[bunnyb]

Later than usual, I started my Christmas shopping yesterday. I bought a lovely jumper dress for my little sister, fleecy baby dungarees for my pseudo nephew and a hat for the boy. I plan to do some more shortly.

I'm going to buy this for the boy's sis who has recently given birth; I have some of the freshly caught fairies myself and think they are cute and unique, especially for a new mother gift.

I love fairies and think I may buy one for my friend for Christmas.

[shinyx3]

i use to be really good about getting my shopping done early. i mean really early. i would basicly be on the lookout all year long for good gifts. this year i just haven't been inspired. mostly cos i have been doing baby shopping and not much else. i am all giddy about christmas this year already though. the stors already have some christmas stuff up and one can find quite alot of inspiration with out having to spend any money.

[ananke]

Ohhhhh Shinyx3, is their a recipe for the candied oranges? Sounds like it'd go down a treat with my families.

I'm not big on any celebration, apart from New Years, but both families LOVE LOVE LOVE the christmas season. This year is gonna be brutal - brother-in-law is working over my partner's birthday (Christmas Eve) and on the Day, my great-grandma is ill so we want to get down to NSW for that (at least 2, probably 3 hours in the car in the middle of summer to get there). I've started shopping already though - some Ross Campbell stuff for my sister, an art print for the Marital Unit. Not much else. I'm thinking a few magazine subscriptions as well.

[bunnyb]

shiny, your tree last years sounds beautiful! Christmas trees are probably my favourite part of the holidays and this year we're having two -one in the living room and the other in the lounge- as we've moved to a bigger house.

Traditionally I buy my mum tree ornaments -mainly glass- every year so I'm always on the look out for pretty ones; my friend recently suggested Swarovski's tree ornaments to me and now I'm smitten. I've also started to do the same for the boy's mum and will buy her a tree decoration as an extra gift. If I wasn't so poor this month I would have started the ornament shopping last week.

[annelise]

I've also discovered the wonderfully economical present that is pictures in frames! I got a bunch of plain black frames and photo paper (I have a photo printer) and printed pictures to put in frames as presents recently. They were very well received, so i was happy.

photos are wonderful for xmas. one year i went through allll the old photos of my sister and i when we were little, and picked five of each of us at varying stages of childhood. i got two frames that had five openings each, and did one of me growing up and one of my sister. i put them under the tree after my parents had gone to bed on christmas eve, so they had no idea whatsoever. my mom cried. it was so sweet, and they've had the frames on their wall ever since.

[shinyx3]

i love love love christmas! i make chocolate covered candied oranges. i have been making these for several years, maybe 7, and although they are time consuming i always look forward to making them. my whole house will smell so good. i usually give these with candied pecans. they are quick and easy to make and always a big hit.

so, the otherday i was looking at ideas for christmas tree decor and i was wondering what others do? last year we hd a crazy huge tree that reached the top of our 25ft ceiling so we just had lights and ribbons on it. it was really impressive! we have a bit of land that is nicely forested so we get to walk out our door and find the tree we want and cut it down. i may be very childish about all this but i still love it all.

[Divala]

A couple years ago, a person at work gave me a bunch of family pictures to decoupage onto a cigar box purse. I guess the recipient loved it to bits.

I'm going to be busy crafting this holiday... again. I make truffles especially for the holidays, probably 15 flavors this year, and customize other things I already do year-round, like purses and jewelry. It makes me a fair bit of money (the truffles pay for themselves with a ton of extras to use for gifts). I'm just happy I'm one of those people who can whip stuff up like that with fairly little notice. I just wish my family liked to receive that stuff, but it's hard when your parents are picky and your brothers don't appreciate that kind of stuff. I'm going to try my hand at cookies, too, if I can find the time. I've never done Christmas cookies, just the regular everyday kind.

[nickclick]

love the framed photo christmas gift. last year i made a portrait of my boyfriend and his siblings for his parents. just required a little planning, nice lighting, and a few bucks for an enlargement and a nice frame. they loved it. other nice things to frame for the nostalgic in your life are old postcards of a hometown or favorite place, easy to find on ebay or whereever, or old family photos, which are even cool to bring to kinko's to make calendars or mugs or whatever.

yay christmas!

[lananans]

That mixed CD thing is a great idea. I could definitely do that for my parents. I love baking, but I've been trying to stay away from it since Weight Watchers... however, cookies would be a good idea.

I've also discovered the wonderfully economical present that is pictures in frames! I got a bunch of plain black frames and photo paper (I have a photo printer) and printed pictures to put in frames as presents recently. They were very well received, so i was happy.

[bunnyb]

The countdown to Christmas has begun!

I'm going to try and be economical this year and make a few things (I have the time and the inclination, which helps). So far I've decided -and already started- to make mix CDs of really cool Christmas songs, which has me very excited as they are going to rock and I think I'll also make florentines for people. Do any of you make/bake things for people during the holidays? If so, what do you do? I'm not sure of what else I could give people...

[nickclick]

bb, thanks, that's a great idea, we do both like going to artsy-fartsy movies!

[bunnyb]

nickclick, what about taking her out for a day or mother and daughter time? you could buy her a meal and go shopping or to the cinema or theatre, anything that's just you and her?

[nickclick]

my mom's so difficult to give a gift. i tried the manicure gift certificate, but she has arthritis and fat knuckles so she's embarassed. she's also too vain or shy or practical or whatev to go for a facial or massage.

if i get her a gift c for dinner or the movies, she'll take my dad, so it's not so much a special gift for her only.

of course when i ask her i get the standard - i don't want you to buy me anything....

she gets a lot of books.

[juls]

Gift certificate for a facial? Pampering's always nice...

[crinoline]

Mother's Day is creeping up on us!!

Does anyone have any good ideas? I'm thinking of martini glasses for my mother, but Crinoboy's mom doesn't drink, so I don't know what to get her. Maybe a decorative home accessory. Although, I gave her a vase last year...crap.

[nickclick]

I always think it's rather sad to leave second hand books & records behind in the store
if I love them, even if I already have them. Sometimes I buy them anyway and hope
I'll find someone later on who might like them. It seems like a waste that they just
should stand there, forgotten and left out among the BAD books and BAD records.

i do the same thing! this is why i have about 5 copies of 'the awakening' and 5 more of 'age of innocence'

faerie, how 'bout a gift certificate to a nice local restaurant? or a book related to the topic of your thesis, or anything she'd be interested in, that way you can inscribe it with your thanks.

[faerietails2]

I'm trying to think of a nice gift for my thesis advisor, but I can't think of a thing! I was going to get her a really nice bottle of wine, but I don't think she drinks anymore. So there goes that idea.

Any suggestions?

[coela]

i-am-jan,
thank you! Well actually she did like her presents a lot, which made me happy.
I don't always recycle, but when it comes to records & books it's rather convenient,
especially when they are out of print (as was the case with the children's book).
I always think it's rather sad to leave second hand books & records behind in the store
if I love them, even if I already have them. Sometimes I buy them anyway and hope
I'll find someone later on who might like them. It seems like a waste that they just
should stand there, forgotten and left out among the BAD books and BAD records.

[i-am-jan]

I think those are very nice gifts...and a lot of thought went into them...also, I like that you bought used books and records...recycling is wonderful...it's also nice to pass along books and records that have been *loved* before, it's very special...but it sounds as though you know this ; ) Good luck, I hope she's happy with them!

[coela]

It's my best friend's 32nd birthday tomorrow, and I've bought a few things I hope she'll like,
but the problem is she is super picky, and I'm also afraid she might already have the things I'm going to give to her.

* Desire - Bob Dylan (she just recently got into Dylan, and especially loves "Oh, Sister" and "Sara"
which both are on this LP, but I'm afraid she might already have it. It's 2nd hand, so I can't get a
refund/swap it. I also hope it sounds ok - I can't listen to it myself, my record player is broken.)

* A pretty rare children's book from 1975 that be both loved as kids (I'm pretty sure she doesn't have it,
we've talked about when we used to borrow it at the library). It's a little worn, but what could you expect
from a 32-year-old children's book?

* A novel that got a lot of attention and praise here when it came out 1 year ago. That too is bought 2nd hand,
but looks like it's brand new. She might already have read it, or maybe she doesn't want to read it at all.

When it comes to gifts I tend to become just a tad Bree Van de Kamp.
I hate it when people don't like or think their gifts are sort of blah.
I want them to be perfect! The gifts, not the people, that is..

Oh well, I hope she'll like them anyway. Tomorrow I'll know!