Christmas spirit is great. Most people (religious or not) enjoy the fuzzy feeling of the holidays and love decorating and getting into the proper mood.

But sometimes decorating goes over the top. Tinsel, various ornaments, seasonal centerpieces – fabulous. Santa Christmas Snow Globe Bottle Stopper – less so. Snow globes are amazing… when they’re good quality (you know, when the “snow” looks like snow) and stand-alone.

Putting one on top of a bottle of wine defeats the purpose; is one supposed to shake the bottle to get the full effect? I don’t think the drink inside will enjoy it too much.

Thank you, I’ll use a regular cork and my old snow globe separately.

How much under $29.99?
A lot: £2.25 on DeCuisine.co.uk.

Via Foolish Gadgets

In a world that’s almost abandoned letters, we hope holiday cards won’t go away too soon. However… Hallmark cards? Again? Honestly, I spend more time picking an e-card than some people do choosing paper cards. It’s the gesture that matters, yes, but when the card is out of the ordinary the gesture will be twice as appreciated.

Not that there’s anything wrong with traditional cards, especially if Auntie Mary has been collecting Santas for 20 years. However, special people deserve special treatment, and if you’ve got a relative or friend with a great (and slighly weird sense of humor), the Wondermark Greeting Cards are the best choice.

How could you resist the woes of Mapquest (the Wise Men who accidentaly end up in China), a materialistic little girl on Chanukkah or a shepard with a blog (pictured – “Oh, I am so blogging about this”)?

Each card features an reproduction of a 19th century engraving with an irreverent text and a matching holiday wish on the inside. Not for the humorously-challenged.

(P.S. If you look closely, you’ll see the website also offers cards for other occasions, so don’t forget about it after Christmas.)

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $6 for 3 cards on Wondermark.com.

Via BoingBoing

I dare you not to groan at this. A powerful Sith Lord turned into a toy… and disgraced by a Santa hat?

Exactly. The Santa Vader Bobble Head comes in a limited edition of 2,000 pieces, but that won’t make our Lord any happier. A limited edition of 1 would be too much to bear. It’s got a Santa hat, for God’s sake! A villain associated with such a jolly fellow… that just won’t do.

If you’re inclined to cruelty then you’ll love this. It’s cheesy, it’s funny, it’s the ultimate insult to Vader – it rocks! (Well, as much as a bobble head can rock.)

He’s 6″ tall and one of the few Christmas products I’ve seen so far I wouldn’t mind getting. Stocking-stuffer, yes, but the good type.

How much under $29.99?
Some: $14.99 on ThinkGeek.com.

Who doesn’t have that one friend who always gives the stupidest gifts? The odds of getting a Mooning Santa depend on:
a) how web-savvy they are;
b) how much money they’re willing to pay.

Like you can guess, this toy is not the kind you want the kids to see. It’s motion activated, so it will look harmless until the poor victims pass by and Santa gives them his speech (“Ho, Ho, Ho. Seeing that you’ve been extra good this year, Santa’s got an extra special surprise for you. Merry Christmas!”).

The surprise? Yeah, you guessed: he shows them those nether regions.

However, it’s not exactly cheap, so some tricksters will go for more affordable gifts, saving their friends from the difficult decision of whether to throw it away or not.

How much under $29.99?
A little: $24.99 on Amazon.com.

Desk Christmas decorations have been the hit of the past few years, but many of them are of dubious quality. For someone who doesn’t want anything currently on the market, there’s two alternatives: not buying at all or DYI.

For those who prefer the latter, the 3D Christmas Tree Kit is a simple and inexpensive solution. It does require a certain level of electronics knowledge (and soldering skills), but just 8 easy steps will result in a cute and geeky cubicle decoration. It needs a 9V battery to work, which can also be used as a stand.

Who needs tealights for atmosphere when you’ve got a bunch of homemade trees?

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $8.99 on MakerShed.com.

Via Makezine

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Well, if it doesn’t snow, tough. You’ll have a green or dirty brown holiday season.

Unless you get a lot of Insta-Snow. But, as long as you don’t want cover your front lawn in the stuff, a can should be enough to get you a nice and white tree.

A little bit of “snow” plus some water will get you a lot of faux flakes – this superabsorbent polymer expands to 100 times its size! And it does it in an impressive way, so you’ll end up making more than you need simply for the visual effect.

One pack can create 5-6 liters of snow and the best part is that you can reuse it as long as you wish. After it dries up just add more water and it expands back. Now where’s that Christmas tree?

How much under $29.99?
A lot: ~$9 on Firebox.com.

As usual at this time of year, a slew of products are launched for people who don’t want to make any effort to think of a Christmas present. Incidentally, that makes them great for business partners or young cousins who will like the pretty colors, but doesn’t mean anyone can get away with giving them to their wife.

And, again as usual, they come with a really long name, such as Novelty Santa Claus Christmas Stocking 2GB USB Memory Stick. No need to explain what it is or what it looks like. It’s just a random something which is sort of useful and still cheap enough to make bulk gift giving easy.

How much under $29.99?
Some: $18.99 on SourcingMap.

Via ChipChick

Even though the Monty Python story ended in the ’80s, the British comedy troupe is still considered one of the best humor acts to ever grace our TVs or stages. It’s no wonder they have so many fans, even among those who weren’t even born when the Pythons were performing.

Insults about hamsters, funny accents and walks, a king and a messiah, the Spanish Inquisition and dead parrots are just a few of the ingredients of the Python recipe for success. And, naturally, when something is so good, people will want to show their appreciation.

If you’ve got a friend who’s a fan of the Brits (plus American), you can surprise them for Christmas with a jumbo pack of Python stuff. Since s/he probably owns every conceivable DVD and maybe some old VHS too, you’ll need to be creative…

But we’re here to help.

Introducing the best Monty Python Christmas presents…

First off: everyone needs clothes, and these are two of the coolest Python t-shirts you can get online.

The rabbit on the Killer Bunny t-shirt might look cute, but the red stuff is blood, and any Python fan can recognize the infamous line from the Beast of Caerbannog scene. This gets extra points because the design is actually cool by itself, not only because it relates to The Holy Grail.

On the other hand, The Knights Who Formerly Said Ni t-shirt is one for the fans who aren’t afraid to show their love for silly jokes. “Ecky ecky ecky ecky pakang zoom boing” indeed. And no, if you haven’t watched the movie you won’t get it.

Next up, toys. Because we’re all kids at heart…

The birthday boy/girl’s inner child will love the Cow Catapult. The “fechez la vache” scene in The Holy Grail is one of the best, and the toy catapult comes with assorted animals perfect for launching a cubicle war. Outrageous fake French accent required.

But you cant have war all the time. For times of peace, get the Black Knight Plush, a harmless type of toy – especially since it comes with removable limbs. Just a flesh wound, of course.

And finally, everyone needs to have some fun.

Yeah, yeh, card games aren’t that entertaining, but the Monty Python Fluxx Game is just as absurd as the troupe’s humor and will provide a lot of laughs and a new view on those “boring” games. How could you not love something with rules as silly as “If you speak with an outrageous fake accent… you may play 1 extra card”?

Get shopping!

There you have it, 5 gifts to make one big one. But don’t worry: even if you can’t afford getting so many things, you can limit yourself to one or two. Each of them costs less than $30. Who said that you have to spend hundreds of dollars to show you care?

Holiday season means everyone everywhere is selling Christmas themed merchandise. Which is not bad in itself, since you can usually find pretty cool things among all the junk.

I’m not quite sure where the USB Fiber Optic Christmas Tree fits in. It’s does exactly what the name says: you plug it into your USB port and the fiber optics make pretty colors (or just put in two AAA batteries). It’s 31 cm tall and weighs 170g. not too big and not too small, either.

It could make a nice office decoration if you’re a cubicle monkey and aren’t allowed more, but it looks pretty tacky to me. I wouldn’t use it at home, there’s better Christmas tree gadgets out there.

However, if you want to light up your office a bit, now is the best time to buy – this tree is on sale.

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $9.99 on clearance on ThinkGeek, $18.99 full price.

Talk about saving trees! This holiday season, why buy a real tree (or even an artificial one), when you can have an… er, tree made out of a motheboard?

Cunningly named Motherboard Christmas Tree, it stands 5 inches tall and it’s made out of motheboard pieces with flashing LED lights for ornaments.

Although I’m not so sure it’s worth 20 dollars, it is awfully cute. What better way to give your desk a Christmas spirit, while at the same time keeping it techy?

(And hey, even though it’s one small bit of one motherboard, you can tell yourself you’re being a true Captain Planet.)

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $19.99 on ThinkGeek.com.

Via Pocket Lint