Last year we had a thread for holiday gift ideas, so I’m bringing it back this year. Feel free to tell us what you’re getting people, what you want, what you need help with.
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I need help, please! My niece is 6.5 years old. I haven’t seen her for 1.5 years and don’t have kids, so I’m a bit clueless about age appropriateness. I would like to give her some books and either a game or a craft project she can do without parental assistance. Suggestions welcome!
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I loooove Christmas shopping so I go overboard every year. My parents also go overboard so it’s fun. My husband comes from a much more lowkey Christmas gift family.
Gifts from the buckets family:
Brother: very cool shirt with a scene of a bacchanal on it. Obscure food item. A Dungeons and Dragons book my husband wanted to get him. Probably some pomegranate liqueur from my work.
Mom: just got a frame so I can frame the front page of the NYTimes from the day Biden was announced winner. A book I think she will like (Just Us by Claudia Rankine). Will get her fancy bourbon (Widow Jane) from my work.
Dad: a yearlong pass for our state parks. A science-y cookbook (the Flavor Equation by Nik Sharma). Probably going to finish it off with some hot sauce.
SIL: an assortment of stuff from Sephora – a hair care gift set, holiday candle, pumpkin face mask, and bath set (got $20 off!).
BIL: lololol IDK. He usually gives gift cards so we’ve just been doing that too. If we haven’t figured it out I’m getting him a Dunkin or Amazon gift card. As far as I know he likes cars and wrestling. Leaving this to husband.
FIL: lololol IDK. We always get him food, but he had a double bypass this year so a lot of food gifts aren’t appropriate anymore. We considered getting him a VW Bus Lego set but he is missing part of a finger, and we’re not sure if he would have a hard time putting it together. Still on the hunt. I don’t want to spend too much 'cause he was kind of a dick this year lol.
I got stuff for two friends because I saw the perfect things (I don’t normally shop for friends). For my BFF, I got her a mug with Princess Diana in various outfits drawn on it. I’m going to fill the mug with a few Schitt’s Creek stickers I got her and Reeses. For another friend, I got a vintage cigarette case at a yard sale and a holographic picture of Dolly Parton to put in it. I still need stuff for one friend but she’s kinda wacky so I think I can figure out something fun.
We got husband’s friends gifts because we’ve had some local hot sauce for one of his friends sitting on our dresser for literally a year. Husband is part of a friend group so we needed to get stuff for the other friends. For one we got coasters of David Bowie’s mugshot in our city. For another we are getting a cool shirt of a galactic hamburger from a local restaurant. For all of them J. got candles that are in Smirnoff Ice bottles because they always ice each other.
We exchange wine with our landlords on holidays, but we went to their place for dinner around Xmas last year and they had a Christmas free that only had squirrel ornaments on it. We found an awesome felt ornament of a squirrel driving an airplane, so we got that and are going to hang it on a bottle of wine. Working at a liquor store, I have a ton of wine, so I will give them a bottle we already have.
Definitely putting an emphasis on smaller businesses this year; I used Bookshop for the books and Etsy for a lot of other things.
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I got one of my nieces (19) and a nephew (10) for the family gift exchange. The recommended price range is $20-30.
For the nephew I raided our shelves and got a build-it-yourself model remote control beetle still in plastic wrap & a graphic novel about a anthropomorphized beetle civilization. This definitely takes us over the $30 limit, but also was all money that was already spent, and as one of the younger kids, I don’t think anyone will much care.
For the niece, I picked up a pair of slipper socks, because she is theoretically going to university in Montreal. She is an Aritzia fan, doing a math degree but not enjoying it and looking at cognition. I’d like to get her a book (again taking us over the limit, but let’s ignore that in favour of supporting my local book seller).
Any ideas for books? I’d like something that encourages acceptance of taking a weird path that maybe your parents aren’t on board with. If I can’t find anything I’ll probably get the 99% Invisible book.
For the shadowy one, I don’t think we’ll do anything. That was the agreement we came to last week.
For the family consumables exchange (where each of the sisters give something edible or consumable to the other sisters + parents), I’ll probably make curried cashews. I should buy cashews soon.
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Ohhh we looove Christmas.
Okay me. I love. I believe, firmly, that more is more.
B and SIL made the mistake of asking for herbal tea and whining that they are almost out of most spices right before I went to starsky.
They have so many herbs and spices, plus they will get triplicates of south asian spices from mine and mil’s stash merger. And many teas. And dark chocolate. And english sweets
For my mum, the Joanne fluke recipe book, all natural cola syrup for her soda stream, lemon stuffed olives, salmon salad, soy late, chocolate covered black currant
Dad beano annual, chocolate and toffee
MIL kids photo calendar, trying to find cheap fleece clothes (she is always cold and layers, but only summer layers)
N1 3 Enola holmes books
N2 makeup brushes, maybe the new mark Dawson kids book share a. Inspirational women trivia game w sister
N345 share butterfly wings, a butterfly stencil book, bath bombs and keto treats (ages 6, 3, 6momths) inspirational women game
N6/7 2 butterfly books, butterfly stencil book (6years, 10 months) pixel drawing game
N8 connect the dots book, boggle style game with stealing cards (5, loves letters and numbers)
M9 eat age 2 weeks, clothes and swaddles
BIL, protein birthday cake peanut butter, a stocking
Bil and Sil x 2 gift basket with scarves and bath stuff.
Partner in progress, main gift is 6 pairs of saxx-
Excessive chocolate and cookies
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I forgot to mention my gifts for my husband.
I commissioned an artist friend to paint a framed picture of his favorite meme. He laughs uncontrollably whenever he sees this meme. She did a great job:
I bought him a sweater from Budweiser that’s super vintage looking. He had a really cool vintage Budweiser sweater when we started dating but it no longer fits.
Last gift is a poster from the 90s of his favorite wrestler holding a can of Chef Boyardee.
My household is weird (and I love it).
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Yes. I love your style.
What is “beano annual” under your dad’s gifts?
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I got my nephew that age a box set of Neil Gaiman books for young readers. It included The Graveyard Book, And Also the Milk, and Coraline. I got the one with the British art in order to also entertain my nerd brother, who probably hasn’t seen it.
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Pardon my enthusiasm
in England they have weekly? Comics and magazines for kids. Beano, Dandy, Bunty…
At Christmas they put out an annual that is a big hardcover and has full comic stories and recipes and activities and is so so good
IN THE SUMMER I FOUND THE 2020 ANNUAL ON SALE AT THE VRITISH SHOP AND SECRET BOUGHT IT. I DIDNT EVEN READ IT.
in my family we also have Archie’s at Christmas (in stockings and then spares tucked in the tree) because this is the closest we can get unless you are me and find a treasured annual. Also my mum and I like to buy each other second hand Christmas genre fic. Sometimes first hand if it actually looks good and not generated by a meme generator.
Christmas is so important this is my time I love it.
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I’ve got a step-niece just a little bit older that I got in the gift drawing last year, and one thing she really liked was a jar of beads (not tiny ones, pony beads that she could handle on her own) and some plastic cording (again sturdy enough that she could manipulate on her own) for making her own jewelry. She needed some help tying the initial set of knots, but I think she eventually got those figured out. You could also get something like fabric markers and a light-colored hat/shirt/bag for her to decorate, but parents might want to keep the fabric markers out of the way when she’s not decorating the specific items you got her.
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I need to think of easy thinks Kiddo can “get” for me and Mr Meer. Hmm.
I told Mr Meer to get a planter similar to one we already have from a local nursery, one will live on the back porch and one will live by out kitchen door which is also functionally the door guests go in and out of in normal times. Usually I look at the pretty planters but don’t but then because of cost.
I am getting Mr Meer a video card by which I mean he said he couldn’t really see this neat game he was playing due to his existing card and I told him he should buy a new one. Normally he wouldn’t spend the money.
I have no friggin idea what we’re getting our parents. I should look to see what we did last year.
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I got my parents a large print, backlit computer keyboard and a portable battery pack. Also various tasty treats because those gifts are boring.
Bigger kid gets my high end Bluetooth headphones that he de facto already owns and a smart speaker thing and a pile of socks and underwear and t shirts and small things and a wheel of brie.
Little dude gets my old phone and a blanket with a picture of the cat printed on it and a bunch of underwear and t shirts and a jar of palm oil free Nutella.
Bonus kid gets a craft kit and glow in the dark stars for her room at my house.
Bonus kid’s mom gets some very nice pot and a night without her kid so she can enjoy it.
Other friends get various items: kitchen gear and silly Japanese candy and books and nice socks and stuff like that.
I have to figure out what to get my tenants. Pizza gift cards? What would you want from your landlord?
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I am a terrible gift giver for people in my own life 
following
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Honestly? Money off rent! 
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I was thinking of doing that. Maybe cash back with the rent receipt? They pay electronically and it’s all set up so making them change it for one month would be a hassle for everyone.
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I’m getting:
Ponder: socks
Duckling: blue nail polish
In-laws: a gift voucher for local cafe, to take Duckling/Ponder
Parents: voucher for indigenous astronomy night + dinner
Sister, from our Xmas sibling draw: either local artist’s placemats, or mushroom growing kit.
SIL: ?? Not sure.
I feel like I should have a few more things for people to unwrap but I’m really struggling with decision making and aren’t able to wander around the craft markets like I do most years, so it might be a slightly boring Christmas.
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SIL(1): diamond painting kit thing she likes. Kit of accessories that help you store and do them.
SIL’s sister who lives with them: decorative tea candle set in little metal tins
SIL(2): so far I have some warm socks in fun patterns
SIL(3): art print of her astrological sign
MIL: photobook of baby’s first year
FIL: a tough chewer puzzle feeder for his shithead of a dog
BIL: TBD
Brother(1): retro gaming emulation console
Brother(2): TBD
My mom: light jacket, photobook of baby’s first year
My dad: TBD
Grandma: TBD
Dammit I have a lot more holes than I thought. Husband and I don’t really do anything for each other. We’ll wrap his new Black Friday shoes and put them under the tree, like each year lol.
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Sibling: Back massager, meal delivery gift card (combination gift)
Sibling’s spouse: Shirt, meal delivery gift card (combination gift)
Sibling’s small person: Blocks, book, 529 contribution
Sibling’s animal: Super-chewer toy
Parent: Specified new power tool/spare battery
Parent’s spouse: Small bath stuff, gift card for fancy bath/body store
Local friend 1: New jacket, tea
Local friend 2: Out of print book in language I don’t read, so hopefully it is what it says on the tin
Senior center person 1: Bird feeder and seed for window
Senior center person 2: Stationary supplies and desk organizer
Angel Tree person 1: TBD, haven’t seen the trees yet (you’d think they could do this online)
Angel Tree person 2: TBD, see above
ETA: OMD: TBD
Still need to drop the friend and Senior Center stuff off (and obviously the Angel Tree stuff as well), but everything else has been shipped since some of isn’t allowed to fly.
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Cat blanket.
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Or something like a fancy planter. Gourmet groceries/gourmet grocery card?
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