Readin' on up.

Sometimes, simple gifts can be the biggest surprises. What about giving a gift that someone already knows they like?

Brad and I can spend hours in a bookstore. I linger longer in the book section than he does, but he keeps himself quite occupied over in the magazine section. It never ceases to amaze me the volume and variety of magazines available out there.

One year, for Christmas, I decided to give him the gift that keeps on giving – magazine subscriptions. I got him two – one to a surfing magazine and one to a snowboarding magazine.

On the surface, this doesn’t seem that much better than a stinking gift card. They still don’t get to open anything! But that’s easily remedied! Just run out to the closest bookstore, grab the latest issue (if you’re really ambitious, plan in advance and have a couple of months’ worth of issues!), stick them in a box and wrap it up! Something to open and enjoy before their next issue comes!

I also got a magazine subscription for a friend who was getting married a few months later. When I got the subscription, I put it in her future new last name. Just another extra special touch to make it personalized.

Sidenote: Just make sure your gift isn’t something they are already subscribed to! If they are and you really can’t find any other subscription out there that you think they’d like, see if you can renew their subscription for a year or two.

But, really? You can’t find anything interesting to give them???

 

Amazon has THOUSANDS of magazine subscriptions. Just try it. I dare you!

Eco-Friendly and "What Do I Do With This?"

As we all know, random gifts are my favorite. But I’ve been known to be *so* random, that I don’t even fully know what I’m giving someone.

In October, the small town we live in gets invaded by about 40,000 people to this arts& crafts festival they like to call Colorfest. I had some fun at Colorfest and bought quite a few unique Christmas gifts but this one takes the cake. At the time, I hadn’t seen anything like it, but as the months pass, I’ve seen them popping up more and more.

I’ve seen them described as:

-          Cigar holders

-          Spoon holders

-          Cheese & cracker platter

-          Nut holder

-          Gadget bowl

Some I’ve even seen made into recycled windchimes!

I did give one to my dad for Christmas and I think his plan is to hang it on a wall in his “mancave”.

Biker Buddies

I like to give people ornaments. I know that’s not super exciting or super original, but it can be somewhat original if you do it right. I’m talking about doing more than Hallmark’s specialty ornament of that year here.

One of my bestests, Cinnamon, lives in Florida (the beautiful state that hubby and I will *hopefully* be moving to soon!). She and her boyfriend ride bikes for fun. They each have their own bikes but they also have a super cool tandem bike! (I’m only a little jealous!)

This year I found this nifty little ornament representing one of their favorite hobbies as a couple:

How many times do you see a Christmas ornament with a guy and a girl tandem bike riding? I’d never seen one before, so I jumped right on it! (Less than $15 on Amazon, using a gift card so it was yet another free gift to give this Christmas).

Hopefully she will think of me every Christmas when she puts it on her tree J

Drink like a camel

I haven’t been slacking…I promise! Once I got the hubby nursed back to health, I got sick. It was eerily similar to his sickness but hopefully I’m on the upswing.

Onward to gift giving!

So there’s this girl who’s probably going to be my sister in law one day. She and I spent a lot of time last summer hiking in the parks close by to our houses with the dogs. Some days were 3 milers, other days were 8+. Just depended on how much we had to talk about J

Regardless of how long we spent out in the wilderness, she always carried a water bottle. I, being married to Mr. Outdoorsman, had bought this little handy dandy thing years ago:

A Camelbak. They come in all sorts of sizes, shapes and colors. If you spend any time outside at all, this thing is one of the most useful, practical gadgets you can possibly have. Fill it with water (and ice if it’s a hot day), strap it to your back and then you are off on whatever adventure you have planned – with the use of both hands! It makes everything easier – kayaking, hiking, biking – anything you can think of!

Not long before Christmas, hubs and I were in good ‘ol REI and I saw Camelbaks on sale. Lightbulb on. She had never complained about carrying a water bottle around, but you could see that it wasn’t exactly convenient. Plus, we’ve talked about trying our hand at some adventure races together (trail running, trail biking and kayaking “triathlons”) and it would obviously be beneficial to have her water strapped to her back.

Happy trails!

I'm still laughing at this one

Today’s turning out to be a fairly big day so here’s a fun “joke” gift (or it could be serious, too! Haha).

Got this one in an email from a friend today. It was a Christmas present from one of her male friends to an engaged couple.

Great way to make sure they don’t forget you after they get married!

Palm trees and coconuts...

I always figured I'd get married one day. I also knew that my parents would generously pay for most, if not all of my special day. And when that day came, I wanted to be able to show them my appreciation.

About 5 years before I actually got married (I was dating the guy I would eventually marry, but I didn't know it at that point), I went on a cruise with his family. Somehow the cruise ship messed up our reservations and to apologize, upgraded all of us (we had a total of like 8 rooms) to balconey suites. Afterwards, I started an unofficial savings account.

You see, balconey suites were expensive. I know my dad, and knew that he's all about the deals. I thought the balconey just made the entire trip. Waking up every morning to see that crystal blue water? It was just amazing. I wanted my parents to experience that.

A few months before the wedding, I contacted a travel agent and explained to her what I wanted to do. Since I didn't know when to actually book the trip for, we decided a gift certificate would be the easiest way to go. I told the travel agent that I didn't care where they went (although I had a few suggestions of places I thought they'd like), my only stipulation was that it had to be a balconey suite.

The night before the wedding, I went into my parents' room and handed them a box. Inside were several cruise books/pamphlets and a gift certificate. I told them it was enough for a week long cruise to most places in the Caribbean.

They were a little "mad" at first but I just told them I had been saving up for this for awhile. Plus, their house had flooded about two months before the wedding so they'd been dealing from all the stress from that. They knew they needed a break anyway.

They loved the trip, it was a well-deserved break for them and it made me happy to be able to give back to my parents, who have given so much to me. They've been great parents and I love to do unexpected things for them because I want them to know how much appreciate them.

Warning: Do not try while hungry...

The economy pretty much stinks these days. Christmas should never be a burden and homemade gifts are no longer the macaroni-necklace, toilet paper roll Christmas tree crafts anymore. It’s super easy to give the illusion of spending a lot of money (although that’s definitely not the expectation) without the cash. Besides, when the recipient finds out you did it yourself, that’s even better!

Got a candy or dessert that is your specialty? Find a cute way to box it up as a gift!

I made these fudgy bon-bons for work a few weeks ago.

They look professional, right? Find some little boxes, wrap some ribbon around it and voila! Instant look of expensive fudge shops but cheap solution in your own kitchen.

Children on your list? Try these chocolate mice!

I think they are just adorable!

Got a tea lover (like myself) on your list? Pomegranate Winter Tea!

Click here for 26 fun little gift-giving-worthy recipes!