holidays

12 Days of Christmas Gifts, a Summary

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After I wrapped up the Christmas gift series last week (ha ha– wrap, gifts…), I realized you have to do a lot of scrolling through previous posts to see the full gift list. So, for those of you who came late to the party, here is a summary of the 12 days of gift ideas. I probably should have done it this way in the beginning, but it sure does make one long post.

Click on the names that go with each gift day for links back to the original posts to get specific product information.

Happy Holidays and Happy Shopping!

Day 1: Watercolor Portraits

Watercolor paintings by Susan Woodard

Day 2: Jelly Marbles

Low price point, good stocking stuffer, great gift for children’s birthday parties

Day 3: Calling Cards

Give to adults or children, monogram or full name

Day 4: Monogrammed Ts

Purchase cotton Ts and take to your local monogrammer

Day 5: Man Gifts

Personalized steak branding iron

Reserve a spot at BBQ judging school with friends

Personalized needlepoint belts

Nike ID athletic shoes

Day 6: Mini Crock Pot

Keep dip warm at parties.

Day 7: Author’s Tool Kit

Write and publish your own book– order extra copies to give as gifts too

Day 8: Photo Gifts

Have a photo turned into a paint by number

Make “best of” albums to highlight any family events from the previous year

Personalized postage stamps

Personalized skins for smart phones or other electronics

Have photos, names, or monograms inserted into a set of Tervis Tumblers

Day 9: Gifts with Tiny Pieces

Barbie sized kitchen playsets

Calico Critter mini animal playsets

Quadrilla wooden marble run

Build your own Lego set

Day 10: Consumable Gifts

Cupcake supplies or other tools needed for a hobby– the other suggestion was unusual spices and rubs for a grill guy (like my husband)

Magazine subscriptions

Food delivery of some kind– Wolferman’s English muffins for Christmas day brunch

Day 11: Gift Ideas for This Year

Flavored olive oil

Personalized dog collars and other pet accessories

Neon cord wrap bracelets with charms

preppy casserole carriers

Custom rubber address stamps

Day 12: Family Calendar

Customized family calendar

On the 12th and Final Day, I Gave a Traditional Gift

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Well, it is here. The final post for Christmas gift ideas. This year will be the tenth anniversary of our family calendar. Not only do I include family photos and all of the standard holidays, my family calendar has all school dates and special school events for the grandkids. If it is your birthday or anniversary, a picture of you is on that calendar day. If you have a special reunion or favorite sport event, it is highlighted.

I would be lost without this calendar. I know my mom would too. It helps me keep track of my siblings and their families since we don’t live very close to each other. It also acts like a little yearbook. When I started giving this gift, my second niece had just been born. Now there are 9 grandkids in our family! What special traditions do you have for your extended family?

The Template: I built a massive Word document with tables and text boxes. Each year, I open the old calendar and update the months. I just checked out Shutterfly, and they now offer the option to customize the small “day” squares as well as the photos in the top page where the name of the month is listed. I am sure other photo websites are beginning to offer more flexibility in what you can add to your calendar. I may change over to Shutterfly this year after testing out the options.

The Months: I include pictures that relate to the specific month. For example, April this past year had all of the Easter pictures of the grandkids. If there is a month that does not have related pictures, I can dedicate that page to the grandparents or one specific sibling and his/her family.

The Dates: It is usually pretty easy to go to school websites and get a calendar of the current academic year. I cannot always get the dates for the following academic year, so sometimes school dates won’t go beyond June. I also include items like Final 4 (for my dad and brother) and Kentucky Derby (for my husband) and Mardi Gras (for me). It is fun to add dates that are not national holidays but are special events for my family.

The Photos: I keep a file on my computer throughout the year. Any time a family member forwards a picture, I save it to my calendar folder. OK, I will be honest. I have a main calendar folder with sub-folders of all the past calendars listed by year. Within those sub-folders are 12 sub-sub-folders, so everything can be saved by month.

The Printing: I save the document as a PDF and have it printed at FedEx Office. It is color printed on white cardstock, front and back. I have spiral binding inserted at the top and ask for a hole to be drilled at the bottom for hanging.

Thank You: Thank you, Beth. You inspired me to start this tradition many years ago when I saw a calendar your sister made for all of your family members!

On the 9th Day, The Gifts Have Tiny Pieces

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We are at the height of the tiny pieces toy phase at my house. I will admit that I am often the one who supports the decision to purchase the toy that comes with a gazillion tiny pieces (Lego, Playmobil, Calico Critter…) because I love miniature playsets. WARNING: All of the suggestions below have many tiny parts and may cause injury if you step on them in the middle of the night.

Does anybody have any other tiny playset ideas? Does anybody have any suggestions for protecting yourself from late night injuries?

Kitchen Littles: These are food playsets that are made of die cast metal and plastic. Kitchen Littles was discontinued then reintroduced. I can’t tell if it has been discontinued again, but some of the sets are available if you run a Google search. The size is perfect for Barbie (or other 12″ doll), and the ones we have are much better quality than the Mattel/Barbie kitchen sets.

Calico Critters: These are tiny animal families with clothes and playsets. Visit the Calico Critters website to locate retailers. You can find about everything you might need for life with tiny woodland creatures. It is like the Brambly Hedge picture books come to life. The detailed pieces that come with each playset are amazing, but they are tiny, and you need to apply stickers to a lot of the accessories when setting up the playset.

Lego: We have many Lego sets, but sometimes the Legos in a set are too specific for building creatively. This year, I am visiting the online Pick a Brick store to purchase a generic set of Lego bricks that can be used to build anything we want. Lego used to have a DESIGN byME service where you could customize a Lego structure and then purchase the bricks needed to build your own design. That service has been discontinued but may be relaunched in the future.

Quadrilla: We found the Quadrilla marble sets a few years ago and have been adding supplemental tracks to it every few years. This is a great toy. The tracks are wooden and do not break easily. The sets come with track design suggestions, but it is very easy to build your own marble track.