With holidays approaching in just a few weeks, gift shopping becomes one of the major concerns for many. After all, coming up with surprising presents for your family and friends is a pleasant but not always easy task. To simplify it for you, the Guide prepared a list of gift ideas to satisfy everyone.
For dad
What can be a better gift in times of economic crisis than a feeling of stability and confidence? While the dollar and hryvnia lose in value day by day, gold remains precious, and a small bar of gold could easily raise the spirits of your dad, after he has watched yet another piece of disturbing news. Ukrsotsbank offers the smallest gold bar – one gram – for Hr 250. Two-gram bars cost Hr 480, and five grams – Hr 1,125. The biggest bar of gold on offer weighs a kilo and costs Hr 210,000. Just make up your mind how much stability you can afford.
Another similar option is golden coins. The National Bank sells small golden commemorative Hr 2 coins for Hr 410. They weigh 1.24 grams and are 1.4 centimeters in diameter and come in several designs. You can choose a head with a salamander, a stork, a hedgehog, a Scythian horseman or a steppe marmot.
For mom and granny
Candles seem to be among the most common gifts but not if you give this: a standing candle 1.1 meters high, 15 centimeters in diameter, with three wicks that burn for 880 hours! It can produce a warm cheery glow in your apartment for more than 36 days non-stop. It seems that this single candle is enough to support a cozy atmosphere in your home for the whole winter. This wonderful candle (Hr 610) can be found in Feng Shui shop in Metrograd, in the services section, next to Dudenko’s hair salon.
Also an impressive assortment of candles can be found at Sia home fashion shop. They sell candles of various sizes, shapes and aromas that burn evenly, without denting. The tallest are the ones with 300 and 240 hours of burning time, going for Hr 509 and Hr 371, respectively.
Sia also has a good choice of candle holders. You can find a glass candle tray for Hr 246, a huge wineglass-shaped candlestick for Hr 1,076 and a street lamp-shaped one, too. There is even a metal New Year tree with 20 candlesticks for decoration (Hr 1,554).
Pretty Christmas and New Year decor items can also make great gifts. Judith Interior shop will amaze with its selection of beautiful things, such as an elf made of brown velour with wings of transparent fabric by German brand Goodwill (Hr 480) or a small angel for Hr 35.
For grandpa
If your granddad hasn’t lost his youthful curiosity and sense of humor, he would appreciate the cheeky present of a vodka distiller. After all it’s still fashionable to treat guests with your own, homemade drink. The distiller is handmade of copper, cast iron and wood. It is 30 centimeters in height and its design goes back to the times of alchemy.
The instruction claims that you can make your own alcohol and perfumes with help of this fantastic machine that costs Hr 1,499. As an addition to a distiller or as a separate gift you can get a chess set with 32 glasses of alcohol instead of chess figures. These sets are available at Sunduk shop in Globus for Hr 310 and Hr 369.
But if you want to present something completely healthy and useful yet eccentric you can choose Columbia thermo socks for Hr 36 from Koshkin Dom, a gift and interior shop.
For brother or friend
T-shirts with images of the symbol of year 2009 can be ordered at the individual T-shirts network Prikid for Hr 90. You only have to decide what sort of a bull print you want – a smiling, cheery, cute or raging bull. Plenty of cows on offer, too.
If you want to show extra care for your dear friend, you can order them thermo slippers made of artificial fur, getting heated once you plug them into a USB port. This technological wonder comes from a Russian website http://podarok.ru/catalog/158/1539. It should make a good present this winter when radiators are colder than usual.
For girlfriend
If once again you’ve failed to find that awe-inspiring Christmas or New Year present for your girlfriend you’ve always wanted to get, think of something she would truly appreciate. Keep her warm this winter with a snug scarf and cute mittens from Accessorize or a fuzzy plaid from Jysk.
But of course, there are things that would please any girl – sweet-smelling and colorful soaps, massage tablets, shower gels, lotions, lip balms and body and face creams from Lush natural handmade cosmetic shop. Apart from its typical selection, Lush also has a special holiday offer featuring gift sets such as a “Christmas Candy Box” (from Hr 90), bath foam “Snowman Frozy” (Hr 52), “Christmas Pie” soap (Hr 32 per 100 grams), “Chocolate Santa” and “Christmas Morning” bath foam (Hr 45), and more.
For boyfriend
It may be because I’m a girl, but I have always found it difficult to track down the right gifts for boys. Still, it’s not impossible.
One of the universal hip gifts are headphones. If your boyfriend listens to music or at least plays computer games he’ll sure be happy to get a brand new pair – even though he already has headphones, the latest super model will make a nice surprise for him.
For instance, giant professional Philips SHL9600/00 ($ 75, www.realshop.com.ua) headphones boast an impressive frequency range of 10 hertz and highly sensitive loud speakers with mylar diaphragm. Despite the size, the headphones won’t give you any discomfort and are easy to fold and put them away in your pocket. However if you’re looking for smaller plug-in headphones handy for music on the go, try Creative Zen Aurvana ($ 75, www.fotos.ua) – their special shape helps to cut out all the noises around you and allows to insert them deep into ears.
If your guy likes to work out and stay fit (or you think he should), get him a set of weight-lifting items, including dumb-bells, protective gloves, punching bag, and a cross bar. But if you don’t want to seem like you are pointing out that your boyfriend needs to shed weight or tone up on muscles, get him a set of darts (Hr 65) – it can be a great stress reliever as well as a fun game to play with friends. All of the aforementioned items can be found at the Tovary dlya Sportu I Turyzmu (Goods for Sports and Tourism) shop.
For kids
One of the must-haves for any kid this winter are certainly sledges. Even if the kid is not going on holiday anywhere near hills, he or she can still may catch plenty of snowy days in Kyiv. You can choose between an old-fashioned sledge with a metal skid and wooden top (from around Hr 150) and various models of plastic sledges, such as the scoop-sledge (Hr 30). Also there are modernized “snow-cars” supplied with a wheel and a control system by KHW Snow (Hr 690 – Hr 1,850), available at www.sanki.com.ua.
Of course, a pet – even a parrot or goldfish, let alone a kitten or a puppy will be much appreciated by any child. But if you’re not the parent, you must of course make sure that the kid’s parents don’t mind and are ready for extra responsibility. The best place to shop for pets in Kyiv is still the Kurenivka Bird Market.
Ukrsotsbank (Contact Center, 8-800-5000-200, 205-45-55).
National Bank, Central administration in Kyiv (2B Kontraktova Square, 253-01- 80). www.bank.gov.ua/En
Komod (1B Vozdvyzhenska, office 4, 425-8358, 425-9175). www.komod.com.ua/decor/distiller.html
Koshkin Dom (43 Vorovskoho, 223-6093).
Sia (14 Khmelnytskoho, 223-5122; 117 Saksahanskoho, 223-4422)
Judith Interior (2 Bessarabska Square, 235-1209)
Prikid (21 Drayzera, shops near Petrivka, Obolon, Lybidska, Lisova metro stations, 496-5912, 332-0225, 587-6832). www.e-prikid.com.ua
Jysk (3 Ploscha Peremogy, 501-1720).
Accesorize (Globus, 585-1101).
Lush (15 Baseyna, 235-1965).
Tovary dlya Sportu I Turyzmu (28 Lesi Ukrayinky, 286-7818).
Dytyachiy Svit (3 Malyshko, 559-9342).
