Speaking of beer-my husband and I love interesting beers. One of our sons got us an advent calendar type beer thing last year from Costco with German craft beers. Costco has it in our local Costco this year. We loved it . Mentioning in case anyone is looking for an early gift ( 24 cans of beer from December 1-24) or for someone that has a birthday this month, but you could really drink them anytime. And there was a way to also go online and rate the individual beers. Great gift!
My friend and her H are taking their family members (21 going) from CA to NY for Thanksgiving. They are staying close to Central Park so they can watch the parade and watch the preparations the night before. She has also made reservations at the Boat House for Thanksgiving dinner. This is their Christmas gift to their family and also checked off one item on her bucket list.
I have gotten my H Bombas socks which he loves and last year purchased tickets to his College football teams bowl game for he and his brother to attend. Bought golf tournament tickets for him one year, college football team fan gear also. Agree totally with the person who said items that are “indulgent” that they would never buy for themself. Last year we did a box of “take care of yourself” items for the kids aunt and uncle. We put in some really nice soaps, a new razor, some candy, etc all wrapped separately and them put in a box that was wrapped up. They loved it! My daughters always LOVE a new cozy blanket. My MIL is very hard to buy for since she is mid 90’s and needs nothing. We try to come up with a big group gift from all the family that she will like, one year we got her a really nice outdoor recliner type chair and another year we got her a new computer (she’s very tech savvy for her age).
Last year my D and SIL made Amazon wish lists! This was perfect as I could order from there and know that they would love what they received! I made one for myself too-that was definitely a great idea!
Cash would be a better investment, and a lot less creepy than life insurance for children.
We give our grown kids checks, plus some token gifts like Feetures socks or kitchen tools. That way they can buy what they want when they want it, or save the money. But then gifts aren’t really our love language.
But thanks to @maya54 for the Shhhowercap suggestion. Never heard of them, my old shower cap just hit the trash can this week.
I need suggestions for 12 yr old S, and his 19 yr old college FY brother. At least little S has given me a few things, although they’re either stupid $$$ or very cheap, like stocking stuffer cheap. S19… nada! Zip!! Child is going to get coal if he doesn’t throw me a bone here!
Our youngest turned 18 this year and our oldest no longer celebrates Christmas. None of them really need anything. I send them food baskest type things for various holidays through out the year and token gifts if they are home for Christmas but this year we have decided to stop with exchanging gifts and help them each start an investment account. We’ll give them money instead of gifts which they will hopefully place in the account instead of holiday and birthdays presents. Our church does an Angle Tree so I still get to shop;-)
We’ll also continue our tradition of a family New Years vacation, we usually rent a beach house.
Wonderful ideas here - thank you!
My kids have given lovely gifts from Etsy, someplace I never think of as a source for gifts but should. When my oldest daughter bought a new home, one of her sisters gave her a beautiful original watercolor of the house. She found the artist on Etsy and sent him the realtor’s photos of the exterior. The finished product is beautiful.
The same daughter had a different Etsy artist do small paintings of my three daughters’ wedding bouquets, which are in a lovely 3-opening frame.
Went to a big crafts show today. Picked up several different homemade jams (no pectin used) truffle oil, cute oil and vinegar gifts for office mates (could bring those to the kids but one is getting the truffle oil) a cute handmade outfit for grandbaby and a select 4 pack of different coffees. Also ordered a 6 mo subscription to the kiwi co boxes (great idea). Love all the ideas here.
@romanigypsyeyes Can you give some examples of what is in the kiwi crate? It sounds intriguing, but my daughter and son-in-law are really picky about the type of toys they want to give their son. For example, nothing that requires a battery. Think earthy-crunchy hippie parents (who vaccinate!)
@Massmomm sure! I’m only familiar with baby and toddler ones but everything you need comes in the crate - no batteries!
For newborns, they send this really cool pack with a swaddler (that has now survived 3 kiddos in the family), a fold out cloth book-like thing that has different textures, pictures, and a mirror for baby, and something else that I’m blanking on.
After that first pack you get ones that are age appropriate for the kids. A pack usually has like 2 activities and a book. For babies, it’s usually something like furry cubes and other textured objected.
Some of the activities that come to mind for toddlers are a fishing game where you use a stick and velcro to “fish” (teaches hand-eye coordination), matching games with cards, coordination games like getting washer-shaped rings to snap on to wood pegs, etc.
You can see some sample crates here because it’s hard for me to explain lol: https://www.kiwico.com/panda
Edit: it’s approved by both of my crunchy hippie SILs.
This would be an early gift, but a fun one for the person who has everything - one of Aldi’s specialized advent calendar if you can find one!
I bought the cheese one today. There is a wine one. One for dogs. Kids ones (Legos and Barbies??) Regular chocolate ones. A beer one! Give the gift early and they can enjoy it until Christmas!
https://www.aldi.us/en/grocery-goods/new-at-aldi/advent-calendars/
@romanigypsyeyes Thanks so much! This sounds like a great gift and I am seriously considering it.
@Massmomm - look for deals/coupons on line. I got like $35 off or so using the code “gift”.
I got some English Tea advent calendars at World Market and a wine advent calendar also. They had a great selection, but for many of them you have to get them in the shop and not online (definitely true for alcohol).
@massmomm @jym626 is right. They usually have some really good black friday deals too. Sign up for their email and they’ll send offers fairly regularly.
I just saw that a major national movie chain offers a $21 a month unlimited pass. All movies. Any time. $240 for a year, perfect for a retiree or movie buff. I’ll be getting one when I retire one day.
@privatebanker, which chain? I am looking for something like that to Regal for my son.
Hi @1214mom It was Regal!
Thank you!
Spent a few hours today creating photo books as a gift - they were half price at shutterfly