Those were GREAT ideas on the first Yankee Swap Gift Ideas post! I love when we end up making a reference section!
My mom and I went out shopping, and I found more ideas too, enough for a second post on the topic. And I chose one of the ideas, and I’m very happy with it.
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
1. Turbie Twists and a Wet Brush. This would be too expensive for the $10-15 range, but at HomeGoods I found a single Turbie Twist for $5, so then I could have combined that with the $8-10 Wet Brush for a perfect set.
2. Chocolate ornaments. We found these for $12.99 for a package of 45. They’re hollow chocolate, wrapped in foil that makes them look like ornaments, with little string loops for hanging them on a tree, and I thought that was something I’d never buy for myself but I’d LOVE to win: I’d hang them on the tree and the children would think that was pretty much the best thing ever.
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
3. Coloring books for grown-ups. I have a paisley one I bought thinking it might be right for Elizabeth, but actually it was perfect for me. I saw several similar things while out, including books that looked like they were good for adults who didn’t know yet if they liked to color or not: sort of guided coloring, with little assignments. A couple coloring books plus the 50-pack of Crayola colored pencils would be perfect and fun.
4. A piece of fancy garland. We saw a bunch of these at places like HomeGoods: a six-foot length of greens and/or ornaments and/or other stuff for $12.99-19.99—more for putting over a door or around a railing than for putting on the tree, I think.
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
5. Grow-Your-Own Christmas Tree. I was telling my mom how my college dorm floor did a White Elephant Swap (where you bring something used or silly), and how I got very het up over a grow-your-own-Christmas-tree, and how I DID win it. Very exciting. However, that particular swap was RUINED by people “being nice”: “Oh, no, don’t steal it, she really wants it!,” etc. Swaps have to be RUTHLESS or else they are NO GOOD.
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
6. Nice little cutting board. We saw some with pretty stripes of different types of wood, or ones shaped like various things (fruit, dog heads) (dog heads? yes, dog heads).
7. Glitzy candles. I saw TONS of nice candles, the kind where the outside is covered in sequins or glitter or little tiny beads.
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
8. Twig pencils. I’d get one bundle of colored leads and one of regular.
(screen shot from Amazon.com)
9. Turkish bath towel. My mom and I stood looking at one of these at Marshalls, just totally uncertain what we were looking at. It was packaged like a luxury item, and it said it was a towel, but it looked and felt like a tablecloth. Finally I said, “I don’t know if this could possibly be any good, but it makes me want to try it.”
10. I felt like we had a lot of really good options and I’d have been happy with almost any of them—but then we were in the checkout lane at HomeGoods and I saw a SALT TASTING BOOK: six little jars of fancy salt, in a package that looks like a book. I bought it RIGHT UP. It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s useful. I might end up fighting for my own gift. They had similar books for jam (yawn) and honey (intriguing, but I liked the salt better).
What’s funny is, I realized afterward that the last time I shopped HomeGoods/Marshalls looking for a gift anyone might like when I didn’t know who “anyone” would be, I ALSO CAME HOME WITH SALT: Swistle must really love salt.
Swistle’s Soup post quote: “I love love love salt so maybe start with less than I use.”
https://www.swistle.com/2007/04/24/recipe-swistles-soup/
I think it’s confirmed. :) Also, I would fight for that salt book.
I have a Turkish bath towel and it’s not great. I bought it after reading all the hype online and it just feel like drying off with a tablecloth. I read that they’re suppose to be better with age so I washed it with every load of laundry for weeks and it never improved. It would be a good beach towel if you didn’t want to carry a bulky towel but I don’t live near the beach.
In your last Yankee Swap post you mentioned the deliberately awful gift. I participated in a Yankee swap for several years and we passed around a photography book titled Sexy Cats by J.C. Suares. The winner autographed (and dated) the inside cover and brought it back to the swap the next year. It was a hot item because it was so bizarre.
Ditto on the turkish bath towel – it folds up into a nice, small bundle, so is good for the beach or as a pool towel (one of many, not your only one), but is pretty meh for showers. If I still lived in California or some other more arid place I might like it more – it gets WET when you’re drying off, and so benefits greatly from being able to dry out quickly. And being in Florida, that’s not an option.
Also, that sexy cats book will now be my go-to example of the awful/amazing synergy that one looks for at these kinds of swaps.
Oh I love the idea of that Salt Tasting Book. My family calls it Dirty Santa and I am desperate for two gifts for this year. I could get a few pretty kitchen utensils or something and pair with some different salts? Or something kitchen related and I think that’d make a fun gift.
I love the pretty journals, etc they have at TJ Maxx but wouldn’t buy it for myself. I got the Wreck This Journal book at TJ for $7.99 for a kids 7th bday gift. Love it so much I bought for my kiddo for Xmas but it’s totally good for every age. I want it REALLY bad. http://www.amazon.com/Wreck-This-Journal-Duct-Expanded/dp/0399162704/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1418058200&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=trash+this+journal
I think that a salt book is a fantastic item for a gift exchange! And, actually, I am quite familiar with your last foray into salty gifts, because I was the winner of that Pink Himalayan salt! It was such huge chunks that we’re still using it! It takes a long time to use one of those chunks using the grater, but I must say it looks pretty amazing on the table during a dinner party. I took one of the chunks recently and smashed it with a hammer into smaller chunks and put it into our salt grinder. That’s working quite well. And it looks very pretty on salted caramel-type baking. So thank you once again for the pink salt; we’re all thoroughly enjoying it!
How fun to get a Salt Update!
I LOVE the salt book and would totally fight for that gift. I have made flavored salts and given them as gifts quite a few times over the years. Half the batch for them. Half the batch for me.
I would like to request a Christmas cookie reference section, as we did for Thanksgiving vegetable side dishes. Only the proven winners we love and rely on. I want to try a few new cookies every year, but very quickly get overwhelmed when I start looking around online. “The 14 Holiday Cookies You Should Be Making!” “The Only 4 Cookies You Need to Make This Christmas!” “The 3 Million Cookies of Christmas!”
I would love some recommendations that come with reasons, advice, history. Alas, I have no real life cookie swaps to attend. :)
I’m doing my first ever cookie swap this year, and I have finally settled on an old favorite: http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2008/11/chocolate-toffee-cookies/
I recommend the slice and bake option and baking about a dozen more than you’ll need, because several of them likely won’t leave the house. :)
Thank you! Those sound, and look, fantastic. Definitely the most recent cookie recipe I’ve wanted to just take a spoon to based on the pictures on the screen. That shot of the brown sugar whipped with the butter looks particularly tempting.
And, they are perfect for the comments of this post. Salt on top! A different salt for each dozen :)
Whoa, those are what I took to my cookie exchange last year! Clearly, you have good taste.
I need a new recipe this year. I have one that I love, for Coconut Lime Snowballs, but I think coconut is far too polarizing to bring to a swap (ours is a fierce competition).
Also, I need a foolproof cut-out sugar cookie recipe. My dough is always crumbly or some such nonsense.
I love this idea! I’ve tended to find my way to meringues a lot of years. They aren’t good if you send cookies out in packages, though. (Broken meringues taste lovely, but don’t have the visual oomph I want in a gift.) http://www.joyofbaking.com/MeringueCookies.html
I also really like these brownie cream cheese cookies, and have gotten a lot of positive feedback on them: http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/2010/12/cream-cheese-truffle-brownie-cookies-gluten-free/ . (Note – I don’t have the patience to melt chocolate for things like this, so I substitute in cocoa powder and oil – 3T cocoa and 1T oil for every oz of chocolate). The recipe is gluten-free, but I’m sure they’d be good using all-purpose flour as well – the recipe links to the original one she adapted.
I also am daunted by the internetz’s cookie compendium. And I have multiple cookie exchanges this year and I want to be a show off.
Well, these are nice show off cookies, and really refreshing as far as cookies go, you feel like you have cleansed your palate and can go back for more:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/lemon-angel-wings
I also find that the first cookies to be completely gone are the Iced Pumpkin Cookies. Lots of recipes make them crazy ways, and if dates, or nuts, or (shudder) raisins are your thing, than you can go that route, but this basic recipe is foolproof. My mom has been making it for more than 35 years and never once had a batch come out messed up.
Iced Pumpkin Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Cream butter and sugar with the pumpkin. Add egg and mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients. Drop well rounded onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes
Brown Butter Frosting:
3 Tbsp. butter
4 tsp. milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
Cook the butter, milk, and brown sugar until brown sugar is dissolved. Cool thoroughly. You will be able to touch you hand to the outside of the pan and hold it there comfortably. Add the vanilla and then the powdered sugar. Spread evenly over all the cookies.
I’m going to have to bookmark these posts for years to come!
Also, MMMMM SALT
If anyone has any good egg-free cookie recipe, we have an allergy in our house and I get tired of just shortbread and chocolate-chip-with-the-egg-replaced-by-a-banana.
Oh hey, just found these at Smitten Kitchen! No egg! http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/01/in-which-world-peace-eludes-me/
Try “vegan cookies invade your cookie jar”
http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Cookies-Invade-Your-Cookie-ebook/dp/B00D5FO6AC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418198928&sr=8-1&keywords=vegan+cookies+take+over+the+world
for some great egg-free recipes.
We particularly like the citrus glitters (glitzers?). I’m up in the middle of the night nursing the baby or I’d grab my copy and type it out for you; I’ll try to remember tomorrow!
So like a day after your first post about this I was invited to what was supposedly just a cookie exchange and then on the invite turns out to be a cookie AND white-elephant-type gift exchange party with a $15 maximum. I ended up buying a set of oven mitts and some nice cookie cutters that I am going to somehow ribbon together to be a gift. At first I thought “uh, people here are baking cookies so clearly they already have this stuff’ but then realized my personal oven mitts are old and horrible and I bought cookie cutters in shapes that aren’t the standard tree/gingerbread man/stocking shapes so hopefully it will be more “Oh,perfect, I love baking!” and less “boring, I already own that stuff.”
May I just take a moment to say , what?? Tree chocolates aren’t a “thing ” in the USA or at least in your part?
I AM SHOCKED (I am also dramatic !), they are always on a tree here (uk) you can get cadbury ones, cadbury caramel ones, lindor,and then all sorts of gaudy or pretty or chidish ones you can image hollow or solid…. and its always a race to see a) if you can put some high enough b) put them up late enough, that some make it until even the second week of December …
currently we have some hollow santas that my 3 year old picked out.
Love the idea of twig pencils, so pretty!
Good choice for the actual swap gift, unusual! The good kind! :)
Oooh oooh and cookies, I make mince pies only, and my friend made some gorgeous mince pie cookies, I will get the recipe, but they where delicious! especially warm :)