When our granddaughter, Emma, was about three years old, Jim and I built a playhouse for her. Emma will be 21 in December, and is a junior in college. The playhouse stands empty now, except for a few items stored inside. It looks sad and a little shabby, so Jim decided to replace the trim, fix a hole in the roof, and paint the little building.

Last week, we went shopping for paint, but we couldn’t find the shades we need because they weren’t in stock, due to a shortage of raw materials and slow shipping and delivery, which brings me to the reason for today’s column. This year, I decided to write my post-Thanksgiving holiday gift suggestion column a few weeks early, because some items may not be available in stores, and online purchases might be slow to arrive.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about my distaste for unsightly rain gutters. To my surprise, I discovered a possible remedy in one of my gardening catalogs: a downspout cover trellis. For $28.95, you can give someone who doesn’t...