Holiday gift given

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Holiday gift given
8
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).

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 9:25am
I sent or made gifts for so many people this year it was totally overwhelming!! But my favorites were a Snoopy jazz CD I bought for my oldest daughter, who wanted to play the clarinet until my brother told her it was totally uncool and that he was going to give her his first saxophone (which I said she couldn't have until we move out there, as we live in an apartment and the saxaphone thing might not fly here.) LOL. So much influence my younger brother has on her..he is obviously her coolest relative...i had her when he was only 13, and they share a special bond. Oh, and my MIL, who was born in NY but had lived in Ohio until she moved back there this summer is and has forever been a diehard Yankee fan. Anyhow, she confided in me that at the office where she is a superviser, she is surrounded by Mets fans who totally give her a hard time. So we bought her a sign that says "Parking for Yankees fans only. (Mets fans go home!)" It was totally a hit, and the only gift that broke the budget, as counting shipping it cost nearly $40. But she does everything for us, and I love her to death, so really i didn't mind at all, as it was totally her!! Also, I made my disabled brother in a nursing home a little care package, complete with envelopes stamped and addressed to me. A week later, I got a letter. "dear Heather, Rob Kayla and Audrey Mae, Thank you for the cookies, the cards, the puzzle, the pens and the picture. Love, Chucky" Right to the point!! It was cool. anyhow, this is the last year we will be in WI at Christmas...i will never spend so much money on postage again!!! Great question, Heather!!
Avatar for cl_phocid
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 11:19am

I think the best gift I gave was actually a *replacement* gift.

All my best,
Danni

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 11:38am
HI, Heather. I love your creative ideas for kids. I have many nieces and nephews (all out of state) ranging in ages from about a yr old to 18 yrs. old. Occasionally, we send small gifts. Question: How do you make the photo calendars or photo key-chain things? I would love to make some of the cats (and us) and send. Am also interested in gift-basket ideas for GF's with various tastes. A very long time ago, there was a lady I used to order cosmetics from .Anyway, she would go to the craft store, get tons of baskets, spray-paint them, use colorful crinkle celophane, and hot-glue items also into the basket. They were gorgeous. Any ideas on variations of a theme appreciated. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 11:56am
Hi, All. Creative, I am. Extra time to do all those cute baskets? Not yet. Ah, but this is a new year. l) Gave the parents and MIL/FIL those shake flashlights. They last a lifetime. Handy in a power outage. One for the car, one for the house. 2)Smucker's gift basket with individual sizes of jams, jellies, peanut butter, etc. 3)Most unusual items? Feminine hatbox filled with lavender-scented bath salts, soaps, lotions, for GF. Garage-door opener for DH. That was THE present for him (besides underwear LOL). No, he cant figure out how to put it together. AND, we need to get the new garage door first. Finally, the tabletop small water-fountain rock thing with soothing trickle sounds of water on rocks, and colorful lights. MIL loved it. My mother did not. Whiz.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-02-2005
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 12:11pm

Hi Heather,

How did you go about getting the calendars? That sounds like a wonderful gift and at a great price.

Thanks,

Della

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-28-2005
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 1:15pm

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!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 2:09pm

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

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 01-03-2006 - 2:22pm

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