Comments on: Friday Fun Thread: Gifts That Don’t Suck

By: elibard

elibard — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:47:30 +0000

These are SUCH cool ideas.

Best gifts received: so many! Glorious needlepoint gifts from much beloved Becky that make our house more beautiful; another friend’s first quilt project, which was a gift for my first child’s birth; the complete Oxford English Dictionary (all 20 volumes – super expensive and luxurious, and oh, so coveted); a book that my friends put together for my bridal shower many years ago – each page was created by a different friend, and it is one of my favorite things in the whole world; a book of photos and memories that a high school friend put together for me several years ago. Then I can’t count the number of wonderful gifts I’ve gotten from my mother, especially trips.

Best gifts given: one of my favorites is the trip I surprised my then-fiance (now-husband) with for his birthday one year. He was working a high-pressured job that sucked and was soul-crushing, but in his spare time he loved video games and was running a news site about them. So at one point he drooled over an announcement of this ultra-cool conference of all these amazing game design folks getting together to discuss game theories and high-level stuff. He looked so envious of that conference. So I secretly got him a press pass, bought him a plane ticket, got the okay for the time off from his boss, and arranged for him to stay with his grandmother (who happened to live in the same city as the conference). It was the only time his grandmother has ever kept a secret. When I sprang it on him at his birthday dinner, he was so overcome, he cried. No one had ever done anything like that for him. It rocked. I’ve liked other gifts I gave, and I try to do gifts that reflect something the person has said or expressed interest in in the last year (books or otherwise) but that one is the one I’m proudest of.

By: Gen

Gen — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 03:53:16 +0000

For a friend’s birthday recently I made a super-simple t-shirt scrap scarf (tutorial here: http://bit.ly/10m388). It cost nothing but an hour of time, and a little bit of thought about her favorite color, and a little bit of fun. She *adored* it way more than I ever expected. Reading this thread makes me remember–even though it’s a cliche– “it’s the thought that counts.”

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:38:09 +0000

I’ve just gotten out my best gift ever, to hang on the wall. My best friend, my only from-high school friend, gave it to me two years ago. It’s cross stitched text that says ‘True but Harsh but Fair’, which was her motto for me. It has hearts down the right side. The heart in the middle has bled into the fabric and she ran out of black so the last word is navy blue. Those things make me love it so much more.

She really doesn’t like to do cross stitch. But she knows I’m crafty and she wanted to do something special for me. She gave it to me the day my dad died (which we didn’t know yet) and a week before she broke up with her long term boyfriend in a very traumatic way. The six months either side of that gift were some of the most intense (negative) months of my life, and our friendship was one of the bright points and I think it made us stronger as friends. I will admit to getting a bit teary as I re-framed it this week.

By: catnmus

catnmus — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:58:37 +0000

Best gift received – was probably from my aunt. She did all sorts of crafty things, and most years we got personalized homemade Christmas ornaments. But one year, it wasn’t ornaments. I got bookends. This was a favorite gift of mine even after all these years for two reasons: 1 – I love books! and 2 – it was different from what my sister got! We are not twins but we are only one year apart, and every year we get (from everyone!) the same gift, usually in different colors. I don’t remember what my sister got, but I do know it was not bookends! PS, I still have those bookends, 30+ years later!

Best gift I ever gave, I think was to my goddaughter K when she was five. A tea set – real ceramic, not plastic, with 4 teeny tiny cups, saucers and cookie plates, plus the teapot, sugar bowl, and cream pitcher. Two weeks later her mother called me and said I had to tell her where I got it, because K’s younger sister had broken one of the cups and K was crying unconsoleably over it. She had to go out and buy a whole extra set for “spare parts”.

By: Mackey

Mackey — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:05:08 +0000

between the card making, knitting, cross-stitching, needle point, picture/stained glass panel making, quilting, alcohol making/liquor flavouring, cooking and baking, and other handy thoughtful gift making, the nest is full of pretty talented *crafty* feminists.

By: Ry

Ry — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 18:34:40 +0000

Best Given: I was quite pleased with myself two Christmases ago. They came out with picture frames the size and shape of vinyl album covers. Once upon a time my dad was a rock musician and then a solo folk-rock artist. He gave it up professionally when he and my mom hit four kids, and misses it even though he loves the field he’s in. So I dug out one of his old albums- the one with a cover drawn by an artist he’d known since high school who died in an accident almost immediately after completing it. It’s probably the only thing hanging on the walls at my parents house that HE put up (he’s not terribly decorative).
Best Received: I’d just met this couple at my school. I’d hung out with them a couple of times because our daughters are the same age and I didn’t really know anyone else, except my family, in the area. There were a number of points on which we disagreed, heatedly,about the world in general and I wasn’t sure if they really wanted to be friends with someone who didn’t know when to shut up and nod politely. But then the wife gave me two of the simplest and most elegant tea mugs I’ve ever seen, a tea ball, and three packs of loose tea she’d chosen and blended herself at a local tea shop. The fact that I liked tea was about all she knew about me other than some strong opinions (and that I can get rather tactless about expressing them). So she really went out of her way and put some hard thought into something nice I might actually like. Two years later, we’re still drinking tea together and vehemently arguing reproductive bio-ethics and the pros and cons of the current health-care system, trading child care, and going for girls night at the start of every school quarter. It was the gesture behind the gift, I guess. The acceptance she was communicating and an invitation to meet on the common ground we could find.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 13:31:24 +0000

OH, Dorkie, don’t feel self-conscious at all-in fact, feel proud that you have the skills and knowledge of your gift recipients to make them things they love! Only a crass consumerist would be disappointed to receive a handmade gift. Btw, do you have my address?

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Sun, 24 Oct 2010 10:27:27 +0000

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By: Mimi

Mimi — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:16:26 +0000

My mostest beloved gift: I was probably all of nine years old at the time, and my self-described “eccentric” Uncle Vance had given me and my three siblings three Oz books the previous year. Yup, gave the four of us three books. None of my sibs liked them (at the time) but I LOVED them. The year of the bestest present ever, Uncle Vance gave me (second daughter and middle child!) my own present, and my three sibs a joint gift. Thirteen Oz books, half of them first-editions. It was the most awesome thing ever! RIP Beloved Uncle Vance.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 19:35:56 +0000

These are such fun comments, and I’m reassured that my modest DIY presents seem nicer to others than they do to me. It’s funny, because I love getting edibles and hand-made things, but I feel very self-conscious about giving them.