I was thinking about how my favorite gift guides are the ones where it’s just one big mixed jumble of ideas (as opposed to sorted by type of recipient), and I wondered if it would be useful and also fun if we talked about some of the good gift ideas we’ve had for this year, to make one big general gift-ideas list for others to pick through: it seemed like it would be a really good comments section. I can’t participate as fully in this one, because my parents and sibling and sibling-in-law read my blog. But I can tell you that I got Paul two three-layer rimming trays (the five-layer one was more than twice as expensive, so I just got two three-layers) and a bunch of rimming salts/sugars:
(image from Target.com)
(image from Amazon.com)
Lemon drop, Citrus Jalapeno, Citrus & Petals, Cranberry, Sweet Heat, Lime Margarita.
I got Elizabeth this clothes-folding board on a total whim: I saw a video on Twitter of some guy adorably enjoying using one, and I went to see how much they were, and this one was on a Lightning Deal for $11.99, and Elizabeth had recently spent quite a bit of time making a Very Tidy shirt pile on her closet shelves, and I just impulsively bought it. I would maybe have gotten one for William, too, but I could only get one on that deal; if I see them on sale again, I’ll reconsider.
(image from Amazon.com)
I would recommend N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy as a gift idea for someone who likes Not By A Male Author science fiction. FIVE of you recommended it to me, and you were right! I have only read the first book so far, and I have ordered the next two books, and while waiting for them to arrive I am re-reading the first book because I don’t really feel like reading anything else. I will tell you up front that there is Child Death—but you know I have a very low tolerance for that, and I could bear it, and in fact am re-reading it right away.
(image from Target.com)
I love that rimming kit!
We plan on getting my 7-year-old a sewing machine but I am still in the research phase (I don’t sew and have no idea what to look for). Probably I will also look for some sort of container for all her fabric, pins, threads, buttons, etc that usually end up strewn about her room.
What you want in a sewing machine depends a lot on what your space is like; in general, the heavier the sewing machine, the better to learn on and the better for lasting (metal parts: harder to break, last longer, you get fewer timing issues, and it’s capable of sewing through thicker stuff and more uneven stuff), but if it needs to be gotten out and put away each time it’s used, then one that’s light enough to not deter use would be better (I mean: think Kitchenaid stand mixer vs. hand mixer: if you’ve got counterspace the stand mixer can live on, great! But most of my friends who have one stored in a cupboard only use it once or twice a year, because it’s a pain to shuffle out and put away again.).
Don’t go for “toy” or “for kids!” sewing machines; most people end up spending more time fighting them than sewing on them. It’s way better to buy a refurbished real sewing machine than an equivalently priced “for kids!” sewing machine.
In general, all you really need is a straight stitch and a zigzag stitch (additional decorative stitches are So Cool and kids love them – but you really don’t need them for regular sewing, and they usually take quite a while to sew, and also tend to bunch/pucker/stretch the fabric), and the more computerized aspects there are, the more things there are that can break/go wrong (especially if the sewing machine gets bumped into, etc.), so for a kid, I’d veer towards as close to an all-mechanical, all-metal machine as you can reasonably get, and then jazz it up with decals if it doesn’t look “fun” enough. :-) (although lots of kids would rather have a Real Grownup Machine than a Hello Kitty-branded one, so there’s that)
In non-pandemic times, going to a local sewing machine/vacuum repair shop can be great – you can try things out and often get refurbished machines with repair guarantees. In pandemic times, you might see if there’s a local quilting guild and contact them to ask 1. whether they have “starter” sewing machine recommendations for a 7 year old, and 2. whether there’s anyone in it who has a good sewing machine they’re planning to upgrade out of that they would sell inexpensively. (check what the online price is for specific models before buying one, obviously; sometimes the price has gone down since that model was The Newest Hottest Thing)
I’d also note that there is super-cheap hand-sewing thread (in bulk boxes of many-colored spools, from Amazon or dollar stores or whatever), and your daughter may have been using some of that, but for machine sewing you do want to use machine-sewing thread – Coats and Clark or whatever is not necessarily expensive, just don’t go for bulk/no-brand thread. I broke the tension knob in my first sewing machine by using cheap 10-cardboard-reels-for-99-cents thread from Joann’s, because the thread wasn’t even enough for sewing machines, turned out to have a lump in it and the sewing machine had a plastic tension knob and… klunk-snap it went. So! Use sewing-machine thread on a sewing machine, and go for not-plastic where it’s feasible. (I say, as someone whose Christmas present last year was a mostly-plastic Brother cs6000i and I loooove it – it gives you error messages you can look up rather than making you google symptoms! it’s so light-weight! – but there’s no way it’s going to last as long as the straight-stitch-only sewing machine from the late 40s or so that I have, and I would probably have destroyed the Brother machine as a kid?)
I am a total unromantic about my sewing supplies, so I use tool boxes or fishing tackle boxes for all the small objects, but I don’t know if they still make Kaboodles, and that would be awfully fun. :-)
Good luck!
I agree 100% !!
tl:dr Suzanne, I recommend a Singer 1725 for your daughter! And a simple set of drawers for her notions- one of those Sterilite units would be a great start.
Piggybacking on KC’s very thorough answer: definitely avoid a “for kids” machine, metal body machines are longer lasting but more trouble to get out, avoid digital.
I am a hobby sewer but I’ve been doing it since I was a kid and have experience with a lot of types of projects- from simple cushion covers to pieced quilts, altering my own clothes and sewing garments. I currently have a Singer 1725, which is super basic (plastic body) but has served my needs well. I only just got it serviced after several years of use (maybe not recommended) because my five year old cranked all the knobs and I thought it was broken. I’m guessing your seven year old is more careful ; ) I’m looking to upgrade… KC, maybe you could chime in, I’m considering either a Husqvarna VIking Emerald 118 or a Janome HD3000.
Plastic body is not necessarily horrible, it’s the plastic “working parts” that you especially don’t want. :-) (but often the plastic body comes with at least some plastic failure points inside it, so there is that…) I’m not seeing the 1725 for sale right now – do you know what the equivalent current model might be?
As for your upgrades: both are good brands and either looks to be a solid [solid!] machine! Good picks! Given it’s probably not feasible to “visit” the machines and try them out side by side right now, I’d look at what things are interchangeable with your current machine – aka: can your bobbins carry over? what about any specialty feet? – and what specific features are especially useful to you vs. meh. And then I’d look at warranty periods and what sorts of options there are for getting things serviced – if servicing one of them costs twice as much as servicing the other, or one pays shipping both ways vs. the other is you-pay-shipping-on-an-all-metal-machine, well…
So helpful – thank you!
Oh my gosh – thank you so much! This is so helpful!
I’m so glad!!! Any time. :-)
I love my “Artbin Solutions Sewing Thread Box”, and it seems to be half price ($12.50 or thereabouts) on JoAnn.com right now.
I’ve been a casual sewer (curtains, halloween costumes) for years now, and it is just the right size to hold all my thread and tape measures and needles and scissors and things, although I can’t quite smush my pin cushion in. I’m sure it would be much too small for an expert quilter, but maybe just right for a young beginner?
Thank you!
question! how does one know it’s sewing machine thread vs. the other cheaper kind? Thank you, i think you may have solved the problem my daughter is having!!!
The thread that broke my machine was on cardboard spools (kind of like… lite tampon-size toilet paper tubes?); if it’s on a spool less than 100 yards – or not on a regular spool-shaped-spool – and is not a main Sewing Thread Name Brand, then I would not use it with a sewing machine at this point, although I’m sure that some of the cheapo bulk-pack thread *could* be used safely in a sewing machine. Coats and Clark is really widely available (Joann’s! Walmart! Online!) and is what I mostly use for not-100%-cotton thread now; I use Gutermann 50wt for 100% cotton. Also, sewing with upholstery or other heavy-weight [hand quilting, “craft”] thread in a machine is an Expert Level Skill; for normal humans like me, the thread should be “dual duty” or “all purpose” or otherwise indicate that it’s for regular ol’ machine sewing. (I use 50wt cotton Gutermann; 40-60 weight is usually fine for machines.)
If thread is advertised as “dual duty” and not just as part of advertisement AI-generated or non-English-language “oh, these are words that exist in popular thread listings, we will copy all of them” nonsense (“Thread Quilts Sewing Clothes Machine Hobby Quality Multi Color Dual Duty Embroidery”, that sort of thing), and the description seems to have been written in English and the product seems to be targeted at sewing machines [like the sets of matching spools/bobbins – but make sure the bobbins are compatible with your machine before using them – visually compare bobbin-that-came-with-machine vs. new bobbin, both for thickness and width], then it probably has better odds even without being a name-brand thread? But: $2/spool for Coats and Clark thread (less at Walmart) vs… kind of a lot more… for a new sewing machine or a new tension knob: I’ll pay for thread. (and sulk about it. But. It really is a lot cheaper to not kill your machine accidentally.)
I’d note that, with sewing machines that are having trouble, 1. Google is your friend; put your symptoms in and behold! often there is an answer, and often even a machine manual for your specific model… but also 2. 90% or more of the time for me, it is either my upper tension (if you get nests of thread below the fabric, your upper tension is too loose) or my machine is improperly threaded, either because I screwed up or because the thread “jumped” out of one of the places it’s supposed to be. Take the thread all the way out of the machine (both the spool and the bobbin (some smaller percentage of the time it’s that my bobbin is backwards, oops; this tends to create less drastic but still annoying glitches/problems), look carefully at instructions in your manual or online for your specific model of sewing machine, re-thread the whole shebang, try it on scrap woven cotton, and if it’s still nesting underneath, tighten the top tension (again: manual).
If things are a bit cranky, it can also be worth checking your manual for places they recommend oiling and *first* cleaning the lint and gunk out and *then* oiling those spots. And removing and replacing the needle, because sometimes one has messed that up slightly and redoing it while paying attention gets it in the right place and tight.
Sometimes machines can get “off” with timing or a part can get out of line; if you’re frequently breaking needles (and not on multi-layer denim), send it in for a tune-up.
But: most of the time for me: it’s the top tension – either the knob set to the wrong place for this fabric/project, or the sewing machine is threaded improperly and thus the tension is awry. (okay. I also forget to lower the presser foot sometimes. And obviously it doesn’t sew after it runs out of bobbin thread or when the needle isn’t threaded and it *really* doesn’t sew when it’s unplugged or set to bobbin-winding mode But *usually* I do not mistake those for the sewing machine being broken… at least not for very long?)
(Oh! and if you do break your tension knob and can’t get it fixed: you can still sew, albeit on a “higher difficulty level” setting, by creating tension in the thread some other way. I ran the thread through enough other things – creating a sort of Rube Goldberg Thread Friction Machine – that the tension was increased enough to allow the machine to sew. But this is a pain, and does not work as well as a functioning tension knob. If you think the tension knob is broken [if it’s currently doing nothing at all], it can’t be fixed at present for either pandemic or budget or the-sewing-machine-company-went-out-of-business reasons, and if you have access to the machine and want Rube Goldberg-ing help, you can email me the machine model or photos of the machine from front and back at katecrufi at ye olde “gmail” dot com and I can suggest ways you might be able to set up manual thread tension with screwdrivers or silverware or wire coat hangers or binder clips. It will not work as well as the machine’s tension did – there will be more times that things glitch – but I sewed quite a lot on that machine post-Rube-Goldberg-ing, including two bridesmaids’ dresses and three nightgowns – so it’s possible. Just a bit more annoying.)
I’ll add pre-wound bobbins are nice for beginners.
This caught my eye for my 7 year old: https://www.turingtumble.com/ I sent it to my husband, and it had already caught his eye. They seem to really be pushing the product on Twitter, which makes me think I shouldn’t trust it? Still it seems perfect for his likes, so I think we’ll get it. (If anyone has experience with it, let me know!)
I haven’t used that brand but our school district had something like it from lakeshore.com and the kids love it!
We have this for our 7yo. She loved the first sets of puzzles but then got stumped. I think it’ll be something she can go back to so I’m glad we have it. Many small pieces though.
I feel like you are the sort of person who will enjoy this anecdote, Swistle: when I was doing my first masters degree, back in 2013, I wrote a paper on N K Jemisin’s first published novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I emailed her to let her know I had enjoyed it so much I was writing about it in an academic setting, and she sent me back a really encouraging email and wished me luck with my paper. She really is a good person as well as a very satisfying writer.
Also, gifts. This year I’m trying to give people things they’ve mentioned in passing they wish they had. Like my sister said she wishes she had more oversized t-shirts to wear as night shirts, so I’ve ordered her a really nice one. And my dad broke the last of a set of limited edition mugs he got in 1996 so I’ve found a few more on eBay for him.
Thank you for sharing this anecdote, Lilly. I love all her books so much, it’s so nice to read about your personal connection, it really warmed my heart. Yay good people!
That’s a great book, how cool!!
Oh, that is SO nice to hear.
Thinking about getting my DH this smoker box for his recently purchased outdoor grill:
https://www.amazon.com/Pure-Grill-Smoker-Duty-Stainless-Steel/dp/B07RP3K388/
and then some flavored smoker chips of some sort.
Getting several people on my list the “What Unites Us” book by Dan Rather.
I really really want another of these sets for myself (expensive but worth it): https://www.beautycounter.com/product/countertime-regimen-set
Both my parents have birthdays coming up this month, so I’m focusing on that before I think about Christmas.
My dad is getting a gift card to a local fancy restaurant we’ve been wanting to try. They do takeout, so he can use it now if he wants, or he can wait to use it until it’s safe to eat at restaurants again. (I like the idea of giving gift cards to local restaurants and stores right now, because it means the business gets the money NOW regardless of when the recipient chooses to spend it.)
My mom is probably getting a sous vide, as soon as I can decide on which brand/model to buy. Depending on the budget, I also might get her a sous vide cookbook to go with it.
Don’t Swistle and Paul sous vide?
We do! I would recommend the one we got, but it’s no longer available—and we chose it kind of randomly for being in the right price range. Here it is in case it helps: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QCCF9JV/ref=nosim/?tag=88K18-20
One gift that I love to give (and would love to receive someday) is an etsy gift certificate. You get to support independent artist(s) and get things you might not have even known about otherwise. The only rub is that not all etsy shops accept gift certificates, so the recipient would have to filter for vendors that do.
Also, these distraction threads are fabulous. Thank you.
I don’t have much family left. My daughter and granddaughter moved this year and did a major downsizing/moving towards minimalism lifestyle change.
All I can figure out to do is to give them consumable gifts. Any ideas for subscription boxes in a modest price range would be greatly appreciated. I will also be doing a couple of charitable gifts. I already have my favorites picked out for that.
http://www.cheesemart.com has a cheese of the month that you can do different levels of. I LOVE IT.
Thanks Liz!
This cuticle oil is great, and everybody at my office used to come by my desk to use it: Cuccio Revitalize Cuticle Oil,… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F644LTQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
If you or the person eats ground meat, this thing can’t be beat: ChopStir Original Ground Meat… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004N7E174?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
If you have a bird lover, this was an appreciated but unique gift I bought someone: Songbird Essentials SE7021 Hummer Helper Cage and Nesting https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B008JCBV04/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5kBOFbJ3VW18F?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Pair it with these: BOLITE 18024 Ant Moats, Hanging Ant Moat Hummingbird Feeders Accessory Hooks, Black, 2 Pack https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B085T2C9Y4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_QpBOFbBWKMB58?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
These are great for displaying pins: VOSAREA Pin Wall Display Banner Enamel Lapel Badge Flag Canvas Wall Banner Size M (Black) https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VXT4GMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KmBOFbZHWGHG5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I’m buying my jewelry-wearing family jewelry from Unicef’s marketplace, because I don’t have it in me to do just Heifer International this year. I just can’t. I’m going to look for other “good for the world” gifts that are tangible, because I can’t hug everyone this year.
My daughter’s birthday is right before Christmas so we have to think of lots of ideas for her – she’s lucky to have grandparents and aunties and uncles who all want to buy her presents. This year she’s going to be 11 and her main present is an Instax Mini camera and a heap of film. She’s getting a selection of nice art supplies (watercolour paints, nice pencil crayons and paper) because she really enjoys art and has reached the stage of understanding that having slightly nicer supplies makes a big difference. She has a couple of books on her list – Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls 2 and a Lumberjanes graphic novel. Both of my children think it is an enormous treat to receive a big bar of chocolate that is just theirs – no need to share. Somehow getting a big version of even a fairly normal bar of something seems like an Exciting Event.
Most of the adults in my life have reached peak ‘stuff’ and welcome a bottle of wine or voucher for cinema tickets. That said, I’m buying my mum a Cloudberry jigsaw puzzle because they’re so beautiful and she’s enjoying having something to keep her busy right now.
Other small ideas: bamboo socks/quirky socks, bag of fancy coffee and packets of seeds to plant next year.
We LOVE this alarm clock! It has a nice happy tune alarm instead ofa beeping or buzzing. The lighted face can be turned VERY bright or OFF Or one of 4 steps in between! And it projects the time on the ceiling!!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QLCVLYN/
I’m hoping to get this ultrasonic jewelry cleaner for myself this year! It came highly recommended from a few different sources. And now that I’m past that stage where there is always a baby pulling at my earrings, necklace etc, I’d like to start wearing more jewelry again, But all mine has been put away for years, and needs a good cleaning.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007Q2M17K/
I can’t recommend enough the best gift I ever got my tricky to by for husband- a light up bocce set. It has lasted almost 8 years of heavy play and is so beautiful on a summer evening! I can vouch for the one from playaboule.com in terms of sturdiness. Almost everyone we have played with has ended up buying one of their own :).
I have light up bocce. It’s better than regular bocce! I love it. We haven’t used it in a bit, but when we do, it’s great. So fun.
Jewelry etc. from dissentpins.com for everyone I can think of. 50% of their profits are donated, prices are reasonable, and their stuff is fabulous. My 11-year-old and I are both wearing our dissent earrings today. In fact, my daughter was inspired by them to donate $100 (of her own money) today to one of the organizations the company donates to. When I mentioned this in comments on one of their Facebook posts today, they responded by saying they were inspired by my daughter to match her donation and give an extra $100, and they even posted the receipt. Of course, I then went back to their site and spent a bunch more money :).
My baker BIL is getting The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern. My husband is getting a book about hiking trails in our area and one of river runs if I find it. One daughter is getting a Magical Fairy Adventure and the Sewing School books. The other is getting child size but real tools and some wood, nails, etc. One niece is getting a scooter and the other is getting “big kid” legos. My sister asked for something specific. So, that just leaves my has everything she could need mom that I haven’t at least started shopping for.
For his birthday, I got my 15 year old male relative a tabletop corn hole game from uncommon goods that looked cool online. I haven’t seen it in person since he’s in another state. He plays a lot of video games so I’m giving him a book called Virtual Cities for Christmas and will probably tuck a $20 inside. His loss if he never opens the book!
Younger female relative is probably getting a book and money also. Her birthday comes up pretty soon after Christmas so I’ll be following for ideas for 10 year old girls!
We’re not doing presents for the adults and not even sure if we will all be able to get together. I might still look for books for the adults since that is my thing.
Yeti waterbottle with their name/initials etched on it. Yeti does it for $5 on their website, on Etsy it’s about 10-20 above reg yeti prices but can be fancier. These stand up to abuse from my kids, wash in the dishwasher with no ill effects and have interchangeable lids. Last year I gave away all the random plastic waterbottles and got everyone one yeti. One kid left his at camp and low and behold it wasn’t stolen because of the monogram. It’s a great life upgrade which is used everyday and good for the planet.
My husband bought me the QKK mini projector for backyard movies for my birthday. I had been researching more expensive ones, but this is about $100 and it came with a screen, so it was a nice, low-cost way to try it out and see if we are a “watch movies outside” kind of family. We’ve used it twice, so the answer is maybe? But it’s been nice to have my parents over and have something to do outside for lower COVID risk.
Love thinking about gifts! Going back to your previous post, I think the pizza gift is a great one – he can bring the stuff to school (once dorms are a thing again…) and impress his friends.
I like researching gifts, so I research and buy the *best version* of simple things for people, especially folks like my parents who refuse to spend money on themselves. My dad plays tennis in a hot southern state, so I looked up the best lightweight tennis cap for him, and he loves it. My mom was wearing old w*lmart slippers around the house, so I got her nice ones from LL Bean. I find it fun to read reviews and spend the extra few dollars on stuff they use all the time!
What kinds of drinks does Paul like to have fancy rims for?
(Looking for new ways to drown my sorrows…)
He’s been experimenting with various margarita/daiquiri mixes, and also has been making spiked slushes (like with ice and liquor and frozen fruit).
Ah ha, the reason behind the search for frozen fruit at the grocery store is revealed ;)
The only person I’ve bought for is my brother and I bought him a heating pad, a computer bag and the usual organizer I get him every year. https://slingshotcollective.org/the-organizer/
I also purchased these cards by one of my favorite artists to send instead of holiday cards. https://www.robynoneil.com/product-page/2020-headstone-card
I like the bathrobe and pizza making ideas for your sons. They probably aren’t the most fun presents on the actual day they’re opened, but they’re gifts that keeps giving.
Anyone have good ideas for grandparents? I often struggle to buy something for my grandpa. They have an Echo, so if it was a year I was confident in seeing them, I would buy a few of the plugs and help them get set up. Otherwise, we find Packers or Hawkeye themed things at Scheels on Black Friday, which is also not happening.
Any chance he’d go for StoryWorth? (note: there are often/always sale codes)
Or, a season of a favorite old/childhood TV series on DVD? (Hogan’s Heros was a recent hit with some family members)
Any hobbies that can be supported/enabled by the purchase of consumables? (birdseed! golf balls! smoker chips! garden kit!) (a upper-70s family member loves this thing that is basically a cross between a storage ottoman and a ride-on toy for kids; she can sit on it like it’s a low-ish bench, and work in the garden on her raised beds without having to kneel, and can scoot along sideways on it to weed/plant/harvest/prune without having to get up and get down again, and it has places for tools and then also the storage inside, although I don’t think she really uses the inside part.)
Any upgrades to normal life? (slippers! flannel shirts! food products! sheets!)
Some grandparents also just love hearing about their grandkids. Heavily annotated scrapbook pages; handwritten letters; stories; if this is someone who wants to hear about what you’re doing/how you’re doing (my grandparents were not really in that camp, but my parents are for their grandkids), then that sort of thing can be gold. (my sister [Provider of Grandkids] and I are currently sending my parents a daily “serial” of various fictional or real adventures with a photo of the grandkids in each installment; my sister sends the photos and sometimes text to go along, I format it and crop the photos and add text, then convert the bulk document to individual PDFs and batch it up in gmail’s “scheduled send” function so that my parents get two pages per day of this (now long-running) serial. We started it for my mom’s “won’t get to see kids or grandkids for Christmas” chemo time last year as an advent calendar, and then had extra content and treatment was still sucking, so we continued it, and then the pandemic hit, so… we’re still doing it. Some segments have been a long stack of vacation photos spiced up by a superimposed plot line; some segments have been more short-story-based riffs on things, like a version of “The Little Red Hen” story but wherein my sister was asking for help with baking, accompanied by plausible photos for each line. It’s mostly fairly terrible from a “professional excellence” or “literary” or “artistic” point of view, *but* my parents enjoy getting their bit of nonsense every morning, and my mom especially loves so much that my sister and I are Working Together, so. It’s a thing, until my parents are in a less-depressing situation, probably. I… do not really recommend getting into a position where you deliver material for a full stinkin’ year or more [oy], but it’d be reasonable and not nearly as much effort to do a “30 day subscription” or something and have a serial story run through that length and then stop.)
But also: some people are just really hard to buy for. Sorry! And good luck! :-)
For anyone that you want to send a hug, I recommend The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy – https://www.nowherebookshop.com/book/9780062976581 Fabulous book, great artwork, heartwarming story. And we can all use some heartwarming, I think.
Penzeys Spices are always good – https://www.penzeys.com/shop/gift-boxes/
I have a set of magnetic measuring spoons and they are the BEST things ever. Highly recommend them as a gift idea to anyone and everyone.
I am also unreasonably excited about my garlic rocker. Way easier to use and clean than the garlic press.
I got my father StoryWorth for his recent birthday. It’s a service that sends autobiographical writing prompts for a year and he spends the year uploading his answers and photos and at the end it all gets bound into a book. I gave it to him for a few reasons:
1) He has time this year. Work has slowed down for him significantly as he’s a consultant. Before this he’s always talked about how busy he was.
2) He’s in his 80s (yes, and still working because he’s one of those people that can’t imagine not working; his 18-years-his-junior wife has been retired for years but he refuses to do so) so it seems like a good idea – especially in these uncertain times – to get his stories written down for posterity.
3) He likes to write and is a little bit vain. He likes the opportunity to talk about himself and look at and show off pictures of himself.
If you have someone like my Dad in your life I do have a referral code if anyone wants to use it, but I don’t want to presume and just drop it into the comment… hm. Well, I’ll see if anyone replies to my comment saying they want it and then figure it out from there.
I’m interested in this for my dad as well!
I’ll link my code in my name then.
Thanks!
I got both my kids The Comfy, and asked my husband for one for myself. They’re giant sherpa-fleece-lined hoodies and will be perfect for our cold winter at home. Not sure about the US but the best deal in Canada was at Costco, though their colour selection was limited. I’m going to have a hard time waiting for almost 2 months to get mine, given the dropping temperatures and shorter days!
I got myself 3 Christmas themed prints (a llama, a camel, and a polar bear) from Janet Hill Studio so I have to pick up some frames for them soon!
For myself I’m going to be asking for apparel that is Hamilton related or has Baby Yoda on it haha! My kids are pretty easy at their age – can’t go wrong with books and Lego. My parents and my husband are the tricky ones, they have everything they need and can never give me ideas about what they’d like. I truly have to think well ahead and seek stuff out.