2008 Gift Guide - Older Kids, Teens and Adults

Are You Looking for Something New or Unique?

Compiled by Dianne R. McCann
One of the wonderful things about children is that they’re often pretty clear on the things they like and the things they don’t like. They’re also very good at letting you know just what gifts they’re wishing for. |
As kids get older, however, gift-giving can get a little trickier—especially as they start earning their own money and have some of their own cash to buy the things that they want for themselves. Of course, this is also very true for adults.
So, what do you do for those harder-to-buy-for people on your holiday gift list?
This guide is a collection of some of the newer, perhaps lesser-known products or services that can make great gifts. The suggestions cover people of all ages, and the prices range from the very affordable to the somewhat expensive. At the end, there’s even a section that includes some charitable gifts to buy (especially handy for that person on your list who really does have everything) as well as another section on shopping sites with a twist.
Finally, just as many business forecasts predict that online sales will increase again this year, several gifts in this guide are sold exclusively through websites. Therefore, as a general precaution for purchasing anything sold on the Internet, make sure to read the tips provided by the Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland immediately following this gift guide on protecting yourself when you’re shopping online.
Happy shopping…and Happy Holidays!

Prices listed are manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, provided prior to the publication of this guide. Baltimore’s Child cannot be responsible for price or availability changes.

Every Picture Gift Tells a Story

So Many Photo Gifts
CVS/pharmacy Photo Center offers a variety of unique, personalized gifts for everybody on your list. New gifts for this holiday season include Photo Plates featuring Hannah Montana, the cast of High School Musical, Disney Princesses, and Batman: The Dark Knight. All plates are dishwasher-safe, non-toxic, and break resistant.
More photo gift ideas include fleece blankets, sugar cookies (yes, real cookies), and posters—all customized with your favorite snapshots. 
Photo gifts can be ordered online, at www.cvsphotocenter.com, or at your local CVS/pharmacy. Just note that the last day to order these photo gifts before Christmas is December 11.
But, for the last-minute shopper in all of us, CVS/pharmacy has also introduced two new photo gifts that can be created in minutes and be ready the very same day.
The CVS/pharmacy Photo Book is a hardcover, bound photo book that displays your photos along with captions on high-quality Kodak paper. The Photo Book is made using the Picture Kiosk and lets you customize pages with a wide selection of themes to choose from. Three sizes are available and range from $5.99 to $14.99.
The newest instant photo gift from CVS/pharmacy is the Picture Movie DVD. Much more than a simple photo slideshow, the Picture Movie DVD uses advanced technology to figure out where the subject in the photos is and uses zoom-and-pan effects to bring photos to life—set to popular music such as the song “I’m So Excited” by The Pointer Sisters. The Picture Movie DVD is $14.99.

Bound for Happy Memories
Give the gift of memories that the whole family can enjoy this holiday season. The EuroBook is a premium, hard-bound digital photo book by dotPhoto. By simply uploading digital photos, EuroBook technology allows users to organize photos and preserve memories in the form of professional-looking photo books.
More interesting than traditional photo albums, customizable EuroBooks are available in more than 200 configurations that vary in size, features, and price, and bring a new quality standard to photo books. Unlike many other digital photo books, the EuroBook software groups photos together by colors and textures, giving the photo book a professional design look. 
Download the EuroBook software for free and start designing your photo book at www.dotphoto.com or www.eurobooks.us.

Elegant, Handcrafted Gift Cards
In the age of digital cameras and web 2.0, How Fast They Grow has captured the hearts and imaginations of a growing number of parents with its selection of high-quality, printed scrapbook albums. Specially designed Holiday Gift Cards are now on sale at its website, www.howfasttheygrow.com. Handcrafted with the finest papers, the gift cards are accented with grosgrain and satin ribbon. All gift card recipients also receive a pre-made sample 12x12 digi-scrapbook page to see the quality of the final product. Gift cards are sold in denominations of $25 to $200.

Remembering Inside the Box
Count down to Christmas in a special way. MemoryBox Calendars are personalized holiday countdown calendars wherein you can download your own family photos so that when you open up each window leading to the holidays, it is your own family memory.
Available online, at www.memoryboxcalendars.com, they are affordable, creative, and personal. Create a custom 24-day calendar—similar to a traditional advent calendar—where every box houses a special memory, activity, or tradition. For $19.99 and in less than 60 minutes, one can fully personalize this piece by adding pictures, messages, and thoughts.

One True Masterpiece
Are you looking for a special way to capture life events or holidays with friends and family? From video montages you create and either email, turn into a DVD, or share via TiVo and YouTube, to the gift of a premium subscription the recipient can use all year long, One True Media, an online video montage creation and sharing site, has you covered.
Just upload the photos and video you want to incorporate into your montage. The site walks you through the process, with options to be as creative as you'd like, including a wide variety of music (or you can use your own), themes, fonts, special effects, and more. One True Media handles the production, and you'll get the credit. You can email your montage, post it to YouTube or other social networking sites, or turn it into a gift-worthy DVD—for as little as $9.99 each, including a customized case.
For an even easier montage creation, try One True Media's Holiday Styles, which are colorful, professionally designed templates that allow you to simply drop in your digital photos/video and instantly create highly stylized montages. Find more information and sample montages online at www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/holiday_ideas.
And, for a holiday gift that will be enjoyed year-round, give friends and family the ability to create and share their own one-of-a-kind photo/video montages with a Premium Subscription to One True Media. For $39.99 a year, they can use their own photos and video to create stylish, memorable montages to share via email, social networking sites, TiVo, or DVD. The year's subscription includes one DVD for a special montage to keep or share.

Share Your Child’s Artwork
Forget hanging your child's artwork on the fridge. Turn it into a professional holiday greeting card and share it with friends and family. RUVAcards transforms your child's one-of-a-kind masterpiece and creates an instant keepsake with its Childlike Wonder Holiday collection. Or, turn it into a complete gift with fair-trade cocoa or full-leaf tea bags in a tin that matches the artwork on the label. Perfect for grandparents and teachers, and no worries about last-minute orders—products ship in three to five days.
To order, visit the website www.ruvacards.com. A set of 50 custom cards and 51 high-quality envelopes costs $125. Add $15.75 for tea and/or cocoa.

Gifts of the Written Word

An Ongoing Gift of Reading
How about an affordable and educational stocking stuffer that’s environmentally friendly, too?
BookSwim, at www.bookswim.com, the first and only national online service that rents paperback and hardcover books (Netflix-style) without the need to purchase, now offers digital gift cards starting at $9.95 per month. Users can choose from a variety of titles, including new releases, bestsellers, and classics.
BookSwim ships the books to readers, who can keep them for as long as they like with no late fees. After a book is returned, the next book is sent—with free shipping both ways.
Also, for every gift card sold, BookSwim, in association with Eco-Libris, will plant a tree to offset the environmental impact of producing paper for books.

Reading for Sports Lovers
For more than 10 years, the ESPN Sports Almanac has been the definitive source of answers to almost every sports question. The ESPN Sports Almanac 2009 (Ballantine Books, 2008), by Gerry Brown and Mike Morrison, is sure to be no exception.
From record-holders to champions, auto racing to the Iditarod, ballparks to business news, the Sports Almanac tracks the sporting world in hundred of photos, thousands of tables, countless facts and figures, plus expert analyses from ESPN’s most popular personalities, such as Chris Berman, Stuart Scott, Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, and Dick Vitale, among others.
Retailing at $12.99, the ESPN Sports Almanac 2009 is available online at Amazon.com and wherever books are sold.

A Gift of Planning
While it may seem an unusual present, the Here and After Book is the book that keeps giving. The Here and After Book makes the transition from “here” to the “after” as easy as decorating a Christmas tree or lighting the candles on a menorah, and it allows your wishes to be carried out exactly as you intend.
This handy 20-page, fill-in-the-blanks handbook provides detailed instructions for those who are left behind and outlines the disposition of everything—from children to pets to artwork and heirlooms. It contains blanks for vital statistics, location of wills, trusts, and assets as well as blanks for wishes about a memorial service. Also, there’s a place to list the people and organizations to contact, donations for charities, and where any keys, storage facilities, or valuables might be kept.
To order this $12.95 handbook, log onto www.HereandAfterBook.com. Or, send a check plus $2.50 postage to L.A. Justice, Inc., P.O. Box 25, Boca Raton, Fla. 33429. The Here and After Book is available in Spanish, in a special edition with the pink ribbon cancer logo, and on CD. An Advance Health Care Directive is also available at the nominal charge of $5 per copy.

Gifts for the Sports Lovers

NASCAR, All in the Family
Gear up for the DVD ESPN Ultimate NASCAR - The Families, and let ESPN takes viewers to the track and behind the scenes with three of the most legendary names in racing—Allison, Earnhardt, and Petty—as the families share their stories and recount the celebrations, courage, and sometimes tragedies that for them are a way of life. The DVD is loaded with four hours of first-hand interviews, historical footage, and bonus material from the ESPN archives.
Ultimate NASCAR - The Families is priced at $16.95, and is available wherever DVDs are sold.

Add X to Your Teen’s Room
Pottery Barn Teen features its X Games Home Collection for the extreme sports enthusiast.
New bedding, murals, and more featuring official X Games graphics are now available online at PBteen.com. Included in the X Games line are: Skateboard Backpack ($45); Tack-Board ($69); a 4x6 Wall Mural ($99); an 8x12 Wall Mural ($199); Skateboard Speaker Shelf ($179); and Bedding (ranging $49-$99).

Rivals for Sports Lovers
The perfect gift for your favorite sports fan is just a click away. Give a subscription to Yahoo! Sports Rivals.com, at rivals.com, for the inside scoop on his or her favorite college team, including members-only news, access to active message boards, and news alerts.
This holiday season, the yearly membership includes a one-year subscription to Sports Illustrated (56 issues)—all for $99.95. Or, pay $9.95 each month (with no Sports Illustrated).
Also, if you’re looking for sports team gear, head to yahoosports.teamfanshop.com, for a vast selection of jerseys, hats, and more from every national sports league. You’ll receive three-day shipping for $4.99, for any size order.

Creative and Educational Gifts

Painting and Drawing Software
Named the Best Painting Tool of 2007 by Macworld Magazine and winner of Children's Technology Review’s 2008 Editor's Choice Award in its interactive media category, ArtRage 2.5, by Ambient Design, is designed for artists of all ages. Users have a choice of canvas size, paper and paper grains, and mediums such as oils, pencils, crayons, airbrush, chalk, and markers. ArtRage uses layers and the files can be saved as JPEGs.
Now available is ArtRage 2.5 Plus, which includes a boxed CD edition of ArtRage 2.5, exclusive content, tutorials, and demonstration movies not found in the original download version. It also comes with a full-color, glossy, 80-page printed manual.
ArtRage 2.5 Plus costs $39.95 plus shipping and handling. Also, the software can be purchased online as a download for $25—but does not include additional content, tutorial, or demo movies. For more information about ArtRage or to purchase or upgrade, visit www.artrage.com.

Share and Share Alike
Imagine your child telling a friend "I own McDonalds" when passing by one in a car; or a teen with an iPod always stuck in his/her ear owning Apple, Inc.; or a Guitar Hero fanatic owning Nintendo.
Give A Share is a unique gift idea that is fun, educational, and maybe even profitable. The recipient becomes a true shareholder of a company and is entitled to declared dividends, annual reports, and any other perks. The registered stock certificate can be framed with a personalized engraved plaque. With more than 80 world-famous companies to choose from, there is a stock to match any occasion or interest. Among the favorites are: DreamWorks, Disney, and Build-A-Bear for infants; McDonalds, Hershey, and Mattel for kids; and Nike, Nintendo, Starbucks, and Microsoft for teens. Also available is the companion book I'm a Shareholder, which teaches kids ages 8 and older the basics about stocks.
Prices for the stocks start at $45. Named a 2008 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Honors winner, the book retails for $13.95 at Amazon.com or is sold for $10 with the purchase of a share from GiveAshare.com. Purchase of the book includes a coupon for $10 off the first share of stock. For more information or to make a purchase, go to the website
www.GiveAshare.com.

Gifts of Comfort and Luxury

Rx for Chocolate-Lovers
Got a chocolate-lover on your gift list? Satisfy that chocolate craving by indulging him or her in rich, gourmet chocolate every day. Delicious 1-oz. bars of 72 percent cacao dark chocolate are conveniently packaged in daily 1-Week or 4-Week Prescriptions to treat your favorite chocolate-lover to a moderate amount each day.
Available online at www.ChocolatePrescription.com and at select stores, Chocolate Prescription is sold by the individual bar, for $3.29; by 1-Week Prescription, for $19.99; and by 4-Week Prescription, for $76.99.

Loving Chocolates for a Cause
Seattle Chocolate Company crafts premium chocolates—carefully prepared in small batches with high-quality, all-natural, kosher-certified European chocolate with no preservatives, additives, or extenders. The chocolates feature 100-percent, all-natural ingredients, including double-distilled Northwest peppermint oil, legendary Seattle espresso, pure hazelnut butter, and freeze-dried natural blackberries. Each product is crafted by blending dark and milk chocolates to achieve the best flavor profile. The product line includes truffles, dessert shells, truffle bars, and chocolates.
Best of all, 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of the company's Extreme Dark Truffle Bar—the best-selling bar in the line—benefits breast cancer charities. Also, the Seattle Chocolate Company welcomes chocolate donation requests that contribute to worthy causes from non-profit organizations. Seattle Chocolate Company products are available in retail, grocery, and gourmet and specialty shops as well as at the company's online store, www.seattlechocolates.com.

Turkish Spa in a Kit
No more dry itchy skin. No more bumps. No more embarrassing scaly skin. Give friends and family a Turkish spa experience with the MicrodermaMitt. Made of all-natural floss silk in a patented weaving process, the Mitt works with only water to instantly exfoliate and remove the dead, dry, and dull skin from head to toe. Non-abrasive and non-chemical, this Mitt won’t give the side effects often seen from microdermabrasion, chemical peels, and other exfoliating products. The MicrodermaMitt is dermatologist recommended and is even gentle enough for sensitive skin.
The MicrodermaMitt can be purchased individually for $24, or in a special Holiday Kit for $75, which includes the Face Mitt, Body Mitt, Olive Oil Cleansing Bar, and Olive Face and Body Oil. The set comes packaged in a beautiful organza bag with easy-to-use instructions.
For additional information, visit www.microdermamitt.com. For questions, send an email to info@microdermamitt.com or call 866-450-MITT.

Create a Personal Spa Experience
Soaps-by-the-slice, sugar scrubs, salt scrubs, massage oils, bath accessories, and much more—indulge someone on your gift list with a wonderfully affordable collection of skin-beneficial, handcrafted bath products by Soapier. Beauty enthusiasts of all ages can create their own personal spa experiences with the Soapier products that include goat’s milk lotions, massage oils, body washes and body butters. There’s even a line of children’s products.
Founder and designer Linda Nigro, along with her daughter Erica Allen, have been developing soaps from scratch over the last nine years, using their love of fine art, crafts, and nature as inspiration—ultimately offering products that are colorful, fragrant, and fun.
Visit the Soapier website, at www.Soapier.com.

Nothing Like a Clean House
Giving The Maids Home Service gift certificate is a great way to treat someone to a vacation from house cleaning. Give someone the afternoon off, a month of freedom, or even a year-long getaway from household dust and dirt. The Maids Home Services gift certificates can be used toward any of the services, such as maid service, carpet cleaning services, window cleaning services, and more.
Locally, The Maids franchise, run by Mark Rapkins in Towson, 877-244-5784, serves Baldwin, Baltimore City, Canton, Cockeysville, Federal Hill, Glen Arm, Govans, Hereford, Hunt Valley, Jacksonville, Lutherville Timonium, Monkton, Nottingham, Parkton, Parkville, Pikesville, Phoenix, Reisterstown, Roland Park, Ruxton, Sparks Glencoe, and Towson.
For more information, visit the website www.maids.com, or call 800-THE-MAIDS.

Laurel Museum Holiday Ornament
Give the gift of local history with the 2008 Ornament from The Laurel Museum and the Laurel Historical Society, Inc. The 2008 Ornament represents St. Philip's Episcopalian Church, located at Sixth and Main in Laurel. St. Philip's has stood at the center of life in Laurel and the four-county area—Anne Arundel, Prince George's, Montgomery, and Howard counties—since it was built in 1848. The cost is $16.
Come to the Laurel Museum, 817 Main St. in Laurel, or visit the website at www.laurelhistoricalsociety.org to purchase this year's ornament as well as others from holidays past featuring historical locations in Laurel. For additional information, call 301-725-7975 or visit the website.

How Do You Spell Relief?
Simply loop Bralief around your bra straps to improve posture, add support and lift, and keep straps in place. Enjoy this fabulous, non-surgical solution as soon as you put it on your bra, tank top, or bathing suit.
Bralief is available in the following colors: Licorice (black), Caramel (tan), Vanilla Creme (white), and Cotton Candy (pink and white). Bralief retails for $9.95, or in a three-pack for $22.95. For more information, visit www.bralief.com.

Bra Straps Made to Be Seen!
Give a stylish solution for women who simply can't go braless. Straptinis are designer bra straps beaded with luxe Swarovski crystals or colorful glass beads to complement any outfit from couture to casual. An absolute must wear this holiday season! The vibrant and unique color combinations accentuate any outfit from a casual tank top and jeans to the elegant little black dress. The materials used to create Straptinis are flexible to promote a comfortable fit, yet are incredibly strong to ensure a long-lasting place in any woman's wardrobe. Straptinis will enhance any outfit just like a piece of fine jewelry.
With prices starting at $38, Straptinis are available online, at www.straptinis.com.

Gifts from the Big Screen to DVD

Going to the Movies
Does your teen love going to the movies? MovieTickets.com now offers the MovieTickets.card, the gift card geared for parents who want to send their kids to the movies—without sending their credit cards.
Available in denominations of $25, $50, $75, $100, $250, or $500 at MovieTickets.com, it acts like a credit card, but can only be used for movie-ticket purchases on the site. Also on the site is the list of participating theaters, including more than 100 chains across the U.S.

Be a Celluloid Hero…
Give a gift subscription to Film Movement, at www.filmmovement.com. This is the only first-run, film-of-the-month-club for award-winning independent and foreign films.
A Film Movement membership allows you to introduce friends and family to great films from around the world. Each month, the recipient will receive, to own, some of the world's best independent and foreign films. In addition to a feature film, each monthly DVD comes with a short film from a hot new director. Previous shorts in the Film Movement series include the first films from both Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) and Mike Mills (Thumbsucker).
Special holiday Film Movement memberships are available in 3-, 6-, or 12-month subscriptions at 20 percent off—as little as $12 per month, including shipping and handling.

Customized or Made-to-Order Gifts

Personal Icons Just Like Them!
Here’s a digital-age gift especially for tweens and teens who love social websites and cell phones—icons that look like them. Drawn from an uploaded photo, a personal icon from My Face Icons can be used as an email signature, a web icon for sites such as mySpace and Facebook, a cell phone icon, and much more. My Face Icons delivers three digital files that are optimized for email, web, and phone use at prices starting at $39. Visit the website www.MyFaceIcons.com.

Name Their Domain
Reserve your loved one’s name/interest online before it's gone! The website www.GiveAURL.comis the only place on the Internet that packages a domain name with these three important elements not found anywhere else: 1) It’s easy and fast, taking just two minutes and the recipient’s name. 2) Purchase includes physical keepsakes important for any gift. 3) The process ensures that the gift-giver’s credit card is removed from the account.
At www.GiveAURL.com, simply think of a clever domain name (such as a baby's name, nickname, interests, quirks, or occupation). Use the search function to check for worldwide availability. And then choose one of four gift packages, starting at $19.

Design Apparel and Accessories
Looking for a t-shirt, jacket, messenger bag, or even baby blanket that’s totally unique? Go online to Spreadshirt.com, a site where you can design your own apparel and accessories. Spreadshirt offers great gift options, including organic products. And the options are endless as the site has features more than 20,000 designs.
 
Things to be Remembered
Fashion-inspired metallic accessories and crystal-embellished tech products—find the latest gifts that incorporate contemporary detailing and materials, all with a personal touch. Things Remembered offers something for just about everybody on your list. From baby keepsakes to jewelry boxes to a new women’s line of On-the-Go Style train cases and jump drives, take that gift one step further by making it personal with custom engraving. And, if you have another gift in mind, Things Remembered can personalize it—even if you purchased it elsewhere.
For more information about Things Remembered or for store locations, call 800-274-7367 or log on to www.thingsremembered.com.

Natural and Recycled Gifts

Not Too Tired to Help
Make a small purchase...make a big difference! That’s the philosophy behind the I’m Tired eco-friendly bracelets.
The bracelets, made from recycled tires and metals, retail for $10. Half the cost of each bracelet ($5) is donated to select charities, supporting one of 10 causes—from world hunger and global warming to cancer and AIDS…issues in our world that we are all tired of.
“Each bracelet represents a cause,” explains Dan Hoffman, half of the brother/sister team behind I’m Tired. “We want people to wear more than one and give them away as gifts. In these difficult financial times, they’ll make great meaningful and inexpensive holiday gifts. That’s how this effort will explode and succeed. We could raise millions of dollars to fight the world’s issues.”
The first 10 causes are AIDS, Autism, Animal Cruelty, Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Child Abuse, Diabetes, Global Warming, Heart Disease, and World Hunger.
I’m Tired bracelets are only available online, at www.ImTiredOnline.com.

Whole-ly Great Gift Ideas
More than just a wholesome, natural grocery store, Whole Foods Market features a wide array of gifts for the 2008 holiday season. From wooden toys, puzzles, and organic teddy bears ($11.99 to $19.99) for children to Fair Trade skin care products ($34.99) and handcrafted ceramic candle diffusers ($19.99) for adults, goodness is guaranteed if it comes from Whole Foods. There’s also a line of earth-friendly lifestyle gifts, including a festive handmade scarf and set of gloves from Peru ($24.99 to $44.99), a winter ornament collection from India ($9.99 to $13.99), and a Fair Trade gift collection handcrafted by artisan groups across Asia and Latin America ($8.99 to $35.99). And, while you’re at it, why not treat yourself to a stylish Organic Cotton Peace Scarf by Maggie's Organics ($9.99), made of certified, organically grown fibers by a family-owned company in Costa Rica?
In Baltimore, visit Whole Foods at these locations: Mount Washington, 1330 Smith Ave., 410-532-6700; and Harbor East, 1001 Fleet St., 410-528-1640. In Annapolis, Whole Foods is on 2504 Solomons Island Rd., 410-573-1800.

Totes from Military Uniforms
Willow Creek Studio has introduced a new line of tote bags—made from recycled military uniforms. Customers can either purchase military totes created out of recycled fatigues that the company has on hand, or they can send Willow Creek Studio their very own military fatigues to be made into their own special tote. (It takes about four to six weeks to receive a custom-made tote.)
The totes are available in two sizes. The large tote is $85 and is crafted from a fatigue shirt. This size is perfect to use as a diaper bag with two inside bottle pockets and lots of space to carry all of Baby's goodies. A coordinating changing pad is also available for $15. The small tote is $65 and is crafted from a pair of fatigue pants.
To purchase or order a military tote, visit www.willowcreekstudio.net. 
A percentage of each sale of these bags goes to The Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships to surviving children of Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps special operations personnel who have been killed in an operation mission or training accident. More information about this organization is at the website www.specialops.org.

Carrying Eco-Friendly Chic
Half the Sky Designs' large eco-friendly Rebagz handbags have merged street chic with fitness. The oversized Rebagz, made from recycled juice packs and recycled nylon rice bags, are lightweight, flexible, and have organizational features that make it easy to stow clothes and items needed for the gym or yoga studio. Also, there are On the Go/Bringing Up Baby Bags and several styles of messenger bags.
Rebagz are available in a wide variety of playful colors and fun prints. In addition to the large styles, there are clutches, mini bags, and small shoulder bags in the Rebagz collection.
Sold in stores throughout North America and beyond, Rebagz range in price from $15 to $150. In Baltimore, they are sold at Milagro, 1005 W. 36th St., 410-235-3800, and at the National Aquarium of Baltimore Gift Shop, 501 E. Pratt St., 410-576-3800. To view the complete Rebagz line and/or to purchase one online, visit www.rebagz.com. For more information, call 818-376-0125.

Giving on Purpose—Charitable Gifts

Greetings from the Food Bank
'Tis the Season! Purchase Maryland Food Bank Holiday Cards 2008. Spend as little as $5 or as much as you want to provide meals to hungry Marylanders this holiday season. Choose from two compelling messages at a variety of price ranges.
To purchase a card, visit the website www.mdfoodbank.org.

Gift Cards for Charity
Make a charitable donation when you purchase a Charity Gift Card or eCard online at www.charitygiftcertificates.org. You decide the amount you wish to donate, and your gift entitles the recipient to select the charity.
This donation is 100-percent tax deductible for the buyer at the time of the purchase. The cardholder (or gift recipient) may designate the funds to the charity of his or her choice from the online list. As many as three charities may be selected. The www.charitygiftcertificates.org website lists more than 100 major charitable causes covering a broad range, with something meaningful for everyone.

A Calendar Pooch?
The Maryland SPCA 2009 Pet Calendar is ready for gift-giving! This popular SPCA fundraiser features pictures of dogs, cats, and other animals submitted by local animal lovers. More than 400 entries were submitted and appear in the calendar.
The 2009 Pet Calendar costs $15 and is available online, at the Maryland SPCA, and at local merchants such as Greetings & Readings in Hunt Valley and Graul's grocery store and The Ivy Bookstore in Baltimore.
For more information, call 410-235-8826, or visit its website, www.mdspca.org.

A Vision for Giving
The 2008 World Vision Gift Catalog helps improve the lives of children and families in the U.S. and around the world by offering more than 100 poverty-fighting gifts that range in cost from $20 to $36,000. For each World Vision gift, the giver can make the purchase in the name of a friend, family member, or business associate. World Vision then sends special cards to those individuals, describing the gifts and their impact. In the following year, the gift itself or intervention reaches the child or family in need.
Affordable gifts for less than $35, include: two ducks ($12), one chicken ($13); two basketballs ($16); stocking a low-income American classroom with learning supplies ($25); giving a wool blanket to a disaster survivor, AIDS patient, or a child in need ($30); providing a Caregiver Kit to bring comfort to those living with AIDS ($35); and a handcrafted bracelet made by Ugandan women caring for AIDS orphans ($35).
To order a catalog or to order gifts directly, visit www.worldvisiongifts.org or call toll-free 888-511-6511. All items are tax-deductible.

Giving It Forward
Choose a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. That’s what the Heifer Project International gift catalog is all about. Visit the online catalog and choose among the many meaningful gifts—sheep, llamas, geese, you name it. Your donation will be made in the name of the gift recipient of your choice.
For more information about Heifer Project International and to order gifts through its online catalog, visit its website, www.heifer.org. For questions, requests, and additional donations, call its Donor Services Department at 800-422-0474, or send an email to info@heifer.org.

Support Fair Trade
Your Fair Trade purchase of handmade jewelry, home décor, and gifts through retailer Ten Thousand Villages helps improve the lives of thousands of artisans in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Locally, shop Ten Thousand Villages at The Shops at Kenilworth in Towson, 806 Kenilworth Dr., 410-337-5005; and at Fells Point in Baltimore, 1621 Thames St., 410-342-5568. Or, shop online at its website, www.tenthousandvillages.com.

Special Shopping Websites

Shop by Personality and More
The shopping comparison website, PriceGrabber.com, has a feature called Shop by Personality that allows consumers to quickly shop for items that appeal to the exact personalities they are shopping for this holiday season. From cute toys for tots and cool clothes for boys to the latest equipment for the sports enthusiast, there is something for just about everyone.
In addition, PriceGrabber.com also offers ShopGreen, a comprehensive guide to more than 20,000 eco-friendly products for both children and adults from popular companies such as Sephora, Patagonia, Nordstrom, and Staples. And, each month PriceGrabber.com donates 5 percent of the ShopGreen’s profits to a charity—voted on by shoppers—that promotes environmental conservation.

Trade Books and DVDs for Gifts
Do you have an avid book reader on your holiday list? Is someone you know wishing for a new DVD? If you’re trying to stretch an already squeezed budget, take advantage of your existing book and DVD libraries to trade for new gifts to give this holiday.
Bookins.com, a simple-to-use book and DVD trading site, offers 500,000 books and 25,000 DVDs to help extend its members’ gift-giving dollars. Once you become a member, simply list the books or DVDs to trade by entering the ISBN or UPC code from the book or DVD box. Then, select titles you wish to receive from the thousands listed on the site. And then print the postage from the comfort of your home computer to mail the items.
Bookins.com’s automated point system assigns a fair value to each item to ensure equitable trading based on market factors such as price, date published, and/or awards won. The algorithms even track popularity, such as a book being highlighted on Oprah’s Book Club or a movie winning an Academy Award. The site’s point system also attracts more hardcover books and up-to-date titles than competing trading websites.

Good Reasons to Shop
More than 600 nationally known, name-brand online stores are registered at www.CashBack4Kids.com. These merchants offer savings on purchases while they contribute to the consumer’s designated organization that benefits children.
Shop in three different ways. 1) Search for something specific in categories including apparel, automotive, computers, electronics, food, jewelry, pets, toys and hobbies, or travel. 2) Or, if bargains are what you’re after, click on Top Deals to link to Hot Savings, Coupons, and Free Shipping. 3) Or, maybe you’d rather browse through a virtual store such as Barnes and Noble, NetFlix, or 1-800-FLOWERS to find that perfect gift.
Register the charitable organization of your choice and then invite everyone you know to shop this site using your organization’s ID name. Qualified transactions provide cash donations to organizations such as global non-profits, local schools, and PTA groups. Also, the money that’s donated by the merchants comes out of their advertising budgets (and not through merchandise mark-ups).

Searching for Donations
“You search, we give” is the GoodSearch trademark—and that pretty much sums up what the program is all about. Powered by Yahoo, this search engine, at www.GoodSearch.com, donates 50 percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. Simply choose your school or charity, make sure it’s verified, and start searching the web.
Also, in 2007, GoodSearch was expanded to include GoodShop, an online mall where each purchase results in a donation to the user's designated organization, averaging about 3 percent of the sale.

Know More about Your Purchases
The online boutique, Elegant Roots, at www.elegantroots.com, offers high-quality, luxury gifts made exclusively by eco-conscious and socially responsible designers from across the globe. Feel good about what you’re buying and giving by knowing: the who (made this product), the what (it is made from), the where (it was made), and the why (beyond form and function, it is worth buying).
Every product on the site—from accessories, jewelry and spa products to gifts for home, men, babies/kids and even pets—has been thoroughly vetted to ensure that all products offered are not only beautifully crafted, but created in environmentally friendly and socially responsible ways. BC

BBB Advice for Safe Online Shopping This Holiday Season 
Bargain hunters will undoubtedly be flocking to the Internet for holiday sales this year. Unfortunately, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns that scammers will again be setting up shop online, using low prices to entice shoppers, but ultimately not delivering the goods.
"Many consumers have come to feel extremely comfortable shopping online as part of their everyday lives and simply don't consider the increased threat of identity theft or unscrupulous retailers during the holiday season," says Angie Barnett, president and CEO of BBB of Greater Maryland. "While the online environment has become a thriving, trusted marketplace, e-commerce has also opened a door and created a ripe environment for scammers to set up shop online and start ripping people off."
With more shoppers expected to head to the Internet this season, scammers know they can take advantage of consumers who are looking for bargains. Given the reach of the Internet, potential scams are not restricted to one area, or even one country.
For example, BBB recently reported an online scam operating through the website superbargainland.com. It received complaints from consumers across the U.S. and Canada who paid for game consoles such as Playstation3, Wii, and Xbox, but never received the items. The site required shoppers to pay via MoneyGram, a money wire service—which made the money that consumers had paid impossible to recover.
This year, BBB offers a list of 10 tips for online shoppers to help prevent being taken in by unscrupulous online retailers, scammers, and hackers.
Top 10 Online Shopping Tips
1. Protect your computer. A computer should always have the most recent updates installed for spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and a secure firewall.
2. Use trustworthy websites. Shoppers should start with BBB to check on the seller's reputation and record for customer satisfaction. Always look for a "trustmark" from BBBOnLine and click on that seal to confirm that it's valid.
3. Protect your personal information. BBB recommends taking the time to read the site's privacy policy and understand what personal information is being requested and how it will be used. If there isn't one posted, it should be taken as a red flag that personal information may be sold to others without permission.
4. Trust your gut. Offers on websites and in unsolicited emails can often sound too good to be true. Consumers should always go with their instincts and not be afraid to pass up a "deal" that might cost them dearly in the end.
5. Beware of phishing. Legitimate businesses do not send emails claiming problems with an order or an account to lure the "buyer" into revealing financial information. If a consumer receives such an email, BBB recommends picking up the phone and calling the contact number on the website where the purchase was made to confirm that there really is a problem with the transaction.
6. Confirm your online purchase is secure. Shoppers should always look in the address box for the “s” in “https://” and in the lower-right corner for the "lock" symbol before paying. If there are any doubts about a site, BBB recommends right-clicking anywhere on the page and selecting “Properties.” This will let you see the real URL (website address) and the dialog box will reveal if the site is not encrypted.
7. Pay with a credit card. It's best to use a credit card for purchases, because under federal law shoppers can dispute charges if they do not receive an item. Shoppers also have dispute rights if there are unauthorized charges on their credit card. Also, many card issuers have "zero liability" policies under which the cardholder pays nothing if someone steals the credit card number and uses it.
8. Keep documentation of your order. After completing the online order process, there may be a final confirmation page or the shopper might receive confirmation by email. BBB recommends saving a copy of the web page and any emails for future reference and as a record of the purchase.
9. Check your credit card statements often. Don't wait for paper statements. BBB recommends consumers check their credit card statements for suspicious activity by either calling their credit card companies or by checking statements online regularly.
10. Know your rights. Federal law requires that orders made by mail, phone, or online be shipped by the date promised or, if no delivery time was stated, within 30 days. If the goods aren't shipped on time, the shopper can cancel the order and demand a refund. And, while there is no general three-day cancellation right, consumers do have the right to reject merchandise if it's defective or was misrepresented. Otherwise, it's the company's policies that determine if a shopper can cancel the purchase and receive a refund or credit. BC
For more advice on staying safe online this holiday season and to see reports on thousands of online retailers, go to www.bbb.org.
About BBB of Greater Maryland
Headquartered in Baltimore, BBB of Greater Maryland is a non-profit organization established in 1922. It serves 18 Maryland counties and Baltimore City. BBB of Greater Maryland is supported by Accredited Businesses that have passed a comprehensive review, met 13 standards of trust, and that agree to uphold those standards including commitments to advertise honestly and to address marketplace disputes quickly, respectfully, and reasonably.
For more information, contact BBB of Greater Maryland at 410-347-3990 or visit www.bbb.org.

© Baltimore’s Child Inc. December 2008