What gift which you gave to someone else, received the best reaction?

[Baitball Blogger]

So, ebay becomes a bad habit about two months prior to Christmas and I discovered an Hallmark ornament quite by accident. It was one of those motion ornaments that they made around the time my kids were small. We collected one each year as the kids grew up and then Hallmark stopped selling them. Well, one year, after we put the ornaments up on the tree, the tree was too big for the stand and the tree fell over. One of my husband's favorite ornaments broke. We still hung the ornament up each year, but the motion was not the same.

Anyway, ebay to the rescue. I found it and purchased it as an impulse buy. Paid, probably the same amount for a used one, that I paid for the original But he opened it this morning and he couldn't contain his joy.

It's funny how it's the sentimental, but inexpensive things that sometimes makes a difference.

[siligut]

1. Was it this one?

[Baitball Blogger]

2. What? Did the hippo eat the little girl and boy and the toy makers too?

[siligut]

5. Could be . . .

I just want to know more about your ornament.


Probably the most appreciated gift I have given was the penguin snow slide toy I gave my mother.

It fascinated her grandchildren making my mother joyful and full of laughter and thus pleasing my father. So, three in one. Actually four as the grandchildren were two back then.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. They're still around.

I saw a variation of that not too long ago.

[Baitball Blogger]

21. This is the one I got.

[TheMadMonk]

3. Pair of Aquapod bottle launchers for the nephews.

They were a hit with the kids, my brother, and all the visitors.

Skylanders stayed in the box until late afternoon.

[siligut]

6. This?

[TheMadMonk]

7. Yup. Didn't matter that it was howling a gale...

...and every bottle retreival was a half marathon. No shortage of volunteers.

[Baitball Blogger]

15. That was great. I don't know how I missed that one.

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Mom cried

when she opened her iPad with Retina display Wi-Fi 64GB - Black. I knew she wanted one but would never get it for herself. Or even ask my Dad to get it. It was sweet.

[Baitball Blogger]

16. THAT's what it's all about.

Good for you for knowing what the right gift was.

[fizzgig]

8. the octopus i adopted in my sister's name

and it came with a little stuffed octopus. she loves octopi.

my dad was pretty stoked about his itouch, too

[Baitball Blogger]

17. Octopus.

One of those words that come in handy when you pick the letter "O" in a game of Scattegories.

[Texasgal]

9. Hungry Hungry Hippos

That I gave my four year old nephew... he screamed with joy and then told me that "all of his life this is what he wanted!" LOL!

[siligut]

11. Love that about kids

Such short histories.

[cynatnite]

10. We put pics on a coffee mug...

It was for someone who I hadn't gotten along with in the past. Her and I share two grandchildren between her son and my daughter. She has really been fabulous over the last year so I thought I'd do inexpensive for her.

I found two pics I really loved of her son with the grandchildren and put them on the mug.

I thought she was going to cry when she opened it.

[Baitball Blogger]

18. Wasn't that a great feeling?

It sounds like she was overwhelmed that you remembered her.

[kwassa]

12. Monopoly Junior with my 5-year-old

not so much about Monopoly, as the sudden interest and understanding of board games. She is learning everything so quickly.

The family has been playing it all day. My daughter is discussing bankruptcy.

[Baitball Blogger]

19. We spend Christmas Eve with a family that introduced us to a great

Christmas Eve tradition. Board games!

We played Headbangars, Scattegories & Battle of the Sexes. I wish I could do it weekly to keep the brain cells alert.

[MiddleFingerMom]

13. Back in the 90's, I lived in a platonic Three's Company situation with two women...

.
.
.
... who were my friends as well as my housemates.
.
We lived in a 3-bedroom condo with a HUGE finished basement that had a fireplace.
.
In the winters, we slept communally in that living room sprawled out in front of
the crackling fire... arguing only when it came time to figure out who had to climb
out from under his or her covers to build up the fire again.
.
We all worked together at the same company.
.
One Christmas, when I was pretty flush, I bought each of them a half-day at a
really nice spa.
.
Not only could I do no wrong after that... but every woman at work suddenly
wanted to be my housemate.
.
.
.

[Baitball Blogger]

20. Quite the playa. Would not expect less.

[TomPaineintheBrain]

22. A hoody for my step daughter.

It had her favorite band's logo on it.

[Baitball Blogger]

35. It always pays off if you get the right band on the hoodie.

[erinlough]

23. I believe everyone should get a toy for Christmas!

So, since there are no little ones in my family anymore I got my adult son and my husband each an inexpensive radio controlled helicopter. We were ducking the rotating blades all night. They loved them and so did the animals.

[Baitball Blogger]

33. I'm up for that.

[MissMillie]

24. This year it was a gift certificate for framing

My sister bought a print about a year and a half ago. It's been rolled up in the tube ever since.

I went to the local gallery/framers and got her a certificate so she could have it framed. The certificate may not cover the entire cost of the framing, but she was thrilled.

[Baitball Blogger]

28. Framing is terribly expensive.

That was a nice gift. After we got married I had our first born within a year. There was a coupon for framing and I wanted to do something special with our wedding picture. So I took the picture and the coupon to the store and they were shocked when they saw it. There had been a typo, but they honored it. "You will be surprised by how much this really costs," they told me.

But they got me in the end. When I came back to pick up the photo they asked me who the picture was for. "It's me." I told them, confused. They looked away, embarrassed by their comment.

That's how much I changed with just one pregnancy.

[ElbarDee]

25. A musical snowglobe

to my girlfriend.

[Baitball Blogger]

29. I loved musical snowglobes!

They use to carry them in the department stores, but we hardly shop there any more. Most of our Christmas shopping is done at the factory outlet malls.

[ElbarDee]

42. She loves it.

It is a very nice piece, not cheaply made, and sounds very nice. She asked if I thought it would be ok if she kept it out all year. Of course.

I am a sensitive type of guy.

[Sanity Claws]

26. Storm lantern

I didn't give many gifts this year but I gave a storm lantern to someone who lost power during Hurricane Sandy. She seemed to like it a lot.

[Baitball Blogger]

30. It's a good, thoughtful gift.

I have a solar one that I have kept in reserve. I don't know if the solar batteries die after a period if you don't use them.

[pipi_k]

27. It was sort of a

toss-up...

My (8 yrs old) grandson told his mom he needed a scarf, so she asked if I would make him one. I did, and sent it to him...he was thrilled, and announced that it was "made with love". So for Christmas I made him a hat to match. I thought he was going to go nuts.

Also...oldest grandson and his girlfriend are visiting from Colorado. She is a nurse in her local hospital's NICU. I make little preemie hats and stuff through the year to donate to my local hospital's NICU but thought I'd give the latest batch to her for her babies.

She was so touched I almost cried, and promised to take photos of some of the babies wearing the hats.

It was a good Christmas

[Baitball Blogger]

31. One of my favorite mothers on the street I grew up was the woman who could

crotchet and sew. I loved to see what she could come up with. She was Pinterest before there ever was an internet.

[kentauros]

32. I gave the same gift to everyone (home-made biscotti.)

However, my friends online, whom I had never sent anything to, reacted the best (even wanting to pay me for them, which I turned down)

[Baitball Blogger]

34. I'm your online friend, aren't I?

[kentauros]

36. Yes

Although I'd probably have to set up a biscotti shop just to send to all of my online friends, and then all of you would have to pay for them Either that, or show up in person for free samples

Go to the C&B group, search on biscotti, and you'll find my recipes. I'll show you how to make them if you like

[Baitball Blogger]

37. You're sweet.

I'm just having a giggle.

[kentauros]

38. Thanks :)

Oddly enough, my past-wife (a nicer way of saying "ex&quot semi-guilted me into sending her a package, too. However, she won't receive it until after the beginning of the year, and it's much a smaller package than the rest

[Baitball Blogger]

39. On the contrary. You should have loaded it with sugar and given her twice the

sample.

[kentauros]

40. Naw, unlike most "exs",

she's still a friend. My mother doesn't like one of the flavors I make (lemon-anise) so my past-wife got half of that batch and my Palestinian-American friends got the other half (they grew up eating things with anise in them.)

[Baitball Blogger]

41. Not to apply pressure, but, I LOVE anise.

We use to drive up to the beaches and stop in this one bakery that was just off the road that use to sell bread rolls at five cents a roll. We spent a dollar on bread and fed on anise flavored bread for the weekend, just for a dollar.

[siligut]

45. My mother used to buy anise flavored biscotti

I can't remember what they were called or which company made them.

[kentauros]

48. I don't know the names of the various companies, either,

as I make my own. But, anise-flavored biscotti is pretty simple: just add a tablespoon of anise-seeds to the dough. My recipe uses lemon zest, too, pairing the two flavors, but it could just as easily be made with only the seeds. No need to crush them, either, as their aroma infuses the dough

[haele]

49. Stella D'oro cookies?

They were a classic cookie brand that tended to be more common over the winter holidays when I was a kid - it was easy to run out and grab a cookie bag mix or two for the office or school party when you ran out of the really good home-made treats (leaving the funky-looking "tarts", the jello "jigglers" on a stick, slices of stale storebought fruitcake, and popcorn balls that just couldn't be eaten politely) and needed to replenish the noshing table in the back of the room. They were in a better class than the tin-o-Danish-Shortbread, especially if the mix had lots of the shortbread star cookies that have either fudge or strawberry jam fondant in the centers.
The bag mix we loved as kids that included those shortbread cookies, a few mini-biscotti in either anise or almond, a chocolate-covered pretzel-shaped shortbread cookie, a glazed shortbread button with sprinkles, a tri-color chocolate/strawberry/plain shortbread bar, and a crispy/chewy macaroon cookie with zanthe currents(?).

It's still really hard to find the bag mix except during the winter, but you can still find the biscotti and the fondant stars in most grocery stores year round.

Haele

[siligut]

50. Yes, thank you

I did a search and I recognized the package. I will have to look for some next trip to the market.

[Still Blue in PDX]

43. I got my grandson and my semi-son-in-law Big Guy and Little Guy sweatshirts.

My 5-year-old grandson actually was not at all impressed, as he wanted to play with his toys and not be bothered with trying anything on, but all the adults thought they were adorable and he was forced to comply.

It was not unlike Ralphie trying on the bunny costume made by his Aunt Clara in "A Christmas Story."

On edit: I guess that sounds more like a bad reaction than the best reaction, but the family loved it since it was like The Royal Tenenbaums and A Christmas Story references wrapped up in one gift box. And Tristan's resentment was fleeting.

[Baitball Blogger]

44. At least he'll never forget you for it.

[Scuba]

46. Gift certificate for a divorce attorney.

[Baitball Blogger]

47. .

[bif]

51. Found some Make-A-Plate drawings the kids did

From about 15 years ago that we never had made into plates. So I sent them in and "Santa" brought them as a gift to the whole family. The kids are in their 20s now and were they ever surprised!

[jmowreader]

52. A secondhand pot lid

I think there was a law that required hospitals all across America to issue every first-time mother a three-quart Corning Ware casserole dish. You know your mom has one.

My mom broke the lid for hers while I was still in Berlin.(I came back from there in 1992, and it was broken long before that.) Ever since then I heard "I need to get a new lid for that pot" Every Single Fucking Time she uses it.

On Black Friday I went to a secondhand store in Spokane. I noticed this box of pot lids, and the exact one she needed was in there.

Reaction was as expected.

[Baitball Blogger]

55. Now that is a good gift. Restoring something that means something to someone.

[XemaSab]

53. I'm happy with a gift I gave this Christmas

A few years ago the dog chewed up my mom's favorite dictionary.

I went on Amazon and got it used. (It wasn't literally the same edition, unfortunately, but it was close enough.)

I wrapped it and put a tag on it that said "From Bailey to Mom" and put it under the tree.

She was really thrilled with it.

Cost like $4, showing that it's not the price that matters.

[XemaSab]

54. (And so I don't get hassled for being a cheapass...

I also got her a $50 teakettle and $60 worth of glasses (wine and water) and another $50 worth of this and that. But it was the $4 dictionary that I think she liked the most. )

[progressoid]

58. We used the official Scrabble dictionary on Christmas eve that I gave my Mom a few years ago.

She loves it. It's not the cost that matters.

[Aristus]

56. I gave my mom the DVD set of the Met's "Ring Of The Nibelungen" under James Levine.

It's an incredible production. She was really excited to get it. Not the least of which reasons is she has a crush on the tenor singing the role of Siegmund.

[Baitball Blogger]

57. Pretty sophisticated taste there.

[Aristus]

59. My mother introduced me to Wagner's operas when I was 12 or so.

I had just seen the movie "Excalibur", which uses several Wagnerian themes in the musical score. I became a huge fan of the music, if not of Wagner himself. Despicable human being...

[Baitball Blogger]

60. I think I read somewhere that it was an inspiration for the Lord of the Rings.

[Aristus]

61. No. Tolkien himself said: "Both rings are round. And there the resemblance ends".

Tolkien was trying to create sort of a unified cultural mythos for the British Isles that he felt it never really had. Wagner adapted several tales from the Teutonic Nibelungen saga in order to perfect his idea of the psychologically significant "music-drama". With some Nietzschean Aryan supremacy thrown in.

Tolkien deplored what he saw as a perversion by Wagner, and later Hitler, of the mythologies of Northern Europe toward the end of racial supremacy and world-domination.

[Baitball Blogger]

62. Dang. I see I'm talking to the right person.

[Aristus]

63. I've got some game...