[kelkello]

Some good parmesan cheese would be a great addition to the pasta and sauce.

[LoveMyPugs]

I'm making a housewarming basket to give to my friends that just bought a house. Here is a short list of things I’m going to include so far:

Dried pasta
A jar of spaghetti sauce
Maybe a candle
A Magnetic “Things to Buy” list for her fridge
Maybe a small photo album
A beginner’s cookbook (cause she said she can’t cook and I can).
A coloring book and crayons (for her daughter)
Lifesavers Gummies (for her husband)

Can anyone think of anything else to put in there? I’m going to try to give it to her sometime next week.

[sixelacat]

*bumpity bump*

[gumby_cc]

I made stress reliever room spray as my homemade gifts this year.....the essential oils were expensive but I only used about 12 drops per jar, and then I got the spray mister things at the Container store. They came out decent.

[hellotampon]

I found cute glass jars at the dollar store. They're potbellied, with pointy lids, and have little old-fashioned Christmas trees around the middle. I made chocolates with marzipan in the middle, wrapped them in silver and gold papers, and filled the jars.

[stargazer]

yeah, i don't think there is anything wrong with homemade gifts. especially if you go to the dollar store. omg, there is so many things you can get there.

[ginger_kitty]

andraja, heehee...but I agree. One year my hubby got Sauve Shampoo from is mom is still fuming about it. When the woman is a terrific seamstress and could have easily mad something. Money was tight for us this year so I gave out homemade roasted almonds, and peanut butter fudge.

[Divala]

Andraja - I got my boyfriend exactly the same R2D2 and was so excited to give it to him. Like, looking forward to it for weeks. And then he opens it up and tells me he already has it (but it's in storage, so I had no way of knowing). I suppose there's always that risk when you're with a hardcore collector. Sorry about the sucky stuff your roommate got you and your guy.

[tommynomad]

i got my boyfriend washable silk pillowcases so he'll have something extra soft to cuddle up to when i'm not sleeping with him.

You are cool.

gifts are so weird--i hate giftshopping unless i know what i want to get or i find stuff i'm really excited about, and then i can't wait to give the gifts and see people's reactions!

Did I mention you're cool? I feel exactly the same way. It really burns me sometimes, though: 'll find the perfect gift in September or something and have to wait until Chanukah to give it!

I know she doesn't have much money, but jeez! What the hell ever happened to getting a card with a well-thought out message or homecooking?!

Amen. Lots of homebaking went out this year, and homemade cds.
Shenomad and I decided no gifts for each other (we'll probably move 3 times in the next 4 years, and have an around-the-world trip planned for 2008--no need for more stuff), so we treated ourselves to a splurge night: dinner, Eric Clapton tickets, and a nice Love Hotel.

[andraja]

*sigh*

My boyfriend got my roommate this interactive R2D2 robot (she loves Star Wars) and I got her this great collection of gifts...both of which she really loved.

In return, my boyfriend got an old hand-me-down sweater of hers that would never fit him. And I got a fake gold necklace that was all dirty and almost broken.

I know she doesn't have much money, but jeez! What the hell ever happened to getting a card with a well-thought out message or homecooking?!

[annelise]

i got my boyfriend washable silk pillowcases so he'll have something extra soft to cuddle up to when i'm not sleeping with him.

gifts are so weird--i hate giftshopping unless i know what i want to get or i find stuff i'm really excited about, and then i can't wait to give the gifts and see people's reactions!

this year, i'm excited.

[hellotampon]

I'm having such trouble with my boyfriend's present! I've gotten him 3 cacti in a terra cotta pot, and a book. He'll like those gifts, but this is our 3rd Christmas together and I don't want everything I get him to be so generic. I was thinking about getting him a coat from NoSweat, but then he started dropping hints (he's terrible about that) and I strongly suspect that HE'S getting me a lovely coat from there that I was admiring. We unknowingly got each other the same present last year, and I would feel kinda skeezy about getting him a coat too (he doesn't know how obvious his hints are and he's excited about it so I don't want to ruin it for him).

Anyway. I know he would love a drum set, but I can't afford that. So I was looking at djembe drums, which he would also love, but I just realized they're not vegan! Both of us are pretty practical vegans in that we'll eat the eggs from his 3 pet chickens and we don't flip out over every little thing like some of our friends. But I'm not sure. I wish drums didn't involve skins.

</whining>

[anna k]

I don't have any gifts for anyone. It seems like people have all that they need, now that we're all grown with jobs (me and my siblings, my parents have retired and moved to a new house, my grandma's 80 and doesn't need any new stuff).

Tomorrow I'll visit the flea markets to see if anything jumps out at me that says something about the person I'm buying it for.

Tonight I'm making a mix tape for my sister (I don't have a CD burner), finding songs that she would like, plus surprises (the theme song to Perfect Strangers, Nina Simone, songs by Zooey Deschanel and Maggie Gyllenhaal).

I found holiday food/toy/clothing drives through TimeOutNewYork that I want to donate to.

[laurenann]

polly - off the current topic, but back to your first post - i have twin cousins and they would always get a bigger gift to share at christmas. either that or my mom would get them gifts that went together, instead of matching stuff.

[stargazer]

wow. i never heard that abou toys for tots.

cool for adopting manatees!

i kinda like the program i belong to. you can also donate money, which goes towards school supplies for kids in needy homes.

you know what i was thinking about that i like...random acts of kindness. i had a friend in college write a paper on his experience of doing 5 random acts of kindness. one time, he paid for someone's meal. that's pretty cool. i think there are little things that could be done every day of the year. not just at christmas time.

[yuefie]

((((FJ)))) I just had to delurk to tell you how much I lurve you to pieces for giving that as a gift. I would be so touched and absolutely thrilled to receive that as a gift. I heart manatees

[falljackets]

i just adopted a manatee for my mil. the woman asked for sneakers for christmas so i'll get those for her too, but i know she's going to love this gift. her favorite thing to do when the family gets together is to go down to the river near her house and look for manatees. and, at the same time, i helped fund the save the manatee foundation. it really does feel good!!!

[Divala]

My parents did that for a couple years, but they call it Adopt-A-Family where I live. I think my dad donated something like 72 turkeys to their local food shelf for Thanksgiving. For work, we all donate to a local women's shelter, but they only accept Target gift certs, cash, or checks. They used to have lists of the families and what they wanted, but not anymore. I used to almost make myself go broke donating for that.

This year, I'm going to focus less on kids, unless I know exactly where the presents are going. A friend of mine told me about how Toys for Tots is run in our area, and it ain't good. People who totally don't need anything are going through the lines several times instead of using the money they have to get toys for their kids. I'd be much more likely to do like Polly did and choose an actual kid. So I'm going to focus on Gifts for Seniors and my local food bank. I love going through the grocery store with one cart for all my charity stuff and another cart for me, and the smile on the face of the person who checks me through and sees me dump it all in the food shelf bin.

I'm going to give under my parents' name to charities, too. They have everything they need, so someone else should, too. And anyway, it's a great alternative when you have no clue what to get your parents.

[erinjane]

So is that like a food drive, erinjane? Food and other necessities?

Yeah, you get assigned a family and the kids ages and then you buy whatever is on the list of necessities and a turkey and things like that, and gifts for all members of the family. I love doing them. Makes me feel extra good. I always throw in extra stuff.

[flyingfrog]

donations to charities are one of my favorite things to give... everyone has so much STUFF in their houses/apartments anyway, it seems.

one that was a really big hit: I have a friend who's a huge animal lover. (that is, he loves animals hugely. regardless of the animals' size.) so I made a donation to the aspca in his town, and sent a card with a picture of a dog on it to explain the gift.

there are so many cool donations you can make. I have another friend who's polish, so I made a donation to a polish american cultural organization. for that one, they added her to their members' list and she gets invited to their events now.

the christmas hamper is a great idea. my mom's church always organizes toy drives for the local shelters, and they pile all the toys under a tree in the parish. it's really lovely.

on the non-charitable tip, I always think a gift certificate for a massage is a failsafe gift. who doesn't need to relax a bit?