Directional gift

Okay, so here’s an off-the-wall gift suggestion: a map book.

You see, so many people just don’t ever seem to “get around” to getting themselves a good quality, up-to-date street map of their city and surrounds.  (I think we’d all like cars to just be automatically issued with them, the way Gideon bibles are always in motel rooms!)

The upshot is that many people only find that they don’t have a good street map – or any map – in their car is when they’re trying to find someplace they haven’t been before, and thought they could find their way, but…not quite.

So if you know someone who needs a good map book (usually because you’ve travelled as a passenger with them and seen them come a cropper when trying to find a new destination), do consider getting them one.  A good quality one, spiral bound for ease of use.

They won’t thank you, mind – or not at the time.  You’ll probably get a reaction like: “Oh…a map book…gosh…thanks…” – so you might want to get them something else, too, a little more appealing than a boring ol’ map book!

But mark my words, despite the initial tepid reaction, they’ll spend the next 20 years blessing you every time they reach for the glovebox to retrieve that excellent, useful map book you gave them way back when.

Only Hearts Club

I’ve bought this charming doll for a soon-to-be six year old girl – I think she’ll love it. 

It’s an “Only Hearts Club” doll – a collection of bendable, attractive dolls that are modelled on girls’ bodies.  So they are slim and cute, just like real girls.

Makes a nice change from Barbie (too busty – what is she, a stripper?) and Bratz dolls (too slutty).  I’ve always refused to buy those dolls on principle.

But this little doll is a gorgeous blend of pretty and realistic, and fashionably dressed too.  Wish I’d had one when I was six!

The banished blankie

I glimpsed a beautiful handknitted baby blanket at a second-hand shop recently.  It was expertly knitted, with blue bows crocheted onto every other square. 

Thinking it might make a great baby gift, I picked it up – only to discover the named “Aiden” had likewise been worked, in blue yarn, into the centre of the blanket.

It was such an adorable blanket, presumably a gift made for a beloved baby boy by a doting and skilled grandmother.  Yet the parents had chucked it out when it was no longer of use. 

I’m a BIG fan of moving things along when they are no longer of use – life is full of clutter, and we can’t keep everything.  But a unique item like a handmade personalised baby blanket?  What were Aiden’s parents thinking?  The blankie would have been a wonderful keepsake – ultimately, an heirloom piece - for Aiden and his family one day, and wouldn’t take up much room if tucked securely away in an attic or basement.

I put the blanket back on the shelf and went back to my shopping, feeling a little sorry for the unknown child Aiden.  Some gifts, in my opinion, are so full of love and sentiment that they deserve keeping – and, although perhaps unecessary and unused for a few years, they will come into their own again one day.

On the rocks – with a twist

I rather like these nifty citrus ice-cube trays – configured so that you put a slice of lime or lemon into a wedge-shaped slot, then fill the surrounding reservoir with water and freeze.  Nice for summer drinks by the pool. 

I picked up one for a friend who lives in a hot climate and has a pool; I think she’ll enjoy this over summer.  I’ll send it with some lemons and limes, so she can start right away. 

Related post: Cool and amusing

Flowers or flour?

Author Shonagh Koea, in her excellent memoir The Kindness of Strangers, recalls – following the untimely death of her husband – being given a posy of flowers by a visitor.

Someone called in one day to give me a bunch of pansies when there was hardly any food left in the cupboard and I just thought, “What the hell use is this fucking bunch of pansies when I’m hungry?”

The Kindness of Strangers – Kitchen Memoirs, Shonagh Koea, 2007, Random House New Zealand

Such an angry thought! The point being, of course, that pretty flowers are precious little comfort when one is hungry, and a practical gift, like food or money, would have been much better.

But I have mixed emotions on this one. How was her guest to have known that the newly widowed Shonagh could not afford groceries?

A rainy day gift

Ever thought of an umbrella as a gift?  Admittedly, it’s not exactly a typical gift…but therein lies its value: it has a point of difference.

Of course, not just any old brolly will do – that really would be dull.  But there are some gorgeous umbrellas, made delightful by images of hummingbirds, butterflies, flowers, Monet waterlilies and so forth, that would brighten up anybody’s rainy day.  Like these ones from Galleria Enterprises, and available at many good gift stores.  Or, in my case, the gift area of my local garden centre.  (Which is why I’m a fan of shopping at garden centres - they often have the most unexpected things.)

Another idea is a mini or micro umbrella, for tucking away in a handbag, briefcase or pocket.  Some of them are impossibly small and light, and they really do work very well.  There are also cute umbrellas for kids too.

If you live in a rainy climate, umbrellas can make very good gifts indeed.  And, of course, one can never have too many of them, as they’re handy to keep in the front porch, back porch, car, workplace, etc.

Glorious gingerbread houses

A gingerbread house kit makes a wonderful festive gift for children and families.  Gingerbread houses are popular in North America (where people often make them from scratch, too) but less well known in other countries, except possibly Germany, from where the tradition originates. 

Kits can be as basic as little cottages, or come in more elaborate forms like mansions, chateaux or castles.  There are some beautiful examples pictured at this blog, plus more information on gingerbread houses and kits.

Gingerbread house kits make great gifts because:

1.  Kids love building them – it’s fun, creative, unusual and edible.

2.  Parents love a gift that keeps their children occupied and learning, often for many hours.

3.  The whole family can be involved.

4.  The finished result is (usually) beautiful and (always) edible!

I gave a couple of kits as family gifts last Christmas, and they were great successes.  The fact that gingerbread houses are not a common tradition in my corner of the world makes the gift even more delightful for recipients, due to the novelty factor.

A little nudge

When a gift has been sent, but not acknowledged, I think a little nudge is in order.  I give people plenty of time, as life is busy, and sometimes there is more going on in others’ lives than we might realise.

But after two weeks, I think it’s acceptable to give the recipient a little prod.  Here’s the opening paragraph of an email I sent to a friend a while ago, two weeks after I’d sent her 5-year-old daughter a birthday gift:

Hi [X], Just checking to see if [Y] received a birthday gift in the post from us, a few weeks ago?  I think I still have the post office receipt somewhere and can put together a claim if it didn’t arrive.

I speedily received a reply advising that, yes, the gift had indeed been received (and much liked)!

However I’m sorry it had to come to this – a prod – in the first place.  And, although I could have instead maintained a (dignified?) silence, I think it’s acceptable to give tardy gift recipients a bit of a reminder, in the hope that they remember their manners.

Shine a light

I rather like these eco-friendly, solar powered lanterns, which look like sunshine captured in a jar.  Very pretty on an outdoor table or ledge, either for dining outdoors, or camping, or just for some ambience.  It glows in either yellow or blue tones.

I’m apparently not the only one to like this lantern, either, as I note it was voted UK eco-friendly gift of the year for 2007.

I’m actually a big fan of lanterns as gifts (I can recall two I’ve given previously), as they manage to be useful and unusual and decorative – all good things in a gift.  I especially like the Mexican-style lanterns, made from tin with nail-hole-punched patterns in the sides. 

Lanterns are also good for the ‘hard to buy for’ types, as it’s a generic – but not boring – present.  There’s a lovely selection of candle lanterns at this link.

How many gifts?

“I’ve done all my Christmas shopping,” my friend Laura announced triumphantly one December a few years ago.

“Great!  What are you getting your family?” I enquired, always on the lookout for any gift ideas I might be able to borrow.

She quickly reeled off a list: a vase for her mother, some cufflinks for her boyfriend, a purse for her sister, etc etc.

And I stood there, stunned, because I realised she was giving just ONE GIFT PER PERSON.

This was astounding to me because our family has developed a culture of giving lots of presents per person. One gift apiece would be seen as shockingly minimalist.

Apparently it all stemmed from when M’s parents immigrated to this country: just two young parents and their infant son. They felt so alone that they showered their young son with gifts at Christmas, to help make up for the lack of family at Christmastime.

Somehow, amazingly, he didn’t end up totally spoiled, and grew up to be a wonderful person. (“Reader, I married him.”)

Their family did not expand further, and so the tradition of biiig Christmases remained. So now, having married into the family, I’m part of it too.  (I recall how mortified I was the first Christmas – my husband didn’t clue me into their bumper Christmas giving, and my gifts seemed embarrassingly lonely in the face of my in-laws’ largesse.  I was better prepared the following year!)

I hadn’t realised how much I’d gotten used to it until Laura reeled off her one-gift-per-person Christmas list. It reminded me that I, too, once used to do Christmas that way – and that families have different gift-giving cultures all of their own.  Laura, come to think of it, comes from quite a large family - she’s one of four siblings, several of whom have now married and had children.  So her immediate family is already much larger than mine, and it makes sense to just buy one gift per person.

What’s the gift-giving culture in your family?