2015 Christmas Shopping Guide: A look at what’s hot for the cold season
With the holiday season jingling bells and cash registers throughout Eeyou Istchee, many are scouring the Internet in search of the perfect gift or planning a trip south to fill up their Santa sacks. The challenge can be finding the time to get it all and getting it all right.
This is why we at the Nation scoured the malls and the Web to find out what’s hot this season for the tech fan, glamorous gal, happy hunter, home renovator, foodie, fitness fanatic, sports fan or folks who just want to cuddle on a cold winter’s night.
For the tech lover
For the guy or gal who loves keeping up with the trends when it comes to the device market, there’s little doubt that this season’s hottest item is Apple’s new iPad Pro.
The iPad Pro boasts an expansive 12.9-inch Retina display, refined Multi‑Touch technology and nearly double the CPU performance of iPad Air 2. This lighter, faster upgrade features all sorts of goodies like Apple Pencil and better capabilities than any other tablet out there. The hefty sticker price, which starts at $1,049 for the 32GB version, comes as no surprise to those in the know.
Cropping up more and more in the communities these days, drones are becoming the ultimate toy as they have phenomenal maneuverability, come with increasingly powerful camera capabilities and allow for stunning aerial perspectives.
Because of their popularity, drones now come in just about every price range. If you are on the market for a drone for the kids to fly around outside, the Parrot Airborne Cargo Drone Mars MiniDrone with Camera retails for about $139.99 and comes out of the package ready to operate. Available at Best Buy, this gadget is ideal for the first drone experience and won’t break the bank if it gets stuck in a tree.
For a high-tech, professional experience, the 3DR Solo Smart Drone offers stunning and simple aerial photography with full GoPro control and live video streaming from your GoPro straight to your smartphone or tablet at a range of up to 800 metres.
Retailing at $1,299.99, this drone is great for checking out where that caribou herd is headed, taking spectacular landscape footage, or filming your outdoor adventures
For the techies who have everything and keep their life in their devices, one way to get a bright and cheery Christmas morning smile is to find a Caseable product under the tree. These custom-made covers, sleeves and pouches not only offer spectacular protection for the device they are covering but are also completely customizable to feature a selected design offered by Caseable or comprised of the images of your choosing.
Featuring all kinds of beautiful and brilliant soft laptop covers for anything from your 11-12’ laptop, all the way to a MacBook Pro 17 or MacBook Air 13, these cases are durable, practical and design savvy.
For the gal who likes to pamper herself
One of the best parts of holiday shopping is that cosmetics companies offer all kinds of exclusive product add-ons, colours unavailable other times of the year and generous gift sets.
For the budding makeup artist or the lady who wants to up her game, this Sephora Collection Tools of the Trade brush set is great value. Retailing at $74, it features a collection of eight brushes for the eyes, cheeks and complexion that would normally run for about $190.
For a big-ticket item that will keep her warm, last for years and make her the envy of all of the other ladies around the community, look no further than Nunavik Creations for a gorgeous pair of sealskin mitts or Pirurtuliik.
Handmade by Inuit women in Nunavik, these traditional sealskin mitts come in a various colours with a variety of different trims, including natural harp seal with silver fur, red harp seal with red finn raccoon, red harp seal with black fox, black harp seal with blue frost fox and navy harp seal with navy finn raccoon.
While they may seem a little pricey at $349, these luxurious mitts will last for years and are of unparalleled beauty!
Pirurtuliik / Sealskin Mitts by Nunavik Creations
If your lady is the type who can’t get enough purses and is a fan of the beaded jewelry look, Mohawk designer Tammy Beauvais has created a stylish purse that is beautifully ornate and the perfect accessory to take a long the powwow trail. Roomy and eye-catching, this purse measures 12″x7″x9″ and can fit all the usual gear a gal needs throughout her day. It retails for about $80.
Tammy Beauvais Floral Print Purse
Of course, if your lady loves to accessorize and is a fan of the Haida designs that adorn so many of Dorothy Grant’s creations, her killer-whale shawl makes for a lovely gift. Available in both blue and red, this shawl is a made from a jacquard woven 50-50 silk/wool blend so it’s both warm that it can be worn on a cool summer evening or to dress up a suit or sweater. Running for $150, it available exclusively on Grant’s website.
Dorothy Grant Killer Whale Shawl
For the hunter
If your man is in need of a new skinning knife, this Mossberg Fixed Skinning Knife makes for a
lovely stocking stuffer. Quality made and only $20.67, this 6.5″ knife is handy to have around the camp and great for getting the job done.
Protect that gun whether it’s a rifle or shotgun with Cabela’s Armour Xtreme Moulded Single Long-Gun Hard Case. It’s waterproof and dustproof for a single-scoped rifle or shotgun. You can padlock it for extra safety. At $99.99, it comes with a lifetime warranty and meets airline requirements.
The Remington Model 783 Bolt Action Rifle is a fine firearm for beginners. It comes with a scope and a redesigned stock for easier handling. It comes in .22-250, .233, .243, .270, .300 magnum, .30-06, .308 and 7mm magnum. The CrossFire trigger system allows you to adjust the trigger from 2.5 lbs to 5 lbs of pressure. Hunters who have reviewed this rifle are glowing about its capabilities and highly recommend it. And it’s only $399.99.
For Mr. (or Ms) Fix-It
If there’s nothing more fun than getting power tools, a brand-new drill is a great way to go! And, if you are looking for a sure bet purchase, this Mastercraft 20V Max Lithium-Ion Hammer Drill has been tested numerous times by Canadian Tire to make sure that it can stand up to a workout!
This drill features a ½” keyless chuck and 375″ in. lbs. of torque, a forward and reverse LED indicator and a built-in work light and on-board bit storage. Retailing for $142.49, this drill is a great buy.
If a loved one is gearing up for a career in the construction industry, check out this 24-inch handheld aluminum toolbox at Home Depot. Featuring a removable plastic tray and two clasps for locking and a bright diamond-plated exterior, this well-made and durable toolbox runs for a cool $89.36.
Carving tools make a wonderful gift as this hobby can melt away the hours over a long, winter and make for some beautiful results. Beginners would do well with this starter set from Omer DeSerres. It’s priced at $33.19 for 10 different carving knives to get a budding woodcarver started.
For the foodie
If your cook is in need of a new toy that can both griddle and grill, this Cuisinart CGR-4NC 5-in-1 Griddler promises to be a lot of fun. Featuring a contact grill, panini press, flat grill and griddle with removable, nonstick grill and griddle plates that are reversible, this Griddler features cooking plates that drain grease for healthier cooking. Made of brushed stainless steel, this item comes with drip cups, a cleaning/scraping tool and an instruction and recipe book. At $99.99, this item is guaranteed to be the talk of Christmas morning.
This all-in-one blender/chopper from Cuisinart is the perfect gift is a whiz at blending soups and chopping veggies, and ideal for making smoothies. Featuring a 350-watt motor, this powerful kitchen gem features a special digital compact base with high/low and pulse settings. It’s also illuminated and gives you one-touch control for any job and comes with four BPA free 16-oz or 473 ml travel cups to take your nutritious concoction out the door with you as a breakfast-on-the-go or a lunch-in-the-bush. Retailing at $69.99, this versatile blender/chopper is ideal for the budding or seasoned chef.
Cuisinart Blender-Chopper All in one
For a stocking stuffer that will produce a good giggle, this Fairly Odd Novelties Southern Homewares AK47 Gun Ice Cube Tray should pretty much do it. This tray makes gun-shaped ice cubes that are ideal for cocktails or for when you want to arm a small frozen army. It retails at $14.93.
Fairly Odd Novelties AK47 Ice Cube Tray
For the fitness fanatic
Looking to get fit or become the fastest runner in town, the Fitbit Surge Smartwatch is the best-rated activity tracker of its kind and has all sorts of interesting features, such as built-in GPS and automatic, continuous heart-rate monitoring. The perfect tech tool to get real-time statistics on your workout like pace, distance, calories burned, heart-rate intensity, and target zones to make the most of your training. Since it can track your all-day stats for added health insights, this piece of gear helps the user to compete against their best performances. Retailing at $300.24, this gadget combines all of the latest technology and sleek style in models for both men and women.
For the fitness fan who is just starting out or looking to heal an injury, the NeeBooFit Resistance Loop Band Set: Best Fitness Exercise Bands makes for a great gift as this full set of six comes with a variety of different resistance level bands. Ideal for a home workout, these resistance bands can take the place of dumbbells. Fun, colourful and easy to use, they come with their own carry bag and exercise booklet, cost only $25.00 and are guaranteed for life.
For your favourite sports fan
What better way to cuddle up on game night than this over-the-top head-to-toe onesie for the Habs hockey fan? What better way to show your love of the game with this gigantic, warm and cuddly one-piece pajama set? Ideal for lounging, viewing or sleeping, this $113.95 outfit could be worn as an extra layer to keep warm and piss off Bruins and Leafs fans.
Montreal Canadiens Adult Onesie
If you are going to buy one for daddy, you may as well get one for baby too so that you can deck out the whole family in onesies. This Montreal Canadiens baby sleeper is the perfect gift to put your budding baby hockey fan down in and is perfect to soothe your infant to sleep. Retails for $36.79.
Montreal Canadiens Kids Sleeper
Both of the aforementioned items can be ordered with logos featuring other teams – if you dare.
But, if you are shopping for someone you hate, you may want to consider this appropriately named “Toronto Maple Leafs Blue Patches Ugly Sweater.” Ideal for the fan of ugly sweaters and the Leafs, this garish garment retails for $69.95, is made from 100% acrylic and is perfect to wear to an ugly sweater party. An item like this can surprisingly get a lot of wear, if not so many compliments.
Toronto Maple Leafs Ugly Sweater
A final suggestion for the kids 
If your little guy or gal fantasizes about playing dress up in military gear and could use a new spring coat, these Up and Away jackets are quality made and feature military, science profession or race designs so that your little guys can wear their own A-2 Bomber jacket or even space shuttle gear. Ideal for the kid who wants to become a fighter pilot, paleontologist, astronaut, or pursue any kind of military career, these coats are durable for spring/summer/fall outdoor play and encourages them to dream.