Cocoa 2008 Holiday Gift Guide

Photo by Qatar

Those of you who live in the States will most likely be in one of two places right now: either you've stayed home with a cup of coffee in hand to enjoy the lovely weather and holiday weekend, or you're out at your nearest shopping mall partaking in the strictly American tradition of Black Friday. For all of you international lovelies, Black Friday is the notorious busiest shopping day of the year - it's the Friday after Thanksgiving that rings in the holiday season and with it, holiday shopping. Every Black Friday, stores open their doors as early as four a.m. to offer ridiculous deals on big-ticket items, things like flat-screen T.V.'s and hot video games with discounts as big as 75% off. Sure, it may seem crazy, but the hope is that folks will be able to get all kinds of wonderful gifts for their friends and family and finish all of their holiday shopping in one day - and so they push through the crowds and go from store to store to store, everybody looking for those perfect gifts for the people they love.

But why go out and brave the crowds when you've got a whole world of shopping right in front of you? You too can get all kinds of marvelous gifts for your friends and family, perfect gifts tailored just for them, but unlike those folks dashing through shopping malls and department stores right now, you don't even have to leave your flat! My lovely bunnies, sit back and jump into the holiday spirit - I give you the Cocoa holiday gift guide for 2008!


For the Daring, Dashing Dame

When buying for that supersonic cool-for-cats dame in your life, it's always best to go vintage! Scour around for that perfect shade of heartbreaking red lipstick or for pencil-thin dresses with big, thick bows, buying only things that have as much character as that girl herself. HumblebumbleB is a great place to find retro hats that are absolutely perfect for any swingin' dame, but I personally recommend the Fascinator hats just for that extra pinch of style. Pillbox hats are just as stylin', though, when shopping for a more atomic kind of girl, and they're bound to thrill even the most chilling of dames.

For the Closet Geek

Admit it - everybody has their nerdy side. There's always that part of them that loves to watch old reruns of Dr. Who and who still thinks that Star Wars is the pinnacle of motion picture achievement. Granted, with loads of new technology flooding into the world every day, the word geek has branched off to have so many different meanings and to gain a new form of popularity, but that doesn't mean that we love our geeks any less. When buying for our techno-cuties, ThinkGeek is the absolute hub for all things nerdy and it's impossible to not find just the thing you were looking for. For a 4chan geek who knows what Rickrolling is and loves to scour around the internet for new trends and macros, try the LOLCats-esque LOLMagnetz. As for those science geeks? The Good Chemistry salt & pepper shakers may be just the thing, bringing a whole new life to plain old salt and pepper. Geeky and educational!

For the Down-To-Earth Gal
Shopping for those earth-friendly folks in your life may seem like a bit of a challenge at first, but now that "going green" has become so popular and has seen such a warm reception in everyday society, shopping for the environmentally-conscious is as easy as a click! Be sure that whatever you choose to buy for your earth-loving lovers is recycled and biodegradable, and remember that buying all-natural, vegan products is always best for both the person you're buying for and the Earth. Etsy has a wonderful selection of handmade and Earth-friendly products, my personal favorite being the recycled address file box which manages to be beautiful and conscious at the same time. If you have a die-hard vegan in your circle of friends your range of potential purchases may seem to be even more limited, but another seller off of Etsy offers this beautiful and eco-friendly Not A Nugget pendant which is a great way to show vegan pride, no animal products included!

♥

For the Slapdash Eccentric
There's always a lot of pressure to buy all of those wild and crazy folks you know really spectacular gifts, and, as crazy as it sounds, the rule of thumb seems to be the funkier the gift, the better! Wrap up old family photos in metallic pink paper or make little paper-dolls out of found materials - be creative and have loads of fun doing so! If you're short on time and looking for something a little less time-consuming, though, try this super cool laser-cut Polaroid sx-70 ring from Etsy for lots of colorful flair, or, the key into the heart of eccentricity itself, this wonderful collection of bottlecap jewelry

from California's Casa del Corazon.

For the Epicurean in Training
Buying for those foodies you love means indulging on simple, universally tasty things (or the tools to make them!) which may sound like a pretty daunting task. But remember, gifts don't always have to be complicated numbers - keep it simple! Sometimes a good holiday present can be something as easy as taking your epicurean lovely out for a spectacular dinner or coming over with a big marshmallow fluffed cake and a bottle of wine. If you're looking for something a little more wrap-able, though, try the incredibly ingenuous honey drops from Honibe, an especially lovely gift for those tea-drinkers in your immediate sphere of friends who aren't exactly fond of the mess that swirling honey into a cup of earl grey creates. For bakers-in-training who spend their days cooking up a storm of treats and concoctions to share, the cooking superstore that is Williams Sonoma offers a pack of super-cool circus cookie cutters which can be used, among other things, to create your very own animal crackers - what can be more fun than that?

♥

For the Fashionista
Remember all those Christmases from your childhood where you'd get sweaters or huge, billowing dresses wrapped up in neat, white JC Penny's boxes? Remember always hating getting clothes instead of toys and dolls and big colorful books? It's strange that as adults sometimes getting a package-full of beautiful clothes can be the best gift a girl can receive, especially after all those years of throwing fits over red gingham dresses or little pink shirts printed with flowers and butterflies. Now's your chance to finally give marvelous outfits and accessories to your fashiona friends to make up for all of those sad, department store-filled Christmases that all girls have had to trudge through - the trick of it all is finding those marvelous pieces in the first place! For the shoe-lover, I highly recommend checking out Hetty Rose's handmade shoes for beautiful, one-of-a-kind creations. As for the girl who already has the perfect outfit and always knows just the thing to wear, Bando is the perfect place to find absolutely gorgeous hair accessories that go great with any outfit, not to mention the fact that each beautiful little brooch comes with a custom haiku!


For the World Traveler
When buying for that globe-trotting go-go girl in your life, use the internet to your advantage and buy internationally! Dig around for kitschy ethnic items that you can't find just anywhere, items that are unique to one area or that grew out of a regional phenomena, or, alternatively, look for little things to aid your lovergirl in her travels. SewingRabbit, an Etsy seller from Thailand, offers this adorable Little Red Riding Hood passport case to style-up any boring old passport, as well as quite a few others in that same style. For the girl who loves to advertise her travels when she finally settles back down at home, though, Teresa Sheeley offers a lovely latin print shouting the world traveler's battle cry: I came, I saw, I conquered.

Always,
Penelope ♥