Goods & Services >>

• Best place to turn Jagged Little Pillinto a five-dollar bill
  Cheapo Discs
  Everyone has musical skeletons in their closet: an embarrassing Euro-trash obsession, a long-outgrown affinity for death metal, an Alanis Morissette disc purchased during a particularly weak moment. Don't fret. The curiously friendly counter crew at Cheapo Discs has seen it all, and they pass... More >>
• Best spa for Gen-X'ers
  The Blue Door
  Now you can get one leg tattooed while the other one is being waxed! No, seriously: The Blue Door does offer tattooing services, along with related applications of permanent cosmetics and henna body painting. But you can also indulge in every bit of new-age massage media, from Reiki to... More >>
• Best place to get tattooed, pierced before you get a haircut
  Twisted Sol
  One day earlier this year, a young woman arrived in Capitol Hill to get her hair done. Since her regular hairdresser was still snipping the locks of another customer, the woman wandered two doors down, walked into Twisted Sol and got her genitalia pierced. There are many ways to kill time while... More >>
• Best use for old tires
  Jaitire Industries
  Imagine Baco-Bits made of yesterday's Firestones, and you're on your way to envisioning Crown Three, a nifty lawn-care product from a company called Jaitire. Sprinkle it on heavily trafficked areas of turf grass -- dog runs, the mailman's shortcut, the path your kids beat to the swingset -- and... More >>
• Best recycled utopia
  Can Land Recycling Center
  Taking its design inspiration from the board game Candy Land, the folks at Can Land Recycling do their damnedest to put the fun back into recycling. Nestled among the modular-home dealerships of north Federal, the entrance to Can Land is marked by candy-cane-striped poles and a huge, festive... More >>
• Best place to lighten your load
  Family Tree Foundation
  These good people know all about lifting life's little burdens. Aside from being a thrift store, the nonprofit Family Tree Foundation is dedicated to improving the self-esteem of people needing to overcome family crises, violence and homelessness. The funding comes from donations by the... More >>
• Best alley scavenging
  Fourth to Seventh avenues between Downing St. and University Blvd.
  When it comes to dumpster-diving, the best advice you can follow is this: Look before you leap. Peruse, peruse, peruse. And wear comfortable shoes. But here's where the looking's easy on your eyes: You'll find quality and abundance in these well-heeled alleys and, at the same time, get a unique... More >>
• Best incentive to get the kids to clean the house
  BFI Landfill
  It's been said that life's only truly worthwhile pursuit is tidying the house. Sadly, it's nearly impossible to convince children to participate in the joy without having to reward them with some costly bauble that only adds to the clutter. Never again. Family rooms, backyards and garages will... More >>
• Best place to score marijuana in a pinch
  The lawn between City Hall and the State Capitol
  So you want to stick it to the Man? What better place than the lawn between Denver's formidable City Hall and its gilded State Capitol? The best time to score is in the middle of the afternoon: Foot traffic is relatively heavy, and all you'll need is maybe $15 for an eighth of an ounce of pot.... More >>
• Best new narcotics anonymous meeting
  Ray of Light
  You don't have to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered to attend the Ray of Light Narcotics Anonymous group at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Gay and Lesbian Services Center; all of those gals in the busload from the treatment center certainly aren't, nor is that biker guy. The... More >>
• Best realtors for gays and lesbians
  Rosnik & Associates
  Ivonne and Bob Rosnik gave up their real-estate business in May, but over the past fifteen years, the statuesque Swiss matron and her soft-spoken lawyer husband helped more than 150 gay and lesbian couples and individuals buy into the American dream. "For us it was just natural, business-wise,... More >>
• Best condom-storage gadget
  Crazy Condom Keypers, Planned Parenthood
  Still stuffing that condom into the dark crevices of your crammed wallet until the latex sheath decays? Make it a problem of the past by shopping at the Planned Parenthood gift shop, which boasts a slick storage method for your rubber buddy: The Crazy Condom Keyper, a key chain with an opening... More >>
• Best wedding invitations
  Paper Talk
  Weddings are hell to plan -- so much work for a mere lifetime of bliss. But the invitation you send out is a symbol of what you want yours to be like, so pick the perfect one -- right down to the flourishes on the typeface -- with the help of someone who knows what she's doing. Deborah Bodian... More >>
• Best place to get a haircut after you get tattooed, pierced
  Urban Renewal
  Once you have your new body art properly in place, make sure you get back to Urban Renewal. Three hair stylists cut and snip the snazziest 'dos for hipsters of all ages. A women's cut goes for $30, a men's is $20, and every customer receives a "stress-relieving scalp massage." Mmmmmm. Scalp... More >>
• Best romantic Web site
  www.milehighheartbeat.com
  According to Don Rose, "The reason people sweat is so they don't catch fire when they make love." Now, who could find something more romantic than Don's great explanation for perspiration? Rose's poetic wisdom is just one factor that helps www.milehighheartbeat.com reach the pinnacle of romance.... More >>
• Best job applications
  Denver Gov Online Job Application and Resume Management System
  Tired of sticking your foot in the door time and time again without getting anything but a sore foot? Let your fingers do the crashing: After you search www.denvergov.org for city job openings, you can apply right then and there and maintain an online resumé that you can update as needed.... More >>
• Best last-minute schedule checks
  RTD's Online Bus Schedules www.rtd-denver.com
  Anyone who relies on the bus to get around knows how important it is to be able to fine-tune your journeys, especially when you're trying out different routes. Now you can find out if your bus is running late, by clicking on "routes and schedules" at RTD's nifty informational Web site. If your... More >>
• Best tonic for your soles
  Dardano's Shoes and Repair Web site www.dardanos.com
  You could walk the planet five times over just looking for a pair of comfortable shoes. You could, but you don't have to: Dardano's, a family-run business that's been cobbling around town for sixty years, now hawks some of the comfiest footwear around -- such as Birkenstock, ECCO and Josef... More >>
• Best Jills of all trades
  2nd String Moms
  Where can you find a spot nanny who can also run errands, house-sit, walk dogs and curry the pony, all in one fell swoop? 2nd String Moms, a force of 25 started by a pair of recent DU graduates, are exactly what they say they are. They do it all -- or at least most of it: The only thing they... More >>
• Best way to leave a hint
  Wish Registry, Paper Pleasures
  We all need something to write on; some of us like it to be on something pretty, and we're not talking floral-patterned napkins here. But paper is one of those things gift-buyers can overlook, so the next time you're actually asked what you'd like for a present, you'll be ready: Fill out a wish... More >>
• Best wedding photographer
  Moses Street
  Choosing a wedding photographer is probably the most important decision a bride and groom will make. Even if the food is terrible or old Aunt Betty slips and falls into the cake, nothing's a bigger disaster than bad pictures --after all, long after old Aunt Betty's gone, you'll still be looking... More >>
• Best kids' photographer
  Black & White by Krista
  When you want to remember your kids as they were, do you really need ruffles and bubble pants, a goofy smile and Taz spinning around in the background? We didn't think so. Krista's black-and-white portraits are simple and real without the silly props, and they reflect a child's true spirit using... More >>
• Best personalized nostalgia
  Photographs and Memories
  Photographs and Memories proffers all the services related to photo restoration: oil tinting, damage repair, archival enlargements, retouching and so on. But here's their pièce de résistance: They'll make a montage for you out of personal items and photos and then photograph the... More >>
• Best place to pamper your poodle
  Shylo Country Club for Dogs
  It's tough to leave Rover behind for a fun-filled vacation when he's staring at you through the window with those sad, puppy-dog eyes. Avoid the guilt by leaving him at Shylo Country Club for Dogs. Your doggie won't even miss you; he'll be too busy frolicking with other dogs in one of seven... More >>
• Best haircuts for little screamers
  Tortoise and the Hare
  First haircuts are often traumatic, with heads turning this way and that, tears flying and scissors snipping frantically in uneven, ragged lines. The folks at Tortoise and the Hare know this well, and they've figured out how to avoid exacerbating the situation. Aside from experience and... More >>
• Best place to worship your cat
  The Cat Hospital of Wheat Ridge
  Talk about false idols. This six-foot cement statue of a calico cat playing with a giant ball of pink yarn outside the Cat Hospital of Wheat Ridge will remind cat owners just who's the boss. Then again, from the expression on this cat's face, she looks like she just got her shots. Dr. Douglas... More >>
• Best service pets
  Alliance of Best Friends
  It's good to have a friend, but when that friend has a wet nose and a waggy tail, well, that's the ultimate in unconditional love. Plenty of studies have shown that pet visitation programs work: When pets visit seniors, convalescents or kids in hospitals, everyone seems to perk up. The... More >>
• Best service for pets
  Anesthesia-free teeth-cleaning clincs, Pet World
  You've heard the grisly tales about pets who died while having their teeth cleaned, victims of anesthesia. And then there are the ones who fall ill because they didn't have their teeth cleaned. It's an ugly bind, especially if your best friend is getting on in years, but Pet World tenders a... More >>
• Best 24-hour service (1 Comment)
  Walgreen's 24-hour pharmacy
  It's 3 a.m., the neighbor's obnoxious Chihuahua won't stop barking, there's a party going on down the street, and you can't stop thinking about your job presentation tomorrow. At times like these, only one thing will help: Walgreen's 24-hour pharmacy. Not every Walgreen's has one, but if you... More >>
• Best emergency service
  Urban Wildlife Rescue
  Seven out of every ten sick, injured and orphaned critters that limp into Jack and Penny Murphy's nonprofit animal-rescue center walk out again. As a result, this husband-and-wife team -- also known as Coon Papa and Bat Lady -- are sought out by veterinarians, animal-control officers, police and... More >>
• Best free service
  The Denver Water Department's Xeriscape seminars, info and demonstration garden
  Ever wonder why it's so hard to keep grass green in Denver? Erratic weather, freezing winters, burning summers, high winds, bad soil and a miniscule amount of rainfall may have something to do with it. Enter Xeriscape, a word that was invented and trademarked by the Denver Water Department in... More >>
• Best Xeriscape handbooks
  Denver Water Department www.denverwater.org
  Once you graduate from the Denver Water Department's free seminars, how about its Xeriscape handbooks? These will set you back a few bucks, but the series gives all the skinny -- rootstock and barrel -- on how to conserve water and still have a beautiful yard. Four books -- Xeriscape Plant... More >>
• Best general garden center
  Echter's Greenhouse and Gardens
  You always want to try new places, but Echter's is the place you keep coming back to, and here's why: There are acres of merchandise, from birdhouses and gifty gewgaws on one end to an endless selection of trees, shrubs, perennials, landscaping materials and more on the other end. And in... More >>
• Best neighborhood greenhouse
  Groundcovers Greenhouse and Nursery
  Groundcovers Greenhouse is relatively small, tidy and well-stocked -- the perfect place to pick up a few broccoli seedlings or yellow pear tomato plants or a quick packet of regionally friendly vegetable seeds. Offering a good selection of annuals and perennials, and with at least one... More >>
• Best neighborhood garden nook
  The Potted Garden
  Tiny and uncompromisingly lovely on the corner of Gaylord and Tennessee (where it hangs out engagingly like a private backyard retreat), the Potted Garden is the place to pick up elegant baskets of bleeding hearts to hang from your eaves, or large, well-established container-grown tomatoes, or a... More >>
• Best place downtown to hail a cab late at night
  The Brown Palace Hotel
  There are usually a couple of cabs lingering in front of this Denver landmark, but if not, the Brown Palace hotel doorman will almost always help you get one if you're stuck downtown. Just don't be rude: Doormen can get a little ornery when an obnoxious drunk who isn't a hotel guest starts... More >>
• Best garden pagodas
  Barong Collection
  An immediate lull falls over you as you walk into the Barong Collection; perhaps it's the gamelan music that wafts, trancelike, through the room. But it most certainly has something to do with the peaceful profusion of limestone and lavastone pagodas from Bali, ranging in size from shin-high and... More >>
• Best high-altitude cultivars
  Pleasant Avenue Nursery
  The Pleasant Avenue Nursery in Buena Vista has been specializing in the growing and testing of native and apt species for high-altitude gardening since 1972, changing its focus over the years from mined-land reclamation projects to the lighter-hearted realm of mountain gardening and landscaping.... More >>
• Best class for snowbound gardeners
  Make Your Own Tabletop Fountain at Wildflowers
  Now you can hear the sound of falling water (a popular reverberation these days because of its calmative powers) all year long, because this class is offered all year long. Everything's provided except the bowl and pump, which you have to buy separately -- but Wildflowers has those, too. And if... More >>
• Best herbs
  Lily's Herbery
  There's a reason humans have been taking advantage of the curative -- and sensual -- powers of herbs throughout the ages. Apparently, they do work, deadening pain and soothing jittery nerves the natural way. Come to Lily's and you're certain to leave a believer, at any rate: The tiny shop seems... More >>
• Best Zen shopping
  Now & Zen
  You're the kind of shopper who needs products to match your philosophy -- products that bring peace, harmony and love into your life. Or maybe you're just sick of being jarred out of bed by that screeching alarm. Whatever your reasons, Boulder-based Now & Zen can bring you spirituality and help... More >>
• Best introduction to capitalism
  Glendale Public Library
  Glendale's collection of Russian-language newspapers, books and aids to becoming an American entrepreneur are outstanding, reflecting the Glendale Public Library's commitment to serving a growing immigrant community in the land of singles apartments and strip bars. Pass the English-Russian... More >>
• Best store at Cherry Creek Shopping Center
  Illuminations
  Making a pilgrimage is a sacred time for worship and self-reflection. There's the Ganges River for Hindus, the Vatican for Catholics and Mecca for Muslims. Locally, there's even a place for candle-worshipers: Illuminations. As you enter the serene establishment, a sweet, inviting scent drifts... More >>
• Best store at Cherry Creek Shopping Center, Jr.
  The Children's Place
  Kids grow like mutant weeds, wear rips in the knees like trophies and possess mud-seeking radar. After window-shopping the high-priced boutiques at Cherry Creek, it's a relief to stagger into the Children's Place. The store (which has three other metro-area locations) features stylish, bright... More >>
• Best store at Park Meadows
  Lauren Brooks
  After fearing that you'll smack into the kajillion-dollar Jaguar speeding through the parking lot and then bumping into hundreds of cropped-pants-clad shoppers, a visit to the mall can seem pretty stressful. But the Lauren Brooks furniture and accessories store in Park Meadows makes the fear and... More >>
• Best shop at DIA
  U.S. Post Office, Rocky Mountain Station
  Don't lose the phone number, because it's easier to find hard drives loaded with Los Alamos's nuclear secrets than it is to get a direct line to Rocky Mountain Station, the post office on the sixth floor of the main terminal at Denver International Airport. The irony is, once you find this... More >>
• Best parking-lot attendant
  Rose Peterson, 15th and Delgany streets
  Rose Peterson makes sitting in a glass booth all day seem like the best job in the world. Though her customers come fresh -- or, more accurately, soured -- from their morning commutes, Rose, who's been working Central Parking Systems' lot at 15th and Delgany streets for the last year and a half... More >>
• Best flight out of DIA
  Frontier Flight 771 at 9:35 a.m. to Las Vegas
  To say this flight has something for everyone would be a gross understatement. Flight 771 has, at the very least, two somethings for everyone. The show begins at the ticket gate, where travelers will want to marvel at the speed of the boarding operation; the seasoned flight crew will have... More >>
• Best store anywhere on Colfax Avenue
  Temple of Being/Bound by Design
  Colfax Avenue is a five-lane study in contradiction. At points, stately Victorian mansions sit just a cobblestone sidewalk away from folks who call the bus stop home; elsewhere, business folks and city legislators mingle with the drunk, the down-on-their-luck, the intermittent desolation of this... More >>
• Best place to find high-altitude balls
  Game-Set-Match
  Need a new titanium racket or just some tennis lessons? How 'bout a new ball machine, to rent or own? Well, then, log off Anna Kournikova's Web site and head down to Game-Set-Match, near the Park Meadows Mall, for tennis-knowledgeable staff -- they'll even keep track of the tension at which you... More >>
• Best used sporting goods store
  Sports Plus
  Looking for in-line skates at a price that's not out of line? How about a perfectly good mountain bike that won't set you back the cost of a used car? The folks at Sports Plus, on fashionable South Gaylord Street near Washington Park, can help burn calories without burning salaries. You can even... More >>
• Best place to buy coins and estate jewelry
  Tebo Coins
  Coins are Tebo's primary business -- they carry everything from ancient Greek and Roman coins to an admirable selection of U.S. coins and proof sets. The store's friendly staff will answer any question, or at least try to find the answer on the rare occasion that they don't already know it. In... More >>
• Best place to sober up in a hurry
  REI Denver Flagship Store
  Oh, sure, it's sobering to think what a massive effort was involved in turning the crumbling Forney Museum building -- officially known as the 1901 Denver Tramway Power House -- into the incredibly hip new REI store, complete with indoor climbing mountain, indoor/outdoor Starbucks and outdoor... More >>
• Best place to chill out
  Tattered Cover LoDo
  We could write a book on the many reasons we love the Tattered Cover's LoDo store, among them the old, creaky floors; the chipper, non-creaky staffers; the huge selection of newspapers and magazines; the overstuffed chairs that are just the place to read those newspapers and magazines (or take a... More >>
• Best tilemaker (1 Comment)
  Mosaico Mexican Tile Manufacturing
  Natavidad Avila arrived here from Guadalajara forty years ago, and he's been making custom cement floor tiles ever since. He specializes in traditional Mexican and Aztec motifs and translucent, out-of-this-world colors that he carefully pours into intricate patterns copied faithfully from any... More >>
• Best banister
  Native American Trading Company
  Herpetophobes, beware: The cast-iron lizard that snakes its way up a stairway at the Native American Trading Company, a venerable old gallery of Indian and Southwestern art and artifacts, is hard to miss. Herpetophiles, on the other hand, won't be able to handle it enough. The beautiful... More >>
• Best stone
  Colorado Stone Company
  Next time you need a rock around your clock -- or even a bunch of small, random ones to line your garden path -- head to Longmont, where Colorado Stone stocks more colors and varieties of slate, granite, sandstone and other fancy finishes than you could possibly want or need in a lifetime at,... More >>
• Best lock on a parking spot
  CashKey, Denver Department of Public Works
  How to thwart those pesky, persistent meter people: Get yourself a CashKey. The handy card key, electronically programmed and available from the City and County of Denver's Department of Public Works in replenishable amounts of $10 to $100, fits on your key chain and is debited a quarter each... More >>
• Best new looks for old fireplaces
  Victorian Treasures
  Almost anyone who's bought an old decorative has had to ponder this question: Why in the heck did they wreck that beautiful fireplace? We've all seen our share of painted-over, stripped-down, once-magnificent hearths in ruin. Too bad the owners didn't pay a visit to Victorian Treasures, a shop... More >>
• Best furniture imports
  Foreign Accents International Furnishings
  We're a stay-at-home generation -- Internet shoppers and TV watchers. But we can still travel, or at least have a sense of travel in our homes, by shopping for furnishings at places like Foreign Accents International Furnishings, where exotic looks are everyday fare. Stock up here on kilim... More >>
• Best lampshade salesperson
  Lynda Ferris, Lampshade Gallery
  The best life is one in which you never have to worry about a lampshade. Ideally, your lampshade blends unobtrusively into the atmosphere, invisible in its pure functionality. That is, until one too many moves leaves it hanging from its frame, held together by Scotch tape, or a particularly... More >>
• Best Mickey Mouse bathrooms
  Bath & Kitchen Design Center
  Undoubtedly, you've seen them -- glazed-eyed zombies wandering the bath-fixtures aisles at Home Depot or walking stiffly, loaded down with catalogues on "tile row," hoping for a miracle. Forget it, home renovators -- cast your fates to the wind. Enter the high-end idea center at the Bath &... More >>
• Best video store
  Video Station
  Perhaps there's something that interests you in the amused, ironic Czech sensibility, and you want to track it in film, from Jiri Menzel's 1966 Closely Watched Trains through Jan Svankmajer's surreal Alice (1988) and Faust (1994) and culminating in 1996's Oscar-winning Kolya, by Jan Sverak. You... More >>
• Best new-CD store
  Wax Trax
  Late last year, this Denver tradition celebrated its 21st year under current ownership -- but it came of age long ago. Wax Trax continues to offer the finest mix of best-sellers and hard-to-find independent or import obscurities of any business of its kind. As an added bonus, stores featuring... More >>
• Best used-cd store
  Twist & Shout
  Sure, there's a great selection of used discs and vinyl at Twist & Shout, but what lifts it to the top of the heap is its music-loving atmosphere. The joint's support of the local music scene is well-known, and lately it's been staging loads of in-store appearances by touring acts such as Patti... More >>
• Best used-vinyl store
  Don's Discs
  Although it's located in Thornton, a community not exactly renowned for its trendiness, this store has a national rep among vinyl aficionados, and for good reason: Platters that may cost big bucks in New York City can often be found at Don's Discs for a fraction of that price. Add to that a... More >>
• Best anti-theft device at a record store
  Jerry's Record Exchange
  For nineteen years, Jerry's Record Exchange has stocked some of the most obscure folk, classical and jazz selections in town. But a few years ago, when acid jazz peaked its way into the club scene, the store became a target for DJs who were too cheap to buy. Instead of loading up on security... More >>
• Best anti-ticket service
  First Call Communications
  In their quests to make the world a better place, Mahatma Gandhi promoted peace, Mother Teresa nurtured the impoverished, and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for equality. Following these precedents, one Denver man is making his contribution to humanity by committing to protect his neighbors from... More >>
• Best used books
  The Book Stack, Mary Reed Building on the DU campus
  Bookworms are always looking for a new place to gnaw, and the Book Stack, run by DU's Women's Library Association for the benefit of that school's venerable Penrose Library, is a great place to dig in. It's a repository of cheap, cast-off books: hardbacks, paperbacks, children's books,... More >>
• Best kids' bookstore
  The Bookies
  Sue Lubeck's store's been around the block. But now, thankfully, it's actually beginning to wrap itself around the block. A recent expansion will allow Lubeck to better accommodate educators who meet at Bookies without compromising her already crowded retail space, which spills over with... More >>
• Best eclectica
  5 Green Boxes
  This is a place you either love -- or you just don't get. But be forewarned: Don't come in here without a healthy imagination and a love for the beautiful and unusual. Five Green Boxes changes its whole look with every season, segueing as grandly and organically as nature herself, dressing in... More >>
• Best Judaica
  Boulder Arts & Crafts Cooperative
  There's more to Judaica than a nine-armed candelabra and a six-pointed star. With that in mind, the Boulder Arts & Crafts Cooperative has a sharp eye for artful things Jewish: seder plates, Shabbat candles, dreidels, tallitim, mezuzahs, menorahs and more, all sporting the human touch of an... More >>
• Best cultural collision
  Ameri-Mart
  The signs decorating the warehousey building on the corner of West 38th Avenue and Osage Street in northwest Denver bilingually advertise everything from 14k gold jewelry, pagers and stereos to ropa and the joyería inside. But more than anything, it's the business's name -- against a logo... More >>
• Best place to buy an Irish sweater
  Thistle & Shamrock
  Remember the Saturday Night Live skit with Mike Myers wearing a kilt while screaming at customers "If it's not Scottish, it's crap"? Well, Frank and Sheryl Campbell, the owners of Thistle & Shamrock, which carries Scottish and Irish goods, don't greet customers with quite the same hostility, but... More >>
• Best T-shirts
  Cargo
  Ivy Morgan is a traveler, and her little Sixth Avenue nook is a telling repository. Stuffed to the rafters with trinkets and clothing from such exotic climes as Nepal, Indonesia and Thailand, Cargo has wonderful novelties: Chinese Feng Shui compasses, temple candles, singing bowls and thangka... More >>
• Best handbags
  Alice's Tapestries
  Alice Monroney works out of an ordinary storefront, but what goes on inside is extraordinary. Her lush tapestry travel and passport bags, backpacks, flap bags, totes and cosmetic bags are made of fabrics adorned with everything from flora and fauna to the sun, moon and stars. Monroney finishes... More >>
• Best hole-in-the-wall kids' boutique
  Beez Kneez
  Kris and Lewis Butler know kids. Take note of the typical, screaming two-year-old behind the counter and you'll have no question about that. But they also know parents, and the evidence of that is in the snappy inventory of new and used children's clothes they carry in their narrow Gaylord... More >>
• Best kids' resale emporium
  Once Upon a Child
  The store policy says it all: Once Upon a Child will buy back your purchases when your kids outgrow them, a touch that makes a trip to Fort Collins worth the drive. Bargain-hunters will find everything they need here: slightly used V-Tech toys, cute stuffed animals, strollers, cribs, bassinets,... More >>
• Best car wash
  Puddle
  Unlike most gas-station car washes, Puddle actually gets cars clean. Pull up and select the basic wash, or "water works," which includes a car wash, vacuum, dashboard dusting and window-cleaning for $9.99. Then watch, through windows inside the store, as your car rides through the automatic... More >>
• Best handmade frocks and overalls
  LaDonna's House of Design
  Local seamstress Marcel Antoinette has been sewing for 25 years, but started her handmade children's line eight years ago when she had a daughter. One thing led to another: She'd dress the little one in clothes she'd made, people would ask, and soon she was in business. Antoinette works and... More >>
• Best handmade toys
  Sweet Lily's Toy Company
  Janet Banks hated her job as a graphic designer and longed for something simpler. One day, she opened up a book about wooden toys and hasn't been the same since. Though she remembered her grandfather making such toys when she was little, Banks had no woodworking experience, so she taught herself... More >>
• Best toques for tykes
  Sur la Table, Cherry Creek Shopping Center
  Things are cooking at Sur la Table, and not just for you. This kitchenware, cookbook and gadget place caters to kids by carrying mini cooking and baking sets that look just like the grownup versions, dinosaur cookie cutters, clever rookie chopsticks, Mickey Mouse cookbooks, froggy aprons and... More >>
• Best great big beautiful dolls
  The Doll Shop
  Dolls, with their staring eyes and stiff, painted-on features, have a creepy reputation with almost everyone except kids and collectors. But one way to get over it is to make one yourself. Next time you need a nice eyeball, drop by the Doll House. Doll lady Rose Rismanchi stocks everything you... More >>
• Best sock dolls
  Marcia's Kids
  Adorable and little enough to fit in your hand, this human take on the sock monkey (now overtaken by a whole cottage industry of sock moose and hippos and God-knows-whats) harks back to the days when toys were simpler and sweeter. No one's going to gasp in awe when they see one of Marcia's Kids,... More >>
• Best flower fairies
  Konvalinka Porcelain Doll Art
  Mountain-dweller Susan Lee Danaher makes her five-inch sweeties, named Konvalinka after the Slovak word for lily of the valley, from scratch: The tiny, delicate fairies are hand-poured and -painted before being festooned with ribbons, flowers, lace and angels and, sometimes, Danaher admits, tiny... More >>
• Best mini flower fairies
  The Tended Thicket
  These tiny felt dolls, which come in a rainbow of pastel shades, are barely there, but they're perfect to tie on a bouquet or poke into a basket. You can buy the entire ensemble at the Tended Thicket, an agreeable flower and gift shop that starts in a nook and turns into a cranny and specializes... More >>
• Best alien collection
  Sci-Fanime
  They're he-e-e-e-re. More >>
• Best alien mugs
  The Clayhouse
  A tiny South Broadway storefront with a unique idea, Clayhouse is both a handmade-pottery collective and a purveyor of antiques and collectibles. So you can buy a Tiffany-lamp reproduction or a fat, orange-scented candle embedded with potpourri. But what's really out of this world are co-owner... More >>
• Best Hello Kitty collection
  Hello Kitty World at Min Min
  Hello Kitty may just be another one of Japan's attempts to take over the world, but don't be quick to catalogue it next to Panasonic, Toyota or Pokémon. The cutesy kitty remains mysteriously Japanese and -- we admit -- utterly inane, but it still manages to capture our fancies, as well as... More >>
• Best license plate design
  Designer plates
  Colorado began its first major plate replacement since the late 1970s this year, and by December 31, 2003, all 4.5 million plates should have the new designs. Although most people will get the standard white plate with green numbers and letters (which takes the place of green plates with white... More >>