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You have presents to wrap, cookies to bake and halls to deck. The last thing you need to do this time of year is standing around waiting for Santa while he takes his state-mandated lunch breaks. Here's our annual guide to Santa's office hours in the South Bay:

Del Amo Fashion Center
310-542-8525

Santa will be at the mall during business hours through Dec. 24.
Those hours are:
Mon to Fri: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from Noon to 1 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Sat: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breaks from Noon to 1 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Sun: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Breaks from 3 to 4 p.m.

Galleria at South Bay
310-371-7546

Santa will be there through Dec. 24.
Nov. 24 and Nov. 25: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Nov. 27 and Nov. 28: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Nov. 29: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Breaks from 2 to 3 p.m.
Nov. 30 to Dec. 4: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 5: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 6 to Dec. 11: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 12: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 13: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 14 to Dec. 20: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 21 to Dec. 23: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Dec. 24: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Breaks from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

The Web site also has a detailed list of photo packages and prices.

Manhattan Village Mall
310-546-5555

Santa arrives Nov. 27 and stays until Dec. 24.
Mon to Sat: 11a.m. to 8 p.m., breaks at 1-2 p.m. and 4:15-4:45 p.m.
Sun: Noon to 6 p.m., breaks from 2 to 3 p.m.
The Web site has a list of packages and prices.

Promenade on the Peninsula
310-541-0688

Pictures with Santa, on two Saturdays only: Nov. 28 and Dec. 19, 1-4 p.m. each day.

Santa's main focus while he's at the Promenade is to spread the holiday cheer, so please bring your own camera so you can get your holiday pictures for free. Free pictures may be especially popular this year, so bring a candy cane snack and be prepared to wait your turn.

Plaza El Segundo
310-647-3431

Santa will park his sleigh next to Toy Jungle for one day only.
Nov. 27: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

South Bay Pavilion at Carson
310-366-6636

Santa arrives on Nov. 27 and will hang around until Dec. 24.
Mon to Sat: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sun: Noon to 5 p.m.

RELATED:
Giving new life to gift wrap
Track Santa online
Helping hands for Secret Santas
Take Christmas photos like a pro

It's Christmas Day, and you've probably scored some cool spoils ... as well as a messy pile of wrapping paper, ribbons and boxes.

Every holiday season, dedicated holiday recyclers find ways to reclaim wrapping paper, containers and bows. Here are some tips to reusing wrapping paper:

+ Gift wrap with few tears, folds or dangling tape can be ironed, tissue paper with no tears can be smoothed and flattened for storage, bows can be steamed and fluffed, fabric bags gently cleaned, and ribbons pressed and rewound for use good as new.

+ If you have no intention of chasing down gift boxes or bags after turning them over to friends, family or colleagues, you can cover store logos with inexpensive decals or seasonal fabric as a way to encourage receivers to pass them on rather than throw them out.

+ Check out http://craftstew.com/recycled-crafts/10-crafty-ways-to-recycle-wrapping-paper and http://tinyurl.com/a2jq52 for more ideas.

... The Associated Press

The big day is at hand. The preparations are complete. The halls are decked, the chestnuts roasted on an open fire, the stockings stuffed, the gifts wrapped, and the eggs nogged.

Now rest, ye merry gentlemen and ladies before a computer and follow these links for some Yuletide joy.

FunTrivia, which in the title bar claims to be the "world's largest trivia and quiz site!," has a very special Christmastime quiz section. Try your hand at any of 30 quizzes that test Noel knowledge. They even track who has been naughty or nice — in this case right and wrong — and reveal how many cohorts answered the questions correctly. Good luck!

For those who wish to give their eye-hand coordination some exercise, free Web-based game repository Miniclip has a collection of games just right for the season.

These games are sure to have your bells jingling.

So you fancy yourself a singer, eh? ... Alone, in your car, with the windows up, when no one's looking.

Well, now you can test your pipes against Martina McBride and Elvis Presley in private, and if you like what you hear, you can share them with your friends via email. As a promotion for the "Elvis Presley Christmas Duets" album, Sony BMG Music Entertainment has created a Web site that allows you to record "Blue Christmas" as a duet with Presley, singing McBride's part from the album.

The site, www.singwiththeking.com, provides a phone number and access code so you can belt out your lines over the phone. If you're pleased with the recording, you can send it in a Christmas e-card. Or, if you discover you sound more like Alvin and the Chipmunks than Presley and McBride, you can send the album version of the song instead.

The whole thing is free.

"Someone in our digital area came up with the concept," said JJ Rosen, executive vice president of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Commercial Music Group. "It fits the duets concept of the album so well."

Because the campaign leans heavily on technology, Rosen said it brings Presley and his music to a younger generation. "We're always trying to keep the Elvis brand alive."

The site launched Dec. 5 and has already drawn 30,000 people from nine countries. It's scheduled to end sometime in January.

-- The Associated Press

Children of all ages, want to know when Santa Claus is coming to town after making and double-checking his list?

Verizon is teaming up with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, to track Kriss Kringle's whereabouts on Christmas Eve and pre-dawn Christmas Day. A volunteer force of more than 1,000 strong will track Santa's whereabouts using the world's most sophisticated military tracking technology — presumably while simultaneously defending North American air space.

From 3 a.m. Dec. 24 to 2 a.m. Dec. 25, Santa-seekers can call 877-HI-NORAD (446-6723) or visit NORAD's Santa tracking Web page. The Web site can be read in seven languages and has a YouTube video, information on how to track Santa in 3D on Google Earth and most importantly, a frequently asked questions section.

According to the FAQ, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Defense Command — with the equally cool acronym CONAD — have been tracking Santa's path since 1955, and while the command doesn't have his exact route, it knows from previous patterns that the man in red starts around the international date line and works west from Asia to the Americas.

• The San Francisco Chronicle reported on this paper alternative:

The eco-friendly company Fwrap, maker of fabric book covers and gift wrap, has a new line of packaging for the holidays, the Petals collection.

Fwrap uses remnants and scraps of fabric in ways that will make the giver want an equally well-wrapped gift in return. In fact, true friends will use their newly acquired Fwraps on gifts for the person who gave them.

The Petals collection contains irises and tulips.

The Fwraps range from $8 to $13.

• If you're looking to save some green while being green, consider recycling old calendars as wrapping paper or plucking decorations for your packages from your yard. Get six more eco-friendly wrapping options at the Office Supplies blog.

• If you choose to stick with more traditional gift wrap, here's one more tip, from the Eco Chick blog: "Avoid wrapping paper with foil accents. Metallic and foil papers usually can't be recycled, and in some recycling facilities, if they end up in the mix with other paper, they can ruin a whole batch, making it totally unusable."

Ways to simplify gift giving and the holiday rush are always welcome. In the middle of a major economic downturn, money-saving strategies are even more so. Several Web sites offer online resources for organizing economical group gifts and computerizing the popular but complicated "Secret Santa" exchange. Some even offer tips and links to gift-giving sites.

SecretSanta.com, a gift exchange planner, helps registrants with such exchange tasks as keeping track of gifts, choosing themes, e-mails, invitations and other pesky details. Hanukkah and Kwanzaa theme packages are available, as are general gift exchanges and swaps for other times of the year (Yankee Swaps and White Elephants).

Other sites have somewhat broader missions. FrumUs.com guides the user to the creation of a group gift page which can be linked to PayPal Premier and will aid with account setup if needed. It also links to gift sites in various categories (teacher, coaches, him, her, kids, and so on).

Elfster.com also plows the gift exchange turf, but in a media-intensive way. A video demonstration is a nice feature so you can learn how to use the site before you register. Particiants can set up their own wish lists.

With these sites, givers and organizers can conserve time, energy and pass the gift "hat" even among far-flung families or office locations.

Despite new safety standards, toys with choking hazards and high levels of toxic chemicals, such as lead, remain on store shelves this holiday season.

While federal legislation passed in August gives the Consumer Product Safety Commission more tools to regulate chemicals in toys, the law won't take effect until February.

The commission recently said manufacturers can sell toys containing some chemicals until the inventory runs out.

Given that, "We may need to watch out for years to come," said David Kosmos, a consumer advocate for the nonprofit Washington Public Interest Research Group.

Check on the toys you're bringing home at www.toysafety.net.

You can also get information on recalls and sign up for e-mail notifications about recalls at the CPSC's Web site.

Only 22 percent of readers who took our online poll said they were planning to shop on Friday. If you're one of them, here's a list of mall hours and links to coupons and deals that will help you plan a strategy.

Del Amo Fashion Center deals
5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Manhattan Village deals
9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but Macy's is open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Promenade on the Peninsula deals
9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

South Bay Galleria deals
5 a.m. to 9 p.m.

SouthBay Pavilion in Carson deals
8 a.m. to 9 p.m., but several stores will be opening early, including Old Navy at 5 a.m.

If you're planning to go farther afield, here's a list from the Daily News' Bargain Hunter blog about malls in the Valley.

It's a bummer to get the kids all spiffed up for Santa, then get to the mall and find out he's on his lunch break. Waiting around does not make for good pictures. So here's our annual guide to Santa's office hours in the South Bay:

Del Amo Fashion Center
310-542-8525

Santa will be at the mall during business hours through Dec. 24.
Those hours are:
Mon to Fri: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Breaks from 1 to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Sat: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Breaks from 1 to 2 p.m. and 5:15 to 6 p.m.
Sun: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Breaks from 2 to 3 p.m.

Galleria at South Bay
310-371-7546

Santa will be there through Dec. 24.
Now to Dec. 14:
Mon to Sat: 10 or 11 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m.
Sun: noon to 6 p.m. or 7 p.m.

Dec. 15 to Dec. 23: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dec. 24: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
See the Web site schedule because there are many minor variations on the hours and break times.
The Web site also has a detailed list of photo packages and prices.

Manhattan Village Mall
310-426-9899

Santa arrives Nov. 28 and stays until Dec. 24.
Mon to Sat: 11a.m. to 8 p.m., breaks at 1-2 p.m. and 4:15-4:45 p.m.
The Web site has a list of packages and prices.

Promenade on the Peninsula
310-541-0688

Pictures with Santa, on three Saturdays only: Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 20, 1-4 p.m. each day.

Plaza El Segundo
310 647-3431

Santa has parked his sleigh next to Toy Jungle. For every photo with a border you buy, Toy Jungle and Vision Trust will donate $4 to buy toys for at-risk children.
Dec 11 to 13: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 14: Noon to 6 p.m.
Dec 18 to 20: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 21: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dec 22 to 23: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Dec. 24: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

South Bay Pavilion at Carson
310-366-6636

Santa arrives on Nov. 28 and will hang around until Dec. 24. He'll be there from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There may be slight variations in the hours but he will be there all day most days.

Check by phone or on the Web site where information on photo prices will be available in a few days.