It’s been a long day on teh Interwebz. I’ve been glued to my laptop most of the day doing nerdy behind-the-scenes work for Mable’s and our Halloween website. Kinda fun, but rather tedious work.

But you know what makes it all better? Perpetual Kid is having a Spring Cleaning Warehouse Sale. A bunch of their items are marked down 20% – 70% off. Now would be a good time to stock up on Dead body Towels for company and replace that busted travel hula hoop of yours. Sheesh, why am I still writing this, I could be securing a lifetime supply of Cocktail Monkey necklaces right now.

Even better is their newest item: novelty ice cubes in the shape of… wait for it… dentures. (If this is your first visit and you weren’t sure what to expect from a “Unique Gifts Blog”, you now know just what you’re in for.) It’s official: these chompy cool treats are going to be the official ice cube at Mable’s HQ this summer.

Many of us think of everyday items like a car, clothes, electrical devices, etc. when we think of a green gift. Mable’s wants to expand your thinking to notice the things that are eco-friendly without the added manufacturing and marketing.

This blog post we are featuring Back to Basics Toys because, they carry a vast amount of wooden toys and games that aren’t just fun, but also educational and award winning. But, how is a wood toy more green?

Reasons why Wood is Good: Longevity of items (say no to planned obsolescence) , Perfect for your child’s development, Non toxic material, and many are American made, which avoids the need for shipping overseas.

Mable’s wants to remind you that everyday is Earth day and every decision we make has an effect, so let’s do the best we can everyday.

We planned on doing another gift guide this year: something similar to last year’s Green gift Guide. However, the new site design just ended up taking forever to finish and now we don’t have the energy to start another big project. What we’re going to do instead is blog like crazy about our personal favorite gift ideas.

Have you pledged to Buy Handmade this year? Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving, it’s better for people, and better for the environment. (The BH crew elaborate on these points nicely.) As the purveyor of all things handmade, here come our top picks from a few choice Etsy categories.

Clockwise from top left: Custom Laptop Bag: any size, and print from BlueTwirls, Artist Tote from SuperbKitsch, Echino Wolf Full Size Messenger Bag
You have a LAPTOP; Yay! Now you need something to keep it safe, portable, and stylish. It’s hard to pick a favorite from this bunch, but I sure appreciate all the pockets inside the Artist Tote. And with a name like that, I’m already feeling tempted to carry around some colored pencils. Be sure to look at close-up product shots because these are all made with amazing attention to detail.


Clockwise from left: Four Eyes No. 1 from Lisa Brodar, Fergie plush toy, Chandrea Collection no.46 art doll by Chad Frick. Now these STUFFED CREATURES have some personality. I especially like the geeky cute glasses on plush Four Eyes.


Clockwise from top left: Vintage Shadowbox Art from theArtCreations, Cupcake System print by Kelly Newcomer, 3 painted robot floppy disks by gammaraybots
There is ART for everyone on Etsy. Like lots of other items, the shadowbox and disks are made from recycled materials, making them an even better choice.

A few months ago I wrote about the clever developmental toy gift packages at eBeanstalk, and have been watching for sales or coupons ever since. They’re one of those companies that just doesn’t do discounts very often, so when they e-mailed me about a 10% off coupon that’s good for just 1 week, I jumped to tell you guys about it! They just started advertising on TV so you may have heard about them that way, but eBeanstalk has been offering educational, age appropriate toys since 2005.

Amidst the recalled toy controversy, it’s nice to know that some stores will never carry items with questionable or uncertain contents. There is a new message on their homepage that says “At eBeanstalk we are dedicated to a child’s development and learning, and we never compromise a child’s safety. Rest assured that NONE of the recalled toys from Mattel or Fisher Price have ever been sold at eBeanstalk. NOT ONE.”

COUPON: Save 10% off anything on the site. Expires October 15, 2007.

People tend to use the phrase “the gift that keeps on giving” metaphorically. However, eBeanstalk offers a more literal interpretation with their Gift Series, where your child receives a toy in the mail every 3 months matched to their stage of development. This idea is all kinds of brilliant!

• For those of us without kids of our own, it can be a little tricky to select age appropriate toys for the children in our lives. You can skip the educated guesswork with the Gift Series: all the toys are hand picked by 5 child development specialists and 500 moms from around the US.
• Same thing goes for parents or guardians who travel a lot or don’t get to visit very often. When you haven’t seen a child for a few months or when you look back on the development of your own child…they are a different child today than just a few months ago. Each toy is carefully matched with the appropriate stage of development, so you won’t end up with a gift that is too young or old for your child.
• With the continual gift metaphor in mind, you can actually purchase a set of gifts that are delivered over time. This is the gift that actually keeps on giving.
• Save time by purchasing a set of gifts all in one sitting. Never worry about forgetting a special date in the child’s development or having the gift arrive late.
• If you’re the spoiling type (yes, you) then you’ll undoubtedly appreciate how easy eBeanstalk makes it to lavish gifts upon your wee ones. One purchase results in a whole years worth of gifts!
• Best of all, of the nearly 500 quality toys available at eBeanstalk, every one is geared towards helping your child grow. Their Child Specialists identified the stages of development children grow through. They matched 7 core skills- Imagination, Education, Language, Dexterity, Locomotion, Emotion and Social- with the stages of a child’s development, and then categorized each toy accordingly. Ahhh, science: improving childhood playtime and development!

Also, individual toys are available for purchase too, if you’d rather buy a la carte.

Develop your child’s musical skills with this uniquely designed musically enhanced table.

The simple modular design of this table is what makes it so versatile. Set up this musical table for kids in a circle and 4 kids can face each other while rocking out. You also have the option of moving the pieces in a row as if the kids were on stage performing for an audience. Since the 4 separate pieces are completely mobile you can set up the band however you like.

8 wooden mallets are included with the 8 xylobells, wooden xylophone, 2 Remo drums, and a 3-tone chime and cymbal. This musical table for kids is recommended for children ages 3 and up.

$249.99 (sale price)

Looking for something to foster more creativity in your kids than video games and movies? So are we, and that’s why I wanted to share this three sided art and activity center with everyone.

Instead of placing a regular easel against the wall, where it would be easily ignored, I’d place it in the middle of the room, or slightly away from the walls in a corner. That way it can’t be thought of as another piece of furniture, but an actual activity center. When they are bored, or feeling artsy, this will call to them with it’s three different mediums for expression. One dry erase board, one chalkboard, and one drawing board with mounted roll of paper for easy access will provide them with lots of opportunities to draw by themselves or with friends. Recommended for ages 3 and up.

Great as a gift for another parent, or for your own kid. Act now to take advantage of Hammacher’s sale price and save $50. Shop smarter with Hammacher’s unconditional lifetime guarantee.

Was $199.95, now only $139.95

Is it a vegetable, mineral or other? Other.
Is it bigger than a breadbox? Nope.
Is it the 2004 toy of the year? Yep!

The 20Q electronic game is suggested for ages 8 and up, and by reading the user reviews on Spilsbury, even Grandparents will immensely enjoy this technological wonder. Just hold the device in your hand, think of any object, and answer the questions with a simple yes or no. After 20 questions are answered the game will take a guess at what you are thinking. Chances are this 20Q game will know exactly what you are thinking of. It freaks everyone out when a little battery powered device can guess what’s on your mind!

Recently, I was in the same room as some kids about 10-12 years old and I was surprised at how much fun they were having with this game. Each kid would take a turn thinking of something and answering questions, by the time the 20th question was over and the game guessed exactly what they were thinking the whole room exploded in amazement and you’d hear the other kids yelling “My turn!” They were all clamoring to stump the little electronic game.

With an accuracy of 95%, and a 4.5 out of 5 star user rating, the 20Q game is fun for everyone. Leave it in the car for the passengers to play together, bring it to a party with your friends, or simply leave it on your coffee table for everyone to play and be amazed.

Would you like to try it out before you buy? Try the online version of 20Q (now available in many languages) that spawned the electronic version. For a couple dollars more there is also an orb shaped version for a better feel in your hands.

$17.95

I think everyone can look back on their childhood and remember a time when they had a couple board games they liked to play over and over. I can even remember playing some board games 2-3 times a day with my little sisters because they were into them so much. But now we hardly play those older board games anymore, and it’s not just because Tiddly Winks or Mouse Trap lost their fun. If you’re like most people, chances are that some of those board games have missing pieces or aren’t even in your closet anymore.

Every now and then I’d like to play the games of yesteryear partly for the memories, but also for the fun of it. After raiding your game stash and your grandma’s closet for all the vintage board game fun you can find you might want to check out some places online. There is the obvious VintageGameStore.com that sells all kinds of board games, even newer ones, but they don’t have much for product descriptions, so I’d recommend finding the game you want first and then trying them. Finding that special board game from your past can be made easier by checking out the great resources at BoardGameGeek.com. You’ll find pictures, suggestions, and in depth reviews of some classic and new games.

eBay is always a great choice for finding the exact board game you are looking for at a reasonable price. That is why we put a live feed for a search on “vintage boardgames” directly to the right. As of this writing there are vintage games like a copy of Go to the Head of the Class made in 1967, RISK from 1959, Charlies Angels from 1977, and an all time classic Hi-Ho! Cherry-O from 1960. Being the huge Star Wars fans we are here at Mable’s we picked up a vintage 1977 Escape from the Death Star off eBay a while back and played the heck out of it. After finding out it doesn’t have too much replay value, we put it back on eBay and now someone else gets to enjoy it’s nostalgic value all over again.

Vintage board games can also make a great gift idea for a sibling with whom you used to always play a certain game with. Or perhaps another family member and yourself played a board game every Thursday night and you’d like to recreate that. Sending a vintage board game to that unsuspecting person would sure bring a flood of memories back, but actually being there to play it would absolutely make their day.

You might have to fight over the board games on eBay with all the craft peeps who want to take old board games and turn them into something different and useful. Useful like an end table, a purse, or a notebook.

If you have a dedicated game room check out this post over at RacketBoy for a creative idea on setting up some board games based on vintage video games.