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The Top 5 Gifts for 2012: Make the Holiday Extra-Special with These Gifts

Dec 06, 2012 05:24PM ● By Erin Frisch

The Top 5 Gifts for 2012: Make the Holiday Extra-Special with These Gifts

The holiday shopping season started with Black Friday, and it’s now in full swing. If you didn’t get out for the biggest shopping day of the year, don’t fret! There’s still plenty of time to find the perfect presents for the special people in your life. And that doesn’t necessarily mean braving the crowds at the mall. Here are five of the most wished-for gifts this year, available online!

Amazon Kindle

The Kindle is probably the hottest e-reader on the market. While it’s nice to actually hold a book in your hands sometimes, a portable e-reader makes sense for so many people. Kindles are small enough and light enough to slip in a purse or briefcase, making them perfect for travelers and train commuters. There’s a massive catalog of free titles (including many of the classics), as well as books, magazines, and newspapers available through their online store. For students, an increasing number of textbooks are available for purchase and download. Books can even be downloaded on loan from local and state libraries. With different models available at different price points, there’s a Kindle for every reader. Amazon has even updated its entry-level non-touchscreen Kindle and dropped the price to $69.

JAMBOX

The JAMBOX is a compact, portable wireless speaker with such high quality audio that you won’t believe it until you hear it. It has the components to produce high (tweeter) and low (woofer) frequencies, all in a single, small dome speaker. Weighing in at just 12 ounces, this is a smart pick for anyone who doesn’t have room for a normal stereo system (think college students and frequent travelers). It connects to your music source (iPod, iPhone and other smartphones, laptop) via Bluetooth for easy, wireless setup. Because it’s small and portable and offers serious sound quality, JAMBOX is also a good choice for business people who frequently use speakerphones to field phone calls and participate in wireless conference calls. At $200, it is a little pricey, but with the quality that JAMBOX provides, you definitely get the best bang for your buck.

WeWOOD Wooden Watch

For the man or woman in your life who wears a watch, this company, launched in 2010, makes a variety of unique watches with wooden bands. WeWood fashions eco-watches in color combinations ranging from black and blonde solids to multi-wood center-stripe detailing, with woods that range from maple to Guaiaco. The results are green and trendy watches that clock in around $120 to $140, depending on the style. While the women’s watches are a little chunky, they make a fabulous fashion statement. As a bonus, for each watch purchased WeWOOD plants a tree through the conservation nonprofit American Forests and Trees For the Future. So while you’re shopping for a stylish and thoughtful gift, you’ll get one for Mother Earth too and make a difference in the environment.

Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer

The coffee lovers in your life will be thrilled to find the Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer inside their Christmas stockings. This is an inexpensive, awesome gift that guarantees no one ever has to drink cold coffee again! It’s a durable product that keeps coffee at the right temperature to enjoy. It comes with a generous amount of cord to reach most power outlets and a light indicator to show when it’s on. It won’t boil water, but it keeps your cup of joe hot enough to sip. This is a great gift for office workers, teachers, and just about anyone else who works at a desk and whose coffee break is regularly interrupted!

“Gift of the Month” Club Subscriptions

Most of us have one or more folks on our holiday-shopping lists who are fanatics about something. To make their faces light up, get them a 3-, 6-, or 12-month subscription to a “Gift of the Month” Club for their favorite something. Amazingclubs.com and gifts.com have endless varieties including beer, wine, chocolate, hot sauce, coffee, cheese, salsa, movies, bacon, cupcakes, neckties, even dog treats! And with a little searching, you’ll find more varieties that appeal to the young and stylish, like the Stunner of the Month Club, which for $9 a month sends a different pair of cool sunglasses to your designated fanatic each month. Prices vary from package to package, but they average out to around $25.00 a month for a gift that keeps on giving.

What do you want to make this holiday season extra special?

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