During the holiday season, everyone can do with a few suggestions for gifts. For example, when some people are asked what they would like for Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Eid/their birthday they respond with something completely unhelpful like, “Peace on earth.” Now you can skim over our suggestions and see what might be the right gift.

Under $5

• $2.00/pkg of 20 | Glass Test Tubes
  • These glass or plastic test tubes can come in handy for a number of projects: small item storage, mixing potions, or making your own spice rack. Combined with some bulk spices (available at Wild Oats and other groceries), the Test Tube Rack, and some 7/16” Cork Stoppers (with whittled down ends to fit the tubes) you can have a snappy spice rack.
• $2.00 | Christopher Walken Greeting Cards
  • With Christopher Walken’s weathered face on the front and “Needs more sleighbell!” inside you can send your holiday greetings and ride the SNL cowbell joke before it becomes the next “Whazzzzzuuuuuup!”
• $3.95 | Solar Hot Air Balloon
  • This ultra-lightweight black plastic tube is over 9 feet long and 36” across (when not inflated). You tie off one end, run down the street holding the tube open to fill it with air, tie off the other end, and let it sit in the sun to heat up the air. As the temperature rises, so does the balloon.
• $4.95 | Chicken Chucker
  • “The Chucker, a 5â??3/4” long gun that shoots pullets instead of bullets, looks like a plastic water pistol, and can catapult miniature poultry up to 15 feet.”

$5.01 - $15

• $5.95 | Erté Fashion Paper Dolls of the Twenties
  • “Celebrated fashion designer personally supervised adaptation of his striking designs for this set of 6 paper dolls with 43 costumes in full color. Svelte and elegant gowns, coats, hats and accessories for every season. 16 gorgeous plates.”
• $5.95 | Cowbell
  • Have any friends with kids that you don’t like? Give the child this cowbell and watch your “friends” slowly go mad. Goad the child to further annoy her parents with chants of “Needs more cowbell! Needs more cowbell!”
• $7.50 | Glass Urinal
  • “A little doubleâ??edged tape or wellâ??placed wire, and this oval vessel of thick, clear glass, with one flat side and a long angled neck, becomes one of those fashionable wallâ??hung vases. All right, so some of your medically astute friends may recognize it as a brandâ??new male urinal from the preplastic era.”
• £4.50 (~$7.75) | Oxfam Coffee Chain Game
  • The Coffee Chain Game is a role-play activity, produced by Oxfam, which helps young people explore why the money made from coffee is so unevenly distributed. Players take on the roles of participants in the coffee chain â?? from growers to retailers â?? and debate whether the amount of money they receive for their work is fair. The final debrief enables them to reflect on how the process works in the real world and how it could be improved.
• $9.95 | Sea Monkeys
  • So Sea Monkeys are technically brine shrimp that look nothing like the humanoid creatures in the ads, but it’s a fun (if not brief) pet farm.
• $12.00 | Pancake Mountain DVD
  • This D.C. area kid’s show features some top notch musical guests: Arcade Fire, the Evens, Fiery Furnaces, Ted Leo, Shonen Knife, and more. It’s much better than having to listen to Barney songs all day.
• $14.00 | Bingo Chip Cuff Links
  • For the gentlemen, authentic wooden Bingo chip cuff links. Classy and kitschy at the same time.
• $10-15 | Moleskine Small Plain Notebook
  • The small and versatile notebook/sketchbook used by Hemmingway, Picasso, and Chatwin.
• $15.00 | Gus, Jr. Rattle 2
  • For the wee babe in your life, Gus, Jr. makes the perfect gift. Not only is he soft and squishy, but he rattles too!

$15.01 - $30

• $17.99 | Library Clue Game Set
  • The classic board game has been resurrected in a wood box with some of the early artwork instead of those fugly illustrations they use now.
• $18.00 | Corduroy Monster Clutch
  • From Lynda Lye, these little guys can hold your wallet, keys, magic 8 ball, and other contraband. They are lined with flowery fabric and have colorful zippers.
• $24.99 | Fashion History (Taschen 25)
  • “It showcases the collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute in sumptuous photographs. The colours, textures and shapes of costumes come across in their full splendour, exhibited on stylish, white dummies. Seeing the weird contraptions women once strapped to their waists in order to give their dress the required shape is also something quite different, and slightly shocking, when viewed in a photograph, as opposed to in a drawing.”
• $29.95 | Radio Kit
  • “An advanced kit compared to the others, a little more deluxe and a little more complicated. It is an AM/FM radio kit with over 80 pieces divided into lesson groups. PC board shows component placement to help learning and to minimize errors. It has (14) transistors and (4) diodes and the case measures 11”x 5”x2-1/4” Soldering required.”
• $10-36 | Tutti Dolci body products
  • With scents like Chocolate Fondue, Apple Torta, Amaretti, and Tiramisu, these scrubs, lip balms, and body butters smell so good you’ll want to eat them straight out of their tubes.
• $30.00 | Señor Pooglins 4
  • Señor Pooglins is a good Blobby standard. You can’t go wrong with the good Señor.
• $30.00 | Mr. TTT Burger
  • This wooden toy from Friends With You remakes their plush Mr. TTT as a hamburger with boots. We need more wooden toys in the world.
• $??.?? | ‘Stache Pillow
  • We’re guessing it goes in this category since there are no prices on the site. Furry moustache pillows to make your sofas and futons more stately and masculine.

$30.01 and up

• $45.00 | Maude Squade 1
  • Maude’s dual identity makes her twice the gift for the discerning lover of Blobbies and intrigue.
• $50-100 | Elna 1/Grasshopper or Elna Supermatic (Green)
  • These are the best looking and well designed little sewing machines. You can’t buy them new since they were made in the 1940’s-50’s, so you’ll have to scour auctions, flea markets, thrift stores, and eBay to find one.
• $69.95 | Handbags by Carrie Scott
  • Made from clear bank shuttle tubes, these handbags are really cool (if not a bit pricey). Please ignore her descriptions of the bags.
• $111.99 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Series 1, 2, & 3
  • This is the DVD series we’re hooked on right now. Follow Inspector Lynley and Sergeant Havers around the U.K. as they solve murders and try to fix Lynley’s waning love life.
• $6,250 | Cherry Storytime Rocker
  • For those of you with money to burn, this exquisite custom built rocking chair by Hal Taylor is for use during storytime with the kids. However, we demand that you also buy us one as payment of our finder’s fee.

Misc.

• $Your Choice | LDS Humanitarian Fund
  • 100% of your donation will go to those in need. “Humanitarian Services helps families become self-reliant by promoting health and disease prevention where health care resources and education are lacking, by helping with employment and job training, and by responding to urgent needs brought on by natural disasters.”
• $Your Choice | American Red Cross
  • Their stated purpose is “to provide relief to victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies.” 91% of your donation goes directly to their programs.
• $Your Choice | Heifer Foundation
  • With Heifer International you can purchase animals, or shares of animals, for farmers around the world. You can purchase a water buffalo, a trio of rabbits, honeybees, or a flock of geese. “As people share the offspring of their animals - along with their knowledge, resources, and skills - an expanding network of hope, dignity and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.” 72% of your donation goes directly to their programs.
• $Your Choice | Local Grocery Store Gift Card
  • This may be the most useful and valued gift you can give to a friend who is strapped for cash. We speak from experience.