holiday gifts Archives

I have been living in the South for awhile now, and calling cards are pretty much a requirement around here. These are the little cards that are business card size. They have your name and/or monogram on them and possibly a small motif or design too. Last year, I ordered calling cards for all of my nieces who are school aged. Has anyone else given these as gifts? What type of wording or design did you include?

Where to Find Them: All stationery stores sell a variety of these little cards. They are also available online. I have ordered a few through Finestationery, and I really like the calling cards by Fontaine Maury for adults and teens. If I am ordering super high end, I go for the good stuff at Crane.

What to Print: For young children, print the first and last name. For teens, you can print the name or a monogram. For my oldest niece, I had a babysitter business card made. The card included her name, the word babysitter, e-mail address, and phone number. For a mom with young kids, you can have the name, e-mail address, phone number, and phrase so and so’s mom printed on the card. Our Aunt B gave my son a set of cards that listed his name, monogram, and the word Spy when he was going through a secret agent phase.

Uses:

Attach to birthday presents
Attach to hostess gifts
Give as baby gifts or christening gifts
Teens, distribute to moms for potential babysitting jobs
Moms, distribute at playgroups, the park, book clubs
Bloggers, distribute when people ask how to find your blog!

I know; it is a little early for holiday gift ideas. But I am an early shopper, and some of my fab ideas need a little lead time. I decided to post 12 of my best holiday gift ideas over the next month or so– all price ranges. These are gifts that work for mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, in-laws, grown-ups, children, and close friends. In return, please share your great gift ideas with me! Every year, I need a new arsenal when shopping for the 20+ people in my extended family.

Gift Idea #1: You will need 6 to 8 weeks for this first gift idea, so plan ahead. Order a unique watercolor portrait. Susan Woodard creates sketch portraits of children, animals, brides and grooms, and homes. Even though she does not paint the features on the faces, it is amazing how she captures people’s personalities in her paintings. I originally found Susan in New Orleans and had her paint a portrait of my two children. Since then, she has painted two 5×7 wedding portraits for a wedding gift for my sister (Aunt B), a sketch portrait of all of the grandchildren for my parents, and a painting of my home in New Orleans when we moved.

What to Do: E-mail Susan a jpg image. The photo must show above the head(s) to below the feet. She prices each piece based on the number of people or subjects. If you include something like a wagon or bike, that usually counts as a subject. You can pay an additional fee for the copyright to your painting and scan the portrait to use on a holiday card or personalized stationery. This is a special gift and is on the high end of my holiday price range.