Home shopping bliss - What's New? Holiday Gifts Galore - Home Shopping Network Inc

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Nov, 2003

Some people absolutely, positively dread shopping during the holidays. We've never understood that mindset. Gift--buying is an art, a skill, a sport, and a challenge--especially the latter at this time of year. Thus, it is with great anticipation that we await the retail extravaganza that each new season brings.

Trouble is, all the sales smarts and savings savvy built up over a lifetime of mall marathons don't do you a bit of good if the products you seek simply are nowhere to be had. Well, almost nowhere. In flipping the channels, we always stop on the Home Shopping Network. The prices are great, of course, but what really grabs our attention is the line-up of exclusive items. Heck, who doesn't want to give a present that's special and different?

What first pulled us in this season--no surprise here--was a sports item: a four-in-one Tennessee Titans NFL coat for just $99. The NFL Shop--only on HSN--boasts a real keeper with this outdoor garment, which, depending on how you work the zippers and Velcro, is either a heavy winter coat, windbreaker, fleece jacket, or vest.

The next item was another no-brainer, the Teddy-2-Cute-Santa ($25). We recalled seeing the stuffed animal's creator, David Murray, on the "Dr. Phil" show that featured everyday inventors. What appears to be an ordinary cuddly bear turns into Santa Bear--complete with red coat, white beard, and stocking cap--with a flip of his wrists and a nod of his head. Can you say "Merry Cuteness!"?

While we don't pretend to be up on all the latest trends, we know "scrapbooking" has become quite popular of late, whether it's a collection of vacation photos, wedding mementos, special notes from the grandkids, etc. So we knew we'd spotted a must-buy when we saw the Brenda Walton--illustrated The Sound of Memories Talking Scrapbook ($35), from K&Company, LLC, Parkville, Mo. Using her colorful garden and extensive travel through France, Italy, and the South Pacific as inspiration, Walton fills sketchbooks and journals with graceful botanicals, lyrical images, and hand-lettered prose--with samples included to be inserted into the book anywhere you desire. This refillable post-bound album holds 12" x 12" paper, is archival quality (acid and PVC free), and has durable page protectors. The best feature, though, just may be the ability to record 12 separate messages of 20-second durations, thus adding voices to the memories that fill the pages. This surely puts the "personal" into a personal scrapbook.

Finally, we decided to go practical with the GT100 Toothbrush Sanitizer ($60) from Germ Terminator Corporation, Henderson, Nev. This simple-to-use device is designed to kill germs through the time--tested use of steam and a unique "dry-heat" process. Absolutely no ultraviolet light or radiation, ozone, ionization, chemicals, solvents, chlorine, alcohol, or bleach is used during the purification process.

This device simply kills germs by steaming and drying them. All you need to do is fill its reservoir with water, which automatically turns on the "steam" mode, which, when complete, activates the "dry" cycle. The fresh toothbrush is stored in the just--sanitized clean compartment. Lest you think all this is a bit of overkill for a silly toothbrush, realize that mouth--related infections consistently have been associated with "diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and adverse pregnancy outcomes," according to "Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General."