Smart holiday gift ideas that make busy lives easier

(ARA) – As the holiday season approaches, many people start wondering how they’re going to get everything done. From shopping for gifts and decorating the house to hosting parties and visiting relatives – and more – the list feels endless. And adding all of these things to an already hectic lifestyle can seem next to impossible.

However, the important thing to remember, even in the rush to get everything done, is that the holidays are all about sharing time with those you love. That’s why it’s important to find ways to cut back on your own stress levels and focus on the joy of the season.

Little organizational efforts, like making a well-planned shopping list, can cut back on the amount of time you waste and minimize the stressful search for a last-minute gift.

While you’re thinking about keeping your own stress to a minimum, use that same thought in looking for gifts. Opting for presents that blend the practical and the enjoyable will ensure that there are plenty of smiles as gifts are opened. Everyone – even those who are notoriously hard to shop for – can enjoy a gift that will make their lives a little bit easier. To start your holiday shopping, consider these helpful hints from Farberware.

Health conscious

Everyone aspires to live a healthier lifestyle – just look at the most popular New Year’s resolutions if you need confirmation. Giving a gift that makes a more health-conscious way of life easier is something that anyone can appreciate. A high-quality 10-speed blender is a useful tool for making smoothies and soups that incorporate the fruits and vegetables essential to a healthy diet. The Farberware brand high-wattage models with 5 pre-programmed settings can whip up nutritious and easy treats in just minutes.

Other health-boosting ideas might be membership to a gym, or passes to fitness classes – it’s increasingly easy to find classes like yoga that are tailored to families too.

Gourmet gifts

Is there anyone who doesn’t love a great home-cooked meal? The flavors and comforts of home stick with us for years, so giving gifts that take cooking to the next level are always welcome. Creating those meals can take a lot of time and effort, so put items that help with preparation on your list. For instance, a 12-cup food processor like those from Farberware will make chopping, shredding and slicing a snap, and eliminates a lot of work. Plus its 4-cup nested work bowl makes small kitchen tasks a breeze.

For those who really love to cook, give the gift of a cooking class experience. They can learn to create new dishes, study an unfamiliar cuisine or even sharpen their knife skills.

On the go

Most people’s schedules are packed, and they often find themselves rushing through the day without taking time for themselves and what they enjoy. By giving gifts that both help them through their daily routine and provide a bit of pleasure, your presents will do double duty. To get their day started on the right note, a programmable coffee and tea maker with automatic brewing can give them a morning boost of their favorite beverage. With two specialized permanent filters for coffee grinds and tea leaves, they never have to sacrifice their favorite cup of fresh brew. Supplement it with a tasteful travel mug, and you’ll be sending them out the door with a smile on their face.

You can also encourage them to spend some quality time on their own by giving a gift like a massage or spa gift certificate. Offer to help set the appointment so it doesn’t get lost on their to-do list.

Shopping for the holiday season doesn’t have to be stressful. Look for inspiration in the things your friends and family love to do and how you can make their lives simpler. You can find these fabulous Farberware gift ideas exclusively at Walmart stores nationwide for only $59.88 each. Visit www.farberwareproducts.com for more information on all your gift-giving needs.

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Top five gifts for her under $50

(ARA) – Finding a perfect gift doesn’t always mean spending a ton of cash. Whether it’s a handy gadget, a fashion accessory or a day’s worth of spa-quality pampering, the following gift ideas for women are all available for $50 or less.

An MP3 player for musical enjoyment
A workout partner, a travel companion, a convenient way to enjoy music on the go; an MP3 player makes the perfect gift. The tiny Sansa Clip Zip MP3 player is affordable, easy to use and comes packed with features such as an FM radio, a stopwatch for timing laps and a larger color screen. The player is compatible with virtually all audio formats, including DRM-free iTunes, and comes in seven colors.

Scarves for keeping cozy
Scarves are the perfect accessory for the stylish woman’s wardrobe. For sophistication, choose a soft pashmina; for a casual, organic look, a chunky knit scarf should do the trick. Classic colors like black and beige are always a hit, but bright hues of purple, blue or red are also popular this holiday season. With so many materials and designs available, you’ll find the perfect one to fit her unique personality.

At-home pampering
Women love the spa, but with treatments so expensive, many consumers are opting for the affordable indulgence of at-home pampering. A foot bath can revitalize tired feet at the end of a long day and a back or neck massager can relieve tension. For a personalized present, create a gift basket of manicure essentials such as files, buffers, scrubs and fun shades of nail polish. Remember, not all gifts come wrapped with a bow; take the kids for an outing and give mom some alone time, or cook her favorite meal and do the dishes afterward.

Glam up the cell phone
Every modern woman owns a mobile phone, and it’s not just for texting, calling and surfing the Internet; a phone can serve as an extension of personal style. Mobile phones and matching accessories come in every theme imaginable, from diamond sparkles to sleek black leather and bright neon designs. For an added touch, mix fashion with utility by including a helpful accessory like a car charger, hands-free headset or pair of ear buds.

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Give the gift of U.S. Savings Bonds

(ARA) – Buying U.S. Savings Bonds for loved ones has been a holiday tradition for more than 75 years and is a unique part of our nation’s history.

Whether gift-givers are parents helping their children save for their first home, young couples celebrating their newborns’ first holiday season, or grandparents helping their grandchildren save for college, the U.S. Department of the Treasury looks forward to helping families preserve this tradition of savings bond gift-giving for generations to come.

While the 2011 holiday season will be the last for savers to purchase paper U.S. Savings Bonds through a bank, electronic savings bonds still will be available for purchase online through www.treasurydirect.gov, the Treasury Department’s safe, secure and convenient website to purchase, manage and redeem savings bonds 24/7.

Once you create a TreasuryDirect account, you can purchase savings bonds for yourself or loved ones starting at $25. The TreasuryDirect website offers a variety of themed gift certificates for the holiday season – as well as for birthdays, graduations and more – that you can fill out and print from home to commemorate the occasion.

Because recipients of gifts purchased through TreasuryDirect will require an account of their own to receive the gift bonds, encouraging family members to create a TreasuryDirect account can give people of all ages a safe and convenient way to save.

Visit www.treasurydirect.gov for a guided tour on how to open a TreasuryDirect account – or, just follow the five steps below.

1. Have your Social Security number, bank routing number, checking or savings account number and email address handy.

2. Go to www.treasurydirect.gov and complete the online application.

3. Once your account has been created, log in and use the Gift Box feature to buy gift bonds.

4. Choose the recipient for the bonds in your Gift Box by entering his or her full name, Social Security number and TreasuryDirect account number. When you deliver the bond to the recipient’s account, he or she will get an email announcing your gift.

5. If your family member or loved one doesn’t have a TreasuryDirect account, encourage them to create one so you can readily purchase savings bond gifts for them. Children under age 18 must have a minor account linked to a parent or guardian’s TreasuryDirect account.

Visit www.treasurydirect.gov today to learn more.

The preceding information has been provided by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt.

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Personalize your greeting cards and gifts for the holidays

(ARA) – Nothing says how much you value a person more than a personalized handcrafted card or gift. And making your own can be far easier on your budget than buying from the store. So consider putting your creative skills to the test this year.

Where to start?

No need to be a computer guru
First, assess your computer’s capabilities and obtain the right software. The more RAM (amount of memory) the computer has the better, according to Keld Bangsberg, academic director in Media Arts & Animation at The Art Institute of Portland in Oregon. This will allow you to store many photos and video files, which take up room in your hard drive. “Machines with a minimum of 4 gigabytes are recommended. You don’t need a high end machine to accomplish good work, but having a machine that doesn’t fight against you is helpful.”

For software, Ric Peterson, The Art Institute of Seattle academic director in Photography and Video Production recommends Adobe products, which he says are the “industry standard.” Consumers should be able to find a wide range of new software these days for photo and video editing, particularly on Apple platforms.

Plan the project for success
For crafty projects such as greeting cards or a memory album, try to go beyond just selecting the right photos. Add special touches that represent your family, your interests, where you live, favorite vacations or beloved pets. This can include scanned images of your child’s artwork, a postcard, famous quotes or poems, for example.

Bangsberg also recommends thinking about foundational elements such as color and what kind of mood the color conveys. “Ask yourself are you working within a color palette that is compatible, or are the colors disjointed, and don’t match?” he adds.

When tackling video, the best way to get started, according to Peterson, is to map out a small storyboard to plan out the shots. Another aspect to consider is how you frame your scenes – you can use close-ups to focus the attention and perhaps heighten the moment, or use broad vistas, where the camera is farther away.

Learn to ‘release’ creativity
For most novices, learning how to release your creativity may be the most difficult challenge.

“Practice is the most surefire way to getting better in any creative endeavor,” says Bangsberg. “First, find a simple way to get your ideas recorded. Don’t expect perfection on your first try, it’s all about capturing the inspiration when it strikes.”

Norton Young, department director in Advertising and Graphic Design at The Art Institute of Portland, agrees. He recommends carrying a small journal so you can write down anything that is a trigger such as words, color combinations, or objects that you can work off of later.

To spark ideas and concepts, also try changing up your routine. Young explained that we tend to rely on what we know, which can be a creative block and that the best approach is to put yourself in a new frame of mind. He offers these tips in how to get your creative juices flowing:

* Put yourself in an unfamiliar situation or place.

* Observe objects around you and think about two items that do not normally go together and how to make them one concept.

* Read different magazines and watch television shows you normally do not view.

* Try new foods or listen to different music genres.

“Looking for inspiration in areas you are not used to seeing is the key,” adds Young. To learn more about The Art Institutes schools, visit www.artinstitutes.edu.

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Gift Cards are my favorite Christmas gifts!

For years I would kill myself trying to find all the loved ones on my Christmas list their perfect gifts.  I would drag myself all over town and fight horrible traffic and long lines.  That was until last year when I discovered the ease of giving gift cards!

I love to receive gift cards so I can buy exactly what I want.  Last year I received gift cards to: Bath & Body Works, Starbucks, Target, Red Lobster and Best Buy.  I went to Bath & Body Works and picked out the scents I loved!  I went to Target and bought a new dress and earrings.  I went to Starbucks and had Dirty Chai & Spiced Caramel Apples!  I went to Red Lobester and dined on the Ultimate Feast and purchased several DVD’s and movies from Best Buy.

I was able to get exactly what I wanted without having to make any returns!  Another great thing about Christmas gift cards are they are readily available at any grocery or drug store.  I’m amazed at the selection of gift cards from my local Wal-Greens and Reasor’s!

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Give this season's most precious gift

(NC)—Ask any new parent what it feels like to welcome a newborn child into the world. “Thrilled”, “ecstatic” and “overjoyed” are common replies. All new parents worry about what the future might hold for their babies, and hope they will grow up happy and healthy. Too many new parents, however, also face the very real fear that their child might not survive past his or her fifth birthday.

In many parts of the world, children confront significant obstacles just to survive: famine, disease, armed conflict and natural disasters are but a few of these.

UNICEF Survival Gifts provide Canadians with the opportunity to give a friend or loved one something that could save a life. The collection offers a choice of 45 gifts in six different categories: health, education, food, water, play and emergency.

“Many people simply don’t know how easy it is to make a difference,” says UNICEF’s President David Morley. “That’s why we’ve created Survival Gifts – to make it simple for the holiday gift giver to reach out to a child in need.”

In 2010, Survival Gifts helped children in 69 countries survive and thrive. With the support of generous Canadians, UNICEF was able to deliver a staggering number of essentials throughout the world, including:

• 3,000,000 water purification tablets to Bangladesh

• 1,224,000 micronutrient powder sachets and 105,000 therapeutic food packets to Nepal

• 4,784,000 measles vaccines and 158 4WD vehicles to Ethiopia

There is nothing more precious than saving and transforming the life of a child. To purchase this season’s most precious gifts, visit www.survivalgifts.ca or call 1 888 777 0380.

www.newscanada.com

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Great gifts for the holiday season

(ARA) – The holiday season is upon us. With your goal to wrap up all your holiday shopping by June long since passed, the pressure to find that impossibly perfect gift for everyone on your list now has an overbearing timestamp as well.

But fear not, holiday shoppers. The following list of gift ideas and stocking stuffers is sure to make this year’s holiday gift giving much less daunting and a lot more fun for both you and your loved ones.

For the snacker: Go for gourmet and guilt-free.

Snacking is synonymous with the holiday season, but with the abundance of tempting, fattening treats available, choosing snacks that fill you up, and not out, is not always easy. Satisfy your snack lover with the gift of guilt-free snacking this holiday season. Slide a bag of Jack Link’s Jerky in your snacker’s stocking. Made with premium cuts of beef, pork, turkey or chicken, Jack Link’s snacks taste great, and are naturally high in protein and low in fat, calories and carbs. With more than a dozen flavors available, there is something for everyone. Here are a few of this year’s trendiest and tastiest stocking stuffers:

* The “Classic”: Jack Link’s Original Beef Jerky
* The “Flavorful”: Jack Link’s Cholula Hot Sauce Beef Jerky
* The “Savory”: Jack Link’s Teriyaki Beef Jerky

Jack Link’s Jerky is available in grocery stores, mass retailers, convenience and drug stores nationwide.
(Suggested retail price per 3.25-ounce bag: $5.99)

For the angler: Hook up the fishing enthusiast this holiday season with the latest gear.

Make sure the angler on your wish list has the latest go-to lure from Rapala – the authority on fishing – with the Rippin’ Rap. This highly versatile bait features a tall, thin bodied, lipless design that cranks, swims and rips its way into the thick, along rock cover, over structure and anywhere in between. The rounded body touts a textured scale, gill and detailed fin that are paired with extra large, deep-set 3D holographic eyes that call fish in for the bite. And, if your holiday recipient has been hinting at a new fillet knife, the new Rapala Lithium Ion Cordless Fillet Knife will provide uncompromised, reliable fish filleting and carving performance. Featuring a relaxed grip with advanced airflow body design, this cordless electric fillet knife will provide uninterrupted power for a full 80 minutes.
(Suggest retail price for Rippin’ Rap: $6.99)
(Suggested retail price for Lithium Ion Cordless Fillet: $89.99)

For the bookworm: Make reading more accessible with an e-reader.

This year, pair your loved one’s favorite hobby with a little functionality in the form of an e-reader. From your beach chair or while in flight, an e-reader makes reading easier and convenient from any location. Today, there are more choices than ever before – from touch-compatible, e-ink interfaces to Wi-Fi and audio playback capabilities – e-readers can be personalized to meet every bookworm’s needs. You can even personalize the gift by choosing a case cover in a pattern or color your recipient will love. Add it to a stocking or wrap it as a gift, the smiles and excitement that will come with unwrapping this gift are sure to last all year long.

For the amateur chef: Cooking made easier with a meat thermometer.

Many amateur chefs are so afraid of undercooking meat that they often end up overcooking it. Help your home chef take the guesswork and stress out of cooking by slipping a meat thermometer into his or her stocking this year. Meat thermometers range in price and come with a number of functionalities such as a digital interface, wireless probe or alarms to notify you when the desired temperature has been reached. Preparing the perfect roast in the oven or hamburger on the grill has never been easier with this gift idea.

For the hard-to-please teenager: Capture memories with this great stocking stuffer.

Teens can be difficult to buy for. Skip the stress of browsing clothing racks, or navigating the video game aisle, and give them a gift they are sure to love – a pocket camcorder. Capturing live memories is easier than ever with a pocket-sized, portable video camera. Available at a variety of price points, pocket camcorders come with a number of capabilities to choose from, including a waterproof frame, optical zoom, instant video playback – and it’s all in HD. Drop this gift in your teen’s stocking and they’ll be shooting, uploading and looking back at all of life’s most embarrassing, amusing or engaging moments for years to come.

For more information and gift ideas, visit www.JackLinks.com and www.facebook.com/JackLinksBeefJerky, or www.Rapala.com and www.facebook.com/RapalaUSA.

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Use your photos to make personalized holiday gifts that last a lifetime

(ARA) – Finding that perfect holiday gift for friends and family is always challenging. Clothes are difficult unless you know the perfect size and style. You can miss the mark on books and music if you’re not intimately familiar with the genres that interest the recipient. One type of gift that will never go out of style is the personal, handmade present.
While that may sound cliche, the fact is, something heartfelt – created from memories new and old – will almost always be more valuable to someone than something store-bought and mass-produced. The hard part is narrowing down the list of things you can make. A good start is to recall all your favorite memories by looking through the pictures you’ve taken throughout the year. After all, clothes may go out of style, but photos never will – so you will want pictures that will last for years to come.

How many photos do you and your family take each year? Hundreds? Thousands? Unfortunately, many of those photos end up staying stored indefinitely on your camera or smartphone, your hard drive or in email attachments. Creating great gifts with those photos – right from home – is a snap, and the key is to start with great-looking photos.

Printing a high-quality image in the convenience of your home has never been easier. With Kodak printers you are guaranteed exceptional lab-quality photos that will last a lifetime. Kodak has always been trusted with capturing and preserving life’s memories. And with photos that dry instantly and are smudge and fade resistant, they’re ready for any project right off the printer! Learn more at Kodak.com/go/aio.

* Make frames. One of the easiest ways to get your kids involved in the gift making is frames. Start with Popsicle sticks – either colored sticks or the plain wood ones that they can color or paint on their own, and decide what size frame you want to make. You can also buy a frame with a large solid-colored mat around it so your children can decorate it, and you can simply put their photo in the middle – either are great gift ideas for parents and grandparents.

* Make fun collages. With so many great family memories from the year, picking just one picture to highlight can be a challenge. One great way to put more of those memories in the spotlight is by making a collage. It can serve as a wrap-up of your year and a perfect complement to your family’s annual holiday card. Pick several really fun photos to cut out and lay the parts you want to use on a sheet of paper. Make sure you give the placement of the photos careful consideration before gluing it down to the paper or you’ll have to start over.

* Share the holidays with friends and family from afar. We all have friends and relatives who aren’t close by. Take photos of your holiday dinner, your family opening gifts or decorating your home, and send them to your out of town loved ones so they can still be a part of your holiday festivities. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Holiday gifts don’t need to be costly or store bought to have that real, warm impact. Bright, quality pictures and a little creativity are usually all you need to get the job done – right at home.

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Santa's official list of most wanted toys this Christmas

(NC)—You’ve done it, and now your kids are doing it: spending countless hours flipping through the toy pages of the Sears Wish Book catalogue, dreaming of Christmas morning and finding the items on the pages come to life under the tree. The 2011 Wish Book has the hottest toys for all the kids, tweens and teens on your list, and you can shop the pages conveniently from the comfort of your home.

Lego This classic building toy has jumped into the 21st century, with themed playsets, like Lego Star Wars and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. From Ninjago Masters of Spinjitzu to Lego City, there are Lego playsets that will please children of all ages and have them building and imagining for hours.

Barbie is always a hit with the girls, young and old. The 2011 Holiday Barbie is glamorous in an emerald green gown with golden embroidery and is sure to please collecting enthusiasts. Sears exclusive Barbie 2011 Couture Angel doll with bonus charm bracelet is simply heavenly. Themed Barbies, like the Barbie Farrah Fawcett doll, are true to likeness. There are tons of accessories, from houses and planes to horses and chariots, to complement the doll assortment and enhance imaginative play.

Air Hogs A remote-controlled helicopter Pocket Copter has been named as the smallest remote control modeled helicopter by the Guiness Book of World Records. The innovative Hawk Eye Camera Copter is also small and offers a built-in camera for photos and small video clips. If your youngster is more a driver than a pilot, the Air Hogs Cars 2 remote-controlled real Lightning McQueen with animated eyes and mouth is sure to please. Don’t forget the batteries!

Colour On Play Places will please the little artists on your lists. Kids will love colouring on the walls and customizing their play house, castle or rocket. These child-size standup play places are made of recycled paper and feature functioning doors and windows.

KidKraft Train Town A Sears exclusive, the train town set ensemble is sure to bring a smile to their faces Christmas morning. There are 80-pieces, including vehicles, bridges, plane, working crane, little townspeople, and buildings, so your little ones will have everything they need to set up their own train town on the large matching side table.

Outdoor Play Give the gift of the outdoors. They will enjoy winter weather play in a new pair of skates, like the Disney Cars and Disney Princess switcher skates that transition from hockey skates to inline skates. Kids will look cool and have a blast in snow tubes, like the Renegade Inflatable Snow Racer, or sledding down the hill with the innovative EraPro Scooter snowboard. Keep them safe while having fun with a Toy Story or Disney Fairies themed snow helmet.

Electronic Game Systems The hottest games and gaming systems are a sure hit. Give them a console to share with their brothers, sisters and friends, like Xbox 360 4GB Kinect, PlayStation 3 or Wii. Complete the gift with the hottest games, like Gods of War 3 for the mature player, or Lego Pirates of the Caribbean games for family fun. A personal portable games station, like PSP and Nintendo 3DS, is the perfect choice to occupy your kids during holiday travels.

www.newscanada.com

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• Get your special girl a limited edition Angel Barbie this holiday. Beautifully designed with a satin dress and feathery white wings, it’ll take her breath away, $49.99. Pg 724.

• Hannah Montana is a favourite among girls that love to sing and dance. The Hannah Montana Dance Mat with DVD allows her to be a star, just like Hannah! $39.99. Pg 747.

• What little girl doesn’t love to dress up? The new Fairytale Dreams dress-up set has 30 beautiful mix-and-match pieces that will transform her into a princess and more, only $39.99. Pg 755.

• Little girls love to save special memories and keep little secrets. The Card Key Journal is a diary with a customizable card key that magically unlocks, and also comes with stickers, special paper, a photo pouch and more. $19.99. Pg 770.

• Little boys will turn heads when they speed down the snow hill on their new Snow Nation Snow Rider, featuring their favourite NHL team like the Maple Leafs or Canadiens, $39.99. Pg 714.

• Who said dinosaurs were extinct? The D-Rex Remote Control Robot Dinosaur will get young paleontologists roaring, with realistic reptilian skin, head motions and sound effects. $139.99. Pg 837.

• Has he always wanted to be Spider-Man? Now he can, with the Spider-Man Role Play set. Kids can learn the secrets of Spider-Man’s web-crawl, sling and swing! $29.99. Pg 769.

• Or, perhaps he rather be Batman? The new Batman Dark Night Adventure Toys will make him feel like he’s fighting the Joker himself. $19.99-$59.99. Pg 842.

• Let boys build big dreams, using Überstix sets. This versatile new construction system allows kids to build, fly and float realistic projects, while applying principles of physics and math. $19.99-$39.99. Pg 819.

• Both boys and girls, young and old, will love Rock Band 2. Take your band on an online world tour, record albums, or compete in the battle of the bands. $169.99. Pg 860.

- News Canada

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