By Emily Baer

Even though the weather outside isn’t frightful, the holidays are in full swing. Yes, that’s right shoppers, only 18 days left till Christmas and 15 days until Hannukah!

Don’t be scared. You are in luck. There are tons of great shops in our neighborhood that will suit everyone on your list from your grandmother to your four-legged best friend.

In order to be of some assistance, I hit a few places on the Upper West Side that might help you in your gift-giving adventures. The Urban Space Market at Columbus Circle is a great place for one-stop shopping because you can pick up gifts ranging from handcrafted jewelry to handmade ornaments to gourmet chocolate. Here are some of the items I found:

This beautiful gold starfish cuff, pictured above, sells for $35 and makes a great gift for your sister or close friend.  Its available at www.ktcollection.com.

These chocolate disks with colorful prints on them make a wonderful hostess gift for those many neighborhood holiday parties we all will be attending. The images on top of the chocolate confections are actually sugar paper that has been applied to the top of the candy. They come in white and milk chocolate (Christmas and religion-neutral designs are available too). They are sold by Rogue Confections and range in price from $5-$25.

Your mother would love it if you got her these beads of wax. Don’t ask us how we know, just trust us. When poured into a glass container, they form a candle. They are from Nio Dead Sea Philosophy and sell for $7 and the scent is, in fact, heavenly (unlike the actual Dead Sea, which is somewhat slimy).  Buy her a few so she can relax away the stress of the holiday season!

In addition to the market I also hit a few other stores that could also serve as one stop-shopping destinations. The gifts I found were whimsical, practical and affordable.

The first place I want to mention is a relatively new store called Maxiga located at 2233 Broadway around 80th Street. When I first went into this store a few months back, I was a bit skeptical. It’s filled with cute novelties, but not necessarily things I would rush to the store to buy. But with the holiday season upon us, it’s a wonderful place to pick up something unique. A luggage tag (above) in the shape of a New York taxi for your aunt, the world traveler, will let her know you are thinking of her. What about an stress ball in the shape of a banana for your father to help him deal with the stress of the holidays? Once you feel it you may want to pick one up for yourself. Believe me, it’s a wiser investment than booze to see you through the season! ($18)

The store Therapie, at 305 Columbus Ave and 75^th street, is also a great place to find gifts for those on your list. For the man (or men) in your life, Therapie has a great selection of high-end shaving creams. For your iphone/ipad addicted friends there are iphone /ipad compatible gloves in just about every color of the rainbow. A Winesap Apple Spice candle ($30) is a great gift for your grandmother.

The Dine Ink ($13) set is a great gift that promotes good time management! It’s a cutlery set at one end with a pen at the other, so when you are eating and holding your silverware in your hand, your will also have your pen handy so you can keep on working!

I’ve only named a few places to find great gifts on the UWS, but there are so many more places that have unique and special items. If you have any questions or need suggestions for gift ideas, please let me know in the comments and I will be happy to help. Happy Holidays!

All photos by Emily Baer.