(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
With just a dozen sleeps until Christmas I’m proud and somewhat astounded to announce that I’ve done half my Christmas shopping.
This is unheard of for me. My usual Christmas routine is to start — and finish — my festive shopping spree somewhere around December 23, leaving enough time to spend a few quality hours with family, friends and some good wine on Christmas Eve before the big day is upon us.
The few pressies I have left to buy are the awkward ones. You know what I mean, the old “(insert name here) is soooo hard to buy for” people that we all have in our families. Incidentally, that’s what my husband says about me, but he’s wrong.
Anyway, when stuck for gift ideas I always find a quick trawl through the internet can provide an array of options to choose from.
One of my favourite gift sites is I Want That, where you’ll find some interesting products, including the battery-powered T-shirt with its own graphic equaliser, the binary clock for the geeks and the “Shockolate Vault” gizmo that locks away temptation for hours at a time in a clear container that delivers an electric shock to anyone trying to open it.
Hmmm, and I do believe I found the perfect gift for my husband: Clocky the wayward alarm clock that runs away and hides (while still beeping) until you get you out of bed. Clocky gives you one chance to get up and if you miss it he will ”jump off your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide”. You’ll have to get out of bed to silence his alarm. Now that could provide some early-morning entertainment.
Right, so that’s the rest of my Christmas shopping sorted. But what about those of you who are still stuck on what to buy for your hard-to-buy-for family and friends? Miss Vera’s Finishing School for Boys Who Want to be Girls could be the answer, with a little book entitled Miss Vera’s CrossDress for Success.
Failing that, the Prank Place has a good range of gifts to choose from, including the ever-popular farting Santa and the crime scene towel featuring a chalk outline of a body.
If you can’t find anything there to tickle your fancy, Stupid is another site with gifts you’re unlikely to find advertised in the mainstream media, from the Michael Jackson raisin action figure and Hillary Clinton nutcracker to the flying pig hat and crime scene tape (to go with the towel you buy from Prank Place, perhaps).
xx