Artbox is the perfect place to visit if you feel like buying something useless. The Asian gift…read morestore sells a multitude of cute items that are completely useless, but irresistible. Located about a dozen metres from Burwood Railway Station the range of goods is impressive. Cosmetics, stationary, hair accessories, bags, cutlery, oversized plush toys, ornaments and clocks are just a few of the goodies on offer. The Hello Kitty Wonderland is great if you want to buy a unique children's present that differs from the big department store range. I recently stopped by to pick up some goodies for my three-year-old niece. I chose a Hello Kitty mug and filled it with an assortment of wacky hair-clips and lip-glosses. It ended up costing around $30, which in my opinion is a little too expensive for the quality of the merchandise. Nonetheless, the kids (particularly little girls) LOVE the stuff. So in that way, it's worth paying a little bit more. And encouraging toys that aren't Barbie's or Bratz is an added bonus!

The unlikeliest stationery/arts store you'll ever meet…read more What is with all the Mexican flavour infusing everything these days? Not that I mind, of course. I sense a new fad. Typo has a new line of - let's broadly call it stationery- called !Ay Caramba. Yes, I have put the exclamation point in the right place. No, it's not a 'typo', har har. It's not JUST stationery, of course. It's everything a high schooler might need to look a little cooler, and make school a little less boring. Funky pencil cases, pens, and satchels. Satchels are important, in high school, as I recall. Folders, binders, journals, notebooks, wall art, desk accessories.. it's all here, and it's all awesome, you can take my word for it.

After exploring a couple of other gift shops in the centre, this one was a refreshing change…read more Within this tiny shop you can find a wide range of gifts that hit the right notes. I was trying to find something to cheer up a friend. When I settled on an amusing coffee cup for my caffeine dependant friend. I then had to choose the right one, they were pretty much all good... I had to try hard not to laugh out loud while reading each cup... which one was going to draw a chuckle every time the cup was used? The staff were warm and friendly making it easy to shop there.

My mum and my "Big Hair Nanna" are famous interstate bargain shoppers (eg, Cheap As Chips, The Two…read moreDollar shop etc) so I consider myself experienced enough to say this is the best discount store *ever*. The glassware section is huge and has everything from large mirrors to Jesus and Mary statues. There's a whole area dedicated to cupcake paraphernalia, it has more fake flowers than Ikea, and a great selection of cheap garden pots and gnomes... it even has plastic fruit, money boxes, and paper lanterns for Chinese New Year. I always find it hard to find pure cotton socks = and this discount shop has them. Plus a huge selection of ribbons, wrapping paper, toys... since this is in my local area, it'll be my new favourite "cheap imported goods" shop.

Looking for beautiful handmade candles. Then the perfect place to go to is shine candles on…read morePresident Avenue in Kogarah. The shop oozes personality and you have to go in and smell the different candles. They smell divine. All their candles are hand made to perfection and are made out of Soy instead of paraffin. So they are chemical free and environment friendly. Not only that they also last longer than paraffin candles. There are lots of different products like candle melts, mini jars, travel tins, votive and other accessories. They do custom made candles for special occasions like christenings and weddings. Shine candles also do candle parties which are really famous these days. The staff is friendly and are not pushy about what you should buy.

Something here for every age group, might make it my one stop shop for Xmas...great staff on too,…read moresome items a little pricey but great quality...you get what you pay for I guess...super squeaky clean and neat store, not so much as a speck of dust anywhere!

Ouch. Bad pun pain. I walked in the door and was met by a sparkly orangutan card. And 'Stairway to…read moreHeaven' belting out over the stereo. I have a bit of a perverse fascination with patchwork stores. I sew other things, but don't quilt, and love the bolts of colourful fabrics piled up everywhere. This store has a bunch out the back of the more modern funky variety which you don't see elsewhere. Odd vintage inspired prints like 1950's illustrations, bizarre cat and poodle prints (good gracious) and enough fluffy fabric to keep my chenille-obsessed mother happy. But to get to them, you have to walk through the much larger scrapbooking section. I'm sorry, but I don't get scrapbooking at all. It's not craft if all you do is paste. And since much of the stuff you buy is self-adhesive, it's not even pasting. Craft for the creatively-illiterate? Really, Martha Stewart cupcake wrappers? There's a whole big world out there ladies.... So, scrapbooking and Led Zepplin. I could feel my brain going a bit fuzzy. Feared impending stroke as the poor overheated organ strained to compute. Walked past busy staffers and crocheted fish. Tiny alphabet stamps and enough ribbon to keep a few maypoles going. I'll be back for the retro prints after I've calmed down...

Like having etsy on your doorstep…read more The Brook is owned and run by a collective group of members, all artists and craftspeople who sell their work through this great little shopfront. From gorgeous mosaics, to jewellery, knitwear, baby clothes, woodwork, you name it, here you can find a handmade, often one of a kind item made locally. When I popped in the other day I was intrigued by lavender candy, marvelled at some minimalist pottery and picked up a handmirror backed by an artpiece as a gift for my sister. Damn, let the cat out of the bag there! This is a wonderful place to drop in and see the clever workings of those gifted with dextrous fingers, keen observation and patience galore. The members staff the store on a rota system, so you can stop by and have a chat too. There is a wide variety of items available, and caters to an equally wide range of tastes, making it an ideal place to shop for gifts. In doing so you support artists and artisans in the local community and strike a blow against mass-production and conformity. So there. Buy handmade!