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Compiled by the editors and staff of evalu8.org Yes, it's true, harried shoppers, Christmas is closing in fast. There's never enough time to really clean and really prepare and really shop for everything, is there?
Some of our favourite friends and family are still notoriously hard to shop for: Surely you know several people who already have every gadget known to mankind. And then there's the fussy aunt, the do-it-yourselfer, the baby boomer with an obsession for nostalgia. We can help! This page will grow as we get closer and closer to that Christmas Eve deadline, so come back and visit often. Remember, too, that evalu8.org offers you all kinds of resources, freebies and organization-helpers. Click here for other "The Perfect Gift" options on evalu8.org...
 There are two obvious advantages to buying hand-crafted items as gifts: One, you will usually be buying a one-of-a-kind, truly unique item; and two, you will be supporting your local art and artisan community in the most direct way possible, generally by buying from the creative person with no intermediary. Craft shows abound in gathering places from big cities to tiny hamlets, but if you think you have missed most of the big craft sales, consider shopping online from sites such as etsy.com. Meanwhile, here are some of our favourite buy-direct-from-the-crafter finds:
Becky Johnson's security envelope pinback buttons project
We like the work of BC-born Becky Johnson, who has lately been creating crocheted elf hats, neck-warmers and security envelope pinback buttons. Six bucks buys you a whole set of the latter. (Or check Becky's highly addictive blog for more items at Sweetie Pie Press for great last-minute ideas.)
Rev. Aitor's Unflattering portraits & Misanthrope Specialty Co. Can you face yourself at your "worst?" These "unflattering" portraits are recommended by evalu8.org. (Or check Aitor's online connection for great last-minute ideas.)
 Books are wonderful gift solutions, and a bonus: They're easy to wrap!
Beatles Book Is Fab! (Keyes review)
Chef's Salad (Garber review)
Cocktails: Shaken and Stirred (Garber review)
Flavours of Cooper's Cove Guesthouse named finalist
How to Be an Accordion Player (Garber review)
Jeffery Deaver's The Cold Moon (Garber review)
Lennon Legend (Keyes book review)
Nothing More Comforting (Garber review)
Salmon: The Cookbook (Garber review)
Slow Cooking: not so fast food (Keyes review)
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson (Garber review)
The Vision: Green Stone of Healing Book One (Garber review)
William Gibson's Pattern Recognition (Shaviro review)
Make GreenPeace, not War (on Nature):
The only environmentally-friendly co-op store in Canada:
OGIO Terminal bag, style 711401 (Garber review) (plus OGIO Layover)
OGIO Commuter bag, style 611128 (Keyes review)
Alaskan Cruise Gift Service -- local company is THE cruise gift specialist (Garber review)
The Xshot:
Eyewitness Travel London (Keyes review)
Eyewitness Travel Paris (Keyes review)
Time Out London (Keyes review)
Time Out Paris (Keyes review)
Moleskine notebooks (Garber review)
Foreign Electronics: This is where we shop for international voltage, plug-points and PAL System Camcorders for Europe, Asia and Australia as well as 110V-220 voltage converters, plug adapters, multi-system TVs, VCRs, DVD players, dual voltage stereos, GSM quad-band and unlocked tri-band mobile phones and other items we can't find anywhere else. Open Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Sun. 111 West Broadway, Vancouver (604-879-1189; fax 604-874-1165). As a bonus, the staff are remarkably knowledgeable and helpful, without ever trying to "upsell" you to something frivolous.
Dog Biscuits (homemade, natural)
Microwave Doggie Biscuits (homemade, natural)
Pacific salmon cat treats (homemade, natural)
Peanut Butter Puppy Biscuits (homemade, natural)
 We've spent something like 15 years searching for an affordable espresso machine that makes "real" espresso, crema and all. In Paris last month, we were introduced to a pod machine by Krups by our friend Dominique Lemarchand and we could hardly believe the quality-for-price value.
We'll be doing a full review of this amazing machine in the New Year, but meanwhile -- since we've already sampled its high quality in Europe -- we will award it five stars (
If you must have frothed milk (i.e. for cappuccino), you'll have to pony up approximately $250 more for the D290 "Concept" version, although we found the cheaper model more than adequate for a genuine espresso hit.
New Beauty Product: The Ultrasonic Beautifier (Garber review)
Nicola's Bodycare (Kelowna) (Garber review) 
Isotoner Totes pile-lined suede gloves (Garber review)
Robert Bateman 'Get to Know' interactive CD (Garber review)
Here's a great tip from an evalu8.org reader, Paula Diakiw who writes: "You have missed a great Canadian-made game in your reviews. This was reviewed on CBC radio last November and although it's price tag is not cheap, I bought one. "Gift Trap was invented by a Kelowna father, and when you play it with large numbers of people, it's hilarious. Picture intergenerational group sitting around with my 18-year-old niece. We all chose what we thought was the gift she would want the most: a diamond ring. She turned to her mother and said, "I don't want a ring! WHO ARE YOU?" We still quote that out of the blue. We play with our 3 kids, aunts, uncles, whoever -- it's fun!"
We've been dealing with this superior tire source for some 30 years, and -- although we rarely endorse a service -- we also recommend Brad-and-the-boys as our favourite service centre in the Lower Mainland. They can handle any mechanical repair -- just call ahead for an appointment, as this time of year is always hectic.
Robert Bateman Commemorative Prints (Garber review)
Our choice is this top-rated (a rare evalu8.org FIVE STARS) S.U.B. front pack. Not only is it an ideal gift for teens, baby-boomers and the folks back home, but it's (drastically) sale priced right now just for evalu8.org visitors!
Tundra Russian-style hats (Garber review) Click on banner below to open a new window for a handy summary of evalu8.org's other last-minute gift-giving ideas:
 Remember: You can always print out the picture of an item you have ordered, and wrap that as your promise that the gift is on its way. (Caution: Works for grown-ups, but children might be disappointed!) And consider downloading and printing out our Generic Gift Certificate for giving your time and attention as a gift to someone special.
If I had a choice of any single camera on the market, this would be IT. These new Panasonic cameras make my old digital camera seem light-years behind. . . after experiencing these cameras, I can't go back. [More]
Contrary to one's expectations if judged by the price tag alone, the stats of this handheld, pocket-fitting camera are anything but modest. [More]
More than two-thirds of digital pictures are never seen again after they are taken. Digital photo frames are affordable -- under $200 for the 8-inch screens -- and come in a variety of styles and features. Most have built-in memory and speakers and can read off USB memory sticks, popular digital camera memory cards and connected cameras. They play music and videos, but make sure particular models can play the type of video your digital camera shoots.
Drogheria Infused Oils (Garber new food product review)
Epicureal.com, Qualifirst and Far-Met
Lotus Foods Forbidden Rice (Garber new food product review)
Michel Cluizel: First-growth plantation chocolate (Garber gourmet food product review)
T-Fal's Avanti Toaster
 Cranium Jam Pack Jam, CA$25, 6+, 2 to 4 players It's every traveller's pre-holiday nightmare -- trying to make the suitcase fit into the trunk with the skateboard, spare tire, guitar case, birthday cake (!) and cactus plant before the car explodes. Kids will love the challenge and clamoured to play with it again the next day. For more info: www.cranium.com. Cranium WOW, CA$35, for adults, 4 or more players Great for adults and teens (though a 12-year-old tester was stumped with a reference to Casey and Finnegan of Mr. Dressup fame). This new version of the draw-it, sculpt-it, mime-it and guess-it game features funnier markers (with removable wigs and hats) as well as hundreds of new commands and queries -- many with a refreshingly Canadian slant -- to stump your team-mates. Charming, silly and lots of fun! For more info: www.cranium.com. Fart! Fast 'n' Flatulent Guff Game! CA$20, age 14+ An accompanying CD echoes the stinky theme with suitably silly sounds, but there are a lot of rules to digest before playing (perhaps the source of the flatulence). While the fart CD is amusing and their names -- from Trouser Growlers and Duvet Lifters to Eggy Stinkers -- might make kids laugh, this is not necessarily a game for the very young. For more info: 1-877-592-7374. Humm Bug, CA$25, age 14+, 3 or more players Work your way down the board by humming songs and tunes from different decades. You might find it easier to do this in teams, (where team-mates would want to make sense of whatever noises were coming from your head), as opposed to having opponents guess what you are humming. A great game for a gathering of several generations (Grampa might know All I have to do is Dream, while Junior can do a great rendition of SexyBack). For more info: 1-877-592-7374. MindTrap Geometrical Riddles, CA$10 a deck, ages 10+ Each deck contains 54 different puzzles to bother and challenge logical minds. It helps to be a bit intuitive as well, though, as some answers aren't based on math, but on curves in the alphabet or connecting numbers that begin or end with the same letter. These are good travel games, or challenges for math teachers to take to their classes. For more info: 1-877-592-7374. Quelf, CA$37, age 12+, 3 to 8 players You may draw a card in which you must mime being stuck in a tree with five lobsters and an angry dwarf until the timer runs out, or that you cannot bend your arms, legs or body for the whole game, except when it's your turn. You may have to answer a true or false question, or read out a preposterous paragraph while marching in place without breaking into gales of laughter. This is an imaginative, quirky game that receives high marks from our testers. For more info: 1-877-592-7374. Strange But True, CA$20, age 15+, 2 to 8 players or teams Bet points on which of four headlines on a card is published. Then bet on whether the story is true or unverified. The journalists among the testers then began quibbling about whether an unverified story would even be published. Even odder, however, was asking players to create their own headlines, which were then shuffled in with a headline from the game. Players got points for correctly guessing the Strange But True headline (even though players could have created a real headline.) It's unsatisfying and badly punctuated, i.e.: "Mom Camp Saves Mom's" and "Improve your Memory Drink Sake." For more info: 1-877-592-7374. Things...Humour in a Box, CA$40, age 8+, 4 or more players Part memory game, part silly responses, Things is a great game for larger groups (in fact, four players are probably too few). Everyone writes down an answer to a prompt: Things...you shouldn't attempt to juggle/that are useless/a goalie thinks about when the play is at the other end, and so on. The answers go into a lovely wooden box, and then one player reads them aloud, twice only. After that, each player must connect the remembered answers with the other players. An easier variation let's you write down keywords, but then half the challenge is gone. For more info: www.thingsthegame.com. For our American cousins: Now that our dollars are within throwing distance of being at par, there are still bargains to be had on both sides of the border. For Americans coming to Canada to shop, here are some bricks-and-mortar stops to consider (and specific items that you will find extra-special bargains):
Likewise for Canadians willing to weather the queues at the Peace Arch crossing to shop Blaine, Bellingham, Ferndale and even Seattle, Everett and Bellevue, there are bargains galore:
. . . and other post-Christmas sales prices are often better in the U.S. than Canada. Try Fred Meyer, Target, Wal-Mart and various Bellis Fair locations for great deals; we also find electronics prices lower in the U.S. Consider Office Depot, Staples, Future Shop/Best Buy, and of course, Costco. You can even price-compare Costco Canada versus its U.S. cousin online, before you even leave home.
Last-minute "I-LOVE-it" gifts: Here's our "insider's" trick: Post the item you're after under "item wanted," and post often. We were looking for something really obscure for a family member, and got a response to our first notice in about SIX HOURS! And the item turned out to be exactly what we were after. Postings are free. The seller even brought it to our house -- about a 55-minute drive for him -- and delivered it to us the very next day. No problem -- and problem solved. And check out these Last-minute online solutions, if you're really shopping at the last minute!
Help yourself to evalu8.org's free gift tags to print at home.
And lastly, click on banner below to open a new window for a handy summary of evalu8.org's rarely given Five-star Review items:
To find out how to post a Press Release on evalu8.org, click here.
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To make this as simple as possible for evalu8.org visitors, we are selecting time-saving, cost-effective and easy-to-find solutions on what-to-buy…for everyone on your list.
The Nespresso Essenza C100 Espresso Machine is available at Vancouver's downtown The Bay store, in its own boutique on the SkyTrain level. We can't imagine why the boutique is virtually bereft of customers, since this machine is priced at just $249 and delivers a single espresso coffee (yes, with real crema) for about 65 cents a cup. If you drink a coffee a day at Starbucks, the machine could easily pay for itself in a year.
Won't you sleep better knowing your parents, your 20-something kids, your adventurous husband are driving on good snow tires? We are delighted to endorse