Holiday Post 2022: Gifts, Strange Items, and Other Shopping

Welcome to the second post in my holiday posts series for 2022. This time I take a look at gifts and holiday shopping. My four readers know this is pretty much a chance for me to do some snark over some of the gift ideas many magazines and websites offer this time of year. In addition if I found some good tips and advice for the shopping season, I will add those as well in the hopes you find them useful. For me, a bit of advice I have shared before is to shop early. In my case, I am pretty much done shopping already because I did as much as I could early. One thing I often do is buy small things throughout the year, often on sale, and save them for the holiday season. It does help keep the stress down. 

Tips and advice for holiday shopping

Don't live dangerously. Plan ahead and order on time if you shop online.

 

• I'd say it's best if you have done most if not all of your shopping by now. This is more important if you are shopping online and shipping things. But if you are not done yet, here are the deadlines for Christmas shipping in 2022, via WRAL News. They do include USPS, UPS, and FedEx. For the most part it seems December 16 is a consensus. Having said that, if you are Puerto Rican (or for other parts of Latin America), and you celebrate Three Kings Day, you can always save that gift you did not ship on time for Christmas for January 6. Just a friendly suggestion. 
• Lifehacker has a piece warning folks to avoid possible scams when buying gift cards. Be careful where and how you buy them. 
  

 

General Gift Ideas

• You just might not be feeling like buying gifts. You figure a gift card may be an easier option. If this is your route, Esquire lists their "30 Best Gift Cards for 2022." To be honest, personally, I am not much into gift cards to specific stores. If you give me a gift card, a preloaded VISA or MasterCard I can use anywhere, especially for online shopping, is more appreciated (especially since I do not use credit nor debit cards for online shopping). However, if you must, the article has some interesting options. For example, their suggestion of a gift card to Bookshop.org is nice. You can shop for books and help out independent stores; it's certainly better than the Big A. However, the list did not go far from the Big A since they also suggest giving a subscription card for Audible (their audiobooks service) and just a Big A gift card. I do get the appeal of a Big A card;  you can get practically everything and anything at the Big A. Let me add a bit of a disclosure note that I have shopped at the Big A, a necessity when you live in Bumfuck, USA. Additionally, in my humble and somewhat biased opinion, for audiobooks I say get yourself a local library card and check out their audiobook selections. Nowadays many of those selections are online through services like Hoopla and Overdrive. Your taxes help pay for your local public library, you may as well use it. Finally, the article features a few companies I do not know off hand, probably because I am not a high end shopper with money to burn. 
• Speaking of shopping and living dangerously (see the meme above), VICE has a small guide for gifts you may find on the site Wish.com.  Sure, you could find a serious bargain on Wish.com, but as the old saying goes buyer beware. For those of us in cartomancy, for example, Wish.com is a notorious purveyor of counterfeit and pirated decks, so it is not a site I would recommend, but your mileage may vary.
  

 

Specific and niche gifts

This is what happens when someone claims they hid them in a "safe" spot.

• Gifts for men, because the lists for guys are always present this time of year.
• GQ has what they claim are "19 excellent gift sets for men" that make shopping easier. Uh huh. 
• 3 pairs of embroidered socks for $120. What are they made out of? Apparently some uber fancy cotton blend. 
• Then there is the Japanese soap set for $180; the highlight of that is soap on a rope in shape of a fish (yes, really). 
• A $54 set of nail polish. I guess for the guys who polish their nails, though that seems a bit steep for me. 
• Maxim claims they have "10 Great Gifts He'll Actually Want." I have a feeling the cute female model in one of the photos is not included. This list does not have pricing on any item listed, which is usually the bad sign for "you can't afford it" (or at least I can't afford it), but for some of the items they do offer a discount code for the online shopping. To get a bit risque, one of the items is a rechargeable intimate wand. Hey, sharing is caring. 
• On a lighter note, The Grio has a list of 14 gifts for men from Black-owned brands. I figured this can be of interest to some folks. The water flosser to help with dental care I thought was a nice idea.  I was amused by the pink boots, but I was not amused by their $795 price tag. 
• For the ladies, The Verge has a gift guide. Based on the men's lists, I think the women come ahead here getting some nice tech. The list is labeled as "for moms" but I think any lady would appreciate some of these. On an interesting note, they have a Tarot deck on the list, a bit of a low tech but nice item. Some of the gifts here do not have to be for women, but I think once in a while at least get something for your lady that is not the "usual" feminine stuff. She will appreciate cool stuff and gadgets too. These should not be just for guys. 
• Smart Bitches Trashy Books has a list of things they like for their list of gifts. Yes, some are geared to women, but there are some general ideas. too. It is a somewhat eclectic list.
  
• For the folks who like hot sauces, VICE offers a list of their best 17 hot sauces. The list ranges from classics like Tabasco sauces to the Mad Dog 357 Number 9 Plutonium (I will keep the jokes to myself here). 
• For the weed and/or edibles enthusiast, via Leafly.
  
• Their weed gifts list.
• Their holiday edibles list. Some of the gummies do look appetizing. They even got a cannabis infused turkey gravy. 
  
• For folks who like nice pens and stationery items, The Well Appointed Desk has some suggestions.  
• For the gamers in your life: 
• For the tabletop gamers, a list via Boing Boing. They start you off with the classic Dungeons and Dragons, and the games get more interesting or unique from there.
• The Verge has their 2022 gaming guide. The list has various things for video gamers as well as tabletop gamers. Low end prices at about $30 to $50 give or take. 
•  The Verge also has a gift list for travelers. This features things like chargers and other gadgets some travelers may find useful. Among the practical things are a portable power bank, to charge your phone on the go and a transmitter that basically allows you to connect your wireless headphones to a 3.5 audio jack. The latter I found intriguing; they say it can be useful for people on planes who may want to watch the plane's movie offering. This list does have some useful things.
•  If you like cute and quirky socks, VICE has a list with some ideas. 
• For the geeks and nerds in your life, Comics Beat has a holiday guide. This features things like games and collectibles, some with a nostalgia and/or retro appeal.
  
• Are you stuck with one of those white elephant Christmas gift exchanges? Well, Rolling Stone has a few gift ideas for that. To be honest, some of the gifts on this list seem way too nice for a white elephant exchange.

 

Alcohol and spirits

• Find a list for some spirits ideas from Spirits Business. Prices range from about $7 to about $200.
  

 

Uber rich/fancy gifts

 

 

• Esquire lists what they consider the "25 Most Popular Gifts of 2022." They are popular with the uber rich it seems.  One of the suggestions is a bunch of Japanese Wagyu beef; their cheapest cut is some tips for about $69, and they go up from there. Good for the rich snobbish carnivore in your family. They also include a personal concrete fireplace, and a $2,000 smart watch. 

 

Tarot and other cartomancy/esoteric

• Healing Thru Tarot has a nice post on stocking stuffers and holiday gifts for the Tarot lover. The post also offers a Tarot spread that you can try out. If you do, the author would love to see any photos of your cards doing the spread. I may consider doing the spread myself if I can find some time. Some highlights from the list:
• For the stocking, they suggest some pocket sized and/or mini Tarot decks. I have one or two myself, and yes, I can attest they can make very nice stocking stuffers. If you want to know which ones I have, feel free to comment and ask. 
• The Tarot dice listed are intriguing, and at about $35 not too bad in terms of price. 
• The Tarot tiles listed on the other hand can be a bit more pricey at about $300 (they are handmade and made to order), but if you can afford them may be worth it; I've seen folks use Lenormand tiles by the same maker, so overall looks like a good product. 
• Two of the books she suggests I reviewed: WTF is Tarot? and Kitchen Table Tarot. Links go to my reviews of the books. 
•  Theresa Reed, The Tarot Lady, also puts out a pretty good holidays gift list for mystical folks.
• Michael M. Hughes has some magical gift ideas too. I just discovered this. He has two posts, so here is Part One (covers Tarot and divination decks) and here is Part Two (covers other magical tools). A highlight for me, in Part One, is the Santa Muerte Lenormand, which I have on my wish list already. Hughes, by the way, is the author of Magic for the Resistance, which I have read and reviewed.
  

 

Adult/Sexy gift ideas

(you can feel free to skip this section if it is not your thing)

•  Here is one for amusement, but it can be a bit risque. Calendars are often a popular gift, so if you have a bit of humor and are not a prude, one of those naked charity calendars may be for you. The Reprobate has a list. For example, you could get the Naked Reindeer Herders calendar and help support their reindeer herd and the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue.
•  If you want some erotic toys and suck, Kinkly offers some ideas for couples.
  

 

If you made it this far, thank you for stopping by and reading this post. Stay tuned for the next holiday post in this series. That will be the one on books and reading where we look at some end of year reading lists and maybe see if I have read anything from those lists or maybe have them in my TBR (to be read) list. In the meantime, have a safe and happy holidays season.