Handy ideas: Some options for last-minute gifts for DIYers in your life
Last minute shoppers looking for gifts for DIYers may have to contend with some gaps in the store shelves, like the ones shown here in a hammer display at a local home improvement store.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald
Snow blowers wait for last-minute shoppers looking for options for gifts at a local home improvement store.
Power tools, with some gaps shown here, fill the shelves at a local home improvement store, one of the possibilities for last-minute shoppers looking for gifts for DIYers.
There may not be quite as many options for last-minute shoppers looking for gifts for DIYers, exemplified by the gaps in the power tool shelves shown here at a local home improvement store.
MOSES LAKE — Let’s face it, time’s about up for getting those Christmas gifts.
Sure, there’s online shopping, but is it really a good idea to trust those gifts for the do-it-yourselfer to be delivered in time at this point? And there’s all the supply chain issues – is that multi-purpose tool, screwdriver set or circular saw even in stock?
Luckily, there may be some options on the shelves at local stores. The supply chain issues mean there are some empty spots on those shelves, but there may be some interesting options out there.
The Moses Lake Lowe’s has a special gift section, with obvious options like flashlights of various sizes to a screwdriver set complete with a bottle opener.
Last-minute gift shoppers can find organizer sets, an LED light worn around the neck, a toy tool set for kids or a special screwdriver that removes damaged screws.
There are supply chain disruptions and it shows up in the hand tools aisle. There were gaps among the hammers on display at Home Depot last week, and some sold-out screwdrivers at both Home Depot and Lowe’s. There were also some gaps among the wrench sets.
Work gloves, laser levels, chisels, tape measures, files, pry bars, wire cutters, pliers, clamps and vises are all useful in the workshop or the woodshop.
Gardeners like gloves, pruners, misters, watering cans and hand tools from brooms and rakes to garden trowels.
Power tools also are welcomed in the workshop and woodshop. Last-minute shoppers have a number of choices of circular saws, drills, planers, grinders, sanders and jigsaws, among others. Tools that perform multiple tasks also are popular, and available. But it’s a good idea to check the shelf below the displays, because some of those models might be out of stock.
Some models of power tools come with cords – there is the power thing, after all. There are even more cordless options, and both are available on local store shelves. But shoppers looking at cordless tools should take a second look at the spot where the battery goes, because some are sold without the battery.
Now, battery packs are available, but maybe not all batteries for all models. Last-minute shoppers should take an extra minute to check that battery.
Gardeners, too, like power tools, and stores had adequate supplies of leaf blowers, edgers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, chainsaws and brushcutters Dec. 15. But there were gaps in the shelves.
And if it gets to the very last minute, if the battery just isn’t there or all the screwdriver sets are sold out, there’s always one option left, and that is a gift card. Gift cards in general, and for do-it-yourselfers in particular, are available in many local businesses.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.
