Category: 2010 Christmas Gift Guide

Regular Three Different Directions readers, know that I love books.  I read all kinds of genres, and enjoy them all for different reasons.  Last week a most charming book arrived on my doorstep, one that would make a fabulous gift, National Geographic’s ‘The Classic Treasury of Childhood Wonders: Favorite adventures, stories, poems, and songs for making lasting memories’ by Susan H. Magsamen.

Gift Guide Pick

U Star Novels has a range of really unusual, yet educational gifts for the whole family.

They are the leading publisher of personalized novels.

Their personalized classics are great for children.  They are a fun, yet educational way to get them into reading by making them the lead role of a classic novel, such as Peter Pan or Alice from Alice in Wonderland starring together with 6 of their friends, or even the family pet (in Wizard of Oz).

Gift Guide Pick

A few weeks ago I was sent some fabulous Smiley Cookies to review.  I can’t wait to order some again, but until then I’ll let you know how you can go about ordering some for yourself.

We got to try some of the Original (and colorful) Smiley Cookies.

Words. Words. Words. We spend the day with words flying at, around and past us.  Today, if you don’t have lots of words, you simply cannot navigate the world. Or at least some of cyberspace.

I love word games, and I was recently sent copies of some Bananagrams products, including 10-Minute Bananagrams (Workman publishing, December 2010), Bananagrams! for Kids, More Bananagrams! and the first in the series, Bananagrams! The Official Book, all based on the best selling game Bananagrams.  These books will entertain you

Gift Guide Pick

We travel quite a bit, and between the car, planes, busses and ships well I try and get some sleep in where I can, but finding a pillow that isn’t huge, but also contours to my neck and head to bring along, hasn’t been the easiest shopping endeavour in my life.  Even with travel pillows I often end up with a sore neck after traveling long hours.

The countdown today is 19 days until Christmas!  How much chocolate have you already indulged in? 

I can say I’ve dipped into the candy dish quite a bit lately, enjoying tasty holiday treats from the Hershey Company.

One of the newest products that they have is Ice Breakers Frost sugar-free mints.  They are the only mints coated with an intense combination of xylitol, cooling and flavor crystals, for an enjoyable and powerfully cool taste experience. 

Available nationwide at retailers in two cool flavors- Wintercool™ and Peppermint, you should throw them in your sweetheart’s stocking for fresh breath in case you get caught under the mistletoe! 

Gift Guide Pick

Skin Care from Mother Nature – Get back in touch with her today!

Can you believe that there is only 20 days until Christmas!  I’m so excited, to share the gifts I’ve gotten with my family and friends.  But I still have some shopping to do, and I bet you do to.  And if I can help it, I’m not going to the mall!

Hailey’s Dragonfly Garden of Botanicals is a store you’ll want to check out if you have a person that loves natural skin care on your list.

Gift Guide Pick

I love the material MoMA puts out for kids.  Among their books is one in particular I’d like to share with you, Make Art Make Mistakes: A Creativity Sketchbook ($16.99, Chronicle Books).

Each page has an activity of a simple, but fundamental art theme.  Lines, colors, patterns, etc.  There are also pages with visual inspirational quotes from artists like Georgia O’Keefe and Pablo Picasso. 

Gift Guide Pick

Looking for an ultra-portable water bottle?

Vapur is great to carry your water, and since it’s BPA Free and Easy to clean (you can put it in the top rack of your dishwasher!), it’s a safe way to drink your water – especially compared to the plastic disposable water bottles.

Here’s a quick overview of it:

Gift Guide Pick

Every now and then I stumble across a small item that makes stop and go “so simple, yet what a great idea!”.  It might be a gadget for my kitchen or a product that helps me organize better, sometimes it’s because it’s just unique, or it’s because I thought of it myself but have never had the gumption to seek to make a prototype or file a patent (okay that doesn’t happen often, lol!).  But that’s exactly what happened this year with a number of products that companies presented to me for my Christmas Gift Guide.