Best Christmas Gifts of 2016

Christmas shopping is easy if you’re the type of giver who can get away with grabbing some gift cards, lottery tickets and pre-wrapped chocolates. That’s all fine if it works for you, but to really get that “WOW” moment on Christmas morning, it takes some serious thinking and a lot of shopping around to find the perfect gift!  
With so many new and exciting products on the market (some of which are back-ordered to the moon) we wanted to take the time to highlight our top Christmas gifts for 2016!  Some are sold out, some are not, but either way, these are the unique gift ideas that your family and friends will TRULY Love!  In no particular order:

CHiP Smart Cookie Oven

The Chip Smart Cookie Oven is kind of like a Keurig for cookies -- the counter top appliance is designed to bake just enough cookies for one person (or more if you're feeling generous). SideChef's raised $109,000 on Kickstarter to make the Chip a reality, and though you won’t get it before Christmas, it’s one hell of a gift!  Order it here.

Hatchimals - Hatching Creatures

It’s a lot like the Furby, in an egg and people are going crazy for them!  Using sensors and new technologies, a Hatchimal is a small, colorful animal that lives inside an egg when shoppers first bring it home. Through interacting with the egg and playing with it, you can encourage the egg to hatch. Eventually the Hatchimal breaks through its shell and reveals itself!  Order a Hatchimal, some are even available right now!

GROWN® Wooden Sunglasses 

No Christmas Gift list would be complete without listing product that doesn’t just look good, but does good too! GROWN® is the pioneer of wooden eyewear and they even got a deal on the hit TV show Shark Tank!  Their wooden sunglasses are Handcrafted from FSC certified sustainable wood and all come with Polarized lenses.  Each pair has a completely unique grain pattern, and no two pairs are identical.  As if that wasn’t enough, for every pair that is purchased, GROWN® fully funds sight-restoring eye-surgery for 1 person or diagnostic eye examinations for 12 children!  Shop for Wooden Sunglasses

Something Personalized or Customized

Personalized and customizable gifts are always a winner and show that you put a lot of thought into your shopping.  These days you can get almost anything customized for that special someone, and this personalized mug is a good start!   You can also head to Zazzle and shop for everything personalized!

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Ugly sweaters have been trending for several years now, and this year is no different!  One of our favorite shops for ugly-ass sweaters is Holiday Fury.  They have a wide range of retro and unique sweaters that will make Christmas morning that much better.
This Kelly KaPOWski sweater is our personal favorite and was floating around the office all month!

Beardo® Animal Ski Masks

We can’t help but include our new Animal Ski masks as an awesome Christmas Gift, they are simply too cool!  Skiiers and Snowboarders just can’t get enough of them and with 16 NEW styles to choose from, there’s a design for everyone!
The favorite design this season is this one by far.

Nintendo NES

The Worldwide struggle to bag a Nintendo NES is very real!  The NES Classic is a miniaturized version of the groundbreaking NES, originally released in 1985.  Just plug the NES Classic Edition into your TV, pick up that rectangular gray controller, and rediscover the joy of over 30 ore-loaded NES games. Good luck getting one, but if you do you are our hero!  
UPDATE:  many stores have already listed their restocked release dates in the next few days!

Pie Face! Just look at that happy little bastard!

You're in for a night full of laughs and pie faces with this game. The pie-throwing arm can go off at any minute. Just make sure it's not your turn when it goes off!  This is good fun for any age and a good chance for adults to get back at kids in the cutest way possible.  You can buy it here

DJI Mavic Pro Drone

Though it is on a bit of an order backlog, those lucky enough to already have the Mavic will notice some very cool things. Most notably the ability to fly up to 7km away at a top speed of 70km/hr, and the fact that it folds up to a size that can fit in your back pocket!
This very intelligent drone also has some awesome features that make it simple to fly (and hard to crash or break) and you can even stream to facebook live with the touch of a button!   It’s not the cheapest gift at a cost of about $1700, but what are friends for right?  Order it here.

Instant Camera

Who knew that Polaroids were going to make a comeback? Now with all different kinds of colored film to develop, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 instant cameras are the newest craze among millennials.  What a magical time to be alive.

Ancestry DNA Test 

If you fancy something a little different this Christmas, why not give someone you know an Ancestry DNA test, which can reveal a person's genetic ethnicity and can even uncover new family connections.  The kits cost just over $100 from the Ancestry website. Using a simple saliva sample, the DNA data provides a prediction of the locations of ancestors from 26 separate world-wide populations.  Very cool.

Heated Socks 

These heated socks reach a maximum temperature of 131º F. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery and ultra-thin heating element provide up to 10 hours of warmth!   They are a great addition to your winter wardrobe!  Shop for them here

Wham-O Snowball Blaster

This blaster takes a snowball fight to a whole new level by launching up to three snowballs at a time. You’ll be amazed at how far they go and how accurate they are. It will give you an unfair advantage, or will help even the playing field if you’re not as good.
Time to go kick some ass!

Meddy Teddy 

Inspire some peace on earth this Christmas and gift a little one (or yoga-lover!) a precious Meddy Teddy. The flexible bear snuggles just like any teddy, but also has a knack for bending his limbs to execute different yoga positions — in perfect form, of course. The new mantra for next year? Namaste.  Check it out.

If you're lucky (or smart) enough to already have any of these gifts in your possession - well done! You are a true hero-gift giver!  If you think we missed something, let us know in the comments, we would love to hear from you about what you think is the best Christmas gift idea of the year!