Last-Minute Wooden Gift Ideas
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Last-Minute Wooden Gift IdeasChristmas is coming or so my three-year-old nephew reminds me again and again and again.

If you’re like me when it comes to holiday shopping, you don’t give much worry to putting off today for what can be done tomorrow, at least until December 23. Then it’s time to go into two-minute warning shopping mode.

While I have yet to spend a dime on a present, I have at least started scouting out gift ideas online and in the process have stumbled across numerous items made of wood that just might make the perfect last-minute present for that special someone.

Following are a few of my faves.

Last-Minute Wooden Gift IdeasThin, thick or pan, no matter, this stainless steel pizza cutter with wood rifle handle gun grip will get the job done. The rifle handle grip, the brainchild of Vick Vickery (I'm not making that name up), is made from purple heart, finished with “a combination of food safe waxes and oils." Price: $45

Wood Bike FenderI’m not sure how practical this is, but for the bike enthusiast who has everything, a rear wood bike fender might be in order. Custom made from cherry wood maple or walnut, these bike fenders include stainless steel supports and hardware. Each fender is finished with a marine oil/marine polyurethane blend that provides water and UV protection. A lamination process, using a waterproof epoxy glue is used to shape the fenders. This, according to the manufacturer, offcutstudio of Toronto, ensures the fenders won't lose they're shape when they get wet and the waterproof glue ensures they won't delaminate. Price: $75

Last-Minute Wooden Gift IdeasHacoa of Japan makes a wide assortment of wood peripherals for the computer savvy including USB flash memory drives, a memory card reader and a USB hub, The stand-out product is the fully wooden computer keyboard. "You can feel it different from plastic one," the company says in broken English translation on its website. "It makes lovely sound when you type it like a song of forest." Price: $648

Wood Lumber truck toyEndeavour Toys boasts some 325 wood toys on its website. Among them is this Classic Log Truck of the Montgomery Logging Company. It transports four 3-1/2-inch-long removable logs and a pair of wooden loggers. As an added bonus, this is made in the USA by Maple Landmark of Middlebury, VT. Not only are batteries not included, they're not needed. Price $42.50

Last-Minute Wooden Gift IdeasI saved the best for last. The Periodic Table of Swearing spoofs the Periodic Table of Elements. It features 102 buttons mounted on a laser-cut MDF table. Pressing a button delivers an expletive or cuss phrase, most of them taken from British culture, no surprise considering it was originally designed as a marketing tool poster by Modern Toss of the United Kingdom. Clay Interactive has taken the concept to another level. Try as I might and as many postings on this product as I viewed, I could not find one that indicated what it costs. In other words, if you can find a way to order it, it would be the priceless gift of the season.

Happy Holidays!

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