greatest gifts you can give someone going to college/university or entering the real world in their first jobs is the gift of learning to manage their time. There are debates about whether you like one approach or another but the most important thing is to use a system and a method that will work for you. I have older nieces that have been to college and one of the greatest weaknesses I saw them face was the proper use of their time. Being on your own for the first time can be overwhelming to many.
I am an avid fan of time management tools and processes. I was first exposed to them by a boss I had in one of first jobs. In hindsight maybe he was giving me a hint 
. All joking aside though he signed our whole department up for a Franklin Covey time management course that included training in the system and planning binders to make sure you had the tools to implement the system. I wish I would have been exposed to these approaches earlier in life.
In those days computers were not as indispensable as they are today. Currently I use a program called Plan Plus from Franklin Covey that is integrated with my Microsoft Outlook software to automate the process I learned way back when. The Outlook Plug In also can sync with PDAs to take your organizational process mobile when you need to tough nowadays kids always seem to have their laptops with them.
Do your new grad and yourself a favor before those thousands of dollars are spent and school loans are taken out. Talk to your grad about making the right choices about how they spend their time and give them some graduation gifts that will keep them on track.
This of course assumes your grad already has a computer but I guess that discussion is for the next post…
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Graduation is a big deal! We've entered commencement season and many of us need to consider getting graduation gifts for our loved ones. Graduation gift ideas are not that hard to come up with if you take the time to know the graduate. Many of us are far removed from the graduation experience and need to take ourselves back to both the exhilaration and fear that accompanies this great accomplishment.
So to refresh ourselves, what is the meaning of graduating? In the simplest sense it means "to receive a degree or diploma for completing some set course of study". If you take it further it marks the end of something and the beginning of something else. Nowadays you have graduation ceremonies that may start as early as preschool. This would mean you could have graduation gifts for:
- Preschool/Kindergarten
- Gradeschool
- 8th grade
- high school
- college/university
- grad school
- med school
- law school
Those are the simplest ones I can remember but there are even more specialty types of graduation out there.
The type of graduation is the first tip to the kind of graduation gift ideas you should be thinking about. The main commencement events in life seem to be high school graduation and college graduation(or university graduation). We associate both of these times as both great accomplishments with significant next steps.
So what is a good graduation gift for a high school grad? Assuming that they are going to college or university I would say the best graduation gift ideas fall into these categories.
Commemorative Gifts/Personalized Gifts
Your graduate is bound to be feeling some nostalgia wrapped up in relief. Getting something that allows them to remember not only the commencement ceremony but their school and friends will be very thoughtful. This could depend on the high school involved but you might be able to get clothing with the school name/mascot or other things like pens and mugs that someone may put on Cafepress or something like that. You could also get personalized engraved frames with a picture of the graduate on graduation day. The picture of course would have to be given after graduation.
College Related Gifts
College related graduation are made up of what the new student will need to be successful in their studies. This could include anything from a Kindle to a computer laptop or netbook depending on the school.
Home Gifts
This usually the first time the student is living on their own. They will need to decorate their dorm rooms or apartments. Graduation gift ideas for those moving out of the house could be anything that they would need to furnish a new space. I remember getting my niece a small refrigerator and a gift card to WalMart.
For the college or university grad I would have to say that the graduation gift ideas are similar except for changing the college related category to new job related and adding one for travel related. So the list would be more like this:
- Commemorative Gifts/Personalized Gifts
- New Job Related Gifts
- Home Gifts
- Travel Related Gifts
Colleges and universities have stores so it is usually much easier to find personalized commemorative gifts to buy for your graduate. New college grads also have similar needs when it comes to home gifts because usually they are permanently moving out of the house.
College grads are hopefully entering the workforce and need things that they will be able to use in their new jobs. They might be able to use a PDA to keep them organized. Nowadays this is tricky because their are so many smartphones that have the same features so do your homework. Pen sets, executive calculators, gift certificates to higher end clothing stores are just a few graduation gift ideas for the grad with a new job.
For the grad that plans to take some time off travel related gifts may be the ticket. Many new grads choose to travel to Europe or other exotic places to experience more of the world. Two gifts that come to mind are journals and rugged quality travel back packs.
I will continue next time with more….
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Thankfully long gone are the days when you had to make your own picture frames. If you want to upgrade the way the mother in your life displays her precious memories a digital picture frame also called a digital photo frame is a good choice for a Mother's Day present.
Most Mom's nowadays have some form of digital photo taking device. It could be as simple as her phone or as advanced as a Digital SLR Camera. I admit that I am someone who has a hard drive loaded with beautiful pictures of my children and family. I am not as good about printing them and sharing them as I would like.
Last year my husband and children got me a digital picture frame where I could transfer pictures and use them in slide shows right on the frame. It is like having 10 frames in one or even more depending on how much memory the photo frame comes with. Mine came with a usb connection, a flash drive connection and an SD card connection.
It has definitely made it easier to display my favorite pictures in the house. I keep mine in the living room to display my beautiful children proudly to any guest that may stop by.
Choosing the right digital photo frame depends on the Mom involved. You want to understand where she currently keeps her pictures (her camera, cell phone, computer…) so that the digital frame that you buy includes an easy way for her to transfer the pictures over. You also want to take your budget into account. The bigger the frame the higher the price and they span from 7" to 10" or more. For more detailed breakdown of what to consider visit this Digital Photo Frame Guide
Amazon is currently offering a Mother's Day Special on a digital camera/digital picture frame combination.
If you are reading this this year you may have to use my late gift strategy since you may not get it delivered in time. Here goes 
:
- Get a Great Mother's Day Card
- Include a Printed Picture of the Present
- Make sure the Mother involved gets the card on or before Mother's Day!
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Do you have a mom that loves all things digital? Nowadays it is hard not to want or need devices to make your life easier and no one deserves that more than our Moms. The problem is you want to buy her something that she will really use. High tech gifts can be challenging to buy and can be expensive so you want to make sure and do your homework first. In this post the recommended gifts are for active moms or those that want to be and for mothers that love to read and don't have the time to read as much as they want to.
I have picked 2 higher end gifts that are very popular this year. The first is the Nintendo Wii Gaming System and the second is the Amazon Kindle ebook reader.
The Nintendo Wii may seem like a gift for the younger set and I'm sure they will want to use it too but the Wii is also good for working out. As a mom I know it is hard to find the time to go to the gym and honestly it can be boring at times.
The Wii comes with Wii Sports which includes games like tennis, bowling and boxing. These games can be great for family time as well. To really ramp up the fitness experience you can add Wii Fit to the purchase or buy it separately if you know the mom already has a Nintendo Wii system in the house. The Wii Fit includes a balance board with over 40 training activities. The Nintendo Wii is also a gift that keeps on giving with a catalog of games that will keep kids busy and giving mom a break.
The second high tech gift is the Amazon Kindle 2.0. This reader was recently released and is very popular for those who love to read. If you know the mother on your list is a book lover this gift will truly blow her away. Though on the expensive side you should consider that it is a one time cost for access to Amazon's 3G network so that the user is connected anywhere and can download books less expensively from Amazon.
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