Spruce up your holiday cards and gifts
Of course you can make address labels on your home computer.
But to give your holiday cards a little extra style, consider one of the holiday panoramic scenes on the Felix Doolittle address labels. Designed by artist Felix Fu, they cost $42 for 30 personalized, self-adhesive labels at felixdoolittle.com.
For gifts, check out some of the fun gift tags - for both presents and wine bottles - at Arlington Heights-based Giftbandit.com. Twelve of the 4-by-5 inch stickers are $12, and can be personalized for an additional charge.
Shop/give
Since it's the season of giving, here are some gift ideas that can help in other ways:
• Help local women rebuild their lives by purchasing the handmade, recycled paper products for sale next Dec. 12-13 at the WomanCraft Open House and Studio Sale, 4115 W. Ogden Ave., Chicago. Or, at www.womancraft.net.
• Purchase a tribute for a family member or friend who has passed away at the new Web site, tributes.com. People can share their favorite photos, memories and other artifacts to show people the deceased is not forgotten this holiday season. A 300-word obituary is free, but to have an obituary with multimedia is $80 a year or $300 for permanent placement.
• Save one acre of rain forest for one year every time you buy one of the Save Your World products. The line includes soaps, lip balms, body lotions and hair care products. Available at Whole Foods and Vitamin Shoppe.
• The Tibet Relief Fund will get a portion of the proceeds from purchases of REN's Tibetan-inspired hand, face and body products. Available at Sephora.
• Help provide massages for chemotherapy patients when you get a R.E.S.T. intentions massage at the bliss spa at the W Hotel Chicago-Lakeshore, 644 N. Lake Shore Drive. Includes an hourlong "nirvana-inducing kneading" plus a 15-minute scalp or foot massage. Twenty percent of the proceeds are donated to charity. ($160 for a 75-minute massage, blissworld.com/spa)
Meet Jessica Simpson
Singer/actress Jessica Simpson will be in town Saturday, Dec. 6, promoting her new fragrance, FANCY. See her at noon on the first floor, near the center fountain atrium, at Macy's, 111 N. State St. in Chicago. The first 300 people to make a purchase from her collection will receive an autographed photo.