HELP need gift ideas

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    • #264431
      mdowdy

      ok here is the situation. I have four children ages 17, 15, 14 and 3 along with other family members to buy for. My boyfriends mom likes the expensive stuff so he has told me I can not just make stuff for her.

      I say she will get over it but he is not taking that answer. I need cheap but nice ideas for gifts. Also we are at a loss for what to get the kids of course the teens all want things like ipods etc if they give me any ideas at all.

      HELP we are really strapped for cash this season and with having to do the meal etc since his mom is not going to be in town this year isnt helping.

    • #400140
      mdowdy

      oh yeah the 17 and 15 year old are boys. 14 and 3 year old girls

    • #400144
      rtebalt

      Do you have any Outlet stores near you? They often have really cheap stuff. Bath & Body Works had stuff that was 75% & even 90% off!

      You could make you mother-in-law a basket with stuff from Bath & Body Works, Victoria Secret Fragrances, Origins, etc. You can get some good stuff for just a few dollars on the clearance shelves. (She will see the “Expensive Names” on the tags, but she doesn’t need to know how much you paid.

      You could also go to a Candleman or other candle store & buy some candles on sale. Make her sort of a “Spa Basket” – lotions, soaps, candles, nail polish, maybe a CD of classical or instrumental music also (on sale of course!)

    • #400146
      rtebalt

      Oh, I forgot to add, you can also find great stuff on clearance at the regular stores. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an outlet store. Its just that the Outlets have more cheap stuff to choose from.

      I hope this helps! 🙂

    • #400147
      rtebalt

      As far as the girls go, you could make the 14 year old a gift basket with that stuff in it too maybe?

    • #400302
      faxonfive

      I am making a gift baskets with the “female needs and wants” for my daughters that are 15 and 20 and then my son I am getting him a few braille books, but I am not sure if that idea will help…. 🙂

    • #400334
      NC_mom

      First, I would put my foot down with the boyfriend, Xmas is for the children. What we starting doing in our house a few years ago, is stockings for grandparents, much less expensive but a nice way to add those little personal touches, those little things that mean so much. Or, one year we got the kids pictures taken and just got some inexpensive frames and gave teh grandparents pictures.Then I would talk with the older children and be upfront with them, these are difficult times.

      Yes you want them to have a nice Christmas but big ticket items are just not possible. As our kids got older, or should I say realized Santa was Mom and Dad, we would let them know there was a budget. We would ask them for a “wish list”.

      Letting them know that not everything on that list would be showing up on Christmas morning. They had a rating system, they came up with it on their own, that they exlained to us!!! Three stars meant they really really wanted it, two meant they would love it, one they liked it.

      Our son wanted an Ipod, the first year they came out and of course it was on the list with the three stars. I jokingly asked him if we were allowed to make subsitutions, he surprisingly said “yeah Ma, I know they’re really expensive”. Another year it was different though, he wanted a PS2, he knew if he got that, there would be very little else and he was ok with that.

      It was quite interesting to see them sitting on the floor together Thanksgiving afternoon with all the flyers, paper and pencil in hand. They looked like little accountants. They would put something on their list then they would total their stuff up, then you’d see them rearrange their stars.

      Believe me, they start to realize how quickly it adds up for Mom and Dad. You just have to be open with them. So many parents don’t let their kids know, “this is how it is”, the kids ask and it magically appears, the children learn nothing from that.

      I think Christmas is a perfect time to teach older children how much all those sparkly things they love really cost.

      Sorry for preachin!
      Kris

    • #400383
      wilbe95

      nc_mom: i am glad i was not the only one thinking that the spirit of christmas is missing here.

      mdowdy please don’t take this wrong this is just what i do at my house for christmas. we always start with the children 10 and under (because the still believe completely in Santa). Then we go to the great grandmothers-because they will not be around much longer to share the love with.

      Then we start on our own children. Only then will I go to our parents, then on to brothers, sisters, and the older neices and nephews.

      Christmas is not suppose to be about the gifts except for the gift of time and the sharing of love. The way the economy is today, you have to save money to survive not spend it on a gift. I would say let the boyfriend by for the mom-but then there goes all that money because he would probably by her something expensive.

      Depending on the relationship you have with the mom, maybe you could talk with her and see how she feels about you making her a present-some people do consider this priceless.

      Again, I don’t mean to offend just offering some suggestions 🙂

    • #400391
      mdowdy

      I agree but he doesnt lol. Anyway what I did was said ok Im not spending that much money on them so if you want to fine but its coming out of the money you are getting for spending. He likes to spend a lot on them to make up for years he hasnt gotten them anything.

      His family is very how do we say make it look like we are richer than we are. Anyway, I am hoping he will see my point when he has to use his own money to buy the expensive presents.

    • #400392
      mdowdy

      no offense taken. My family has come up with just buying the kids things and for the parents nothing or homemade items. my family likes to eat so they are getting candies and cookies or mix jars, something like that. And Im letting him use his spending money for his side other than the kids I am handling that.

      I told him I will go get it for him but only after he gives me the money and tells me where to get it and what it is. I think my 3 year old is going to be the easiest because shes at the i want everything I see on tv stage. The older ones do need new ipods because I bought cheaper versions last year and none of them work now.

      So I am thinking ordering those through the school I go to, I can get nanos for 79.00 and a couple of small things in their stockings. They have said they are never too old for stockings.

    • #400395
      wilbe95

      Stockings in my house is the only items that are from Santa 🙂 Saves me the trouble of them not getting the other items. He usually does buy one bigger priced item for them. It doesn’t matter how old you are a stocking is always fun. One year I went out bought my grandmother a really expensive gift and added a little jingle bell on to the wrap, would you believe she didn’t really care about the gift but loved the jingle bell.

      Guess her mother use to give her one every year until she died when my grandmother was 12 and noone had ever given her one since until I did that year. She gets one every year now from me.

    • #400397
      mdowdy

      It’s funny how it seems to be the little things that are appreciated. Now if I could only get my boyfriend to realize that lol

    • #400469
      brchbell

      I remember when I was 17 and thought I knew it all, my dear Mom surprised all of us teens with a very special Christmas present. Years later we all still have it and will always remember it! She took card stock and covered it with Christmas foil and made a simple book tied with yarn.

      In it it had family photos and she had hand written notes about each one– many made us laugh! I’ve done the same thing with my family. I make a family calendar every year and that’s what my extended family get.

      this year I’m using photos and transferring them to fabric to make lap sized memory quilts for parents and siblings that we gift to. I’ve also collected family memories and recipes and done those up into home made books and given them. Everyone is asking that I do that again soon!

      A little imagination you can give some very special gifts that would mean a lot and cost very little! Good luck as you ponder your family Christmas this year! Hope you come up with an idea that won’t break your bank this year!

    • #400503
      mdowdy

      Im working on a cookbook now for the kids when they move out on their own get married etc. The picture additions are a great idea. I ordered a sample cookbook from one of the companies we will see what they offer if and when it gets here.

      I did a memory book type thing for their 13th birthdays. My daughter cried when she got hers. Thanks for the ideas

    • #400729
      NC_mom

      @mdowdy 85674 wrote:

      It’s funny how it seems to be the little things that are appreciated. Now if I could only get my boyfriend to realize that lol

      it is the little things that are appreciated. case in point.. my mil was a freak when it came to rubber bands, i mean she had them on everything.

      i mean everything!!!! she was always picking them up if she saw them, she would say “oh i can use that!!!” well one year, we were in the dollar store, and what did i see but a huge bad of rubber bands, shapes and sizes.

      i scooped it right up and told my dh, “i’m putting this in your mom’s stocking!” he looked at me like i was crazy and told me under no circumstances was i giving his mother some cheap bag of rubber bands from the dollar store. well, i didn’t listen, on christmas day, you should’ve seen her face when she opened those rubber bands up!

      at first she said nothing at all, then the tears started running down her face and she ran over and gave me a big hug. she told me she loved it!!!!

      kris

    • #400756
      MorningG

      Gift certificates are always good – that way the kids can get what they want without whining (the way it was in my house – “But Mo-o-o-m, I wanted ___”) Another idea is to wrap up everything that fits for the stockings without so many “presents” to unwrap. We used to do that one too – each individual gift certificate, candy, etc was wrapped up, so the fun in unwrapping was there, the wrapping actually took up space so stockings were bulging, and it made it a little more special. I also remember *my* mother point blank setting me and my brother (when I was in high school) and just explaining how hard things were – it was hard to swallow, but letting everyone know there’s a problem and making them moer aware that things are tight might keep them from beeing greedy

    • #400757
      MorningG

      Oh! Go to flylady.com. There’s a part of her site (you have to scroll down it’s a long page) that has clutter free (and relatively inexpensive) gift ideas that actually got my brain going pretty well.

    • #401075
      rtebalt

      @mdowdy 85832 wrote:

      Im working on a cookbook now for the kids when they move out on their own get married etc. The picture additions are a great idea. I ordered a sample cookbook from one of the companies we will see what they offer if and when it gets here. I did a memory book type thing for their 13th birthdays. My daughter cried when she got hers. Thanks for the ideas

      My mom did sort of the same thing when I moved out. She bought a recipe box & filled it with recipes – everything from easy things like “how to cook rice” to her Spaghetti sauce recipe. She also had a section in the back called “Cleaning.” In that section she put cards with reminders of everything that should be cleaned. I know it sounds funny, but when its time for spring cleaning I can pull out my cards & that way I know I’m not forgetting to do anything! The best part: she laminated everything. That way if you spill milk on a recipe card or cleaning spray on a cleaning card it just wipes right off & isn’t ruined! 🙂

    • #401076
      JoAnn

      @brchbell 85788 wrote:

      I remember when I was 17 and thought I knew it all, my dear Mom surprised all of us teens with a very special Christmas present. Years later we all still have it and will always remember it! She took card stock and covered it with Christmas foil and made a simple book tied with yarn. In it it had family photos and she had hand written notes about each one– many made us laugh! I’ve done the same thing with my family. I make a family calendar every year and that’s what my extended family get. this year I’m using photos and transferring them to fabric to make lap sized memory quilts for parents and siblings that we gift to. I’ve also collected family memories and recipes and done those up into home made books and given them. Everyone is asking that I do that again soon! A little imagination you can give some very special gifts that would mean a lot and cost very little! Good luck as you ponder your family Christmas this year! Hope you come up with an idea that won’t break your bank this year!

      You are so crafty—how wonderful to get homemade items from the heart. Hope you put some in a photo album for us to see.

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