Biggest hit – My D and SIL had a micro-wedding in August, 2020 and a larger celebration in August,2021. I had a wood box made up from Etsy with the insignia used on the invitation. The box was beautiful. Inside of the box I put an invitation, menus from both weddings, some photos (ex. from when D “said yes to the dress”), the guest list, everyone’s speeches, and a small album I made up on Shutterfly which had photos from their wedding and larger wedding celebration side by side (which I have to say was very cute), and a few other small things. They seemed excited to have it as a keepsake.
Miss (but useful) - A nice set of Ralph Lauren towels for my S. Can’t say he was jumping for joy at a box of towels. BUT last time I was in his apartment he had a hodgepodge of towels in the bathroom of his apartment - some of which I recognized from his college days (he is 31). I could live with his lack of excitement – it was time for an upgrade. I did redeem myself a bit by also getting him nice bike shorts (he really enjoys spin classes).
Hit - for my mom and step-father I get them a Netflix subscription which has been great – especially during the pandemic. They haven’t figured out/don’t seem interested in streaming so they still get the DVDs.
Hit (I think – we’ll see) - a rangefinder for my newly retired golfer husband. Hopefully it will be useful/work well.
Just gotta say that the $7.99 wax bulb amaryllis recommended on another forum (maybe Stocking Stuffers) were a big hit. It’s probably the only time we ever made a special trip to TJ to purchase something (after verifying shipment arrival time) because we were bored that day.
We packed each bulb got in paper bag (labeled “open now”) and shipped in UPS box with other gifts.
BIL texted us photo of it’s first bloom today/Christmas - he was tickled
My 94 year old dad and his wife proudly showed theirs on Facetime. It had FOUR white blooms that opened on it today (with a 5th bloom in the center coming soon).
It was a total stroke of luck that both plants happened to bloom on Christmas day, especially since they looked a little unhealthy at start. The recipients think it’s cool they don’t need watering.
I bought my bulb on November 26 and it ended up putting out eight big colorful blooms - two of which are still fresh (a few others past their prime, and the rest basically gone). I could have kept posting pictures on the Photo thread - couldn’t believe how long it lasted and how much was inside that little waxed bulb. I kept thinking I should water it, but it seemed happy enough without me doing a thing.
D is extraordinarily difficult to buy for, in an I’m not making a list because I don’t want or need anything kind of way. She just hates clutter and “stuff”. We actually managed to get her 2 hits!! One is a set of Shea butter infused Sherpa lined slipper socks and the other is a fluffy “wearable blanket” with a hood. She likes to study with friends in one of the reading lounges in the foreign language building but her school turns off the heat in academic buildings at 8PM so it can get chilly. I had no idea she had been taking the blanket from her bed there every night
D got me a Costco gift card … for gas, since I drive 25-30 minutes several times a week to watch GD while D & SIL work. It was so thoughtful & unexpected (I would happily drive many hours a day to be with GD!).
D-Freshman at UCF-48 luminescent shoe charms for her faux-crocs @$6 and something on her wishlist called a “bread board”? It has something to do with engineering, I think. Both hits. We are trying to figure out if anything in this small kit would be against tsa carry on rules for her flight back. Miss-a high quality pajamas short set with a silhouette of Cinderella on top and warm in XS….I found at a deep discount and I thought would be perfect for her. She liked, but too big so gave to me. They are oversized-I would normally never wear an Xs. Original price was $145 and I think I paid in the $20s range. Disappointing for her, but work for me so I guess not the biggest miss.
My kids bought H (who is a voracious mystery/crime reader) a subscription to the Mystery of the Month club from the Poison Pen bookstore (a small independent bookstore in AZ specializing in mystery books). H was thrilled!!
Another “miss” was for the first time ever, I mixed up tags on bags that I wrapped at the same time. My 20 year old son was wondering why I would give him a wine journal and wine aerator but quickly assumed it was meant for Dad.
The Popette’s from Pendulum was a miss with H. Will see what the kids think when they try them. The candy fell off the stick right away. Definitely does not feel like a $3/candy gift.
D1 got me an Away luggage and cashmere socks. D2 got me Bose noise cancellation buds. I have to say that I am loving the Bose. They are black, which blends in with my dark hair, and I can control level of noise cancellation on my devices.
I don’t think we had any misses this year. D1 is figuring out her Fitbit smartwatch and new hockey team sweatshirt and D2 is thrilled with her enameled cast iron Dutch oven and bed-shaking alarm clock. Fiancé and BF liked their gifts as well.
Big hits with me - a plug-in towel warmer for our second home. The towels never feel dry when we use them after a shower, so this is a god-send. A bin type, timer, and can be moved to wherever it’s needed. D’s fiancé threatened to take it to heat up his clothing in the mornings.
Some new shirts and sweaters. I now have complete wardrobes at both homes (I’ve moved older stuff over to the other place), so no more packing clothing back and forth.
The ubiquitous Trader Joe’s hot honey knockoff was much appreciated by the boys.
It was all hits over here this year, I wish I could claim to be ‘just that good’ but it was a combination of getting everyone what they asked for (thought definitely not everything asked for) and great suggestions from the stocking stuffer thread:
Hits:
InkBox tattoos someone reco’d on the stocking stuffer thread
Peach & Lily skin care stuff
Reuseable coffee cup sleeves (with cute cat prints!)
The big hits with me are the unexpected gifts. 2 yrs ago my wife had a calendar made with photos from our Rhine river cruise. I was very touched.
Over the last 2 years I’ve become almost obsessed with English Premier League soccer. Last month she asked me who I liked in the game I was watching. I replied “Everton–they’re the team from Liverpool that isn’t LIverpool AC”. SO–she got me an Everton ball cap!!!
Now I’m joking that I can wear that hat in England and have a 1/20 chance of not getting beaten up!!
Another hit for D1 was socks. We went to the Van Gogh show and she was very disappointed that the gift shop did not sell t-shirts. Everything else was very (very) expensive. I think the socks were $20 for one pair.
Amazon to the rescue. I think it was 16 pairs for $20? They are probably not the same quality but good enough. The Girl with the Pearl is really cute. It also provided a mystery as she didn’t know the Statue of Liberty on a red background. We’re thinking Andy Warhol?
Curious so found the socks on Amazon. In one of the questions, they were asked about the artists. Their response:
The Birth of Venus（ Italian artist Sandro Botticelli）
The Kiss（Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt）
Statue Of Liberty（French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ）
The Scream ( Norwegian Expressionist artist Edvard Munch )
Sunflowers ( Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh)
The Sistine Madonna ( Italian artist Raphael)
David ( Italian artist Michelangelo)
Pond and Water Lily ( French Impressionist Claude Monet)
Mona Lisa ( Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci)
The Starry Night ( Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh)
The Great Wave off Kanagawa ( Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai)
Girl With Pearl Earrings ( Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer)
You went more deluxe on the bread board. I think the one I bought was @ $50. Do you think there is anything in it that she could not put in carry on luggage?
Thanks. Daughter is happy she didn’t have to ask her art history teacher and feel like a fool. She didn’t think about it just being the Statue of Liberty, was thinking ‘painting.’
She also has new (used) hockey skates so it was quite a ‘foot’ Christmas for her.
