A Most Spectacular Christmas Gift List

A Most Spectacular Christmas Gift List

Today is December 1st and you’ve completely finished all of your Christmas shopping. Of course!

Yeah, me, neither.

When my first was born, I thought, “I’ll get her three presents. She’s only a year old. Jesus got three. She can get three. Three is more than enough. She already has anything she really needs. I’ll start this off right, so there’s no undoing excess later on.”

(And what does a 1 year old need anyway, other than a dry diaper, clothes, food, and kisses?)

That worked for about 2 minutes.

Back to the ongoing dilemma we face each year. What to buy?

When I was in my 20s, married but childless, I had the bright idea to create all handmade gifts. “Wouldn’t it be neat if I made everything? Lovingly made things for those I love?”

Do you know how much time that takes? You have to think about Christmas all year long!

I start thinking about Christmas around the middle of November.

It’s now 3 weeks until the big day. Decisions must be made. But what!?

A gift card. The easy, no-brainer that says, “I’m clueless as to what you want. I didn’t want to just call you up and ask. So here it is—a piece of plastic that stared me in the face at check-out.”

I like gift cards and I don’t like gift cards. They multi-task. The recipient can use the generic Visa or MasterCard types anywhere, while store cards are a bit more limited. On the other hand, I’ve sent them and not received a thank you note or email or acknowledgement.

I get that people don’t send proper, hand-written thank you notes like they did in the olden days.

“Eh, eh, eh!” (Cranky, old woman’s voice, but not me.) “In my day, we had 2 weeks to get that baby written and out the door.”

But, without some sort of acknowledgement, I don’t know if it was lost in the mail or did I just send this to a clueless clod?

The following list will help you think. By clicking on the picture, you should go to a website to help you out. You’ll find most on Amazon because showing you an amazing bird feeder I bought at the little antique shop in my town, won’t help you where you live. I couldn’t find Harry’s razors on Amazon, but they are available around town and on their site.

Terrariums and Fairy Gardens

One of our daughters gave us a terrarium 3 years ago. Even this year, with all of our moving, remodeling, and hospital stays, it’s been neglected and still looks great. So for those of us with black thumbs? They will survive!

Or books on terrariums and fairy gardens

Bird feeders

Bee & bug hotel

Two projects are going on here. Mason bees are beneficial bees to our gardens. They improve pollination and they don’t sting unless you squeeze them. There are no queens or worker bees. The female places honey in each hole, backs in and craps out an egg, dropping in female eggs first, followed by the male eggs.

The females must be amazing in bed. The male emerges from the cocoon first, then waits by the door for her to emerge from her cocoon further inside one of those little tubes you see above. They mate and he dies. Immediately. No cigarette. No hamburger. 

The other areas with pine cones, wood scrapes, and twigs give insects a home to roost. Insects–like butterflies, lady bugs, and ear wigs that are beneficial to our gardens–will burrow and nest among the scraps. Good insects eat bad insects.

Are butterflies insects? Actually, they are. Wiki it.

Green thumbs know all of this, of course. On the other hand, we black thumbs do not.

I bought a bee hotel a few years ago as a gift. I don’t know if it really brought in the bees, but it looked cute in the garden.

Harry’s Razors

I’ve actually bought this. It’s hanging in our shower right now. Ordered it from Harry’s site and signed up for the “replace your blade” club. They’ll send us new blades at whatever interval I choose. You can get it in colors, along with shaving gels and lotions and various accouterments. I started out with a small order, one razor and a few blades, but so far, my guy and I are both pleased. The handle is rubbery so there’s less chance of it slipping. And they’re not as expensive as other brands in the grocery stores. And it looks cute.

Portable Ice Machine

I’ve actually bought this, too. This exact brand and model. And like it.

One of our daughters and her family enjoy camping and this looked pretty neat. And it had great reviews on Amazon. About 6 weeks ago, my guy had his shoulder replaced and the hospital sent home this electric cooler-looking thing that you filled with ice and water. It circulated cold water through a plastic, padded foamy-thing he draped over his shoulder. Worked great. Helped his shoulder tremendously. And it took more ice than our little frig could make.

She brought this over and we used it for supplemental ice. It makes about 20+ pounds a day. It made more than enough for our needs. And it was pretty fast. Makes almost 2 pounds in about 15 minutes. 

The only drawback is you must use distilled water. My guy uses a CPap which requires distilled water, so we already have some on hand. But, out camping? You’d have to bring it from home. Or go to the store….then, you might as well buy ice.

There you have it. A truly awesome list. Now, go, pour yourself a glass of wine and click away. It’s so much easier than fighting the crowds.