By Charly SHELTON

Christmas is nearly here and, despite what the holiday TV specials might claim, Christmas – for so many – does come from a store. But what to get? We at CV Weekly have compiled a list of our favorite things from the last year that may make great gifts for those on your list. Welcome to our Holiday Gift Guide. All prices are list prices, but there may be better deals out there, so look everywhere.

For Kids

Christmas presents are the end goal of every child’s year. You’re good all year just for the sweet, sweet reward of those presents that validate your existence and behavior. Santa has lots of toys in the workshop to suit every child’s taste. Classics like LEGO never go out of style and, with new sets on the most popular franchises, they are still as popular as ever. The Millennium Falcon Kessel Run set ($169.99) is based on this year’s film “Solo: A Star Wars Story” but fans of the original “Star Wars” will love the Falcon either way. Hogwarts Castle set ($99.95) is also a must-have for any child, muggle or magic alike. Personally, I’d go for The Disney Castle ($349.99), a recreation of Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney World, but my wife said that a 29-year-old kid can’t spend that much on LEGO because its more than our car payment. I disagree.

Creative toys will be big this year – anything that can be built, created or programmed. The Avengers Hero Inventor Kit ($149.95) allows kids to become Tony Stark and code their Iron Man armor to play battle sounds and light up. The Osmo Genius Kit ($99.99) for iPad or Fire Tablet encourages kids to learn while they play in math, spelling, visual thinking, problem-solving and creative drawing skills, using real-world tools and a digital interface. The Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit ($99.99) has kids build a wand, learn code to program it and perform magic.

For the traveler

As a travel writer, I am always ready to pack up and run out the door. The essentials I always reach for are a good backpack and a multi-tool. Having a reliable backpack that supports your back and centers your load can mean the difference between walking for a week or walking for a few hours. My recommendation for the best bag is the REI Co-op Ruckpack 18 Pack ($64.95). This is exactly what I need in the Venn diagram of roomy packing space and weight distribution/ease of carry. For a multi-tool, a Leatherman is the last multi-tool you’ll ever need to buy. The Wave + ($99.95) is a nice middle-of-the-road tool that has everything needed for on the road repairs, building something new or, though hopefully never needed, for survival situations.

Something new that I didn’t know I needed until I had one was a travel blanket. Coalatree sent me a couple of its Kachula blankets ($79) several months ago and I thought I’d just do a product review, say something nice and move on. But, after using it for the first few days, I knew I had something special and decided to save it for the gift guide. This blanket has a topside of soft brushed nylon flannel, and a bottom side of durable ripstop nylon. Both sides are made from 100% recycled materials and treated to be water repellent, so it won’t get bogged down and dirty. It has a built-in hood so it can be worn as a poncho, it stuffs into a hidden zip pocket to become a pillow, it buttons together or with another blanket to become a warm-weather sleeping bag, it rolls up to a small size for easy storage off the bottom of a pack… Seriously, there are a million uses. I didn’t realize until I started carrying it that I would use it so frequently. I should have known how useful it would be – after all, its basically as useful as a towel and, as Douglas Adams wrote, “A towel [“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”] says is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.”

For the photographer

Cameras have gotten smaller and provide higher resolution than they used to just a few years ago. These mirrorless cameras have come a long way and opened up the field to people who can’t afford the high-end mirrored cameras. Mirrorless also makes the cameras small and sleek without sacrificing quality. The Sony Alpha a6000 ($499.99 body with 16-50 mm power zoom lens) is the best camera for the price in that range of features. Below this camera, we start seeing the $100-$200 range of just-slightly-better-than-a-camera-phone cameras and above it are the several-thousand-dollar professional cameras. This is a camera used by professionals and amateurs alike that delivers great results. The photos are sharp, the autofocus is fast – literally the fastest autofocus ever according to the “Guinness Book of World Records” – and the shooting modes are easy to grasp for a newbie while customizable enough for a pro.

For the cook

Cooking dinner can be a lengthy hassle or a cathartic end to the day, depending on the attitude towards cooking. Either way, a great gift for a loved one who does the cooking is a new set of pans. An all-matching, new set of good cookware can streamline the process for those who just want it over with and open new possibilities of fancy dishes for those who love to cook. The Pioneer Woman Vintage Speckle 10 Piece Non-Stick Pre-Seasoned Cookware Set ($89) is perfect for either cook and will make dinnertime a breeze. For those who really enjoy cooking and want a more comprehensive set, The Pioneer Woman Vintage Speckle 24-Piece Cookware Combo Set ($150) includes a Dutch oven, measuring spoons and more to complete the set.

For the Earth conscious

Disposable straws are starting to be outmoded all over the country, and reusable straws are becoming as commonplace as reusable cups. A nice gift set for the Earth-conscious hippy on your list might be a reusable straw and cup together. There is any number of straw options to choose from, be it metal, ceramic, glass, silicone or plastic, and many run at $12 or less. For reusable cups, I was given one as a gift once and it was not only a great, renewable resource but a great insulated travel cup as well. The Dr Stow Straw Wheat Plastic Tumbler ($12.99 for two-pack) is the perfect size and shape and has a removable lid that screws completely off instead of sliding around, which is huge for me, and the plastic is made from wheat.

For the rest

Another very popular gift for the year has been the lava rock bracelet (many brands of bracelets and necklaces, most running between $8 and $15). Made of fast-cooled lava, this rock has giant holes throughout that formed from bubbles during the rapid cooling process – so rapid in fact that by the time the bubble had popped, the rock had solidified too much to come back together like a liquid would. These holes, big and small, are found throughout the rock and, when it is cut into bead sizes, the holes are all over. By adding a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the bracelet, it will smell faintly of that oil all day and act as a kind of oil diffuser on the body. These bracelets have been selling out all summer but they are relatively easy to find online, and a bracelet paired with a vial of lavender oil (many brands, usually between $5 and $12) make a great gift.

  Charly Shelton