Teresa Sirianni's children's book "My Whisper" is in the "Made in Nevada" Christmas catalog. On the Web site promoting the books, Sirianni's 4-year-old grandson, Shayn Lee, above, gives voice to the book's main character. Photo by Gary Thompson.

If you're still on the hunt for holiday gifts, the folks at the Nevada Commission on Economic Development have dozens of last-minute ideas.

The commission in October issued its third annual "Made in Nevada" catalog, a compendium of goods and services from about 100 companies based in the Silver State.

Among the vendors peddling their wares through the catalog are farmers and dairies, soap and candle makers, potters, bakers, brewers, woodcarvers and sculptors who work in bronze. Christmas shoppers can buy barbecue and teriyaki sauces, salsa, wine, jewelry, stationery, dog-training lessons, bejeweled T-shirts, decorative gourds, blown glass and sand-carved Christmas ornaments, to name just a few items.

If you're looking to saunter off the beaten path this holiday season, "Made in Nevada" even features manufacturers of industrial lubricants, sheet metal, public rest rooms and security shutters. A taxidermist listed in the catalog specializes in mounting prized trophies from hunts.

"The 'Made in Nevada' program is great for small businesses to help increase their exposure and get some visibility," said Donna Artz, program director of "Made in Nevada." "We want to let as many people as possible know about 'Made in Nevada' products."

Teresa Sirianni, president of Eagle Spirit Productions in Las Vegas, credits the catalog with at least one major deal.

Amid the 30 or so individual customers who reached her through the catalog was an employee of Resorts International, the gaming arm of investment group and Las Vegas Hilton owner Colony Capital. The company wants to sell sets of Sirianni's "My Whisper" children's books, complete with accompanying music, in its hotel gift shops nationwide. She's scrambling to fill the order, which is due in January.

"The catalog has helped get the word out about our products," Sirianni said.

Sirianni's books, which are designed to help children develop a relationship with their conscience, sell for $20 each. Sirianni has completed the first volume, and she's working on six more installments. She's working on agreements to distribute her books to specialty toy stores. She's also marketed them at New York's American International Toy Fair, the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere.

"We're proud to be made in Nevada," Sirianni said. "A lot of the people who are helping us get this product together are also in business here. We like the catalog because it helps promote not only the people who do work for us, but also the entire state of Nevada."

For Field of Thorns, a Silver Springs business that makes lotions and lip balms, the Christmas catalog has generated solid business.

The catalog connected the company, whose name comes from a literal translation of founder E. Marie Brierley's last name, with a Midwestern bride-to-be who wanted Nevada-made gifts for the attendants at her Las Vegas wedding. Another customer saw Field of Thorns' listing and now orders the company's products to include in gift baskets for people who buy the manufactured homes she sells.

"The 'Made in Nevada' catalog has been an excellent lead for us," said Brierley, whose company is making its second appearance in the book. "We've gotten contacts and customers from out of state as a result of it."

Brierley said she's ready to handle additional business this holiday season. Her products, which are available through mail order, range from a lip balm for $2.95 to a 9-ounce jar of body lotion for $16.95. She's assembled gift sets such as "Soothing Essentials," a $23.95 package with a 4-ounce containers of moisture mist, body balm, lotion and lip balm, and the $12.95 "Foot Fetish," which features a 4-ounce jar of body balm along with a pedicure file and moisture.

All of Brierley's goods are made from vegetable-based ingredients rather than animal or petroleum products. Scents, including jasmine and lavender, come from essential oils rather than synthetic chemicals. Brierley also developed an unscented line for a construction worker who needed a salve for his hands but "who didn't want to smell frou-frou when he was hanging drywall."

Brierly said she could fill Christmas orders if they're placed before Friday.

Lavender Ridge of Reno has also welcomed visitors through its participation in "Made in Nevada." Lavender Ridge, which owns a 1.5-acre lavender farm, doesn't have a big mail-order business up and running yet, but tourists from Montana and Oregon spotted the company on the "Made in Nevada" Web site and stopped in to see the farm.

"It's helped my business, that's for sure," said Kristen Harris, owner of Lavender Ridge. "I get customers who don't want to shop at malls, and I get customers who want to give local people their business."

Harris said publicity through "Made in Nevada" has helped her spread the word that Lavender Ridge is an "entertainment farm that people can walk around and browse through." They can also buy goods such as Mike's Magic Salve, a lavender-infused balm that sells for $6 per two ounces, or Lavender Earl Grey tea, which is available in 8-ounce, loose-leaf canisters for $9.50.

Amid the arts and crafts makers are a few more, um, exotic items.

"For us, it's kind of like the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book -- you know, they have buy-a-helicopter-type things, or his-and-hers yachts," said Penny Mello, president of Reno-based Restroom Facilities, which makes modular bathrooms.

Restroom Facilities landed a spot in the Nevada Christmas book because the company, like all other entrants in the catalog, is a member of the "Made in Nevada" program. When supervisors of "Made in Nevada" aren't publishing the catalog, they're providing technical assistance and expansion advice to members of the state's cottage industries.

"We obviously don't get any sales based on the catalog, but it gets our name out there," Mello said.

Restroom Facilities has sold bathrooms to noncommercial buyers, though Mello can't recall any such sales since she arrived in 2002. The company sells most of its bathrooms in Northern Nevada and California, where they end up in parks, on beaches and outside public buildings. A courthouse in Redwood City, Calif., recently took possession of a made-to-match Restroom Facilities bathroom. The company's rest rooms are found across America, from Florida to the Northeast, and one Restroom Facilities bathroom even made its way to Antarctica some years ago.

If, for some reason, you're in the market for a commercial bathroom, Restroom Facilities can assemble a $35,000 building with a metal roof, easy-wash plastic flooring and walls and vitreous-china sinks. Or for $350,000, you can order up a custom loo with add-ons including stainless-steel fixtures, tile floors and architectural details such as a cupola or a hand-laid rock wall outside.

"It would be lovely to get a call from a catalog shopper," Mello said.

Any takers, readers?

Some of the "Made in Nevada" artisans' products are on display in Las Vegas at the Sawyer Building, 555 E. Washington Ave. Nevada-made items from some of the companies featured in the catalog are also available through local Costco Wholesale stores.

Artz said the commission has sent out about 1,400 catalogs this season. To order a catalog, call (775) 687-4325, or visit www.expand2nevada.com and click on the "Made in Nevada" link. Artz said catalogs generally arrive within four days of a consumer's request.

Visitors to the Web site can also peruse catalog entrants by category of business, and link to the companies' home pages.