Herewith, our gift picks for the gals, from save to splurge.

If your bestie likes books gift her a paperback from Penguin’s Couture Classics series. Famed fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo drew custom covers for the three female-centric titles, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and The Scarlett Letter. $20 each at www.penguin.ca

Spruce up the office space of a working girl with Cubicle Art by Vancouver-born artist Talia Shipman. The 4x6 pieces feature photos taken on travels paired with hand-written messages, like “It’s not me, it’s you,” and will mount to a wall or stand upright. $55 at Vancouver Special, www.vanspecial.com

Heat up the cold hands of those warm hearts you know with a pair of leather driving gloves. In patent, snakeskin and other colours, they’re the sexiest we’ve seen and will make her feel like a secret agent. $79 at Club Monaco, www.clubmonaco.com

Road trips with gal pals aren’t the same since Polaroid passed on, so replace hers with the Fuji Instax, a cute instant camera that takes credit card-sized snaps. Joshua Jackson just took one to Mexico to capture holiday pics of his paramour Diane Kruger. $145 at Urban Outfitters, www.urbanoutfitters.com

A Burberry trench is timeless, and with the brand’s recent Art of the Trench collaboration with The Sartorialist, the gal you give it to can street-style it up and submit her photo to be featured on the website. From $1,095 at Burberry, www.burberry.com

While we still can't convince the wee ones that an RESP contribution constitutes a gift, we're always in search of presents that will foster their future.

Tired of plastic gizmos that get abandoned before Boxing Day, we turned to Canadian site www.babynaturopathics.com. With adorable modern banjos by Plan Toys (pictured, $29.50), pint-sized natural wood pianos from Germany ($159), and even a skyscraper set for the future city planner ($57), there's plenty of old-fashioned  fun to be had.

And if she grows up to be a doctor,  ($33.50) well, that RESP will sure come in handy. 

www.babynaturopathics.com

This year make your shopping list a little more magic, a little less mall.

French eshop Little Fashion Gallery has a Christmas Gallery stocked with loads of whimsical toys, books and accessories for boys and girls that are organized by age/designer/price/gender (translation: even Dad could do the shopping).

For utterly unique gifts (no Lego here), check out the Wooden Dog by Japanese neo-pop artist Yoshitomo Nara (66.05€, pictured), the minimalist Momoll Ding Archi Plexiglass House (174.75€) from Scandinavia and the ridiculously hip Dada magazines (6.27 € each)—perfect to keep your tween away from Tiger Beat

Shipping and duty calculated at checkout, www.littlefashiongallery.com

Between scheduling your kids' play dates and piano lessons, don't forget to pick out something pretty for yourself for Mother's Day. Whether it's brunch or a bracelet, we've got gifts for every type of mom. (PS: Forward this along to dad—he'll appreciate the hint!)

The Foodie:
Painted utensils ($55) by Adina Gwatkin Designs are great for a Martha Stewart mommy to show-off at her next dinner party. www.paintedtools.com

The Yummy Mummy:
This fun and flirty jumpsuit ($190) by Barila Clothing goes from playtime to cocktail hour with a quick accessory change. Available in Vancouver at Fine Finds or contact Barila for a store near you. www.barilaclothing.com

The Crier:
Luxe Designs makes charm bracelets and necklaces perfect to warm a mother’s heart—and bring a sentimental tear to her eye. From $146 at Blue Ruby or online at www.luxe-design.com

The Earth Mama:
She can chase her little one around the market and help save the world with the stylish BYOB shopping bag ($37). For retailers across Canada visit www.bringyourownbag.ca

The Rookie:
Treat the new mom in your life to mimosas and eggs benny at the The Sutton Place Hotel. Vancouver and Toronto are introducing a  baby menu on Sunday, May 10 just in time for family brunch. $46 for adults, $23 for kids under 12, www.suttonplace.com

And also for whimsy and wackiness, words that perfectly sum up the new décor store Walrus, opened by a pair of Inform Interiors alumni this weekend.

We fell for wobbly wine decanters called Bertha and Karl ($75), miniature oil lamps by New York’s Adam Frank that cast shadows of laser-cut steel trees on the wall ($74), delicate necklaces with tiny silver paper airplanes (from $64) by Vancouver’s Rexford Lavado and we’re looking out for modern ceramics by New York’s Lorena Barrezueta.

The last word: Wow!

Walrus, 3408 Cambie St, Vancouver, 604-874-9770, www.walrushome.com

One too many rum eggnogs made you miss the One of a Kind Show and a fight with the flu meant you couldn’t crawl out of bed for the Eastside Culture Crawl either.

There’s no reason you can’t still get your hands on something handmade.

Poppytalk Handmade is a choice collection of handcrafted goods—from dishware to jewellery—curated by Vancouver blogger Jan of Poppytalk. Like a virtual Portobello market, the site showcases select artisans and designers every month from near and abroad with links direct to their Etsy shops. Just launched, its hefty Holiday Market is chock-full of fancies.

Among our favourites featured: Torontonian Miss Crowland’s custom silhouettes ($8-$95), Jen Khoshbin’s hunting trophies made of patterned paper ($345), Alicia Bock’s painterly pictures ($5-$45) and Alyssa Ettinger’s porcelain pottery that looks exactly like knitwear ($39-$150).

You promised to hand make gifts this year. This is your loophole.

The Holiday Market runs now until December 12th.

www.poppytalkhandmade.com

New Vancouver site www.raspberrykids.com has the answers to your most pressing kid quandaries.

No cash for a family holiday? Give the wee ones their very own retreat with a Lucy and Michael striped kid's tee pee ($339) that comes tied with grosgrain ribbon. They'll never miss the trip to Hawaii. (But you might.)

Or hush-a-buy your baby this modern infant hammock ($429) that looks like an art installation. Call it "Baby sleeping soundly in corner." 

But genius of genius is this change table with an automatic diaper dispenser ($157.99) designed by a mechanical engineering mom. Makes a perfect Father's Day present, don't you think?

View products and shop at www.raspberrykids.com

Herewith, our top for the Pops, from $20 to $200.

5. For the danger dad, this year’s James Bond book by Brit Sebastian Faulks called Devil May Care (from $16.47 at www.chapters.indigo.ca).

4. For the fashion-forward dad, Comme des Garçons 2 Man fragrance ($108) in this great bottle exclusive in Western Canada, or Tanner leather belts (from $88) that get better with age at Roden Gray.

3. For the rad dad, some locally-made and -designed duds by Wings + Horns, like high-end hoodies ($195) and reversed twill cotton shorts ($175) at Holt Renfrew.

2. For the retro-rock dad, the new Eagles album The Long Road Out of Eden along with this month’s Rolling Stone. $19.99 (exclusively online) at Chapters.

1. For dapper dad, a gift certificate for a straight edge shave, hot towel treatment and scalp massage ($25) from retro-chic Farzad’s Barber Shop in Yaletown. #126-1208 Homer St., 604-408-0060.

It used to be terribly gauche to give mom cookware for Mother’s Day. But now that she belongs to a dinner party club and watches Heston Blumenthal’s In Search of Perfection religiously, go nuts!

We love this idea from Williams Sonoma: grab a bright-coloured oven mitt, fill it with silicon spatulas, herb shears, tongs and pancake flippers along a colour theme (we chose celery green and lemon yellow), tie with a cheerful ribbon and you’re done.

Just make sure it’s you who’s cooking brunch. 

Williams Sonoma, 2903 Granville St., Vancouver, 778-330-2581, www.williams-sonoma.ca

What? You’re not wearing the names of your loved ones around your neck? How will they ever know how much they mean to you?

The perfect gift for new mothers, bridesmaids or best friends, the sterling silver nametag necklaces from West Vancouver’s Sarah Taylor Designs are custom stamped (3 tags, $35) and come on a cool chain with a heart closure.

Mother’s Day, done.

View styles and order at www.sarahtaylordesigns.com