The Christmas season is here and some people are still trying to figure out where to go to find that "something special" for those on their Christmas shopping list. Here is a couple of places I have found to be friendly, full of unique items, and within my budget. One company only has two stores in Nova Scotia and no web site but the other one may well have a branch near you.
These are unpaid endorsements from a happy customer.
A few other ideas are presented as alternatives worth looking into.
Their two stores feature hand-crafted items of all sorts. Everything I saw appeared to be of very high quality although I never examined everything. If they still have them in stock and haven't sold them all, check out their mouse covers. One now decorates a friend's mouse in Australia. They also have padded wrist-rests shaped like little mice (the furry kind).
Their two stores are:
This place is more expensive than Jennifers and specializes in fine quality items. Wood, brass, and silver-plated items predominate. As poor as I am on my disability pension and as scruffy as I appear most of the time, I was treated with the same courtesy and helpfulness as a wealthy customer would receive -- and they did have some items that were within my budget -- with a little stretching of it. Although they are discontinued items now (*groan*), ask about their bronze "sleeping bunny" and "sleeping kitten" bookshelf ornaments. I thought they were adorable and there might be a branch with some left in stock (or maybe they will bring them back if there is enough demand).
Their Halifax, Nova Scotia store is in the Park Lane Mall on Spring Garden Road. For information on other locations across Canada or throughout the United States, you can call 1-800-668-1136 or have a look at what they have to offer and where their stores are located with a visit to their web site, "The Bombay Company Online".
If you are shopping for a gift for a blind person, here's a suggestion that might help. Radio Shack has some nice, affordable wrist watches including some that talk. Press a button and a synthesized voice tells you the time. I have a model 63-5044 and it has an alarm that can be set to beeps, a cuckoo, or a rooster crowing. (No, I am not blind. I just love gadgets.)
Prices range from just under $20.00 Canadian to about $25.00 Canadian. I don't know what models are available this year.
Seedlings Braille Books for Children have some delightful T-Shirts available. They read, "If you can read this, you're too close!" in print and in braille.
When shopping for your greeting cards this season, it might be worthwhile to consider buying UNICEF greeting cards and helping children around the world. There may be a shop or a temporary booth in a shopping centre (OK, "center" for Americans) near you.
Webmaster: Norman De Forest,
If you have any comments about this site
send me an email message.