The Times and DemocratTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2015, C1

FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MODNAY

26 DAYS UNTIL

CHRISTMAS

GIFT GUIDE

SUNDAY MODNAY

LET THE SHOPPING BEGIN

Christmas

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By ANNE D’INNOCENZIOAP Retail Writer

NEW YORK — Toys are staging a comeback.

The U.S. toy industry is ex-pected to have its strongest year in at least a decade after several years of kids choosing videogames and mobile apps over Barbie and stuf ed bears.

Annual toy sales are projected to rise 6.2 percent to $19.9 billion in 2015, according to The NPD Group Inc., a market research fi rm that tracks about 80 percent of the U.S. toy market. That’s up from a 4 percent increase last year, and the biggest increase in at least 10 years since the group has tracked toys using its current system.

The growth is being fueled by increasing popularity of col-lectibles, toys based on Holly-wood blockbuster fi lms and better technology that allows toys to do things like talk back to children. It comes after sales slowed and sometimes declined in the past 10 years as children — much like their parents — became more enthralled with technology.

Now, toymakers are using chip technology, which is get-ting cheaper and more powerful,

in toys. They’re also focusing on grabbing the attention of the long-ignored but increasingly infl uen-tial preteen crowd.

“The selection is much greater than in the past,” said Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of TTPM, an on-line toy review site. “Technology is much better in the toy aisle, and it’s really inspiring young kids to play but also bringing older kids to things like radio control and role play items.”

What’s giving toys a boost?

■ HollywoodSurging demand for all things

“Frozen” helped the toy industry achieve a rare gain last year. Toys related to the blockbuster about a princess who sets of to fi nd her sister with icy powers were popu-lar. In fact, “Frozen” was the top toy brand last year, reaching $531 million in sales, according to NPD.

And the Hollywood infatuation is expected to continue with the release of the “Star Wars” movie on Dec. 18: Hundreds of products, from puzzles to action fi gures re-lated to “Star Wars,” are expected to exceed Frozen’s success.

Marty Brochstein, who’s with the International Licensing Indus-try Merchandisers Association, says the $199.99 LightSaber from Hasbro, which features motion sensor-controlled sound ef ects, already are on backorder. She says “Star Wars” appeals to both kids and adults.

“It’s multi-generational,” Brochstein says.

■ Better technologyToy companies are pushing re-

mote controlled cars and droids controlled by smartphones. And robotic creatures are becoming more life-like with voice recogni-tion features.

Hasbro’s StarLily My Magical Unicorn, for example, responds to voice and touch with more than 100 sound and motion combina-tions. Mattel, the nation’s largest toy company, also is hoping tech-nology will help it reverse years of

slumping sales.“You want to make sure that

you give them enough that they’re going to want to walk away from their iPads and phones,” said Mat-tel’s executive vice president Geof Walker.

Mattel’s new Barbie features speech recognition and can have a two-way conversation with girls. And its Fisher-Price brand has “Smart Bear,” an interactive plush bear marketed as having the brains of a computer without the screen — and is linked to a smartphone app. Fisher-Price also is pushing a robotic dinosaur.

“The best thing about it is that it shoots from the front and it shoots from the back,” says Matthew Fic, a 6-year-old who recently played with the toy.

■ Targeting the preteen setThe 8- to 12-year old group ac-

counts for 22 percent of toy sales, according to NPD, but has been ig-

nored because they’re the biggest users of mobile devices.

Now, toy makers believe they can keep older kids’ attention be-cause features like voice recogni-tion are more af ordable.

For example, Spin Master’s Meccano Meccanoid G15 allows kids to build and program their own personal four-foot-tall robot that records and plays back audio and it learns from them. It has more than 1,200 parts and features 64 megabytes of memory.

And Hasbro spif ed up its Nerf gun to cater to the 14-plus crowd. Nerf Rival shoots balls 100 feet per second. Think paint ball meets Nerf.

Still, it could be a hard sell.“It’s fun. But I don’t know how

long I would play with this until I got bored.” said Jackson Roberts, 14, from Manhattan, referring to Nerf Rival. On Roberts’ holiday wish list: a 3-D printer and a droid that takes pictures.

Toys have best year in a decade

AP PHOTOS

Dash, a robot from Wonder Workshop, is displayed at the TTPM Holiday Showcase in New York.

Rock ‘N Roll Stuart is one of the interactive plush Minions from Thinkway Toys

Jim Silver, CEO of Toys, Tots, Pets & More, discusses the Star Wars The Black Series Kylo Ren Force FX Lightsaber at the TTPM Holiday Showcase in New York.

Lego ‘Star Wars’ Advance on the Rebel Hoth base with this Lego set, which fea-tures a version of the Imperial Walker. It’s perfect for “Star Wars” fans of any age.

$9.50 at Walmart.com

HOT TOYS

WISH LISTFrom classic to clever, these are what your kids want

By DANIELLE BRAFFMore Content Now

These are the hottest toys this season. Grab them before they’re gone.

Dumper If your child is the one

who can’t stop staring at

the construction worker,

get him his own little

dumper. h is one is made

in the United States from

100 percent recycled plastic

milk jugs, which save

energy and reduce green-

house gas emission.

$17 at Greentoys.com

Fisher-Price Baby’s First Blocks Your child will learn shapes and sorting while working on his i ne motor skills and having fun with this toy. When he’s done, every-thing i ts inside the bucket. $10 at Toysrus.com

Hasbro Operation Silly Skill Game Still a classic game. Find out if you can operate by holding the tweezers. Don’t touch the sides! It’s been updated with squishy and slippery ailments, plus a clipboard and storage tray.$18 at Target.com

‘Lil Fairy Doors A fairy needs a door to access your home. h is door is the place where she can l y through in order to leave notes. h is comes with a bottle of fairy dust, a note to the fairy to get you started and velcro wall mounting strips. $30 at Buildingblockstoys.com

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BREE FOWLERAP Technology Writer

NEW YORK — What to get a tech-savvy kid who’s tired of the same old tablets and video games? New toys this year range from easy-to-use sets for building circuits to a talking dinosaur powered by IBM’s Watson artifi cial-in-telligence system.

Most of these come from startup companies, yet they can be found at major retail-ers or ordered online. All are designed to foster learning and creativity.

■ LITTLEBITS ($200 for Gadgets & Gizmos set, ages 8 and up)

Although circuit-building sets have long been around, LittleBits takes inventing and building electrical-powered devices to a new level. The brightly colored compo-nents connect together easily with magnets, then attach to mounting boards like Legos.

It took me about 45 min-utes to build a remote-con-trolled car. The instructions include color pictures of everything I needed to see. I found them easy to follow, and older children should, too. Although I didn’t get ev-erything right the fi rst time, I had fun checking my circuits and solving problems. Kids will as well.

Other projects in my set include a wireless doorbell, motorized fan and rotating lamp.

One drawback: There aren’t enough parts to make multiple projects. The kit has two mounting boards, and I needed both to build my car and remote control. Because the boards are needed for most of the projects, you have to take apart what you built to make something else.

To get around that, you’d need to buy expansion packs with extra boards and parts.

■ TIGGLY ($30 per set, ages vary)

Tiggly aims to make learn-ing fun by combining toy shapes and letters with apps for iPads or Android tablets.

For example, little sea creatures in the Submarine app ask kids to complete words by placing the required vowel letter on the tablet. Use the wrong letter, and a little

crab character gives a disap-proving look, while the tablet makes a “boing!” sound. Words completed correctly are sucked up by a little submarine.

The shapes and letters are soft and easy for little hands to pick up and manipulate.

The set for the youngest kids, ages 2 to 5, focuses on shapes, while another teaches basic math to kids ages 3 to 7. The most advanced teaches early reading skills to 4 to 8-year-olds.

Apps for the tablet feature a variety of games. Most are free, while a few cost $2 to $3.

■ STIKBOT ($10 for a starter kit)

What makes this toy fun is its marriage of apps and social media with old-school stop-motion animation, which stitches together still pictures into a video. It har-kens back to the “Gumby” cartoons of days gone by.

The starter kit comes with two StikBots — small, fl ex-

ible plastic fi gures with suc-tion cups for hands and feet — along with a basic tripod for your smartphone.

You download a free app and use the StikBots and whatever else you have around the house to cre-ate your own stop-motion movie. The movies can then be shared through social me-dia such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Zing Global Ltd., the com-pany behind StikBot, posts its favorites on YouTube through “The StikBot Show” and gives out cash prizes for the most creative. You can see some of the best at http://www.stikbot.toys/videos/ .

The creativity of StikBot fans is truly amazing. My 6-year-old daughter can’t stop watching and has been beg-ging to make her own movie.

■ COGNITOYS DINO ($120, ages 5 and up)

This small, plastic dino-saur from New York-based startup Elemental Path has a voice reminiscent of Yoda from “Star Wars.” The toy uses Watson’s speech-recog-nition and cognitive abili-ties to create an interactive experience.

The Dino will engage in conservations with your child and remember per-sonal details such as his or her name and favorite color.

With Watson’s help, the toy will also answer complicated questions such as “Why is the sky blue?” and “Where do babies come from?” in a kid-appropriate way. It’s not meant for sharing with siblings, though, as Dino will keep track of just one child’s favorites.

The toy connects directly to your Wi-Fi home net-work, so no phone or tablet is needed.

The Dino, which comes in three colors, is sold only online and should ship by the holidays.

■ THE INCREDIBLE IN-TERGALACTIC JOURNEY HOME ($30, all ages)

Lost My Name, a London-based startup, uses satellite maps and other data to cre-ate customized books that go well beyond similar products on the market.

The beautifully illustrated book tells the story of your child’s journey home from outer space. As your child gets closer to home, the book’s pages display nearby landmarks and eventually a

satellite map showing your child’s neighborhood and home.

Although my daughter al-ready has books personalized with her name and friends, she got a kick out of seeing our home and neighborhood from space.

The books, available in seven languages, are sold only online.

Kiddie tech beyond video games and tablets

CogniToys Dino from Elemental Path has a voice reminiscent of Yoda from “Star Wars.”

AP PHOTOS

This image provided by Tiggly shows Tiggly Words. Tiggly aims to make learning fun by combining toy shapes and letters with apps for iPads or Android tablets.

TECH GIFTS

&gearSome for function, some for fun

By DANIELLE BRAFFMore Content Now

These are for the guy or gal who is constantly surrounded by at least one

beeping device and who is camping out whenever there’s a new phone

released. We know exactly what will please them this season.

USB Desktop Aquarium The tech guy may not have a normal aquarium, so get him this one, which is powered with USB and uses low-voltage energy to re-circulate the water. It has an LCD alarm clock that also tells you the temperature, and it is a desk lamp and has a storage unit. $40 at Gadgetsandgear.com

The 3D Printing Pen This is for the artsy techie. Use this pen to draw three-dimensional plastic fi gures that harden within seconds. You can draw in the air in two speeds. $100 at Hammacher.com

Ringly This ring will notify you when you have a phone call, a meeting, a text, an email or even when your Uber has arrived. Basically, it’s a much prettier version of your phone — so you can leave your phone in your bag. Starts at $195 at Ringly.com

The Best Walkie Talkies These work up to 0.7 miles apart and are lightweight and splash-resistant. They can be used in campgrounds, hiking and in corn mazes. $80 at Hammacher.com

Fitbit Surge Fitness Watch Receive instant personal statistics onto your wrist including steps walked, calories burned, time slept and more. You can also see incoming text and call notifi cations, and you can control your smartphone playl-ist from your wrist. $250 at Bestbuy.com

The BitBot toy from LittleBits

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By LEANNE ITALIEAssociated Press

NEW YORK — There are so many ways to charge a cell phone these days, what with all the portable gizmos and cases out there. So why are we still whining?

Because extra or portable charging is just one more thing to buy, one more thing to think about, one more thing to lose or break.

Enter gift-giving season and a selec-tion of handbags, wallets and back-packs that have charging tech built in. Consider one of these for just the right power-challenged recipient who ap-preciates a touch of style:

■ MIGHTY PURSEIn wristlets, clutches, women’s

backpacks and cross-body styles, H & Butler of ers a nice variety of shapes, sizes and colors for charging. A black leather backpack features a wrap-around zipper at the top. Compat-ible with most phones, the company

promises more than two complete charges. Other styles feature suede fringe, quilted nylon, vegan leather and metallic looks. The backpack is listed at $179.99 and the wristlets go for $99.99. Available on Amazon and elsewhere.

■ KATE SPADEIn collaboration with Everpurse,

Kate Spade New York has a new line of handbags equipped with wireless iPhone-charging tech. The Kate Spade New York x Everpurse collection of three styles includes a wristlet in black, and black-and-white stripes, and two black totes, large and small. Each comes with a wireless charging mat that pow-ers up the bags. Wristlets list at $198, the small Harmony tote at $378 and the large Frieda tote at $698. Available at Katespade.com.

■ SHARPER IMAGEFor the guys, there’s a phone-charg-

ing leather billfold in dark brown with red stitching and a sewn-in pocket that holds a slim, rechargeable lithium-ion backup battery touting about 500

charges. Good for most phones. The look is a traditional men’s billfold with one cash compartment, four credit card slots and two extra stash pock-ets. Available at Sharperimage.com for $59.99.

■ THE NORTH FACEThree standout backpacks with

charging tech are available from the company, including the Surge II Charged Backpack. It includes a bat-tery that delivers up to 2.5 full phone charges and several days of partial charges via an integrated cable sys-tem. The battery can be shut down or placed on hibernation when not in use. The battery is water- and crush-re-sistant and can be removed. Suggested retail is $229. The two others are the Router Charged Backpack, at $249, and the Recon Charged Backpack at $199. Available at Thenorthface.com.

■ MESSENGER BAGThe Tech-Power Messenger Sling

from Herrington includes a battery powerful enough for two full, high-speed phone charges and a partial tablet charge of ering up to eight extra hours of tablet time. Includes a USB cable to charge the battery and has auto shut-of to prevent overcharging. Comes in black military-grade nylon. Large enough to carry laptops up to 17 inches. Suggested retail is $88.95 at Herringtoncatalog.com.

By LOU KESTENAssociated Press

Video-game players aren’t that di� -cult to shop for. Let’s face it: It’s an ex-pensive hobby, and most gamers have something on their list that they’ve set aside in the hopes that Santa might deliver.

First, it’s imperative that you know which game consoles your recipient owns — Sony’s PlayStation 4, Micro-soft’s Xbox One or Nintendo’s Wii U. (Heck, any one of those makes a solid gift if you’re willing to spend a few hundred bucks.) Then you’re ready to hit the stores. All of these picks are available at big-box retailers like Target and Best Buy or smaller game stores like GameStop.

ROCKIN’ AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

This year’s revival of rock ‘n roll games is the best news for fami-lies looking to play together after the Christmas turkey’s been destroyed.

■ “Rock Band 4” (Harmonix/Mad Catz, for the PS4, Xbox One, $250 “Band in a Box”) of ers the full package — fake guitar/bass, drums and micro-phone — as well as an enormous library of downloadable songs.

■ “Guitar Hero Live” (Activision, for the PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, $150 for two-guitar bundle) skips the drums, though you can add on a $20 micro-phone. It’s more fun for dueling Jimi Hendrix wannabes.

ADULT ADVENTURESThese beefy solo adventures will

keep the player busy for months. All are rated M, for mature, so don’t plop your 6-year-old niece in front of them.

■ “The Witcher III: Wild Hunt” (Warner Bros., for the PS4, Xbox One,

PC, $60) is a medieval sword-and-sor-cery epic that goes to some truly unex-pected places.

■ “Fallout 4” (Bethesda Softworks, for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, $60) ex-plores a vivid alternate Boston decades after a nuclear apocalypse.

■ “Rise of the Tomb Raider” (Square Enix, for the Xbox One, $60) contin-ues the rebirth of the globe-trotting Lara Croft in a search for the secret to immortality.

■ “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phan-tom Pain” (Konami, for the PS4, Xbox One, PC, $60) is a sweeping espionage thriller that turns global politics into a seriously weird psychodrama.

KID-FRIENDLYNintendo is still the best at creating

games that children and parents alike can revel in.

■ “Super Mario Maker” (Nintendo, for the Wii U, $60) invites players to create their own challenges featuring Mario and his friends — perfect for the aspiring game designer in your family.

■ “Yoshi’s Woolly World” (Nin-tendo, for the Wii U, $60) stars Mario’s dinosaur buddy in an utterly charming romp that’s easy enough for Grandma but of ers deeper challenges for more dedicated fans.

TOY INVASIONThe “toys-to-life” genre — in which

physical action fi gures come to life on the game screen — is a boon for gift-givers: If your recipient already owns one of the games, the add-on charac-ters make great stocking stuf ers.

■ “Lego Dimensions” (Warner Bros., for the PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, $100; add-ons $15-$25) mixes characters from a ridiculous range of pop-culture worlds, includ-ing “The Lord of the Rings,” DC Comics and “The Lego Movie.”

■ “Disney Infi nity 3.0: Star Wars” (Disney, for the PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, $65; add-ons $10-$40) welcomes Luke Skywalker, Yoda and the rest of the Lucasfi lm gang to play with Disney toons and Marvel superheroes.

■ “Skylanders Superchargers” (Ac-tivision, for the PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, iOS, $75; add-ons $13-$35), which started the whole trend, introduces land, air and sea ve-hicles to its delightful universe.

■ Nintendo’s amiibo lineup (Nin-tendo, for the Wii U, 3DS, $10-$35) keeps expanding with the addition of the goofy critters from “Animal Cross-ing” — and no Nintendo fan could re-sist an adorable Yoshi made out of yarn.

GIFTS FOR ANY GAMER From fake guitars to collectible toys

AP PHOTOS

Activision shows a scene with two players competing in the video game, “Skylanders SuperChargers.” The “toys-to-life” genre - in which physical action i gures come to life on the game screen - is a boon for gift-givers: If your recipient already owns one of the games, the add-on characters make great stocking stuffers.

Give the gift of tech charging built into bags and wallets

AP PHOTOS

A handbag that integrates wireless iPhone-charging technology by Kate Spade is pictured.

Shown is a men’s phone charging leather wallet from Sharper Image

A scene from the video game “Rock Band 4.”

The Associated Press

NEW YORK — Twisted cat poetry only Charles Bukowski could have come up with and life lessons from “Little Miss Over-share” are among the holi-day season’s more unusual books.

Six suggestions:■ “The U.S. Supreme

Court Decision on Mar-riage Equality: As deliv-ered by Justice Anthony Kennedy.” The complete decision clearing the way for same-sex marriage across the United States, including dissenting opinions, in a nicely done hardcover edition from Melville House Publishing, $14.95.

■ “On Cats,” by Charles Bukowski, edited by Abel Debritto. The rough-and-tumble writer died in 1994. This anthology of his poems and short prose honors the animals that touched his soul. Bukowski captures the spirit of his own pet cats as fi ghters, hunters and survivors, including photos of himself with his charges. From Ecco, an imprint of Harp-erCollins, $25.99.

■ “Hillary Rodham Clin-ton Presidential Playset,” illustrated by Caitlin Kuh-wald. Choose a facial expres-sion and pantsuit from among the presidential candidate’s greatest hits, or pose Bill Clinton in his bathrobe with his lawnmower on a foldout White House front lawn. This truly quirky gift includes 10 paper dolls of the Clintons, bodyguards, favorite support-

ers Bono and Oprah and three sets in all. From Quirk Books, $14.95.

■ Little Miss and Mr. Me Me Me parody series, by Dan Zevin, illustrated by Dylan Klymenko. The iconic little children’s books by Roger Hargreaves featuring the goofy Little Miss and Mr. Men char-acters have been teaching good be-havior for 45 years. They’ve had a big 2015: A feature fi lm is in the works, Uniqlo came up with a clothing line and now there’s this twisted parody series featuring Mr. Humblebrag, Mr. Selfi e, Little Miss Overshare and Little Miss Basic. From Three Rivers Press. Each bite-size paperback is $6.99.

■ “The Selous in Africa: A Long Way from Any-where,” by Rolf D. Baldus and Walter R. Jubber and Robert J. Ross. Lots of wild animals eating other wild ani-mals in this cof ee table book celebrating the Selous Game

Reserve in southern Tanza-nia, Africa’s oldest and largest protected area. The Selous is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the continent’s larg-est and greatest undisturbed ecosystems. From O� cina Li-braria/ACC Distribution, $65.

■ “Findings: An Illustrated Collection,” by Rafi l Kroll-Zaidi, illustrated by Graham Roumieu. From Harper’s, this little volume is full of gems from the back-page column of the same name. Rude sales staf boost the desirability of luxury goods, for instance. Also, this:

Service sizes in images of the Last Supper were found to have grown by two-thirds over the past millennium. From 12 Books, $20.

Six unusual gift fi nds in books

By LEANNE ITALIEAssociated Press

NEW YORK — Not looking to spend a bundle on holiday gifts? Head to the nearest dollar store instead.

Such emporiums are alive with holiday trimmings at the moment, but they’re also stuf ed with goofy, stylin’ and branded gifts and stock-ing stuf ers to please everyone. We headed to a Jack’s World in Manhattan and picked up 11 items with price tags of $2.99 and under, for a grand total of $17.04.

■ HIPSTER HATS: A blue-stripe Where’s Waldo knit style for the guys and a brimmed cap with bow in swirls of forest green, black and white for the gals.

■ COIN BANKS: Let the Monsters Inc. and Sponge-Bob SquarePants gangs help teach toddlers the value of saving their pennies with mini coin banks. These two are stuf ed with multicolored candy canes.

■ SALT AND PEPPER: Though we’re not sure who’s who, this condiment set is truly friendly. Its two arm-in-arm ceramic shakers are described thusly: “Meet George. He’s Claude’s best

mate and not afraid to show it.”

■ CALENDAR: Dogs, cats, bunnies and goats in get-ups for 2016 in a hanging calendar that declares: “Dear Human, Nasty Notes from Dressed-Up Pets.” The cover is Chuckles

the dog clown. August features a dachshund in bun and ketchup and this personal note: “Dear Hu-man. Bite me. Love, Oscar M. Eyer.”

■ HIGH FI-NANCE: The iconic Wall Street bull on a cof ee mug with a background showing the New York Stock

Exchange and other details from the neighborhood.

■ CANDY: Can you go wrong with Teenage Mutant Nina Turtles Gummy Turtle Power Candy Pizza and Disney Frozen Best Friends Gummies & Stickers? We think not.

■ CANDY FOR THE GROWNIES: Send some-one back into childhood with a bag of Dad’s Old Fashioned Root Beer Barrels.

■ GOT A BASEBALL FAN?: This fi ve-inch plastic Christmas ornament in holi-day green is fi lled with a Big League Chew Bubble Gum Pouch, four trading cards, two tattoos and three gum-balls. Ballpark perfection.

Head to a 99-cent store for goofy-branded gifts

AP

SpongeBob SquarePants mini

coin bank

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By DANIELLE BRAFFMore Content Now

These are the gifts for the people who

perpetually have just a little bit of animal fur attached to their clothing. They sleep with their pets and

always have a picture of them handy.

Dog Business socks Pair these with a suit, and they’ll give him the extra kick he needs to get through his day without his best friend at his side. h ey’re a fun git for anyone who always needs his dog nipping at her feet. $10 at Perpetualkid.com

FOR PET LOVERS

doggone

PURR-FECTAny dog or cat owner is sure to love

BIGSTOCK.COM

Crystal Dog Breed

Ornament h ese are handcrat ed from Austrian crystals and silver-plated brass chains. Choose from seven dog breeds. $30 at Frontgate.com

Pillow: Big Mutts h is silly pillow is a lot of fun for mutt owners. It’s 18x18 and i lled with recycled 100 per-cent polyester material. $28 at Dogisgood.com

Hand-Painted Oval Suncatcher It’s a cute sun-catcher that is hand-painted. When it catches the light and rel ects a shadow, it will also serve as a cat toy. $19 at Catandca-boodle.com Carpet Cat

Door Mat h is carpet was made in the United States and is indoor⁄out-door (quite possibly just like your cats). If you’ve got more than one cat, then this doormat applies to you. $19 at Catandca-boodle.com

FOR THE IN-LAWS

Ideas for hard-to-please in-laws

By DANIELLE BRAFFMore Content Now

Show them how much you care with these sweet gifts.

Moon & Star Pendant, Sterling Silver Surely they said this to your spouse plenty of times. Let them know that the message soaked in, and send that message right back. $58 at Jcpenney.com

BIG

STO

CK.C

OM

Sweet Grandparents Personalized Frame

– 8x10 Framing a photo of the grandchildren always pleases the in-laws. h is one is especially nice because it’s completely

personalized. $50 at Personalizationmall.com

Fun Family History

Throw Pillow h eir history made yours. Show them how much you appreciate it all by relishing their special moments. $40 at Personalcreations.com

L’OATus h is soap is handmade in small batches from Italian olive oil, wildcrat ed shea butter, coconut oil, palm oil, avocado oil, hempseed oil, plant infusions, French lavender essential oil and oats. Grab several kinds. $7 at Soaptopia.com

Cherry Blossom

Body Duo It’s sweet and simple, and it’s such a good combo. h is is a lotion that seems to last forever — and your body will thank you for it. h e shower gel is also a winner, and it leaves behind a subtle scent of the cherry tree, which serves as inspiration for artists. $47 at Usa.loccitane.com

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