What did you GIVE for Christmas?

[Julles]

We had a thread about what we got, but, since we all know it's better to give than to receive, I thought it'd be nice to see how we gifted the loved ones in our lives.

To my teenaged nephew, who's just discovering cars, beer, and girls, I gave him a long sleeved T-shirt printed with a dozen Red Neck Pick-Up Lines.  I hear he's been wearing it every day since.  (and that my mother (his grandmother) had a hard time "getting it.")

My girlfriend was thrilled with the ceramic Beer Can Chicken cooker.  They have done it with a real beer can on the grill, but now they can eliminate the aluminum and bake the chicken in the oven instead of the grill.

Some of my family members, because we are cutting back, instead of a tangible gift, I gave a donation to various charities in their name.

To many friends, I gave those Daylight spectrum light bulbs, that help recreate the sun's rays, that help reduce depression and the Winter Blahs.  People seemed to like that idea.  Although, at first, they thought I was just being "practical" and giving a gift of light bulbs.  once I explained about the special color and how it's supposed to help elevate mood, they really liked it and are eager to give them a try.

To the friend who gave me the cool vintage collectables, I gave her a vintage tea towel, hand cross-stitched back in the '50's probably, in the design of some black Scottie dogs inside some blue kitchen cannisters.  I also found her a vintage tablecloth with circles of aqua, blue, and green.  I know she loved it because she was immediately playing with the fabric trying to plot how to use it as a window covering.

How about you?

[matherfish]

We are taking our two children (sons), their wives, and our three children on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. We are leaving tonight for Mobile, AL and will sail out tomorrow.  My wife and I have been on cruises before, but this is the first for everyone else, so they are all excited. Other gifts were the routine things, but this one was special. A friend of ours got us all t-shirts with "Matherley Family Cruise 2010" printed on them. 

[Brian]

Great topic, Julles!

We draw names in my family (my siblings and their spouses, and adult nieces and nephews) so I had my nephew and he wanted golf balls and gift cards for Dick's Sporting Goods and Home Depot.  I got him everything on his list since I only had to buy for him and my mom and my aunt.  For mom, I got another memory card for her camera, and gift cards to Red Lobster and Max and Erma's.  My aunt, I got an Adidas jacket that my niece picked up for $10.00 (niece works for Reebok/Adidas)  so all in all I spent a little over $200.00.  I also gave a friend a gift card to Gander Mountain.


















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[livetogarden]

I want to be adopted by matherfish. 

[Esther]

We gave money to most of our adult kids and adult grandkid. We are making a bed for my son who's been sleepiing on a futon. Our three youngest granddaughters got the nightlight crowns we made. Candles to the three daughter inlaws. A 42 piece rachet/socket set for 6 guys, a tool box to one grandson, an advanced Leggo set for the 13 year old, beach mats for 6 grandkids, a phone for my hearing impaired dad and stepmother, router bits for Pete, a pendant with three tiny pink stones for the 15 year old granddaughter (It was marked down from $100 to $30), toys for the one year old, American Girl book for an 8 year old (Understanding my family), 3 Amaryllis bulbs, and the three little girls got some kind of Tinkerbell drawing thing.

Then our church was doing an Angel tree so gave a lady's sweater, man's t-shirt, two boy teens shirts, two blanket sleepers size 4, a size 10 boy's Michigan sweatshirt, and 5 bags of groceries including one sack of frozen meat and stuff from the freezer. I tried to include the kind of things people would fix for their holiday dinner and also things to bake with, like flour, sugar, margarine, nuts, powdered sugar, Eagle brand milk, condensed milk, and eggs. I also tried to include low cost things that go a long ways or fill in the cracks like dried peas, pasta, beans, rice, peanut butter, crackers, and freezer jam.

[karen J]

We got a lot of necessary, practical things for the kids. My son's stuff was falling apart, so he got new snow boots, snow pants, coat, & gloves. Transformers & Legos for the toys.
We got a lot of clothes for my daughter- jeans, hoodies, etc. The girls around here really like Aeropostale, so I got a bunch of stuff on sale. Jewelry, bath stuff, etc.
Got my hubby some antique radio books and clothes.

Got my sister a stock pot, Himalayan pink salt, a citrine ring, travel mug, and a few other things. Got my BIL some jeans, shirts for work, suet feeder with assortment of suet cakes (wild bird enthusiast), a book about how to attract wild birds to your garden, and tea lights and tarts for his tart burner.

The "perfect" gift didn't happen this year. We wanted to get the kids a Wii Rock Band bundle, but nobody had them. So instead we got them Tony Hawk "Ride", but the bum skateboard wouldn't calibrate.

Sean, you are going to love your mixer!

[karen J]

Sean, you are going to love your mixer!

Oops...  ... wrong thread!