Welcome to the 2011 Passion For Savings Gift Guide. I hope you’ll take a little time to click around and see all the great gift suggestions. I’ve personally reviewed all of these products to make sure they meet my standards for quality products however inclusion was never promised and these thoughts and opinions are completely mine! I hope you’ll find some HOT Gifts as well as Gift Ideas for those hard to buy for people on your list.
Just check out each Category to see This Year’s Top 10 Holiday Gift Ideas! Also, don’t miss the HOT Holiday Deals Section for the best Gift Ideas and Deals available today!
Mom Agenda
Mom Agendas are pre-planned organizational calendars and planners that make the life of moms so much easier! The planners have everything from the yearly calendar to vacation planning sheets and medical information sheets. They have journals, pads, and accessories, too!
What I love: This is another product I couldn’t live without! I have been using Mom Agendas for a few years and depend on it for so many things! It helps me keep my schedule and plan and even budget. I get a new one every year!
Get your own MomAgenda online!
Remington Ultimate Stylist
This styling tool can be used as a straightener or a curling iron! You can do tight curls, loose curls, or waves.
What I love: The iron heats up really fast! I turned it on and it was hot in about 10 seconds. Make sure you read all the directions before you try to curl so that you don’t get your hair tangled, but it works pretty well for having so many functions.
Get your Ultimate Styling on Amazon!
Amy Michelle Diaper Bags
Amy Michelle Bags are versatile Diaper Bags with style. There are lots of different types of bags for you to choose from that fit your baby and mommy needs!
What I love: I have had a few of these bags since becoming a mom and I will only use them! I have this bag right now and I love it! It looks like a large purse, so I can take it with me to church, or out to dinner without having a tell-tale diaper bag with me! Sometimes I don’t even take a purse and just put my phone and wallet in this bag! I don’t have to worry about carrying so many bags with me and I love it!
Get Amy Michelle Bags online at Amazon!
Zumba Fitness 2
Zumba Fitness 2 for Wii is a fitness tape with some fire! Zumba is one of most popular exercise methods, combining cardio and latin dance for a high energy workout. Pop in the DVD and get your Zumba at home!
What I love: I love that Mom gets to use the Wii for once :) Zumba is a great workout and being able to do it at home any time is a huge plus!
Get Zumba Fitness 2 on Amazon!
Keratin Complex At Home Set
The Keratin at Home Set comes with the Kera Styler 1 ” Flat Iron, Keratin Complex Shampoo and Conditioner, Keratin RX Intense Treatment. Keratin products are a miracle treatment for frizzy, thick hair! The flat iron is ionic and distributes heat evenly to prevent damage to your hair while the shampoo and conditioner provide clean and shine without dulling your color.
What I love: This is a fantastic and complete set for these products! People rave about Keratin treatment! They make your so incredible smooth and it lasts for a long time. These are so popular and they sell out fast!
Get your Keratin Treatment Set at Folica!
T3 Featherweight Fast Healthy Beautiful Set
The T3 Featherweight comes with the Hair Dryer, Vent Brush, Olive Oil Paddle Brush, Kabuki Brush, and Oil Blotting Sheets. The hair dryer dries hair up to 60% faster than other dryers, and the brush fights frizz while you style. The olive oil paddle brush has olive oil embedded into the bristle of the brush to give you shiny, soft hair. The Kabuki brush is designed to fight flyways and is used in the modeling industry to fight flyaways on the runway.
What I love: These are high-end frizz fighting products that are great for your hair! I hate having flyaways, so the Kabuki brush is so amazing to me! I also love the hair dryer because it is so much faster than most dryers and doesn’t do as much damage as others I have used!
Get your T3 Set at Folica!
Dremel Saw Max
This hand-held electric saw has up to 3/4″ Depth of Cut and can be operated with one hand. The set comes with 4 different blades for different tasks and has a Worm Drive. It also has 2 attachments: a cutting guide and a vacuum adapter.
What I love: This is a very handy saw to have around the house. It is much smaller than some electric saws and can still perform a variety of tasks.
Get the Dremel Saw Max Saw at Amazon!
Power Mat and Rechargeable Backup Battery
These Powermats have become very popular lately. Each mat has a plug in to a power source and can power your cell phone and other electronic devices like IPods, Kindles, and more. You just set your device on the mat and it will charge wirelessly! The new Rechargeable Backup Battery can charge your device on the go. Charge up the batery and take it with you and it will be able to charge your devices anywhere!
What I love: My favorite thing is that these eliminate crowded outlets and power strips! You only need one outlet for the mat and you can just set your phone on it without needing to find the cord. I also love that you can charge so many devices at once.
Amazon has both the Powermat the Backup Battery!
Braun Cruzer Beard and Head or Body Trimmers
These new Braun Trimmers are specialized for shaving either your beard and head or the body. The Beard and Head Shaper trims the stubble to 6 precise lengths and contours with the sliding trimmer. It can also clip hair 6 lengths! The body trimmer shaves or trims body hair to 3 lengths or can give a clean shave. The shaper is gentle with small trimmer teeth and a sensitive comb
What I love: It is CORDLESS! These razors are small and compact and have no cords to tangle with! The body trimmer has charge for 50 minutes of shaving and the beard and head shaver has 40 minutes of charge.
Get a Braun Cruzer Trimmer on Amazon!
Epson Artisan 730
This printer has print, copy, and scan with Ultra HD Photo and Wi-Fi!!! This printer can print on CD and DVDs and has the fastest 4×6 Ultra HD prints of any printer, printing in 10 seconds and very fast copying and scanning. It also has automatic two sided printing to save paper. There are 6 individual colored ink cartridges to make the quality of your prints even more vivid. The Artisan has a 2.5 ” touch screen control panel that makes your printing process a snap. The Epson Connect feature allows you to print photos from your mobile device as well!
What I love: I love Epson Connect where you can simply print off your pictures from your phone! Photos print beautifully and clearly and very very fast! There is also a feature for the kids! You can turn any image you like into a coloring book which is so much fun! The Claria High Definition ink is so high quality that my photos printed at home are just as good as any photo lab.
Get your Artisan on Amazon!
Fancy Nancy Fabulous Fashionista Game
This game is for girls ages 5 and up for 2-4 players. The goal of this cute little girl game is to complete 3 outfits by rolling the dice. Each girl gets one armoire with a shoe rack (adorable!) and with each roll of the dice, they draw new clothing items that they try to match up with their respective clothing pieces. The first to complete 3 outfits wins! They can even decorate their armoire with reusable stickers!
What I love: I love that there is a board game for girls to play with their friends! There are so many games out there for boys and I like that this game is just for the girls :) This game would be so much fun at slumber parties or play dates.
Get Your Fancy Nancy Fabulous Fashionista Game on Amazon!
My Twinn Custom Designed Dolls
These customizable dolls have tons of options to make the doll look just like your little girl. You can choose from 9 eye colors, 10 hair colors, and 5 skin colors. You can change the hair texture, length, and style and upload your daughter’s photo to make it even more accurate. There is even a place to add freckles and birth marks! There are different outfits to choose from and accessories to add.
What I love: I don’t know if you can tell, but I LOVE THIS DOLL! I ordered one for my little girl and I am so so excited about it! It didn’t take long at all and the dolls are so personalized and really do look like their “twin!”
Get your My Twinn through Shop At Home!
Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Dolls
These dolls are SO cute! Each doll has bendable, wiry hair that your little girl can twist and tug into any hairstyle they like! Using the “curling iron,” your little girl can style the hair in any silly way they can imagine! The dolls come with bows and beads and accessories to add to the hair-dos, and each different doll comes with an animal friend! This Doll, Crumbs Sugar Cookie, comes with a little pet mouse with a bendable tail.
What I love: I really like these dolls! The endless number of styles displays the imagination of your little girl and can also be a great toy to play with by themselves. This is a great toy for sit down, quiet play time!
Get your Lalaloopsy Silly Hair Doll on Amazon!
Fur Real Friends: Cookie My Playful Pup
This incredibly cute and cuddly toy has motion sensors and barks and wags it’s tail when the sensors are activated! It really does seem like a puppy. It also has sensors in it’s toy bone and will move and turn it’s head toward it!
What I love: I love pretty much everything about this toy! It is SO cute and fun and is the closest thing you can get to a real puppy without the mess :) I can’t wait to give one to my daughter this Christmas!
Get your Cookie at Amazon today!
Strawberry Shortcake Berry Sparkling Charms Doll
These dolls are an update on the classic Strawberry Shortcake Dolls. The Sparkling Charms Dolls are for ages 4 and up and have 3 different outfits so your girl can dress up her doll! There are also 9 mix and match charms that can be put on the dress that light up when you push the flower button.
What I love: I loved Strawberry Shortcake when I was little, so I like this new version of her! The dress up part of the doll is so much fun for little girls and the light-up “sparkling” charms is a great bonus!
Strawberry Shortcake Sparkling Charms Dolls are for sale on Amazon!
Bratz on The Mic
These Bratz Dolls come with a real microphone and mini amplifier. There are two voice effects on the amp and it can play 2 different Bratz songs! The mic can plug into any speaker and there are four different dolls to choose from!
What I love: The mini microphone and amplifier are pretty awesome! My kids love to pretend things are microphones, so this would be really fun for them.
Get Bratz on The Mic at Toys R Us!
Pinkalicious It’s Party Time on Nintendo DS
This game is based on the bestselling “Pinkalicious” books. In the game, girls can design their own parties by picking out cupcakes, decorations, invitations, and more! There are 17 characters from the books, too!
What I love: I love that there is a video game for girls! It is age appropriate and fun and based on a popular book series, making it a very popular game!
Get Pinkalicious on Amazon!
Pocoyo Swiggle Tracks
These tracks are based on the very popular Pocoyo TV series! These tracks can be taken apart to form lots of different types of tracks as well as stunts! The set comes with a Musical Motorized car with Pocoyo as the driver. There is a moving bridge that moves the vehicle along as well.
What I love: This is such a cute little “train set” type toy for little ones! There are great ways for kids to use their imagination and reasoning skills by changing and rearranging the tracks!
Pocoyo Swiggle Tracks are for sale on Amazon!
Learn Through Music Touchpad
This Fisher Price touch pad is for ages 2 and up. It is an interactive sing-along learning system with a microphone that teaches through storytelling, music, and games. The screen lights up and scrolls to change to new games. You can buy different cartridges with your child’s favorite characters from shows like Dora the Explorer, Thomas and Friends, and Team Umizoomi!
What I love: I love that you can add on different cartridges so that the touchpad is always changing. The little microphone is a great bonus because my kids LOVE to sing into microphones :) I like the educational aspects, too, like the Identify the Pattern and Logic and Memory cartridges!
Learn Through Music Touchpads are sold on Amazon!
TrendyKid Baggage
TrendyKid Luggage is a set of two pieces of luggage in the shape of animals. Each set comes with a rolling suitcase and a backpack and both have hard shells. They have multiple pockets and straps to keep all of your child’s things organized.
What I love: These bags are unbelievably cute! I just got the Penguin set and they are even cuter in person than they were online. The sizes are so great for kids, with just enough space without being impossible for your child to handle. The hard shells are fantastic and are easy to clean and make perfect bags for air travel. I LOVE THESE!
Get your TrendyKid Baggage online today!
Hot Wheels Wall Tracks
This could be a hot new thing with your boys! Hot Wheels has come out with these new Wall Tracks that are just like the old Hot Wheel Tracks but they attach to the wall with 3M Command strips. There are a number of different tracks to choose from including one that has a 360 loop, a flip and roll stunt, and see-saw action! Different sets can connect together to make even bigger tracks.
What I Love: Hot Wheels are such a staple in every boy’s toy chest and I am happy to see the innovation here. I know boys would love this toy because they could keep their tracks up all the time without having to put them away. I would definitely voice my concern to your boy about being careful not to nick the walls, but as long as you set the ground rules this toy should be great!
Hot Wheels Wall Tracks are available on Amazon!
Kre-O Transformers Construction Sets
These sets are for ages 8-14 and contain 360 pieces for your boys to build their Transformer planes, trucks, and other transporters. They can build their favorite transformer characters and each set is a 2 in 1. For example, they can either build the Starscream Robot or the Fighter Jet that he “transforms” into.
What I love: I love the 2-in-1 aspect of these sets! After they are done building their favorite robot, they can take it apart and build something entirely different. I also like that this is a good sit down toy to focus their energy in a quiet way. This is a fun toy for boys and dads :) (The dad may love it more than the kids!)
Get your Transformer Set at Walmart!
Tonka Race Along Chuck
Race Along Chuck is recommended for 3 and Up. It lights up and has over 50 phrases and sounds and plays 6 racing games! There are 4 other trucks besides Chuck.
What I love: I like the 6 options for games for you kids to play. This could be a great way to get out the excess energy! You can take it outside and fill it with dirt and use it like a real dumptruck!
Get Race Along Chuck at Amazon!
Elefun Busy Ball Popper
The Elefun Ball Popper is air powered and pop balls into the air out of the Elephants trunk. It also plays songs when you play with it and the ears can catch the balls and filter them back to be shot out again!
What I love: This is a great interactive toy for toddlers. It encourages crawling by shooting the balls out so that the child can crawl to get them. I like that is can be fun for a wide range of small children. It recommends over 9 months, but I can imagine that children as old as 4 could have a great time playing with this. It is almost like a bubble machine without the messy bubbles! :)
The Busy Ball Popper is available at Toys R Us!
Tonka XT Ricochet Stunt Pro RC Car
This RC car is not like the RC car my husband had as a kid! It can do so many more things- this car can flip and do 2 sided freestyle stunts. What is really neat is that you can save your stunts on the remote and try them again!
What I love: I really do love this car! Little boys love remote control cars and this one is even better than the ones I had! The replay stunt feature is so neat- they can do a cool trick and then show it to their friends without forgetting how they did it!
Get your Tonka XT Ricochet Stunt Pro at Amazon!
I Spy Spectacular!
This 5 and up game is a spinoff on the I Spy books where everyone can play at the same time! To play, you spin the spinner and when it locks into place, you compete to find the cards that match the objects on the spinner! The person that finds the two cards that match the spinner gets points and the player with the most points wins!
What I love: I think my son and daughter will both LOVE playing this game! It is a great way to work on their matching skills as well as helping with concentration and skill building! I am also excited to play, too- I love the I Spy books! :)
Get your I Spy Board Game at Amazon!
Hex Hive Habitat Set and Hex Bugs
The Hex Habitat is a Multi-Level Hex Bug Track System. Made for ages 3 and up, you can collect other habitats and connect them to the Hive! You can create your own interactive mazes with the 35 construction pieces! The Hex Bugs are remote controlled and like this Hex Spider, they are oversized robotic creatures.
What I love: This is another good toy to sit down with and put together with the kids! Dads and their boys are going to love to build these together. The Hex Bugs are so much fun to control and “drive” around and are a new twist on remote controlled toys.
Get your Hex Toys online!
V-Tech V-Reader
These interactive readers for children are fantastic. They teach different skill sets including reading, math, and reasoning through fun games! There is an entire library for different cartridges, so the amount of games is endless. There are more that 45 different e-books to download as well!
What I love: My son has had this for years now and he still loves it! I remember how amazed I was when he started with it- it is a great learning tool. The animation is so much fun and he loves the games and has no idea how much he is learning while playing! This is a great one to have in the car!
Get your V-Tech V-Reader online!
Summit Zillions Deluxe ATM and Counting Money Jar
This Children’s ATM has so many cool features! It functions as a real ATM and accepts dollar bills like a high-tech piggy bank! The screen can display a balance and you can make a savings goal. It also has a built in alarm clock and wall mount. Your child can set their PIN number to withdraw or deposit their dollars or coins. The money jar has a digital screen that keeps track of many coins you have deposited!
What I love: This is another one I can’t wait for my son to get on Christmas! He is all about saving money which he learned from his Junior Saves books and he goes with me to the ATM and will feel SO grown up when he gets this. I really love that he can set a savings goal and work toward it with chores. The money jar will be a great starting point for my daughter,
Get your Summit Zillions ATM or Money Jar at Amazon!
Caterpillar Iron Diesel Train Set
This is a cool take on a train set! Each set comes with 5 train cars which include the engine, a trailer with two CAT Construction vehicles, a shipping crate, and a caboose. It has over 7′ of track that can be mixed and matched to create any number of track designs.The engine is motorized and will pull the rest of the train along the tracks!
What I love: This set is so much fun! I love the motorized engine car and the two CAT vehicles that are being towed. This toy can be used as a traditional train set or a construction site and the possibilities for play are endless!
Get your CAT Iron Diesel Set on Amazon!
Yankee Candle My Favorite Things Gift Set
Yankee Candle has a new holiday promotion candle set! Yankee has it’s new My Favorite Things scents that are all named from lines in the song “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music. From Raindrops on Roses to Blue Satin Sashes, these new scents all remind me of the holidays!
What I love: We all know that I already love Yankee Candle and this gift set is no exception! I love the Sound of Music theme and the candle scents are great!
Get Yankee Candle online!
Duo Games
Duo is a new interactive board-game-like experience that works off of the IPad. Using one IPad, you find the Duo Pop games in the App Store and download the games you want to play. You can play Duo Pop where each player is given a controller (there are 4 in each set), and players buzz in to answer questions. There is also Duo Plink where you put tokens as an answer and if you are right, the token will drop into the game!
What I Love: This is a GREAT game to have in the car for long trips! Everyone would be entertained and focused on one activity. There is no mess and very few pieces to deal with!
Get Duo Games at Amazon for a good price!
Sunbeam Therapedic Royal Mink Heated Blanket
This Electric blanket has 10 Heat Settings and a 10 -hour Auto off. The blanket is super soft and has oversized dimensions. You can use the pre-heat feature to warm up your cold blankets before you get in bed. On the King and Queen, there are dual controls so you can regulate just your side of the bed!
What I love: Honestly, I love everything about this blanket! It is so soft and all of the features are amazing! I especially love that you can regulate your side of the blanket and that you can control your own section.
Get Your Blanket from Bed Bath and Beyond and 3% Cash Back with Shop at Home!
Switch to Health (S2H) Replay and Step
S2H products are a variety of pedometers and other electronics that track your active lifestyle. You will earn point by being physically active and you can redeem the points for rewards at S2H.com! The more points you earn, the greater the prize!
What I love: For those who aren’t as naturally motivated to be active, this is a good tool to get them going in the right direction! Even you are a workout junkie, this could be very useful AND you could win some really amazing prizes! They have everything from Macy’s Gift Cards to $100 Spa Days!
Get your S2H through Shop At Home and get 4% Cash Back!
Roku 2 XS Streaming Player
The Roku 2 XS automatically streams video from all of your favorite online video sources! Get your videos or TV Episodes from Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, Amazon Video and more! Choose from 100,000 on-demand movies without having to use your PC. You can also play games with the XS remote!
What I love: I just got one of these and I wanted it for a long time and I LOVE IT! It is so easy to hook up and the streaming quality is incredible! I have Amazon Prime and the HD quality is even better than our satellite! I highly recommend this product.
Get your Roku on Amazon!
Epson Label Works LW-400
This awesome labeler can print labels in colors and with cute shapes and objects to make organizing a snap. It features a back-lit LCD screenThere are multiple types of labels you can buy to go with this labler including gold metallic labels, and… wait for it… IRON ON LABELS!!!
What I love: A I think my enthusiasm about this item shows a little :) The iron on labels are AMAZING for labeling clothing- especially jackets that can easily get switched at school. The back-lit LCD screen is awesome and easy to read. This labeler is so simple to use and has tons of features that I have never seen on a labeler before! I love it :)
Get your Epson Label Works Labeler on Amazon!
