I need hip gift ideas for a 12 year old niece?

[Shakeydave]

Please Help!

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Tiffany diamond necklaces are always appopriate

you know, if her uncle actually *loves* her.

:-)

on edit: had the wrong word emphasized, fixed it.

[Shakeydave]

3. Sick! Sick! Sick!

I'm not that kind of Uncle! :freak:

I replied before your edit and it still remains!

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. No sickness was implied, only guilt

Hope you didn't take that sexually.

[nini]

2. gift certificate to a store that sells CDs..

.. my nieces always love that

also.. a lava lamp.. they are way cool again/still

[Shakeydave]

4. Oooooooooooooh! Lava Lamp!

I like that! :hi:

[nini]

7. cool.. glad I could help.

.. I like the purple ones..

:-)

[seventhson]

9. Cash and take here to buy her own clothes wherever she wants

Nothing could be cooler for a 12 year old girl

she will never forget it (but she may want it every year)

If she isn't into clothes, though, take her to a concert or a professional play (musicals are usually cool) of her choice.

Kids think it is way cool to make choices and start to feel grown up.

But have suggestions ready. Be prepared for the unexpected request.

My daughter is thirteen and this would make her day.

I let her go alone to see Grease in Washington DC and she was ecstatic (it was too pricey for me to go too so I waited outside the theater for her).

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. Excellent idea!

Let her buy the stuff her parents won't let her have! I've done that with my niece, whose tastes aren't even weird.

You're a cool dad for taking her to grease that way. kudos to you!

[Demobrat]

5. I always bought my now grown-up niece presents

that were a few years too old for her. At twelve she got a makeup kit. I was, am and always will be her favorite relative!

[KCDem]

22. I agree on the makeup kit!

Ask her parents if they approve. Or, how about temporary body art? I hear that's hip these days.

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. though on a serious note

hard to tell - 12 might be a couple years too young for this - but if she really likes and respects you, something that is yours will be very much treasured, as long as it's not "stupid". Like, don't give her your pocketwatch.

But if you have any of her grandmother's or grandfather's things, or any artwork you've done, or a book that's been in the family, etc., that works.

or, take her out for an evening of movie and dinner, with one or two of her friends, her choice in movie and place to eat. More you playing cheauffuer, perhaps, but also being there as the cool uncle who lets her and her friends be teenage girls in a night on the town.

Or tickets to a concert, and take her to it. preferably a band she likes, not one of her uncle's "nerd bands".

I shy away from gift certificates as they are rather impersonal.

[Shakeydave]

12. Those are great ideas!

Her Grandmother recently passed away and I know she misses her! WOW! Thank you so much! :hi:

[koopie57]

18. I know that my kids

loved having a gift card for Target cuz then they could always buy something that they knew I would not spring for, like magazines, or candy. And they didn't have to wait for me, but could go through the check out line themselves. But because the impersonal thing sort of bothered me too, I would get something that showed I didn't default to the gift card. Girls that I know like funky socks or the dainty necklaces which are not very expensive, but still very popular, at least where we live. But don't get dainty socks, get silly ones that have a musical instrument on she plays, or a sport she plays, or a favorite animal.

[dbt]

10. Get her a guitar!

In the first place, it will doom her immortal soul to Hell (check with your local fundie Baptists on this point), which will give her immediate standing in her peer group. If she's twelve, her hands oughta be big enough to work the instrument (see link below) and there's very little to compare with the joy of "making" one's own music.

In the second place, it will give her a refuge and a companion in about three years when she enters Teenage Wasteland for real. And if she's already hip, that may well make her an outcast when she's a little older.

DaisyRock makes a line of guitars that are sized and contoured for smaller hands and bodies. They also offer what they claim is the first guitar instruction method for girls. (Be that as it may, good guitar teachers are NOT hard to find, and some of them will be female.)

Whatever you get her, make sure it honors her hipness--and good luck!

:hi:
dbt

[Mel]

11. here's some ideas

hanging star light....you should be able to find one at a mall if you don't have time to order one.
http://www.handsofwoman.com/starlamps.

silver necklace with a gemstone of her favorite color

art- if she likes art how about a paint or pencil set with paper/canvas to get her started or maybe some polymer clay with the basic tools

bean bag chair in her favorite color

gift certificate to her favorite store

A magazine subscription to New Moon Magazine
http://www.newmoon.org/magazine.htm

[Runesong]

13. New Moon mag..

That looks really nice. I'll have to check that out for my daughter.

[lazarus]

14. heh

As soon as I get my 11 year old daughter in here, I'll have her give you a list. :evilgrin:

[lazarus]

23. lava lamp

glittery shiny stuff seems to be popular. Heck, she even likes those light ropes.

Those plasma balls are cool, too.

Best gift I ever got her was last year, found a great origami book remaindered, got her that and some origami paper.

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. Oooh - and a subscription to The Nation

That could be cool!

[AmandaRuth]

17. a dvd and poster

of an anime series such as sailer moon or yu yu hakusho show. If she is she is into anime you will score major hip points.

[Shakeydave]

20. This is great!

Mrs. Shakey and I have no kids and all my other nieces and nephews are too old! Thank you everybody!

[Breezy du Nord]

19. ORLANDO BLOOM

Just kidding, but I've got a HUGE crush on that guy.

[leftist_rebel1569]

21. one word...

EIGHTTRACK!

C'mon...what 12-year old wouldn't want an eight-track? :evilgrin:

[Dover]

24. Have you seen those newish Italian "charm" bracelets in the malls?

They aren't charms in the traditional sense. They are square silver metal links with letters, enameled symbols or jewels on them and have a bit of stretchiness to them (like a watch band).
The fun is choosing the links to put together to personalize them. Not sure what they're called, but I think they originated in Italy. Now there are several different brands that can be used interchangably.

Anyway....my 11 year old niece loves hers. I have no idea how popular they are or what ages are interested in them.

I always give my nieces an "experience"...a theatre play, a trip to the beauty parlor, a train trip....something nonmaterial that adds to experience. Often we'll do it together.

[ianbruce]

25. iPod.

Barring that, anything with Justin Timberlake's picture on it.

[Catshrink]

26. Do you live near her?

If so, how about quality time with unc? A movie and burgers? A trip to a museum? A ballgame? And maybe a giftcard too -- or take her shopping at a book or music store. That way you can find out what she likes and have something to talk about. Time and an interested ear are the most important gifts anyone can give a kid.