Holiday gift given
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| Tue, 01-03-2006 - 8:48am |
What was your favorite gift you *gave* this holiday season? Was it something you scrimped and saved to buy? Was it a budget buster? Or was it something you worked hard on and spent very little money for? Tell us the story behind it and why it was such a great gift!
To start us off:
I had two favorites. One was the photo-a-month calendars we had made for parents and grandparents, with pictures of our kids on every page. They were an ENORMOUS hit, apparently everyone's favorite. I only feel bad that I didn't send one to my great aunt (who has no children of her own). These were budgeted for in our second budget (i.e., after we realized that the original $200 budget just wasn't going to work and decided to use a $500 freelance check for Christmas). So they weren't a budget buster, but they were pretty expensive--$15 a piece, coming to just over $100 each (we bought one for ourselves, too, which I guess we could have done without).
My other favorite was a sewing activity for my eight-year-old niece. We gained her as a niece only about a year ago, when my husband's sister remarried. J (the niece) is an attention-starved child whose father is verbally cruel to her on a moment-by-moment basis and whose bio-mother is unreliable and a crack addict and whose stepmother is negligent at best. Fortunately, the child's grandparents (including her stepmother's grandparents, my in-laws) are kind and loving, so she has SOME stability in her life. Anyway, she loved her gift and we spent many happy hours working on it together, and toward the end she told me to "not look" and she made a little embroidered heart for my keychain as a gift. We really bonded and it was so great to see her open up and bask in the attention. I feel like she and I will always have a special bond, and I hope that it will make some difference in her life. This particular gift cost about $10 and was budgeted for--it was really the time I gave her that made the difference, anyway, not the $10 gift.
So, those were my two favorites. I also loved giving the baskets that I made for under $5 each. All in all, it was a fun year for giving, but we did ultimately WAY overspend (see my post on the topic! LOL).

I think the best gift I gave was actually a *replacement* gift.
All my best,
Danni
Hi Heather,
How did you go about getting the calendars? That sounds like a wonderful gift and at a great price.
Thanks,
Della
Great Question!!
I always ask my kids that after the holidays, it places the focus on what THEY did for someone, instead of feeding the "gimmees". And when I ask one of their friends they always say "I got a... wait, WHAT did you say?".
Last year my husband lost his (our) business, but fortunately got another, GREAT,job. However, he has to wear suits to work. He did have one suit, and we bought another at a thrift shop along with other work clothes, and a few new shirts. We have cold winters here, and last winter he never wore a jacket/coat other than his suit jacket because it didn't go! (he was blue collar before this)
H really wanted a nice overcoat, but they are so expensive. I found one at Kohl's that was about $250 (!!!!!). I went at 5:am the day after Thanksgiving, stood on line for a hour, and got it for $85. And, I got a $40 certificate to spend there another day, that I used for a tie clip and my MIL's present.
H has been wearing it everywhere, and keeps saying "I can't believe you got me this coat!" It was WORTH the hour and early time!
I did 3 scrapbook calendars (ordered the blanks from Current catalog for 5.49 each and worked on them throughout the year) and those were all well received. I bought an adorable outfit for my niece when a specialty boutique went out of business and that was a big hit. This just wasn't my best gifting year I'm afraid!
Taleyna
Hi Whiz,
The calendars I ordered from www.mymagicmemories.com. I was really impressed at both the quality and the service I received from them. The calendars are regularly $19.95 plus shipping, but I had a coupon for 30% off (hence, they were only $15 each). I highly recommend them, though--they were really great, and the product came FAST. I ordered them the Tuesday before Christmas and they were there on Friday. All you have to do is load your photos, choose a theme, and place your order.
I'll think some more about the rest of your question, but I don't have time right now.
Blessings,
Heather