Remember that boyfriend you had who was impossible to shop for? The one who loved LEGOs, and Star Wars, and magnets, and you? And also robbing banks, which is why he’s not your boyfriend anymore? Well, if he was, you could buy him this limited edition metallic chrome Stormtrooper LEGO minifigure magnet ($9.99 at shop.lego.com). [...]

Happy New Year!

I know I’ve been gone for a while. . . let’s call it winter vacation at Gift U. I hope everyone had a great holiday and that you found some great gift ideas here (or elsewhere). What was everyone’s favorite gift to give/receive? I’ll start. . .

Kids and kids-at-heart love to play with building toys. Check out Magnext, LEGO, Fantasy Blocks, Tinkertoys and Eames House of Cards.

Let’s face it, people. Most of us are slobs. Muffin-loving slobs. Muffin-loving, Internet-surfing slobs. Now, give your muffin-loving slobby friend a USB keyboard vac. You plug it directly into your laptop, making it portable, practical, and perfect for stuffing into stockings. And also, for removing stuffing from in between the keys on your keyboard.

What can you find on Etsy? A community of artists who, as a whole, care about their customers and their products. I’ll be writing regular posts about my ETSY finds, both because of the unique selection of gifts available through the site, and because I think it’s important to support individual artists.

To start, I’d like to recommend Savor. Savor is the creation of Lisa, a computer tech and soapstress in Northern Cal who’s managed to fuse her love of cooking and her mastery of glycerin to create some really fabulous soap products.

When I’m writing with a standard ball-point pen, there’s nothing. No chemistry. No zing. Sure, it’s functional, but where’s the personality?

Enter, the Kooky Klickers. (Mine is named Myron.) He smiles. He’s got Koosh-esque hair. He’s a klicky pen. And each style is a limited-time release, making them kollectible. (Yeah, I’m really sticking with the whole “k” thing.)