Nifty gifties

Well, I’ve traversed the web looking for gift ideas—and found that the ones I’ve been most drawn to are the ones that cater to tree hugger in me. Or the practical side of me. Seems to me there’s a less distinct line between the two these days.

Anyway.

This one was a suggestion from a mailing list I’m on. It was thrown out as a suggestion for a younger child, but I don’t really see why it wouldn’t be appropriate for all ages. Camping & Wilderness Survival by Paul Tawrell. It’s not terribly in-depth, but covers a lot of different topics.

For the house members who are running around shivering this winter, these hot water bottles are the neatest things. Especially for younger children. Offered are huggable teddy bears and raccoons, sheep and even the microwavable blue mouse. Apparently they can be frozen in the freezer for summer heat relief, too. I want the Cuddly Bear!

Be prepared for the next power outage with the Dynamo Flashlight. It doesn’t use batteries. Instead, there’s a crank on it that gives 45 minutes of steady bright light after only one minute of winding. Good for camping, good for the glove box in the car, good for power outages in the house, good for reading under the covers at night.

I like gadgets and this USB LED light for laptop or desktop just seems cool. It even has a little shade. The base is flexible metal that you can shape to your liking.

For friends with a wood stove and an overabundance of newspapers....here’s a Log Roller to turn newspapers into long-burning logs. I’d like one of these, too.

This one is neither tree-hugger-ish nor practical, but oh the potential....

Scrolling LED License Plate Frame. Program your own messages. If only they made something like this in a bumper sticker size....