Christmas Gifts

[GAME05]

Thought I'd start this and see if there were an interest in throwing around gift ideas. My family says I'm a great gift-giver, though I'm having a harder time thinking of ideas this year.

Getting the brother a pair of Guardian clubs. They're odd, and I like odd gifts, but he's got shoulder problems and they're great for that.

The father I was thinking of Skillshare, but that seems to be more tech-related.

For the nieces I was thinking about those inflatable sumo balls so they can run into each other, though reviews seem to say they pop easily.

Still wondering about the sister-in-law and the regular sister.

 

edit: Oh. I see the site autocorrects. No such thing as "Guardian Clubs". The name relates to the country of India even though they were first used in Persia. But the clubs' use migrated to India, where the British gave them that name. Their shape has changed a little over the years, largely to make them easier to pack because British folks liked to take them home to England. They're excellent for low-impact forearm and shoulder and wrist strength, making Persians some of the best wrestlers in the world for centuries.

[CheezWizHed]

@GAME05, I like the idea.

We ordered hoodies for our kids (though they have multiple options of tshirts and regular sweatshirts) that have Star Wars themed "Visit National Park" shirts: https://customizeaf.com/pages/search-results-page?q=star wars national park

Taglines include:

• Tatooine: Twice the Sun, Twice the Fun
• Dagobah: Visit you must
• Mustafar: Stick to the high ground

They have a lot of other stuff too more camper focused, but a variety of things.

[RobertR]

I'd think Michael Mann's Heat 2 novel and Quentin Tarantino's Cinema Speculation would be good book gifts for movie fans.

[GAME05]

For movie fans there's a few places out there which do steel movie posters, which is something I'm thinking of for the brother-in-law. Also for movies/books/plays, Polish poster art is incredible.

I can't think of anything for the sister. She doesn't have much kitchen space. She's always hurting something so maybe there's something with that.

 

[GAME05]

If you're interested in a table game, I recommend Crokinole. It's kinda Canadian carroms and fits in that "what the heck?" category. Two or four players, games go quickly, simple rules and it's a lot of fun.

 

[Samurai Bucky]

5 hours ago, GAME05 said:

If you're interested in a table game, I recommend Crokinole. It's kinda Canadian carroms and fits in that "what the heck?" category. Two or four players, games go quickly, simple rules and it's a lot of fun.

 

The best quote from the video is:  "For all of its curves, Crokinole is the antithesis of sex appeal."   

[Jim French Stepstool]

The Giant Jenga is great fun for anyone who has a backyard & entertains in the summer---cookouts & such.

[GAME05]

I'm lacking an idea for the sister-in-law and the brother-in-law. Thought of a home coffee roaster, but they basically kinda already have one. Was gonna do a steel poster for the brother-in-law but they don't have the wall space. The BiL got one of those google smart speakers for the car, but so far that's it.

Also don't know for the 6-8 y/o nieces. Was thinking of some inflatable sumo balls but I read that they pop, plus they're expensive enough to be for both of their birthdays, and little kids don't tend to like that.

[CheezWizHed]

On 11/12/2022 at 10:42 AM, GAME05 said:

If you're interested in a table game, I recommend Crokinole. It's kinda Canadian carroms and fits in that "what the heck?" category. Two or four players, games go quickly, simple rules and it's a lot of fun.

 

not sure I'll buy a crokinole board, but watching the video was worth it. ?

[Matt Breen]

Can always give games. Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, 7 Wonders, Spendor. So many great board games out there. 

[UpandIn]

Gotta come up with something for my Sister who's having her first.

I was thinking about some...baby stuff, one of the items being this really nice jogging stroller. I'm pretty sure I can pull that off. From a Brother? She just ran a 5K 3 months pregnant in about 26 minutes. So she's pretty into it and she is a little high strung when she's not active. So...I bought one of them. Got it on Cyber Monday and checked out the reviews.

But I'm wondering if I wait and make that just a baby shower gift and get her something more for her now? I could MAYBE spring for like a 2 day spa resort get-away?

OR...do how about for a gift I start a College Fund? Not buying anything for my GF, we've agreed...spent a lot of money on our house. She got a new(used) car last summer. 

My old man is a simple guy. I've been buying him Dewalt tools. He's getting a a chainsaw with a 15 foot extension on it. But he's got pretty much everything else a reasonable person could need.

So that's about it. This is kinda my Sister's Christmas. 

[GAME05]

I like both of those ideas. And especially considering a new mother pretty well never thinks of herself and only the baby for even a moment, something baby-related even though the gift is to her, personally, would be just fine. And no doubt any opportunity for her to just get away for a couple hours and close her eyes would be appreciated, too.

Or hire someone to come to the house just to do some basic cleaning or laundry for a few hours, since usually the house becomes a mess and there's little time to clean.

One time I lacked money but was temporarily living with my brother and their little kid and I just made them 20 freezer meals to make things easier.

[stoutdude04]

15 hours ago, UpandIn said:

Gotta come up with something for my Sister who's having her first.

I was thinking about some...baby stuff, one of the items being this really nice jogging stroller. I'm pretty sure I can pull that off. From a Brother? She just ran a 5K 3 months pregnant in about 26 minutes. So she's pretty into it and she is a little high strung when she's not active. So...I bought one of them. Got it on Cyber Monday and checked out the reviews.

But I'm wondering if I wait and make that just a baby shower gift and get her something more for her now? I could MAYBE spring for like a 2 day spa resort get-away?

OR...do how about for a gift I start a College Fund? Not buying anything for my GF, we've agreed...spent a lot of money on our house. She got a new(used) car last summer. 

My old man is a simple guy. I've been buying him Dewalt tools. He's getting a a chainsaw with a 15 foot extension on it. But he's got pretty much everything else a reasonable person could need.

So that's about it. This is kinda my Sister's Christmas. 

There are some great personalized gifts for babies/children that you could do for the baby shower.  So I would suggest Stroller or a baby massage for Christmas and a personalized baby gift for the shower.  Just my 2 cents.

[stoutdude04]

3 hours ago, GAME05 said:

I like both of those ideas. And especially considering a new mother pretty well never thinks of herself and only the baby for even a moment, something baby-related even though the gift is to her, personally, would be just fine. And no doubt any opportunity for her to just get away for a couple hours and close her eyes would be appreciated, too.

Or hire someone to come to the house just to do some basic cleaning or laundry for a few hours, since usually the house becomes a mess and there's little time to clean.

One time I lacked money but was temporarily living with my brother and their little kid and I just made them 20 freezer meals to make things easier.

This is a great idea too.  One of my friends parents hired a cleaning service to go to the house the week before baby was due and then again like a month after.  They loved it!

[hawing]

On 11/30/2022 at 8:55 AM, GAME05 said:

I'm lacking an idea for the sister-in-law and the brother-in-law. Thought of a home coffee roaster, but they basically kinda already have one.

 

Maybe a gift card to a coffee company so they can get a favorite or try something new?  Or there must be a coffee of the month subscription service.  Not being part of the coffee generation (just one of the MANY ways in which I'm an outlier), I have no idea what any of that would cost.

Between my extended family and the SO's, we're getting gifts for youngsters ranging in age from going-on-3 to going-on-23.  I have a semi decent handle on the four on my side of the family, but the SO's fam is bigger and we see those kids like twice a year.  We'll probably give up and settle for gift cards, and for the teens that'll probably be good enough.

[GAME05]

I'm pretty anti- gift card, but I did give the parents a coffee of the month club a year ago and they really like it. I think the mother particular likes getting a new present every month.

[UpandIn]

On 12/6/2022 at 10:05 AM, GAME05 said:

I like both of those ideas. And especially considering a new mother pretty well never thinks of herself and only the baby for even a moment, something baby-related even though the gift is to her, personally, would be just fine. And no doubt any opportunity for her to just get away for a couple hours and close her eyes would be appreciated, too.

Or hire someone to come to the house just to do some basic cleaning or laundry for a few hours, since usually the house becomes a mess and there's little time to clean.

One time I lacked money but was temporarily living with my brother and their little kid and I just made them 20 freezer meals to make things easier.

That's a great idea. One of those healthy meal services for a couple months? I don't think I'd be able to pull off the 20 freezer meals myself...she's a little...picky about what she'll eat. So she could pick out what the meals are. 

I could make it for the month she's expecting and then the next month or two. 

 

[hawing]

On 12/6/2022 at 3:40 PM, GAME05 said:

I'm pretty anti- gift card, but I did give the parents a coffee of the month club a year ago and they really like it. I think the mother particular likes getting a new present every month.

I'm not a fan of gifting with gift cards either, but when you barely know the recipient, sometimes it feel like a better use of resources than choosing an actual item that goes unused or otherwise to waste.

[homer]

I was poking around Etsy and came across these coasters that have the greatest plays in Brewer history etched on them ( kind of like a freeze frame of MLB gamecast):

https://www.etsy.com/listing/741162390/greatest-brewers-plays-slate-coasters?click_key=e1684c7ae29edd687050073e9681bdb4cc723d81%3A741162390&click_sum=cbadd2fb&ref=hp_rv-4&frs=1

[hawing]

I got those for the SO last Christmas! They are nice (slate), though the pace of follow-up email from the company that makes them has been excessive. 

[Thurston Fluff]

On 11/12/2022 at 10:42 AM, GAME05 said:

If you're interested in a table game, I recommend Crokinole. It's kinda Canadian carroms and fits in that "what the heck?" category. Two or four players, games go quickly, simple rules and it's a lot of fun.

 

I got one for the family. If it sucks it's on you. Apologies accepted in advance and refunded if deemed not necessary.

[GAME05]

I think you'll like it. I got one for the family and one for a friend a few years ago. We pull it out at gatherings and it gets a good amount of interest. We also go overboard with that 'gliss' stuff.

[Thurston Fluff]

To review Game05 suggestion of Crokinole it's pretty fun and easy. It takes about five minutes to learn how to play and doesn't take mad skills to actually play. If you can play football with one of those triangles made of paper you can play Crikinole. It sort of mixes paper football with curling minus the brooms. It takes enough strategy to make it not purely luck driven but not so much that it takes forever before the game begins to be fun. Well recommended sir, my family thanks you.

[GAME05]

Awesome, glad you liked it. Also surprised it made it through customs so fast. I was also trying to remind myself to ask you about how the game went over because I've been really anxious to hear.

[bensheeps]

I also took the plunge on Crokinole for the family Christmas gift/game after seeing it on the site.  Everyone has loved it so far.