Whether it’s Christmas, someone’s birthday, a new baby or an engagement gift, there’s always something you can find at a local market that makes a great gift.

Here’s 7 reasons I think shopping at a local market (complete with the cute awning) is great:

1. Support your local community – you’re helping someone in your neighbourhood make a living – and they’ll spend most of that money in your area, too, benefitting everyone.

2. Good for your environment - if they’re locally made artisan goods, there’s less carbon nonsense being accumulated via petrol and packaging for shipping. If it’s close enough that you can walk there and leave the car behind, bonus points.

3. Unique – you’re likely to find products that you won’t see anywhere else – certainly not stacked to the ceiling in Toys ‘R’ Us or Target.

4. Discovery/being in the know - ever heard about those hot clothing designers who started off selling their wares at local markets? How cool would you feel knowing you were there, helping support them from the start of their stellar career?

5. Lower costs means lower prices – market stalls cost from $40 and the money they save on renting a shop means they can keep prices lower which makes it affordable for you.

6. Personal contact – in today’s pre-packaged world, it is charming and delightful to direct meet the people who (hand)make the items you’re handing cash over for.

7. Fun – the markets are a day out in themselves. There’s always something new every week and the chance to pick up something amazing that you’ll know they just love.

Why do you like shopping at local markets for gifts?

Anyone with older siblings probably discovered early in life the joy of hand-me-downs.

Your pram, car seat, high chair or some other item was broken in by your bigger brothers and sisters. And perhaps with a few years under its belt, the item is now also broken.

The giant US toy chain Toys ‘R’ Us has launched its Great Trade-In event for 2010. Parents will receive a 25% discount on new baby items in exchange for old ones (even ugly kids’ gifts) that may be well past their use-by dates and plain unsuitable for further tours-of-duty with knee-high terrorists (sorry, children).

The point of this child safety initiative is twofold: to clear the country’s basements, attics and spare rooms of unsafe baby items and to highlight the issue of child safety, pointing out that “tried” doesn’t necessarily mean “true”. This is the Great Trade-In’s third year, with over 200,000 items already being returned so far this year. The program runs until 19 September.

Hand in hand with the Great Trade-In comes the company’s Product Safety Vigilance Program which is designed to keep busy parents better informed about product recalls and keep a vigilant eye on all items their youngsters come into regular contact with around the home.

Three cheers for Toys ‘R’ Us for this community-awareness campaign, especially as it’s become  de rigueur to recycle and regift. And plus, for your chance to get rid of some god-awful baby and children’s gifts and save some money on new ones.

You don’t need to have a baby of your own to know that creating the patter of tiny feet around the house (no, not the furry kind) has become a pretty expensive business these days.

Well yes, even little furry feet come with their own financial demands, but that still isn’t a scratch on the costs associated with having a baby. It’s no surprise, then, that expectant mums in the UK are now throwing baby shower parties in record numbers. And it isn’t just for the warm, fuzzy feelings they inspire, either.

The UK gift company Carte Blanche recently polled 3,000 women about all things baby-related, and came up with the surprisingly unsentimental finding that 40% of the respondents admitted the main reason they have a baby shower was for the booty, and we ain’t talking cute little knitted baby booties – nor Beyonce’s type of booty.

Yes, it’s the gifts from friends and family these expectant mums have their eyes on – all those essential baby items such as change tables, bassinets, nappy services, soft toys, etc. Combined, these things can cost a bomb, so the baby shower party is fast becoming a necessary part of the whole process, according to a whopping 67% of expectant mums in the UK.

But the invitees to these parties are also happy to go along with the expectation. After all, everyone loves shopping for babies. It gives us the perfect excuse to tap into our own inner baby. Picture it… you’re in the toy shop with a cuddly giraffe in one hand and a brown bear with a squeaker in its tummy in the other. Be honest. Just who are you really buying for?

Has one of your friends become pregnant but refuses to find out and/or tell you the baby’s gender? One of my good friends has so she’s getting red, lemon, lilac and green-coloured items – but I thought there had to be more to ambiguous gifts than colour…

Since you can’t rely on the old-standby of something blue or pink, you have to be more ingenious! Here’s the first in a two-part post on baby shower gifts when you don’t know if your friend is having a baby boy or girl.

1. Ergococoon – these neutral-coloured “cocoons” make it super-easy to wrap your baby up at night – no more having to learn origami!
2. Ninky Bear Honey Pots – an adorable neutral-coloured ”honey pot” made of a cloth nappy, washcloth, handtowel and bear
3. Babies don’t breast-feed forever, so when it’s time to start solids, your mum-to-be will need a Starting Solids Baby Feeding Kit
4. Start them on the path to literacy early with these handy Big Alphabet Wall Stickers
5. Add some fun to the never-ending chore of bottle-washing with the Boon Grass Drying Rack
6. Focus on mum with a boxed delivery of some sparkling pinot noir chardonnay, a teddy bear, Belgian chocolate and fruit
7.  Inspire the expecting couple with a delightful framed Family Rules print that can go in the nursery, hall, kitchen or loungeroom
8. Give a trio of the best-known nursery ryhmes – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Baa Baa Black Sheep as framed prints to learn by heart on those long nights ahead!
9. A classic gift for AC/DC fans, these instrumental lullabies will have Dad happily head-banging away when baby can’t sleep (check out The Beatles, Bob Marley, U2, Nirvana, Pink Floyd and about 10 other famous bands)
10. A gorgeous owl-print cot quilt and twin bibs in neutral colours makes a pretty baby shower gift
11. Wondering how to get them to eat their veggies once they start solids? Toddlers love Fred Food Face!
12. 30 brain-training ideas and life-changing steps make it easier for her to go from pregnancy to the baby’s first three months
13.  Give your new mum a cute baby rattle in the shape of a guitar to encourage her baby to be musically inclined 
14. Buy a teddy bear from OCF to ensure every child with cancer has the chance to grow up and enjoy life
15. They won’t be in it for long, but this vibrantly-coloured designer Land and Sea Bassinet Blanket is a keeper!
16. Protect their new baby’s delicate skin with a Beautiful Baby Gift Pack containing organic skincare products
17. Look after mum too with a Baby Concepts New Mum Pack containing organic lotion, belly oil, facewasher, body wash, and nappy bag
18. Keep track of when baby (or mum!) last slept or ate with a green Itzbeen timer (and you could use it for time-outs for older kids, too)
19. A Baby Bliss DVD helps new mothers to stimulate their baby’s digestive, respiratory and muscular systems through baby yoga
20. The fun survival pack from Giftboxology contains a Forgetmenot shopping list stationery set to combat “baby brain”, rum balls, macadamia nuts, and soap and botty butter for the baby
21. Let your new mum know all about her baby’s personality and potential. Give her a BabyStars gift certificate that she can redeem once the baby’s born for a luxury hardcover 45-50 page astrology report
22. Relieve her backache with a gift certificate for a wonderful Ripples Pregnancy Massage in northern NSW, QLD and VIC
23. Keep baby as snug as a bug in a rug with a Lambykins superfine pure merino cot blanket in an on-trend rich raspberry with winter white stripe
24. She will love you for making it so easy to get out and about with her Shopping Caddy that holds everything for a baby’s outing
25. If you’d like to give her something for herself, this stunning black wrap-around organic cotton maternity dress is incredibly flattering pre- and post-pregnancy!

Next post – 25 more baby shower gift ideas, part 2

Perhaps the US merchants have been lobbying hard, but the original deadline of 22 August 2010 for them to ensure all gift cards have five years expiry has been extended to 31 January 20111.

This new deadline takes it safely past a four-month holiday period when 90% of all gift card sales are made. 

Gift occasions on which gift cards are purchased include baby season (September/October), Halloween (31 October), engagement season (September-November), Thanksgiving (late November), wedding season (in Australia from November-December), and Christmas and New Year’s Eve (December) so merchants don’t have to destroy and replace an estimated 100 million cards which are already on the retail shelves.

Customers who buy gift cards during the six-month transition period between now and January 2011 will receive the full benefits of the new gift card rules.

This means no service fees or ATM fees can be charged until one year of inactivity (and then only one fee per month), gift cards have expiry dates of five years from the last load (aka deposit of extra funds), free replacement cards must be issued or the issuers can reimburse the cardholder, full T&Cs must be displayed and conspicuous disclosures regarding gift card use must be made prior to purchase.

Still, why would anyone wait five years? There’s inflation which will go up – but the value on your gift won’t – and the risk of the store closing, which happens.

I am quite sure the gift cards will outlast some relationships.

Mid-way through our southern hemisphere winter (one of the coldest for ages), there are a few online retailers having sales – and if you’d like to get a gift to cheer up a friend who’s expecting a baby, you have kids or you’re already thinking of tucking away a few Christmas gifts for your nieces and nephews, here’s what’s on:

My Baby Bump is having a sale on its fun maternity t-shirts – up to 60% off.

Everything Boys has repriced (read: reduced) its range of boys’ jeans and they will donate $5 from every pair of jeans sold between now and 1 August to Jeans for Genes Day.

Brand-new online retailer Avidiva sells handmade, eco-friendly and organic baby products. You can get 25% off store-wide until 21 July 2010 by entering ‘hip hooray’ at checkout.

Petit has a clearance sale on the winter baby range and the Bobinette boys winter range plus every order will receive a free gift.

By signing up to the Mother’s Toolkit newsletter, you receive a free Mother’s Shopping Toolkit packed with discounts and special offers from online retailers of products and services for mums.

Just in time for World Breast Feeding Week from 1-7 August, is the cutely striped Retro Awning breast feeding pillow from BabyBaby, reduced from $NZ89 to $NZ55. 

And New Zealand-based Chelsea Bee is having a 10% store-wide sale until 31 July and is offering free shipping worldwide.

Do you know of a children’s or baby gift online retailer having a mid-winter sale readers should know about? Tell us!

Research has found that comfortable and familiar things from the past can have a powerfully reassuring effect on us, especially when we might feel left out and crave a sense of belonging.

A scientific study recently published in the US’s Journal of Consumer Research, explains why despondent consumers often reach for nostalgic products or images to lift their spirits, rather than their more contemporary counterparts.

This can come in the form of old TV shows and movies, food, drink and other treats, books, car brands and even commonplace items like shampoo and shower gel. In each case the consumer is searching for an emotional crutch rather than the fulfillment of a more practical requirement.

The study’s authors, Katherine E. Loveland and Naomi Mandel from Arizona State University and Dirk Smeesters from Erasmus University in the Netherlands experimented with different situations that were designed to make some participants feel left out. The excluded participants selected nostalgic products over contemporary products, in surprisingly direct proportions to their feelings of needing to belong.

So when do people feel left out? It depends of course on their basic personality, but typical one gift occasion when people feel a real need to belong are housewarmings, when they’ve moved somewhere new and literally need to feel they’re part of the community. Home-baked cakes and cookies always go down a treat.

For others, it could be Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, particularly if the parent is divorced or widowed. This is not the time to buy them something funky and new, but something reassuringly familiar. Is that why retro kitchen appliances are so popular?

While mothers are busy getting all the baby gifts, some fathers can feel left out when their child is born – as can the older siblings. A fun item that harks back to their golden years can go down very well.

Have you ever sent a gift basket? If you have, who was it for? What was the gift occasion ie a new baby, Christmas, a housewarming, engagement gift or Mother’s Day – or was there some other reason you wanted to celebrate?

If you’ve never sent one, what items would you include? Chocolate? Champagne? Baby items? Flowers? Gift certificates?

Take a minute to fill out a fun gift baskets survey and you’ll receive a $20 gift certificate code to spend towards any astrology report on http://www.itsinthestarsonline.com.

The survey is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GiftBasketsSurvey. The survey closes 31 July 2010.

You’ve probably heard of “babymoons” before, (no, it’s not an astrology thing where women conceive on the Full Moon – although hey, everyone’s a little crazeeee around then) but honeymoons for expecting parents.

Birth tourism is a phenomenon I hadn’t heard of before where people go to a particular country to give birth. If you give birth in the US no matter what your nationality, thanks to the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constiution, any child born on American soil becomes a true-blue Yankee Doodle Dandy citizen.

So the Turkish-owned Marmara Manhattan in the Upper East Side of New York is catering to mothers wishing to have an American sprog by offering a suite for one month for $US7,750 plus those dreaded taxes, including airport transfer, baby cradle and a gift set for the mother. For more info, contact manhattan-info@themarmarahotels.com.

I hope its walls are sound-proof. Just like that scene in Sex and the City 2, those thinking about going halves in a baby could get put off by the sounds of a real one next door…

A Minnesota woman who gave birth behind the wheel of a 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt sedan will receive baby gifts from General Motors.

Twenty-nine-year-old Amanda McBride was driving herself to the hospital to give birth when her waters broke unexpectedly.

She screamed (probably “you @#$%^&* [expletive deleted]“) at her husband (who normally doesn’t drive because he suffers from seizures) to take the wheel as she quickly delivered their third child, 8-pound son Joseph.

Thrilled they could get some good PR for once, embattled automotive giant General Motors will give the family a year’s supply of nappies, two child safety seats, a stroller and other baby goodies.

There was no word if the baby hamper contained handiwipes, industrial-strength car fragrance and fabric shampoo, new floor mats or seat covers.