Holiday Gift Guide: For Her

I have several neat and budget-friendly gift ideas to share with you for moms, grandmas, sisters, friends, and all the other women in our lives this holiday season.  I hope these ideas, along with the others found in the gift guide, are helping you as you Christmas shop.

1. Spring Los Angeles Designer Lunch Totes In the warmer months, I love to take my daughter to the park with a packed lunch.  But, admittedly, I like to be stylish about it. I had seen these lunch totes featured on another blog several months ago, and so I was pretty excited to try one out myself.  When it arrived, the tote was just what I thought it would be- functional and cute!  Packing lunches can be a big money saver, whether its for a work lunch break or a quick meal between errands.  These totes would be nice for someone who needs a little extra encouragement to take this money-saving step, or for a women who already packs lunch but wants to do it in style!  Spring Los Angeles Designer Lunch Totes are available on the company website and, for a limited time, all the totes are priced at just less than $20, with only a $1 shipping fee.  You can also buy the totes on Amazon.

2.  lia sophia I’ve heard some friends of mine talk up lia sophia for some time, but having never attended a lia sophia party, I had no idea what the company was all about until I recently received a sample to consider for this gift guide.  What I found was that lia sophia provides nice, stylish jewelry for reasonable prices through a network of independent sales women who host parties around the country. (I love supporting fellow mom business owners!)  While the jewelry starts at just $14, over 45% of the items included in the current lia sophia are priced under $35, making the pieces pretty budget-friendly.  But what I really love about lia sophia is that the company offers a lifetime replacement guarantee, something I’ve never heard of from another jewelry company.  You can check out the current lia sophia catalog online, and if you decide to purchase, search for a local seller.

3.  Clear2Go I drink a lot of bottled water but worry about the impact of that habit on both my budget and the environment.  Clear2Go solves both of those dilemmas.  This reusable water has a replaceable filter built right into the bottle, filtering out 99% of microbial cysts found in typical tap water.  The bottle, which includes a filter, is priced at $15.99, and filters up to 100 gallons of water (or about 757 plastic water bottles).  Replacement filters are sold in two-packs for about $13.  Seeing as I usually get a 24-packs of water bottles on sale for $2.99, I would usually spend over $94 on 757 bottles of water.  The price of Clear2Go, combined with tap water, is much cheaper, plus I’m not filling up the landfills with bottles.  You can buy Clear2Go from Walmart, Whole Foods, Sports Authority, and clear2go.com.

4.  kigo footwear These shoes, available in two styles, are made from flexible eco-friendly materials (such as recyled plastic water jugs!), and are incredibly lightweight.  When my package of kigo shoes arrived in the mail, I couldn’t believe a pair of shoes was in the box because of how light the package was!  Because they are so light and flexible, kigos give you a feeling like you’re walking barefoot, which I’ve heard lots of positive things about recently.  Plus, they are portable, with each shoe having a little hook that allows you to fold the shoes up to fit in a purse even!  (What a great idea for someone who walks or rides a bike to work but needs to wear dressy shoes while on the clock!)  While kigo footwear is available at a handful of retailers in Georgia, Oregon, and West Virginia currently, you can also purchase the shoes online.  In fact, the kigo line is priced at $49.99 online right now.  But the company has provided a special promo code giftguide20 for Mrs. Moneysaver readers, offering 20% off.  (Code expires 12/13/09) One helpful tip when ordering-  while the shoes by design are supposed to fit snugly and do stretch out a bit, they do run a little small.  Make sure you check out the sizing information on the product pages!

5.  Caboodles’ In My Case I had an original Caboodle as a girl. You remember them, don’t you?   Back then, I kept scrunchies and lip gloss in it, along with some clip-on earrings.  So when I recently received the new In My Case Caboodle, it was a fun reminder of something I loved as a kid, but have a greater use for now.  The In My Case Caboodle is good for more than nostalgia;  this makeup organizer has two trays, two dividers, side storage panels, and a mirror, providing plenty of needed organization.  You can pick up the In My Case Caboodle (along with other products from company) at Target and Ulta stores for $19.99 to $26.99.

6.  Mrs. Meyers Clean Day Holiday Hand Care Set Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day line recently launched a festive, warm scent for the 2009 holiday season- Iowa Pine.  I was fortunate enough to receive the hand care set, containing both hand soap and lotion, in this scent.  With hints of clove and cedar, it smells just like our Christmas tree, which I’m totally loving this time of year.  Plus, the Mrs. Meyer’s line is earth-friendly and natural.  Mrs. Meyer’s products are sold at many different retailers nationwide, on Amazon, and from the Mrs. Meyer’s site.  Right now, you can pick up the Iowa Pine hand care set and soy candle combo for just $14.99!

7.  POURfect Kitchen Tools I love products that make my time in the kitchen a bit easier, so these bowls and measuring cups are pretty exciting to me.  The bowls have a dripless spout that makes pouring the bowl’s contents less messy.  Plus there’s a little pivot below the spout that let’s you latch the bowl onto another bowl for more accurate pouring. Total, these products have eight features that help you mix, measure, and pour easier.  (I just keep thinking how easy pancake batter will be with these!)  The measuring cups and spoons also have the POURfect spout, and I love how stackable the measuring cups are.  (I need all the help organizing my kitchen I can get!)  And this might sound unusual, but we were pretty excited to find the POURfect measurements are in both English and Metric units (and in Braille).  See, my husband grew up in Canada and so works better in Metric measurements, while I am only really comfortable with the English system.  We can’t be the only family who would find this dual measurement marking helpful!  The POURfect products and sets are priced  at $12 to $42 and can be purchased on the POURfect site or from select retailers across the country.

8.  KitchenCUE I have some friends that really enjoy cooking and learning new techniques in the kitchen.  For these women, KitchenCUE may be a wonderful gift!  KitchenCUE is a series of DVDs that teach cooking techniques, allowing you to then take the technique and apply it to hundreds of meals.  Recently featured in Oprah’s O magazine, KitchenCue is available in Saute and Pan Sauces, Soups and Stocks, and Roasting.  Along with learning the technique from Chef Shellie Kark, the DVD package also includes reinforcement recipes, printable tables and charts, users guide, wine pairings, equipment reference, regional cuisine instructions, herb and spice guidance, and more.  What a fun idea for someone who loves- or is learning- to cook.  KitchenCUE is available for $29.95 here or at select retailers.