Exactly What I Bought For Christmas
An itemized credit card bill in blog format
I love gift guides. Not so much in October, but that’s a different thing. My mind’s not right for Christmas before Halloween. But come November, HIT ME. I’ll grab my coffee, a notepad, and LFG. There is nothing quite like a truly excellent gift guide. I like a nice price variety, maybe something a little weird, and this is key: not a total gd carbon copy of everyone else’s.
So, to that end, I have a perhaps unkind thing to say about gift guide culture, but I’m saying it about myself and others so stay with me:
You do not need a gift guide from me, because I am not good at this. I do not mine the internet for excellent gifts. Nobody says “Jen always knows just the thing!” I mine my family, pestering them relentlessly to be extremely candid with me. And that’s what I buy.
Now, I mean this gently because I describe a group of people to which I belong. To be an excellent gift giver is a skill and we cannot all be good at everything. I suspect many people are not good at this (remember, myself included!), because if we all were, every gift guide wouldn’t look exactly the same. How many have you seen with the Camp Snap Camera? All of them, right? Or the Maldon Salt Flakes. I mean, maybe it’s a vote of confidence, but I have the Camp Snap camera and mid is all I’ll say about that.
So, I don’t have a gift guide for you. I’m just going to tell you exactly what I bought for the people I love. It’s mostly what they asked for, and in the case of my kids, since I’ve been snapping “put it on your Christmas list” since August, we have an absolute plethora of ideas to condense.
And if you stick with me, I’ll share a few really excellent gift guides from other creators that I’ve come across because some people really know what they’re doing here.
Kids
Shopping profile: My boys are big kids and I have a few nieces to shop for. I’m covering children roughly between 2yrs-10yrs.
Magic 8 Ball. Immediate crowd pleaser.
Custom view finder. Extremely cool.
The latest editions of kid-favorite book series:
Hot Wheels Color Reveal. Stocking stuffer.
Rubiks Cube. These seem to be very cool right now and this particular one has a light up feature to level up the challenge.
Pokemon Hoodie. A very specific request.
Reusable Dress Up Fairies Sticker Book
Girls Rule. For the twins’ bedroom.
Books in which the main character shares their name always hit. Kids love this and you’d be surprised how likely you are to find something. I’ve found books for an Archie, a Scarlette (specific spelling!) and a Meredith. Be okay with finding them used. Kids don’t care.
Guys
Profile: I have a husband for whom not a single gift guide on the internet has ever been helpful. Is he into weird stuff? I guess, but golf balls and beard oil are just not going to surprise and delight him.
Liquid IV. Stocking stuffer and an example of how if I have to buy you anything this month, it’s going to be a Christmas present.
Related: Fly by Jing.
Drift Air Freshener Refills in Teak
Let’s Do Something Stupid. For my husband’s shop (he’s an auto-mechanic), where this seems to be the general mantra.
Yeti Backpack Soft Cooler. A direct request for camping trips. Big Sky Blue appears to be clearancing out on several retailer sites.
Smartwool Socks. Practical and slightly luxe.
Over Par, Under the Influence. Will he wear it? IDK but I’ll get a laugh.
Diet Coke Still Life. For my FIL who appreciates art and has an addiction.
Gals
Profile: I mean, mostly me. I care about myself, so I buy my own presents and wrap those suckers up and pretend to be surprised. I also shop for my in-laws of the mother and sister variety.
Sylvia Plath’s Tomato Soup Recipe. Niche for the book gals who like to cook.
Medicube Zero Pore Pads and Medicube Overnight Collagen Mask
Baublebar Ring. Pour moi.
Office chair without wheels. Hyper specific, but she asked.
Polly Pocket Star Locket Necklace
Winter puzzles that are not Christmas specific. We got a lot of dark winter hours to fill bbs.
Related: For someone you hate. Or someone who really enjoys impossible puzzles, I guess.
Unreliable Narrator hat. For my bookish MIL.
Mom Tattoo Enamel Pin. Because we’re cool moms.
Seasonal Extras
I like to order tiny prints of pictures taken over the year and then mail them with my Christmas cards. For instance, if I took a great picture of my friend’s kid at the 4th of July parade, I’ll drop that into their card. It’s a crowd pleaser.
Speaking of prints, I also make a family yearbook for my in-laws. It’s kind of a family gift and we all crowd around to page through it together, but the books live at their house. We’ve got 10 years of books now and they get hauled out for every family gathering. Kids especially love to see themselves appearing as babies in previous editions.
Okay! Onto the real content - a few gift guides I’ve come across that are excellent and gave me good ideas. Enjoy!
The Best Stocking Stuffers & Holiday Host Gifts from The EvangeList