From White Elephants To Birthday Cakes: Gift Ideas For Dummies

[Drogo]

Some of us are naturaly gifted at... well.... gifting.   Some of us are not.   But all of us spend a shit ton of time on the internet and see some cool things/stuff we never talk about. 

But now we gon' talk about it, ho-ho-hoes!   Because we are all going to a) become awesome gift-givers this year and/or b) buy ourselves something wicked cool.  And maybe we help other people find gifts for their people in the process. 

Here's how it works...

1)  Find a cool thing you think someone would like (that someone can be you.)  Create a post here formatted as follows (I'll put a sample below so you can see): 

• URL to buy item
• Description of item
• Person you're considering purchasing it for
• Why you think they will like it and/or why it is appropriate
• Occasion you're buying for

OR

2)  Create a post here...

• with a description and URL of something that you think would be an awesome gift for anyone

                                                              OR

• to ask others for gift ideas for someone you know (ex:  "Can someone help me think of a Teacher Appreciation gift for my daughter's music teacher?  I think she likes Harry Potter and I'm trying to be in the neighborhood of $15.")

                                                               OR                 

• about a great sale you saw/heard about at a store that sells gifts or a popular gift item

                                                               OR

• about a gift you received that you loved and why it would make a great gift for someone else
   

You can also use this thread as a reference point to find your own birthday/anniversary/holiday gift ideas for when you're ready to shop. 

[Drogo]

Daenerys and Jorah with Swords Funko Pop!Moment Figure from Game of Thrones

https://www.amazon.com/Funko-POP-Movie-Moment-Daenerys/dp/B07RTLS2K1/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=daenerys+jorah&qid=1567084327&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-2

Pre-ordering a holiday gift for a good work friend - this person would happily listen to Iain Glen read the phone book, and she took 2 personal days after

Spoiler

Ser Jorah died in Daenerys' arms.  

[Blergh]

 Big Mouth  Billy Bass- the perfect gift for a  relative  one dislikes who lives in  a tiny dwelling  with small children!

[RealHousewife]

I received a similar perfume sampler from Sephora and loved it! What perfume junkie wouldn’t be thrilled to sample a bunch of fragrances then get to choose a bottle of her favorite?

https://m.sephora.com/product/mini-perfume-sampler-P449742

[Drogo]

Just now, RealHousewife said:

I received a similar perfume sampler from Sephora and loved it! What perfume junkie wouldn’t be thrilled to sample a bunch of fragrances then get to choose a bottle of her favorite?

https://m.sephora.com/product/mini-perfume-sampler-P449742

We've bought these before... it's so brilliant I have no idea why other stores haven't latched onto it.  Basically you pay for a full size but the person gets to sample them all and choose the one they like best.  Scents are so personal.

[RealHousewife]

46 minutes ago, Drogo said:

We've bought these before... it's so brilliant I have no idea why other stores haven't latched onto it.  Basically you pay for a full size but the person gets to sample them all and choose the one they like best.  Scents are so personal.

I know. I love perfume, but now and then even ones I enjoy make me sneeze. And some people hate rose or patchouli or whatever. It’s so nice trying several then picking your favorite. 

[Nordly Beaumont]

One Christmas my sister was at Costco and saw a big display of all different razor sets. She got sets of razors for everyone and we all loved them! Razors just seem to be one of those things most people use, but hate to buy!

This same sister loves jigsaw puzzles. She can finish a 1000 piece in no time. So this year I'm slowing her down with this puzzle - the picture on the box is different than what the puzzle will be. Mwah hahaha!

[auntlada]

Just now, Nordly Beaumont said:

One Christmas my sister was at Costco and saw a big display of all different razor sets. She got sets of razors for everyone and we all loved them! Razors just seem to be one of those things most people use, but hate to buy!

My sister-in-law did that one year. It was great, except for the one she gave my husband (her brother). He has a beard and mustache.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

On 11/9/2019 at 6:02 PM, Nordly Beaumont said:

This same sister loves jigsaw puzzles. She can finish a 1000 piece in no time. So this year I'm slowing her down with this puzzle - the picture on the box is different than what the puzzle will be. Mwah hahaha!

Have you seen these puzzles? I bought the original one a few years ago because I loved all the colors. It's seems like it's easy because each piece is a different color but it's a lot more time consuming than you'd think! The creator now has several variations (the lenticular one both intrigues me and scares me a little bit), including a 5000 piece version!

 

[Blergh]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Have you seen these puzzles? I bought the original one a few years ago because I loved all the colors. It's seems like it's easy because each piece is a different color but it's a lot more time consuming than you'd think! The creator now has several variations (the lenticular one both intrigues me and scares me a little bit), including a 5000 piece version!

 

Nope! If I'm going to go to the trouble for finding and fitting zillions of pieces together just right, I'd BETTER be rewarded by a good landscape, map or at least a picture of something for my efforts rather than just colors in transition. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

13 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Nope! If I'm going to go to the trouble for finding and fitting zillions of pieces together just right, I'd BETTER be rewarded by a good landscape, map or at least a picture of something for my efforts rather than just colors in transition. 

Ha, I'm the opposite. Landscape puzzles bore me to tears! Mr. EB's family has a collection of puzzles at their cabin and I can't bring myself to do the few landscape puzzles that are up there because they don't interest me at all. I brought a Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band puzzle up there one year because I thought all the faces would make it easy to finish it quickly while we were there and it took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it was fun!

[walnutqueen]

I start every day doing an online puzzle or three at thejigsawpuzzles.com - you can choose different cuts and sizes, create your own, and there is a huge gallery with something for everyone.  And it's free.

[Browncoat]

Someone who should have known better gave me perfume once.  I asked him if he had actually met me, and why on earth he thought it was a good idea to give me anything scented.

[WinnieWinkle]

47 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

Someone who should have known better gave me perfume once.  I asked him if he had actually met me, and why on earth he thought it was a good idea to give me anything scented.

I can still remember "back in the day" that one of the best gifts you could give my Mom or aunts was perfume.  They each had a favourite scent and it certainly simplified birthdays and Christmas.  Fast forward to the present day and I actually know very few people who even wear perfume anymore let alone who would be glad to get it as a gift including my mother.  She has a drawer full of Jean Nate (is that even being made anymore?) Nina Ricci, Chanel no 5 and etc.   

Best gifts for people I know right now  in these pandemic times tend to be gift cards to restaurants that offer a take out option.

[isalicat]

I don't know too many women who would be unhappy receiving a scarf/wrap/shawl, especially something in a neutral tone (I tend to give pashimas that are either white, black or wheaten colored) as they work for any time of the day or night and are especially useful for airline travel. I like to give men either a cashmere scarf or leather gloves - haven't found any guys that don't want or need either.

[auntlada]

The best gift anyone has gotten me recently was when my husband and I had COVID. My sister-in-law in another state got us Panera Bread gift cards that we could use for delivery.

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, WinnieWinkle said:

I can still remember "back in the day" that one of the best gifts you could give my Mom or aunts was perfume.  They each had a favourite scent and it certainly simplified birthdays and Christmas.  Fast forward to the present day and I actually know very few people who even wear perfume anymore let alone who would be glad to get it as a gift including my mother. 

I wear perfume (lightly; I want to smell it, but I don't want other people to smell it, given how many are sensitive to fragrances), but I'd never give it as a gift unless I knew the person liked a specific one.  Otherwise, even if I know they wear perfume/cologne and have a general sense of what kind of scents they like, there's just too big a chance they won't like any given specific fragrance on them (since it doesn't smell the same on everyone who wears it).

[Blergh]

OK, Mama reconnected with one of her oldest childhood friends and recounted a (IMO) very funny and apt[for this Sub Forum] fox pass gift tale from way back when:

During the Depression, Mama was invited to this friend's birthday party with all these tiny children dressed up in their Sunday best for this preschooler's fete. While it's likely that the many dolls, coloring books, teddy bears and toys were appreciated by the birthday girl, none of those gifts were as memorable as the one which one of the little boy guests presented when he handed the birthday girl the package his mother had carefully chosen and  wrapped. When the honoree opened it, she discovered to her embarrassment (and the boy's utter mortification) that the box contained a pair of . ..girl's panties!

Even more than eight decades later having long since become mothers themselves, Mama and her lifelong friend still wonder what that other guest's mother was THINKING with that gift!

Edited September 16, 2022 by Blergh

[EtheltoTillie]

Jigsaw puzzling is very personal. I’m a big fan. Puzzles make great gifts.  But It could be risky to gift a puzzle that is very tricky or difficult, like one color or mystery puzzles. There are people who love these. But not everyone. This happened to me. I received a gift puzzle that was such a slog I gave up. I persisted longer than I might have because it was a gift. Try to gauge the type the recipient really likes. Maybe try. a gift certificate for a puzzle company like White Mountain or Ravensburger. 

[stewedsquash]

I spend some time here https://thejigsawpuzzles.com/ and agree that puzzles are to personal taste. I will also add that it is annoying when I am a casual collector of a few things and people take it upon themselves to gift me things I collect. No don't do that. I am ridiculous in that I like to be "spoken to" when I see what I collect and am picky about the choices. Exceptions made for my four granddaughters though, ha. For everyone else it is annoying. 

[EtheltoTillie]

More on puzzles.  I had fond memories of doing landscape puzzles with my dad when I was a kid.  But back then, those were the only puzzles available.  I tried one recently for nostalgia's sake, but I gave up.  There was just a gigantic swath of similar looking fall leaves, and it would have taken forever.  Not fun!

[ABay]

Buffalo Games has good jigsaws and they come in boxes that fit on shelves. At the height...or depth...of my lockdown jigsaw mania, those were the brand I bought the most of.

[theredhead77]

My mom and I have a blast putting together puzzles from Exploding Kittens https://www.explodingkittens.com/collections/puzzles

[ebk57]

I believe this subject was covered in the Chit Chat thread that was eaten by the internet gods, so I'll ask (again) here.  I'm going to a baby shower in about a month and instead of a card, she's asking for a book that I'll sign and whenever the child reads it, he/she will always remember Auntie E (even though we'll probably spent close to no time together). 

I would welcome any suggestions as to what book to buy.  When this happened last time, I ended up buying a Sandra Boynton box-set, and a copy of Peter Pan that I have from my childhood (beautifully illustrated).  The only reason I'm not immediately going with either or both of those is that the last baby shower was for her cousin, so I feel like those may not be a good idea this time due to the repetitive factor. 

Thanks for any help!

[stewedsquash]

My oldest granddaughter loves Shel Silverstein books. She is nine now and I bought them for her about two years ago. I am of the opinion that they helped her read because she loved them. She rereads them regularly. She also likes Diary Of A Wimpy Kid and when I asked her if she liked the books with the brother named Fudge she said she hadn't read them. So we drove back to the library later that day and the librarian helped her get two Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing. I noticed tonight when clearing up the living room that she had another one started so she must like them. 

My five year old granddaughter loves The Bear Stays Up the most in the bear books series. 

https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/The-Bear-Books

Search and Find books are fun and there are many age specific categories. 

https://www.simonandschuster.com/search/books/_/N-/Ntt-search+and+find+

I gave online links just for visual context but most book stores have all the options above in this post.

Edited April 9, 2023 by stewedsquash
why I used links

[ECM1231]

"Love You Forever", "Goodnight Moon" , and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar " were family favorites.

[EtheltoTillie]

I second the Fudge books:  Hilarious.

[Drogo]

We went to a “sprinkle” (2nd kid shower) with the build-her-library theme.  Six Goodnight Moons.  I’m partial to an illustrated children’s dictionary.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, ebk57 said:

I'm going to a baby shower in about a month and instead of a card, she's asking for a book that I'll sign and whenever the child reads it, he/she will always remember Auntie E (even though we'll probably spent close to no time together).

So something the kid will read on their own later, not a little kid's book that will be read to them?  My favorite was Harriet the Spy, which I recently re-read, and while of course there are era-specific details, it holds up.

[stewedsquash]

Ha @Drogo! Sprinkle! It took me a second. I am always on a three second delay usually, ask the family. but then I was aaaahhhh cool cool! 

[chitowngirl]

The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak

Goodnight Gorilla board book

Edited April 9, 2023 by chitowngirl

[Blergh]

11 hours ago, Drogo said:

We went to a “sprinkle” (2nd kid shower) with the build-her-library theme.  Six Goodnight Moons.  I’m partial to an illustrated children’s dictionary.

Yes, I always have gifted books detailing the cool stuff about our world and its history to newly arrived or impending little ones. Getting them interested in seeking knowledge  is always a good thing!

P.S. However, there was one tragic occasion in which a baby who I'd recently gifted later suddenly and unexpectedly died. While of course, I did all I could to console the devastated mother as long as I knew her, I've since wondered if they opted to keep the books and other gifts or, if they decided that it was too painful to keep these reminders of a future life that wasn't to be.

[theredhead77]

I give books that can grow with the child and also that align with the parents interests. There's a great children's series on historically important women that has been my default gift (regardless of the baby's gender) in recent years. I've also given books on sports, Star Wars, traveling. So far there haven't been dupes.

[JTMacc99]

On 4/9/2023 at 12:11 AM, ECM1231 said:

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar "

That caterpillar was out of control. 

[Notabug]

On 4/9/2023 at 2:27 AM, Bastet said:

So something the kid will read on their own later, not a little kid's book that will be read to them?  My favorite was Harriet the Spy, which I recently re-read, and while of course there are era-specific details, it holds up.

I agree, I often give books that I liked as a kid or that had special meaning to the family.  I gave Misty of Chincoteague to my niece at her baby shower because it was my late sister's (her mom) favorite as a kid.  I've also given sets of the Winnie the Pooh books because I have fond memories of my mother reading them to me as a child and also the Little House on the Prairie set because I absolutely loved them as a kid and read them dozens of times.

I try to give books that are a little (or a lot) beyond baby age since I figure there will be plenty of Goodnight Moons and Pat the Bunny(s) already. I also include in the note a few words explaining why I chose that book.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Notabug

[Bastet]

18 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

There's a great children's series on historically important women that has been my default gift (regardless of the baby's gender) in recent years.

It makes me very happy there are so many more books like that now than when I was a kid.  (And, yeah, it's only true progress if these are books given to children, period, not just girls.)  I don't have much cause to give gifts to children, but I have the She Persisted series filed away in my brain.

[isalicat]

I second the idea of a "Winnie the Pooh" book set. Another possibility would be a collection of children's stories from all over the world or a good illustrated version of "The Wind in the Willows".

[meep.meep]

Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik

[theredhead77]

On 4/10/2023 at 12:47 PM, Bastet said:

It makes me very happy there are so many more books like that now than when I was a kid.  (And, yeah, it's only true progress if these are books given to children, period, not just girls.)  I don't have much cause to give gifts to children, but I have the She Persisted series filed away in my brain.

That's the series! Before I moved, I bought a bunch of these types of books and left them in a Little Free Library (it's a gift, right?) with a short, age-appropriate message on the inside and the hope they would be read and returned for someone else to read. I also gifted a bunch of banned books to the same Little Free Library.

[badhaggis]

I bought "The Practical Princess and other Liberating Fairytales" for my niece. I love the fact the princesses save themselves in the tales.

[Blergh]

I literally learned to read while my sides ached from laughing via Richard Scarry books with all those animals in costumes doing fun, goofy but ultimately educational things to get kids to learn numbers, the alphabet and to read basic words and I see no reason why they wouldn't be good gifts for loved ones' little ones!

[PRgal]

I’ve been giving every new baby a relative has this:

 

https://ca.cuddleandkind.com

[ECM1231]

On 7/7/2023 at 9:43 AM, PRgal said:

I’ve been giving every new baby a relative has this:

 

https://ca.cuddleandkind.com

I love Cuddleandkind and have given their animal dolls as gifts many times, including Oliver the Bear to my grandson Oliver. He loves it! I also love that each purchase provides meals for hungry children. 

[PRgal]

17 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

I love Cuddleandkind and have given their animal dolls as gifts many times, including Oliver the Bear to my grandson Oliver. He loves it! I also love that each purchase provides meals for hungry children. 

My son has Hudson the dog (his first stuffed animal - he was born in 2018, so the Year of the Dog), but he seems to like Maximus (aka Max (or when he was 2, Mac)) more.  Max is essentially his pillow. 

[ECM1231]

6 minutes ago, PRgal said:

My son has Hudson the dog (his first stuffed animal - he was born in 2018, so the Year of the Dog), but he seems to like Maximus (aka Max (or when he was 2, Mac)) more.  Max is essentially his pillow. 

Well, I am very excited because I just checked and they have a doll named Avery the lamb. Well, my son and DIL are expecting their 2nd son in a few weeks and intend to name him Avery. Guess what my next purchase will be?

[Quof]

For the third time in less than a year, I find myself shopping for a baby gift.  Why???? My peers are all too old to be having babies! so these have been for "more than coworkers/less than close friends".   

The first was easy, a Cuddle and Kind doll, suggested by @PRgal I believe.  It was pricy, but this was a close-ish friend, who had been trying to become a parent for years and had almost given up, so it was truly celebratory.  

The others have proven more difficult, but I really just want to vent rather than ask for suggestions.  When did we stop giving babies colour?   Why are all toys, decor and clothing for babies the colour of old bras?  What happened to stimulating babies' development with primary colours?  Even the registries these parents have created are full of beige.  I just can't.  So I'm probably going with books. 

[Notabug]

3 hours ago, Quof said:

The others have proven more difficult, but I really just want to vent rather than ask for suggestions.  When did we stop giving babies colour?   Why are all toys, decor and clothing for babies the colour of old bras?  What happened to stimulating babies' development with primary colours?  Even the registries these parents have created are full of beige.  I just can't.  So I'm probably going with books. 

It's the 'Sad Beige Baby' trend, an offshoot of the 'Sad Beige Child'.  It seems that many new parents want their kids to sort of quietly blend into the background.  Online influencers supposedly use beige and oatmeal and gray because it means that whatever product they are shilling will 'pop' against the bland backdrop.  It seems like some have also decided that those colors indicate 'pure and natural' and, even though there can be plenty of chemicals added to furniture and clothing in neutral colors, the parents seem feel that neutrals are somehow ecologically 'safer' or something.  It's a big status thing, too.  Google any of the Kardashians' baby nurseries; my dentist's waiting room has more vibrance and personality.

I'm with you, though.  I like kids to look like kids and most kids want clothes that are bright or shiny.  I am all about the primary colors for kids.  My niece is expecting twin girls soon and I am making them baby quilts.  I am using the motifs my niece is using in their room, but those quilts will be BRIGHT, baby!