Gifts

There are a lot of cool ways to make custom products on the web these days, and MOO is one of them. This holiday season they offer a variety of ways to create and order personalized holiday cards. You can use your own photos and artwork, choose from a wide variety of MOO-designed cards, or even choose user-submitted designs from the MOO community. Up to 10 designs can be mixed and matched for a unique set of cards.

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For dads with a streak of daring we’ve found the perfect Father’s Day gift: a ride in a historic airplane over the Sonoma Wine Country! The Vintage Aircraft Company, located a short distance from Marin at Sonoma Valley Airport (also known as the Schellville Aerodrome), offers rides in restored World War II-era PT-17 Stearman biplanes and a World War II AT-6/SNJ Texan warbird.

Biplane flights include sedate 20-minute tours over the vineyards for $150.00, and a 40-minute jaunt—where you choose the direction: north to the Wine Country, west to the Pacific, or south to San Francisco—for $295.00. For an extra $50.00 add an aerobatic package to dad’s flight, with maneuvers including the barrel roll, the hammerhead, the loop, and the infamous Cuban eight! You can add a second person to any flight for $95.00; the Stearmans have been modified to hold two people in the front cockpit.

Flights in the AT-6 warbird last range from 20 minutes to an hour, and cost between $299.00 and $599.00, with a free t-shirt included. For hours and reservation information, call them at 707-938-2444 or visit them online: www.vintageaircraft.com

Ok, when my kids were born for some reason I just couldn’t seem to find that many cute birth announcements online. Now, of course, I ran across Tiny Prints (when I don’t need them, naturally). Tiny Prints offers super cute, unique birth announcements, baby shower invitations, and baby shower favors that you can personalize and instantly preview. The styles, by a number of noted artists and designers, are simple and modern, yet chic and sophisticated. Prices are very reasonable, too.

Tiny Prints have been featured in InStyle Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, and were given out as favors for the Golden Globes and Entertainment Weekly parties. Check out their styles at www.tinyprints.com.

Father’s Day is right around the corner and I’ve been talking to the kids about gift ideas for their daddy. I like to be creative with my gifts and give him something that the kids have truly created. Café Press online is a great place to create your own masterpiece for Father’s Day. You can take your child’s artwork, scan it, and have it printed on a shirt, apron, mug, cap or a number of other custom products. It makes for a unique, one-of-a kind gift that your husband will cherish. You can also search their marketplace for shirts and other products designed by Café Press’s thousands of users.

Most dads like gadgets, so another idea for Father’s Day is the Swiss Army SwissMemory USB multitool by Victorinox, maker of the original Swiss Army Knife. This cool gadget combines a pocketknife, USB 2.0 flash drive in varying sizes up to 2GB, and a variety of other devices, including laser pointers, flashlights, and even MP3 players. You can buy SwissMemory tools at a variety of stores, or order them online direct from Victorinox.

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Your average super-hip urban dad won't be caught dead carrying just any old garden variety diaper bag. For him, there's the über-cool Diaper Dude! The Diaper Dude is a sturdy, handsome, messenger-style diaper bag designed for many men, with cool patterns, colors, and fabrics so you can haul your baby supplies without compromising your street cred. Pictured here is the faux-suede model with guitar print. Other masculine designs include an Asian dragon motif, camouflage, tartan, and a skull-and-crossbones for self-styled pirate dads. The Diaper Dude is jam-packed with all sorts of features including ergonomically correct straps and padding, a multitude of pouches, pockets, and hidey-holes, and of course a cell-phone pouch.

Needless to say, the Diaper Dude makes a great Fathers Day gift for dads and dads-to-be. Prices range from $39.95 for the Mini Dude to $124.95 for the faux-suede Diaper Dude. Order it from our partner Zappos.com and get free overnight shipping!

Finding a unique, personalized Mother’s Day gift can sometimes be a difficult task. I came across this web site that personalizes a selection of California wines with a picture of your choice, a great gift idea for a local or out-of-state mom. First you choose your wine, then select a label that fits the occasion. Once you have selected your label, then it’s time to customized it with text and a photo of your choice and voila—you are done. They offer a variety of award-winning California wines, as well as non-alcoholic sparkling juice. They offer ground and express shipping to most US states. For more information, go to www.picturemywine.com.

When I was about 8 years old, my aunt sent me a personalized book with my name featured throughout the story. It’s one of those memories that has always stuck with me. I found the book to be magical because it was about me. I See Me!, Inc. is a personalized children’s gifts online store that offers these types of books individually or as a gift set. Their personalized children’s books include “My Very Own Name” and “My Very Own Fairy Tale”. Their gift sets include My Very Own Name storybook, a My Very Own Animal t-shirt embroidered with the letter of your choice from A to Z, and Kirby the Frog all wrapped in a beautiful gift box. The fairy tale gift set also includes the personalized storybook, My Very Own Fairy Tale, and a tiara like the one in the book, all wrapped together with a pink satin bow in a designer box. These books and gift sets make the perfect keepsake for baby gifts, Birthdays or holidays. The books are for newborn and children through age 12.