The Gift Detective » Practical Gift http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog Making Gift Giving Personal Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:22:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 A Gift to Help Open Gifts http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/archives/3843 http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/archives/3843#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:40:59 +0000 The Gift Detective http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/?p=3843 Clamshell packages are an absolute *beep* to open. I don’t care if you are twenty-something and the vision of perfect health or eighty-something with arthritis and poor eyesight – they are hard for everyone to open. Heck, even Houdini would have trouble breaking in to a clam shell package! Because so many gifts are packaged this way, I decided to do some investigating on gifts that might help…well, open gifts.  The answer?  The ZIPit.

The ZIPit, $25.24

Available on Amazon – Click Here to Purchase When I first came across the Zipit I was a bit skeptical that it would really be a good solution, mostly because of it’s size. It isn’t some compact little knife will fit in your pen holder on your desk, though it did impressively breeze through cutting open the package. ...read more]]> Clamshell packages are an absolute *beep* to open. I don’t care if you are twenty-something and the vision of perfect health or eighty-something with arthritis and poor eyesight – they are hard for everyone to open. Heck, even Houdini would have trouble breaking in to a clam shell package! Because so many gifts are packaged this way, I decided to do some investigating on gifts that might help…well, open gifts.  The answer?  The ZIPit.
The ZIPit, $25.24

The ZIPit, $25.24


Available on Amazon – Click Here to Purchase


When I first came across the Zipit I was a bit skeptical that it would really be a good solution, mostly because of it’s size. It isn’t some compact little knife will fit in your pen holder on your desk, though it did impressively breeze through cutting open the package. I figured I would keep looking though because there must be a better solution.

Guess what? After doing some thorough investigating, following up on witness statements (reviews), and sifting through evidence (thank you, YouTube and Amazon!) I came back to the ZIPit. It really does seem like the most user-friendly, effective and safe option, despite a funny size and shape. Many other products still looked like you could fairly easily hurt yourself, damage the item you are trying to free from the package, dull quickly or even just looked like more work than an ordinary pair of scissors. Not so with the ZIPit! You literally just press a button while you run the opener along the edge of the package and it smoothly cuts off the edge.

I think the fact that it just removes the edge of the package and comes nowhere near the product has a few distinct advantages.

  • * It maintains the integrity of the package – handy if it is something like batteries, for instance, and you can store the remaining ones in the original container
  • * Opening just the edge means you have a clean way to open the package to get your hand inside – some of the other products I looked at had you cutting through the package leaving jagged edges in the wake as you wiggle a blade to and fro
  • * You are cutting nowhere near the product so you aren’t going to accidentally slice your new item

This isn’t a gift to give just anybody -yeah, it’s cool and it’s useful but it doesn’t really say “Happy Birthday” “Happy Anniversary” or “Congratulations!”, does it? Still, I think, if you give it to the right person at the right time, it will be a much appreciated gift.  I envision you giving this to an elderly relative, your gadget loving mate, the girlfriend who nearly loses her digits trying to open a gift or a brother who loves practical gifts. 

Give this gift in addition to another gift, especially if it is an important occasion, or give it as an anytime gift, but don’t make this the piece de resistance for an important holiday or celebration.

See what you think!  Watch a video below.



The inventor, Steve Fisher, designed the ZIPit so that his mother could easily open clamshell packages and I wonder if that is her at 0:24 in the commercial.  I’m sure his mother regards his thoughtfulness as a gift!

A fun way to make this gift feel a little more personal would be to simply give it to your recipient when you are giving them another gift that has clam shell packaging.  Just make sure they open this gift first!  Also, be sure to give it with batteries (2 AA) so that they can use it right away!!!

I know this is a departure from some of my other gift ideas so I would love to know whether you think this post was helpful or not – don’t be shy, leave me a comment!

Happy gifting!

]]> http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/archives/3843/feed 0 The 10: 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/archives/3308 http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/archives/3308#comments Wed, 30 Dec 2009 08:01:40 +0000 The Gift Detective http://www.thegiftdetective.com/blog/?p=3308 It’s getting closer and closer to the New Year! If you didn’t manage to get your gift shopping done in time for the holidays, you can easily let someone know you are thinking of them by getting them a calendar!

Click to Purchase! $13.49

A calendar like the one pictured above is great for those who don’t even use calendars generally, because it is part calendar, part zany fact book, as each page is filled with interesting trivia, in top ten list form, for your recipient to enjoy. In fact, this is a very versatile gift because calendars are both useful and “one size fits most” gifts.  This particular calendar, by Marnie Winston-Macauley, will “fit” a wide variety of people because, even if you don’t quite ...read more]]> It’s getting closer and closer to the New Year! If you didn’t manage to get your gift shopping done in time for the holidays, you can easily let someone know you are thinking of them by getting them a calendar!

Click to Purchase! $13.49

Click to Purchase! $13.49

A calendar like the one pictured above is great for those who don’t even use calendars generally, because it is part calendar, part zany fact book, as each page is filled with interesting trivia, in top ten list form, for your recipient to enjoy. In fact, this is a very versatile gift because calendars are both useful and “one size fits most” gifts.  This particular calendar, by Marnie Winston-Macauley, will “fit” a wide variety of people because, even if you don’t quite know what your recipient’s tastes are, many people love interesting facts!  (Please note: “One size fits most gifts” are NOT the most appropriate sole gift for a big occasion for someone you are really close to – but they make a nice additional gift to a more personal gift or as a New Year’s gift all wrapped up and sitting in their spot at the breakfast table! Just an example – feel free to get creative!)

Want to add a personal touch to this gift? Read through the calendar until you find a page (or several) that really reminds you about the recipient and leave a sticky note for them to find on that page.  Use the sticky note to tell them why you’ve chosen that page.  In your card, you could mention that you have marked one (or more) of the pages specially for them.  It will give them something to look forward to as they enjoy your gift!

Send this gift out with a “Happy New Year!” card and you won’t seem like someone who failed to get gifts out on time but someone who is not only thoughtful but is on the ball too!

Happy gifting!

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