Well, blow us away, these whimsical handmade chimes — Erma Rose and Willie Mae — are not cookie-cutter at all, but truly unique as are so many of the crafts and objects made by artisans around the world and sold by gift shop Uncommon Goods. Each time we check, the inventory grows bigger and more interesting at this relatively new web retailer. Wish we could show you more, like the stainless steel yoga napkin holder or the cheese board that looks like a slice of cheese. But you’ll have to go see for yourself; we’re in a rush now as we chase down our holiday list.

We were looking just last night for a couple of those high impact — wow! — toys to help Santa out. Found what we needed on Amazon. But also had to skip over to a couple boutique toy stores for more unusual things. This fancy machine, a remote controlled mini-helicopter sold by Trend Times caught our eye. You can manuever it around indoors (gives new meaning to “high impact!”), and Trend Times claims its infrared-controlled Extreme Micro RC helicopter is among the best-built, best-functioning RC helicopters. It has a range of 100 feet, a small strobe light and it hovers like a hummingbird on the website video. Bonus points: You can’t do it while sitting on the couch and it doesn’t pollute. 100 US smackerels.

Have precious baby or kid pictures you’re just dying to share? Why keep them stashed away in an album that you’ll inevitably forget at home? Wear them literally on your sleeve (as a bracelet) or as a charming necklace. We mean that literally too. The mini-picture frame charms are the key to this original jewelry concept by Dallas-area artisan and longtime art teacher Shelly Harris. You order the necklace or bracelet or keychain with however many charms you need to feature your family (you can leave your husband out) and specify a color scheme. She develops your totally custom piece from stones and beads and you pop in the pictures. They’re romantic and fun and great for gifts! See and order them at: picturethisandpicturethat.com.

My husband hates it when I spend too much money dressing the dog. So even though the holidays are coming, I try to stick to casual wear for our Lou. I like this t-shirt from PetsMart because it’s simple and yet sporting. The color is vivid and will look great on a white, brown or red mutt. It could be a nice stocking stuffer. I remember the year that Santa forgot Lou until the last minute! That wouldn’t have played well with the 5-year-old — daughter that is — who expected Santa to bring the full complement of stocking treats. Thanks be to Safeway, the grocery store was open late that Christmas Eve!

We don’t always find our kids’ favorite toys under Amazon’s “hot toys” list. But this year one is so hot, it’s flaming right off the webpage. It’s the new Nintendogs game for the Nintendo DS, that itty-bitty portable game player you see kids’ noses stuck to in restaurants and store. We wanted Nintendogs so much, we spent our allowance on it before Christmas. But alas, it is a cute, if only modestly educational game. You pick your dog, and then by teaching it tricks and successfully playing related games, you can buy another dog. Pretty soon you end up with a puppy mill! Just kidding. No one gets killed in this video pursuit. So it gets my seal of approval. And the puppies are ahh..so adorable!

Drum sets are definitely something you don’t want to have to get — unless the kid is serious. All that noise is either a path to musical attainment, or it’s just ALL THAT NOISE. So we found this MiJam toy intriguing. You can plug these drum sticks into an MP3 player or iPod and jam with the music. It has different settings so you can sound like a snare drum, cymbals etc. In other words, for $25 your child can experiment with playing the drums, without shaking the house down. There’s also a MiJam guitar and MiJam Mixer. We don’t think these get that loud….KB Toys.com sells em. Beware one customer got a bum drum set. Others liked ‘em.

Every holiday outfit needs a good foundation, if you will. And our shopping advisors at SheFinds.com have it exactly right: Time to slenderize underneath that holiday sheath. They recommend the Miraclesuit found at Bare Necessities. These miracle undergarments come in full body or tummy/hips shapers like the one shown here. What the guests don’t see could be the most important thing at your next holiday outing!

Santa doesn’t mind wearing red, so it should be good enough for whatever man you’re dressing this season, unless he has bad sports memories of being “red-shirted.” Black or white is never a bad choice for your former sports star or whomever. Still you might want to use this moment when he’s distracted to give his wardrobe a little color injection. Here’s one red shirt from Paul Frederick that could work. Depending on the occasion, you might want to lose the tie.