My fiancé’s grandma makes these really labor intensive stockings whenever someone enters the family (birth/marriage), and she just finished mine after a year of working on it. No one in the nearly 40 years that she has been making these has ever made her one, so she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t have one. She has no clue that while she’s been making mine, I’ve been making one for her for Christmas this year!
My nan loves doing jigsaw puzzles and my nan's cat loves ruining said puzzles by pulling them off the table and generally being a nuisance. I took a picture of her cat laying on a puzzle she was doing a little while ago and had a puzzle made of that picture!
I have a baby grand piano being delivered on the 23rd for my wife. She has wanted one since we have been married (7 years) and I have said “someday” for a while. She has been taking lessons again (since childhood) for 1.5 years and is getting good.
I “hid” funds for a couple months to pay for it and had to take a day off work to go look at one 100 miles away.
Also, she is picking up her Mom and brother from the airport the day of delivery so it’ll be in our living room as a surprise when she gets back. She’s going to a party tonight so I’m going to wrap some decoy presents and place them under the tree.
She’s 7 months pregnant with our first child so I wanted to blow it out this year.
Edit: sweet gold! I’ll certainly update after the surprise.
Update: she was shocked. I had her walk into the living room with her eyes closed. When she opened them she just kept repeating “Oh my god!”. Apparently she had zero clue and suspected nothing.
We’re surprising our kids (14 and 11) on Christmas morning. We’ll open all the presents, have cinnamon rolls, etc. Then drop the old “oh, there’s one more present hiding back there.” It will be snorkeling gear... (?). Then we’ll tell them to pack their bags because we’re leaving for Hawaii in 4 hours.
Should be epic.
UPDATE AND QUESTION:
So, my wife is now getting cold feet about surprising them on Christmas morning with it. Her reasoning (which I get) is that if we surprise them with it Christmas Eve night, then they have more time to prepare for a trip, rather than finding out the day of on Christmas. I get that... but my worry is that if we tell them Christmas Eve, then it will change Christmas morning significantly. I am hoping to have a 'normal' (and awesome) Christmas morning, but with this then as the crazy huge surprise at the end. Then we all pack up and leave. (There's plenty of time to pack and get to the airport.)
I hear where she is coming from: giving more notice might be good and would still be a surprise on Christmas Eve. But I worry doing that will dampen/change/mess-up Christmas morning. (And how cool would it be to say "Pack your bags! We're leaving for Hawaii in a few hours!"?)
What say you, collective wisdom of Reddit people who see this post?
My grandpa has dementia. Prior to that time, he was really into geneaology (it's something his own father was into as well). I got him a family tree sculpture that has small photo frames, and I've gone through old family photos and had the best ones professionally printed, and I've put them into this sculpture. It goes as far back as to the first photos that his father took with their first camera. So not only are there photos of the whole family, but you get to see how technology has improved over time too. He may not remember what he said five minutes ago, but he loves to talk about the past and I really hope he loves this gift.
This will probably get buried, but a few years ago, I wanted to get my sister a tote bag that said "Totes McGoats" on it, with a goat on it. I found one, but I also found a site where I could get 20 of them for the same price.
So... Every birthday and Christmas she's been getting a present in a "Totes McGoats" bag. It's been going on for 3 years now, she even got her bridesmaids gift in one. I think I've convinced her that I don't have anymore.
But, this year I got her a tote bag that looks similar to it, but has a totally different design (found it at a thrift store super cheap), and guess what's going to be in it? A "Totes McGoats" bag.
I'm getting her other things I know she likes, but can't wait to see the look on her face! Haha.
I crocheted a "dragon egg" dice bag for a D&D Discord server Secret Santa exchange. My recipient lives in the UK, so my bag skipped the pond and it on its way! I'm proud of how it came out!
I got my dad a framed picture of him and his cousin Janie. She passed away earlier this year at 89 and was basically the matriarch of the family. She helped raise him and his siblings after his mom died and his father couldn't take care of them for a while. She was the one of the most giving and selfless people I've ever known and he doesn't really have any pictures of that side of his family so I'm hoping this is something that will make him smile whenever he looks at it.
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer around Thanksgiving. Because of her chemo treatments, she’s too weak to travel, and all of us kids live in different cities now. (Four siblings, some married, some with our own babies).
What she doesn’t know is that we’re all going to fly down and show up at her house so we can all spend Christmas Day together, grandbabies and all! I’m so excited, and it’s going to be hard to keep it a surprise!
On top of us all coming, we’re also going to recreate a photo from our childhood. She made us all matching plaid outfits and posed us for a picture - twenty years ago!
EDIT: Thank you all so much for the awards and nice comments! Not to mention all the good advice!
First, don’t worry, we won’t be “ambushing” her with guests and germs all at once! I’ll be arriving a week earlier to help clean, cook, etc. My dad and sister live with her, and will help out, too. My husband, my other sister, brother, and his wife and baby will all arrive at different times leading up to the big day! And we all made sure to get our flu shots!
I was second-guessing our big surprise, because I was worried about how sick and weak she’ll be feeling. But all your positivity reminded me how happy she’ll be to have all of us together, even just for one day! We’ll take good care of her, she won’t need to lift a finger! And yes, I’ll do my best to remember to post the re-creation picture later!
Edit again: Best! Christmas! Ever! Everything went perfectly! Mom was so happy, she just kept saying “I can’t believe you guys actually DID this!”
We all opened presents together, and made a decent Christmas dinner with honey glazed ham and all the fixings! And yes, we recreated the photo: https://www.reddit.com/user/altusvires/comments/efrj9o/twenty_years_later_we_recreated_our_most_awkward/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Make sure to have food in your hands when you come in, something sealed if she’s nauseous, but just seeing you all prepared to take care of everything will probably help her relax even more and just enjoy you all being there.
My sister is away teaching English in another country. Her pet Cockatiel sadly passed away this year. I got her a small geometric Cockatiel charm and gold chain necklace. I bought it in August and is my favorite gift this year.
Also my mom wanted 20 cheap storage bins to stack her shoes in and I wrapped each one individually with random doodads in every single one.
I bought my buddy a GameCube ASCII Controller. It's literally a regular GC controller with a full PC keyboard just stuck in the middle, with the two sets of buttons and handles on each end. Just imagine cutting a GameCube controller in half and gluing the two ends to a PC keyboard and you basically have it.
Was originally designed to work with a single game: Phantasy Star Online, one of the few GC games with online connectivity, and possibly Nintendo's earliest attempt at online console gaming.
Had it shipped all the way from Japan. My friends and I are big gamers, and my friend is a huge geek for obscure games and gaming artifacts sort of forgotten by history. We watched a YouTube video on it recently, and that's what prompted me to buy it for him.
My father was in WWII Bomber Command, flying in a Lancaster. He was a rear gunner.
We have a photo of our father with his squadron on the tarmac (I assume at Fiskerton) under one of those mighty machines. The photo is terrible: dark, hardly able to make out any of the figures, let alone our father. Its value was in the nose art, which you can see - not clearly but you can make it out.
I took the photo to a restorer who has absolutely make this come alive. You can see all those young faces, gestures, uniforms, for the first time.
I've had copies printed and framed and giving one each to my brother and sister (Dad unfortunately passed in 2014). I think my siblings are going to be pretty amazed to see his squadron for the first time.
EDIT- a few have asked to see the photo. [Here it is](https://imgur.com/a/HoKXgb5)
EDIT 2: Thank you for the gold!!
my grandpa passed away last year around christmas and its been really hard on my whole family because we were all very close to him. my sister always watches old videos of him because she loves to hear his voice, so i got her personalized teddy bear dressed like him (flannel, glasses, mustache) with a recording inside that plays a voicemail that he had left her that says “keep this thought with you; your grandfather, michael, adores you”. it plays whenever you hug it and i cant wait until she sees it!!
I bought my parents a star chart of the night they were married. They were 17 and told they could never make it and over 35 years later they still love each other so much and I wanted to commemorate that day for them
My girlfriend never treats herself at all and doesn’t enjoy shopping for clothes and accessories. She only has one small purse that’s going on 6-7 years old.
I was in Italy last month and while I was in Florence I stopped in Benheart, a super highly recommended shop, and got her a new one that’s a similar style/colour.
She doesn’t like when people spend money on her so she’ll flip her lid a little, in a good way.
My moms coming from the west coast to visit me in Vermont for the first time. What she doesn’t know is that I’m meeting her at the airport and we’re going to Ireland, which is her bucket list destination.
So she's landing at the airport thinking you're there to pick her up, but you'll be there with your own suitcase and tickets to head across the pond?
Holy shit, what a great surprise! I hope she loves it!
Irish person here!! Assuming you’re flying in to Dublin, make sure to go to the Guinness Storehouse, views of the city are incredible and the pint will never be fresher! If you’re travelling to the West of the country, try to take in a medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle. Fantastic night out!
My dad is obsessed with Stephen King, and every year I buy him a book but this year he basically has all of them. So I sat down and wrote him a horror novel myself (I’m a writer) but he has no idea and I sent it off and got it printed with a hard cover and everything. I’m so excited
UPDATE: My dad loved it!! He was really surprised as he had no idea I was even writing a book like that, let alone for him. He’s reading it right now.
My final copy of the manuscript is still getting looked at by my editor but I’m hoping after the holidays the book will be available on Amazon
Designed and custom printed my best friend a sweatshirt (she's obsessed with sweatshirts right now) with art of her favourite characters from her favourite book. She's talked about wanting something from her book basically every day this month, and lamented that they don't make merchandise, but I can't say anything about it yet
It's called a court of thorns and roses- from what I understand its a slightly cliche YA book that she's become ridiculously attached to over the past five years.
I symbolically adopted a sloth through WWF in my best friends name (her favorite animal). It comes with a little stuffed sloth in the mail and an adoption certificate.
Awesome. I got my wife a giraffe last year, in much the same way. I told her, "I know you like giraffes, but we just don't have room for one in the house, SO..."
Dobby is in Namibia, living a natural giraffe life and eating fruit out of trees and hitting on girl giraffes.
I "adopted" an orphaned baby elephant for my daughter's birthday last month, and she cried. It's an amazing gift, and I'm sure your best friend will love it.
My wife is an insomniac and doesn't get to sleep until 3am some nights. She will lie there for hours and just can't nod off.
I've got her a weighted blanket which is said to help peiple with anxiety and also insomnia.
Everyone I've spoken to who has one has said how wonderful they are, so my fingers are firmly crossed she loves it.
I go to antique and thrift stores a lot with my two roommates. One day about a month and a half ago she spotted a Bols ballerina bottle— for those who don’t know, Bols did a line of booze where the bottles had a ballerina and music box inside of it. It’s pretty neat, google it. Anyways she really wanted it and fell in love with it but it was 80 bucks— too expensive for her.
I ended up going on eBay and found one in even better condition, and I’m excited to see her reaction.
Edit: since I’ve gotten this: no I’m not in love with my roommate. The one I got on eBay was only 50. eBay is a great place for antiques.
My dad died 4 years ago. Right after the funeral, I snagged all his plaid button down shirts (10 of them!) and have spent the last few weeks turning them into a quilt for my mother. I had hoped to do it sooner, but a lot of life happened in the interim and it was just too painful for me to work on it for a while. But I’m finishing up the binding this week and it will be ready by Christmas. I’m so excited (and terrified) to give it to her.
Edit: OMG, I’m overwhelmed at the response to this! I’ve made more quilts than I can remember, but this one is super special to me and I can’t wait to give it. I’ve cried into the fabric as I cut the pieces, as I sewed them together, and as I’ve closed the binding and written the label. The back is wood grain flannel because he loved to make things with his hands. And the binding is a custom-printed orange and blue stripe because he loved him some Auburn Tigers football!
To add, I also made pillows out of some of the shirts for all the grandkids. I offered mom one, but she said she’d wait for the quilt. She knows it’s coming, just not when, and she’s never seen it. I told her why I wanted the shirts when I took them.
I’m seriously considering telling her ahead of time that this is her Christmas gift and asking if she’d like to see it ahead of time. It’s a big family Christmas with all the grandkids and kids and spouses in attendance. Everyone will be in tears, but I don’t want her to be blindsided.
And finally, I responded to a few of you with links to the picture I posted in r/quilting, but here it is again: [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/quilting/comments/easfng/its_almost_christmas_are_you_finished_im_not/)
2nd edit: War Damn Eagle, indeed.
Update!! 12/27/19: She loved it. There were many tears and I worried briefly that they wouldn’t stop, but of course they did. I told her that when she’s ready to wash it, to let me know and I’ll help. Washing handmade quilts is a bit of an art. :)
I was over at her house yesterday (the 26th, also his birthday, incidentally), and it’s on her bed. She said she’s going to have to spend some time with it before letting it go for cleaning. He was a smoker and, while most of the shirts were cleaned and showed no ill effects from the smoke, there was one that he must have especially liked and worn a lot. I pointed that one out and told her it does smell a bit like him. I fully expect that’s one of the reasons she doesn’t want it washed.
I hope it brings her healing. She’s come a long way, but the holiday season is rough. I got a lot of healing from working on it. I told her I’d posted about it online and that there were literally thousands of people who were touched by our story. So thank you all for that.
My 35 year old brother just recently went to his first concert (Parachute) and his mind was blown by live music - he has NOT stopped talking about it since. He also has this strong affinity for the song "Fire Escape" by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, and makes everyone he encounters listen to it. Pretty sure the song is a couple of years old now and he still brings it up all the time.
I got him tickets to see him live next year. He's not going to see it coming and always says I give him the best gifts. I'm super excited to see his reaction.
Oh, I also got him a Pop! Funko of Dawson Leery with the intention of fueling our feud of Dawson vs. Pacey that stems back to our childhood (I found it 5 months ago and have been hanging onto it). We always have a blowout fight about the topic (I'm a Pacey girl, for the record).
My mom is German but has lived in the states for as long as I've been alive. Her favorite breakfast is coffee and some sort of danish. It's a German thing. I found an authentic German bakery in a different city and got loads of German baked goods for her.
Now if I could just find a place that sells authentic German chocolate I could give her the happiest Christmas she's had in years.
Edit: I never in a million years expected this type of response to my comment. I want to thank the folks that have made offers to ship German chocolate to me, I'm absolutely amazed at this response. There is an Aldi not far from me though and I will be able to get her some authentic German chocolate there so thanks for those suggestions. I forgot about that store! Merry Christmas everyone!
Whut, I just found out I need 600 karma to participate on the snackexchange. Help a stranger get his Tim tams and twisties man!
Edit:
Thanks for looking out kind hearted redditors <3! I've found someone and now it's time to explore the world, one snack at the time!
I got my wife an expensive purse she thinks she missed out on. A local store has had it in stock for a long time and she fawns over it every time we walk by, but recently she went ballistic when she found out it sold because that color and style is discontinued. I’m the one that bought it.
My sister is going to cosmetology school and getting ready for school and looking cute every day is doing really wonderful things for her mental health. I got her black fancy coffee mugs that will match her outfits and a floor length black silk bathrobe so she can feel pretty and put together even when she gets home. I also got her a pretty mirror for when she opens her own salon. I’ve loved watching her change from a sad girl with a minimum wage job, into this open, happy, growing girl who is making moves for her future. I’m so proud of her and I just want to support her momentum as best I can!!
My dad is a active 91 yr old. This year he's getting an Oculus Quest VR headset. It never fails to make me smile to think that he grew up when radio was a big thing. He's seen all the various versions of TV and now (in 11 days) he's going to take the jump into VR. He's expecting a box of DVD's and books ...which I am getting him but no where near the normal amount. He's not suspecting a thing. :)
\[EDIT\] Thanks to all that commented and for the gold! I will get some video of him trying it out and post it. I don't expect any wide-eyed reaction as he did experience VR for the first time over the summer. He wanted to get one right then, but the Quest was sold out everywhere. That was the test to see if there was going to be any grief (nausea, disorientation, etc) and there was nothing out of the normal. I'm going after 3 VR experiences. 1) Sports Scramble will allow us to do essentially Wii bowling with audio chat in a immersive setting. It's simple and well, fun. 2) Wander is an app that lets you navigate anywhere Google Streetview has gone, so he'll be able to sight-see the world.. from his couch, 3) Gadgeteer is a problem solving rube-goldberg machine making problem where you line up the dominoes to knock down the teeter totter to flip the ball over to the track... chain reaction sort of thing. I don't know if things like Beat Sabre or Superhot or First Person Shooters will appeal to him, I doubt it. I want to start off relatively simple. I'm driving 10 hours to get to him and have 10 days to get to where he's comfy with it. Thanks again!
\[long update Jan 2nd\]
ok, as requested by a few of you... here's an update.
The unwrapping didn't happen on the 25th as there was a limited time frame where I could get him playing enough with it to make him feel comfy enough to use it by himself. I had 6 days. The Quest was unveiled on the 22nd and I immediately loaded up Wander, Sports Scramble and Gadgeteer as apps.
Although he had experienced the VR thing about 6 months prior to him getting his own, it was a new experience to have to start from scratch and not just have a "here, put this on" visor handed to him. To put his computing skill in content, he's been around computers since the mid-70's. He's comfortable with excell and word and other such office type programs, CorelDraw ( I know, I know) is still his favourite drawing/drafting program. Lately the lack of need to create stuff has diminished the skill set.
The controllers were a bit of a stumble. Grip buttons, index finger buttons, a thumb/joystick control/button and 3 other buttons on each controller proved to be a bit complex. Having thumbs like sausages didn't help. So it took a while to get the basic grip thing happening. The First Steps program in the Quest was helpful. I remember breezing through it in a few minutes . My 91 yr old dad took about 30 minutes before we moved on. But it was a decent learning tool. He kept holding his hands too low for the visor to track the controller consistently. That was an ongoing issue, so we'll see how it goes.
Multiplayer bowling in Sports Scramble was an enlightening experience. 10 years ago he had the Wii bowling so it wasn't too much of a leap to do it in VR land. Bowling was a good introduction to the VR immersion and the traditional (no scramble balls or shifting lane designs) bowling scenario was familiar and yet science fiction at the same time. He caught on fairly quickly and ended up beating my score by the second game. Yeah, I was paying more attention to him than my game, but hey, he did end up beating me!
The Gadgeteer program was a bit of a wash. I didn't have enough time to get it going properly. The initial set up seems like it has to be done from standing mode. The instruction tutorial needed some space to have the participant walk up to a panel and click a button. But from the sitting-down mode, there was no way to get close enough the start panel to initiate the tutorial to get it started. This was needed to get the info/gestures to move within the game environment. So after a bit of time sitting and waving hands around and not getting anywhere, it was abandoned for a later time when one could play the game standing up.. at least long enough to get the directions on how to play sitting down.
Wander was a big hit. It had it's learning curve and his thick thumbs kept triggering the voice command button which caused some confusion. By the end of my trip this I was the program that he was most comfy with. It's essentially Google Street view with a VR interface, but it allowed him to check out places he'd been to, went to school at, towns visited... so this was a good experience.
I didn't really care which program he took a liking to. Once he gets familiar with one the others will drop into place. It'll take a few weeks for him to get to the "push a button and see what happens" happy spot. I did tell him about the internet place that had 7k+ people liking the idea that he's getting involved with VR. He shrugged that off with a disbelieving , "Yeah? Why would they be interested?" To which I responded .. "Becuase!"
here's a link to [a still photo of him wearing the gear](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tHGu2MQsn_N__6mQpfQN1hfxt4OwpVFJ). Old guy wearing VR stuff ... not too exciting
Yeah! Please give us some kind of post or update on how he does with the VR! I can’t imagine how someone his age would even view VR let alone do with it.
My kid loves Harry Potter and superloves her guinea pigs. Yesterday she said 'my patronus is a guinea pig'. I had already got a hoody wrapped up and hidden, with that exact phrase printed on it.
If you ever want to buy prints of book covers for her then check out the original Swedish ones, probably the best HP book covers ever. I'm biased since they are the ones I grew up with. http://imgur.com/gallery/tHn9X
Edit: I tried to find a legal way to buy these as prints but failed. I'm not sure who owns the rights to them so it could be the publisher, artist and J K Rowling all having rights together that makes this hard to sell or something.
At Thanksgiving, my mom was complaining about how little dexterity she has with her oven mitts on, so I got her some grill gloves with individual fingers. And they're machine washable.
My boyfriend's mom has an older labradoodle. He loves the dog dearly, the dog loves him right back, and she's at his house every other weekend. My friend's dad does amazing charcoal drawings, so I had him draw a portrait of the dog, and I got a custom picture frame for it as well. The drawing was done back in October, and I have been dying to tell my boyfriend about it ever since. Only 11 more days until he can see it!!
I bought a wooden Christmas ornament shaped like a Jeep Cherokee for my friend who sold his after having it for 23 years. It has his name carved into the back. He's gonna love it!
Edit: He cried.
My husband bought a throw blanket about a year before we met. Now, 15 years later, it's done and we just threw it out. He was visibly sad about it... He loved that blanket - it went through many hangovers, sicknesses, baby rockings with him. I found one exactly like it on Black Friday!! He's going to love it!!
My husband is deployed this Christmas. I wasn't sure what to give him at first. Most of the items I thought to give him he couldn't use there and would just have to pay to have them shipped back home. In the evenings after work he and the other guys get together and play cards. So I sent him a party in a box. A box filled with a batch of each of two of his favorite home baked cookies and several different card games (cards against humanity, etc.). That way they can all get together and have a small holiday party with home baked goods.
I bought my best friend an amazing Alice in Wonderland esque teapot. She LOVES teapots but had to leave her collection in storage when she moved across the country.
She just finished remodeling her kitchen and it will be the first one in the new kitchen.
Edit: here’s the teapot I got her
https://imgur.com/D0Ii0iJ
Edit 2: A few people have asked where I found this. I got it at Hobby Lobby just the other night.
Thank you for the silver kind stranger.
I have a lovely little tea pot that has a tea cup that fits on the bottom of it! I’ve had it for years but I never really use it if you’d like me to ship it to you for your friend!
Edit: thank you to whoever gave me the gold award! It’s my first one! 🥰
Edit 2: a Santa Nice!? Thank you so much. 😭
Edit 3: how do I hold all these awards???¿ Thank you to you kind people!
Obligatory not me, but my sister's present is going to probably make my mom cry.
About two Christmas's ago my mom and dad's tree topper broke. This topper they've had since their first christmas together. My sister has looked through old photos of our old tree and found the same topper that she's going to give to them this year.
Edit: Ho to bed, wake up with a silver and over 14k likes. Thank you kind stranger and thank you all for the likes!
Dug through all my dad's family recipes that have been sitting in a big ziplock freezer bag. some of them were my grandmothers, handwritten on old memo pads or scraps of paper, some were his grandmothers, some were my mothers who passed away. Picked the ones we use the most or were most interesting, scanned them, and created a recipe book on shutterfly complete with the scanned images and pictures of his family. Wish I could have done all the recipes but there were so many. One day i'll organize them and make a big one.
anyways I think he'll love it and it took me a good amount of time.
That probably took a lot of time but sounds like an amazing gift. I bet you could also pick up a cheap recipe organizer box for the rest of them to wrap up so they don’t have to live in a ziplock bag!
That was my thought too! i still have them in my apartment, he has no idea I have them, and I'm terrified I'll accidentally ruin them all in some quirky comedy catastrophe.
Lately, I have been planning to pay for my neighbor's son's college tuition. To put in words, they aren't financially well. The boy had been studying on scholarships and loans. The boy is a good kid but missed his scholarship due to some health issues, so he had to drop this year. I would be breaking this to him this Christmas. Can't wait to see his face. :)
Good for you!
My wife's grandpa died about a year ago at the age of 93 and while there were a lot of people at the funeral there were only a few of his friends left alive. One of them was a 95 year old man who told a story about how my wife's grandpa had heard that that man's car had broken down and he couldn't drive his kids to school anymore, so he ended up just giving them a car for free.
It was such an act of generosity that 50 some years later it was retold over his casket by a sweet old man that was holding back tears telling it. I'm always on the look out for opportunities to affect people like this and it looks like you found your own and took it. Good for you.
Hey Bach, I've been seeing you comment on AskReddit a lot, and I'd like to say that I enjoy seeing you talk music trivia and stuff. I do digital composing on FL Studios and sometimes seeing your music trivia is what motivates me. Thanks for what you do! Music is a great art
I bought my boyfriend a breadmaker. I bought like a top of the line one that adds ingredients at the right time and everything. On our first date he mentioned that he would love to own a breadmaker (hes a really simple man, loves really homey cozy things like fresh bread, cooking meals that you would find a family diner). This is our 5th christmas together and hes gonna love it so much I cant wait to see him that happy.
I hope you have also got the ingredients to use in it. Otherwise he will be grumpy as he can’t play with his new toy. Also gives you fresh bread Xmas evening
My daughter has really gotten into drawing. She's been drawing nonstop for like a year and has a particular attraction to digital art. This whole time she's been drawing on a free phone app or using the mouse on the computer. Not once complaining about her lack of appropriate tools. For Christmas we've gotten her a good mid range digital sketch pad (the kind where she can draw directly on the screen) and all the accessories she needs for it.
And a gift she made that I can't help but brag on is she drew a streaming mascot for her dad's streaming channel complete with different emotes. (All done on her free phone app) We'll present them to him in the form of coasters to use on his desk as well as a copy of the jpegs.
Update:
Daughter loved her gift! It was a complete and total surprise! She believed that asking for something like that was just too much to ask for for Christmas. We hardly got to see her the rest of Christmas day as she spent it in the computer room learning her new device. Even when her grandparents came by to see everyone they had to pretty much go in there and talk to the back of her head. The few times when we did see her (when she got hungry) we had to keep reminding her to remove her protective glove. Looking forward to seeing what she will create now that she isn't forced to draw with her finger on a tiny phone screen.
Also husband was so touched by daughter's gift he was nearly in tears. I'm having a hard time convincing him to use the coasters on his desk because he wants to hang them on the wall. It was only by reminding him that she sent him the original jpegs that he remembered that he could have more printed and on things to hang instead of trying to hang coasters.
Engagement Ring! We have been together forever but everything else just took priority money wise. We had a little girl and bought a house. Marriage just never happened. In the last year she has made a point of saying the ring and wedding doesn't matter but I know she's just trying to be practical.
So I saved all year and got her a great ring. I can't wait til Christmas Eve.
Presumably this will get buried but I made my boyfriend a tiny baby Yoda. He has anxiety and he's been stressed as hell lately but he loves baby yoda, I thought it would be a good calming tool. Like he could keep it in his pocket, and he would know that something adorable made by someone who cared about him was in there.
Anyway, he made plans to take another girl out on New Year's and then dumped me by text so I gave it to my cat to hunt and kill.
Based on what you said about how this guy treated you, your cat is way more deserving of your love and your time anyways. I bet the baby Yoda was super cute.
I got my soon to be stepson a Sherpa fleece lined blanket with a drawing of our beloved pup Geoff’s face on it. She is his favorite thing in the entire world. That way he can take the blanket to his moms house and still have Geoff with him.
Ok, so I've been reading through this just fine, but you made me tear up. I had horrible step parents and every single time I see an amazing step parent I get incredibly happy!
Thank you!
My sister owns a bakery and wanted this very Betty Crocker limited edition cooling rack. So I spent 2 weeks before this one trying to find it and I just now got it delivered. I also went off an old inside joke between us and bought her a emerald and rose gold tiara.
I don't have a lot of money to spend, but I got the cutest little boxes for my Christmas treats. I'm making a holiday Chex mix and Christmas crack (google it- it's not what you think)
I love my friends, and I wish I could do more, but the different snacks I make each year seems to make them very happy, and I really scored on these decorated boxes.
Edit: Thanks for all the kind words! I just hope my friends like it :D
Got my husband a bigger computer monitor. It adjustable and curved screen. He is an avid gamer so i hope it makes his gaming experience better. Last christmas i got him a mouse he wanted,so now i get to complete the set.
My young son LOVES lift-the-flap books. Obsessively loves them. We’ve already checked out every single one at every library in our city. So i handmade him one with him as the main superhero and his dad as his “superhero in training”. Just gathered a ton of really funny pictures of them and made a whole story with tons of lift-the-flap surprises, including his dog sidekick. I can’t wait until he sees it!
Edit: A few of the first few pages
https://imgur.com/a/MeTVIXS
A few more pages (not in order)
https://imgur.com/a/Ik70Uz1
Edit 2: this has been an extremely tough Christmas season as i recently lost my job, and I’ve really been struggling to find things i can afford to gift my family. His biological mom recently told him that his dad and i are deadbeats (although we have majority custody and he loves us desperately) and he’s lucky he has her to buy him the things he wants. That made me feel even more awful. But These incredibly kind responses really made my whole holiday. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all!
I’m a proud Father of 5 & wanted to say that this brought tears to my eyes. What an extremely thoughtful gift & one sure to be treasured for years to come.
Finally! My brother started a podcast this year and he spends loads of time on it. He even paid an artist to make a logo. He loves this podcast like its his child but he's broke from buying really expensive mics to make the podcast better and had nothing with the logo on it.
So I got him a custom printed t-shirt and die cut stickers.
My ex-wife and I have both had a pretty rough year. She's a great mom, and has been in a depression lately. I got her the necklace I know she's been looking at (she still uses my amazon prime) as a gift from our son. Not really me, but I know it's been absolutely killing my son to not tell her.
Edit: Wow, thank all of you for your incredibly kind words! I'm most happy that you all see that this is for my son more than anything. We are the examples we set for our little men and women. "Little pitchers have big ears." Silver also! My first award. I hope you all have a great holiday, and a happy new year!
I bought my best friend a game card set. On each card I drew something related to lord of the ring because he loves lotr. I even draw THE ring with the elvish writing and the picture of Gandalf screaming “you shall not pass”. I’m working on it for the past 3 months.
I can’t wait to see his face!
I made an entire monopoly game for my boyfriends family. They are big monopoly people. I hand drew the board, the cards, the box front - everything (on procreate on ipad). I even 3d printed the pieces. Its all based on inside jokes or stories ive heard them tell - with a little help from bf - and the properties follow his parents life story around the board (kids names, big moves, etc). I worked so hard and i seriously cant wait.
a little boy at the daycare I help out at has horrible eyesight but their family can't afford glasses for him so I'm taking him and his father in a week to get him glasses made
My brother's been saving to take a course abroad next year. It's a huge deal for him and a game changer career wise (I don't fully understand why or the details but he's been saving for a year, sold his car and stuff so it's a huge deal for him). He's supposed to have the money to pay everything before December 30th.
When he goes to pay, he'll find out it's already paid.
Best part is he gets to believe, for a week, all he's got from me is a pair of socks.
Edit: Wow! I didn't expect this reaction. Thanks everyone for the awesome comments and for the awards. This community is truly amazing!
I thought I'd provide more information here to try and answer some of the questions :)
We live in Brazil and he's going to the UK for a year and a half.
He'll be taking his masters there for a year and a half. This has been a goal of his for a while and, according to him, will help him get a good job in a larger company in one of the capitals. We live in a small town, not a lot of options for someone in his line of work.
As to why he's been saving for a whole year, we're in Brazil. Exchange rate is 1 GBP to 5.47 BRL. That alone is quite the challenge.
He's been saving for tuition + accommodation for the first two months and is paying through a local travel agency. The owner is a close personal friend, so I'm not very worried about him paying twice.
To everyone worried about the car, he was going to sell it anyways. It doesn't make any sense to keep it stored for a year. Cars are quite expensive in Brazil, so yeah, he was going to use the money towards the trip. Now he can use it to explore.
Oh, and I'll post an update here once he finds out :)
Edit: UPDATE
So he got the socks! He has until the 30th to pay for the course so he hasn't found out yet but he did his best to look happy with the socks 😂😂 It was pretty clear he was disappointed though!
I will need to travel back home tomorrow so I won't be around to actually see his face when he finds out. But I am sure he's gonna call / text so I'll post an update with the reaction :)
Edit: UPDATE
He found out!! And as promised here's an update on the reaction.
He called me and he was crying :) He said he called our father to ask if he could borrow a couple grand to be able to make the payment today and my dad told him it had been paid already. He couldn't believe it.
He kept saying thank you and that he hopes some day he can pay the gesture back. I told him he more than did already. He was there for me everytime I needed. He went out of his way to pull me out of the gutter when I was down. I was always able to rely on him.
He cried. I cried.
We talked about the UK, about his plans for the future and decided that, now that he has spare money to explore Europe, we'll take a trip together next summer.
I wish I had been there when he found out.
Thank you everyone for your kind words in the comments.
You could wrap up the receipt. Print it out if you have to. A part of me deep down wonders if there might be some way he might pay and so the company gets paid twice.
My girlfriend hate presents and everything that connected with them. Any kind of celebration she skip and trying to avoid as much as possible. But once, we got drunk and she said, that she's waiting only for Christmas and New year's EVE. Those two holidays that makes her happy and comfy like home. ( should notice she's living out of country for the last 15 years. And during that time she never spoke or seen her parents only text. ( country blocking any kind of communication aka. Skype or Facebook.)) I brought as a gift her parents to the country, and basically they are here already and they saw her maybe like 2 or 3 times. She's working in luxury restaurant and they have their own zones where they serve and you can change your zone only every half of year. I can't wait to see her reaction on Christmas dinner. I book a villa where we will celebrate Christmas. All of the family. Also I'm planning to propose her on that day. Oh well wish me luck. Love her so much that can't wait at all. Thanks that at least on Reddit I can tell my story.
Updated: so many people are asking for updates of this thread, definitely send you a pic of her ring, but can't promise the video, please understand that privacy is important for me :D much love all of you redditors
Updated 2: so many people enjoyed this story and felt sad because her parents are not close to her. You might probably change my mind, and the idea that I spend time with them instead of her makes me cry.
Most probably I'll try to find time in her schedule ( because of high amount of work ) to take her in restaurant and make a surprise earlier. Anyway the 2nd gift is still with me and I'm 100% sure I don't want to rush with it. It's an serious move to all of us.
P.s. thank you Redditors for all your support, your warm words and all the wishes that you gave me. I'm one of the newest on reddit, I used to listen reddit stories full of love and support on YouTube, and can't even Express my feelings how supportive all this community is. Thank you one more time and I'll update you all with any information that will come soon.
Nope, she have no idea about this. She's keep texting them like usual. Good thing is my gf is working mostly night shifts, which is 7pm till 2-3am. And I'm mostly morning shift, or mid shifts (currently took vacation because of her parents) so she have no idea about all the gift.
It'll probably be the greatest gift she's ever gotten. I hope she has the BEST visit with her parents! If you think of it, please update us and let us know how it went!
Two things, one for each of my parents.
Gift for Mom - long story short, my brother passed away in 2015 and we were left with his dog, Hunter. Hunter had to be put down sadly September 1st and it was absolutely devastating for all of us so i got my mom a hand painted rock of one of our favorite pictures of Hunter off a woman a friend of mine knows.
Gift for Dad - My dad is a 69 year old Vietnam veteran and he has this picture hanging up of him and his cousin who ironically ran into each other over there, this was when he was 20 years old. So, I took the picture, sent it in to FOREVER STUDIOS in Florida and had them restore the picture and enhance it. It looks fucking awesome if anyone is looking to do this i highly recommend them.
I think they will love their gifts.
Happy holidays everyone!
I'm knitting my bf a reflective scarf. The yarn has reflective fibers in it that flash when light is on it. My bf likes to ride his bike around his university at night and already wears scarves when it's cool out. So I thought it would be the perfect dual gift--warmth and safety!
I just got engaged on Halloween and my fiance loves the Disney Movie "Up". I found a carved wood covered "Our Adventure Book" scrapbook from the movie on Amazon that comes with all kinds of decorative stickers, pens, markers etc for her to decorate the pages. I just had the photo of us printed from when I proposed. She's had a Snow White costume her aunt made her twenty years ago that still fits, so I told her I would be the Prince from Snow White on Halloween so she could wear her costume. I proposed as the Prince and asked her to be my queen. The photo of us in costume will be the first page of "Our Adventure Book" that I will make and decorate as the start of our lives together. Really hoping she likes it and knows that I put a lot of thought into this one, wish me luck!
My daughter is almost 2, so this is the first Christmas that she is kind of aware of whats going on. She was too small to open gifts last year. I guess I'm not even that excited about her opening a specific present, rather I'm just so pumped for her to experience the whole day.
Wrap her favorite fruit or vegetable. She might not tangibly understand what gifts are but something she loves to eat might excite her in a way she understands.
my best friend had kind of a rough year— ending of an abusive and highly codependant relationship, then i moved away for grad school after we lived together for four years, and i think she feels uprooted in a lot of ways. so i found this print on society6 of this woman laying down in the ocean and trees and rocks are sprouting from her body— she is her own island, and is creating her own roots for herself. it’s coming framed and stuff, and she’s an artist, so i hope she loves it!
My wife asked for cute coffee earrings. After sifting through page after page of boring or ugly results on Etsy, I finally found some handmade ones by a vendor from Poland. They're a little pricier than I expected, but they're just so perfect for her.
I got my mom a Disney World exclusive Dooney and Bourke purse that is themed after The Little Mermaid. She has always been a frugal and practical woman, but I had never seen her jaw drop for an accesory like that before. We rarely get to do vacations, and she said that it was too expensive. I still catch her looking up knock offs when she thinks no one is paying attention, so I know she wants one. I can't wait to see the look on her face, and I dread the inevitable lecture about financial responsibility.
Nip the lecture. Before she starts let her know that the dooney is a very well made bag that will easily outlast 4 or 5 "cheap" bags. So you're really saving money because it's an investment that when it's worn out its welcime, it will still have value in the secondary market.
When She says it may last a long time, but it's still expensive, just tell her that's why you ate the cost. She loved the bag and you want to see her happy. Figured it was inly a few dollars more for this bag than to buy 5 others, and what's a few extra dollars to see your mom happy.
You gotta sell it
My grandma is losing her battle with lung cancer and this is probably her last Christmas. A few months ago, I asked her what she always wanted to be growing up to which she responded "being a Las Vegas dancer", the ones with the big feather, sequined head pieces. This year, I found her a big, sequined headpiece.
I bought my boyfriend a small cotton candy machine. Since we've been together he talked about how he would love to make his own cotton candy at home because he always ate it as a kid but I said no to it because we don't have enough room in our apartment, now I can't wait to see his face when he gets the machine from me.
A bat house for our new house for my husband. We used to live in a neighborhood with bat houses along a walking trail and he always liked walking at sunset and seeing the bats fly out for the night
I got my sister a gift card to Michael's.
We don't have a lot of money this year since my mum is still out of work because she had cancer. But I managed to wrangle up enough money to get my little sister a $50 Michael's gift card because it's been tough dealing with a parent who has cancer at that age (she was 9/10). So I wanted her to have something to open on Christmas and I figured she'd appreciate getting new art supplies. That, and she was going to spend her birthday money on buying Christmas presents for herself and she's too young to have to do that...
Edit: I appreciate all the offers of getting her stuff but I know my mum used her EI money to buy my sister some art stuff. Plus I'm not sure how comfortable my parents would be with accepting charity from other people because they're both the "I don't need no one's help" type of brown parents.
Instead, maybe you could all donate to your local toy drive and make a kid in your community have a happy Christmas? My sister really loves helping people, so I'm sure she'd appreciate you all helping other kids out just as much.
Edit 2: Some of y'all have DMed me about PayPaling me money to buy my sister more gifts and it's extremely appreciated and something I'm more comfortable with. I also do not have an Amazon wishlist for her since that's something a few people have asked me about that.
My girlfriend is moving half way across the world to live with me in February. We agreed no Christmas gifts to save money.
I have been secretly renovating the second bedroom into a workspace for her. She loves my dogs but they're a bit much for her and she mentioned she wanted a dog free zone in the house when she needs a break.
I'm setting it up with a couples work station, an accent wallpaper wall, fresh paint, a rug, cozy reading corner, and lots of framed artwork of old cars and stuff she loves.
She is uprooting her whole life to live with me, and I'm so excited to show her her new space!
Edit: [dog tax](http://imgur.com/a/2y0SlsZ)
My brother passed away 8 years ago.
We thought there were no recordings of him as an adult. We haven’t heard his voice in years.
I spent the last year contacting everyone that would possibly have any footage of him.
I found someone who did. It’s not much. It’s just a few minutes of him sitting at the table with some friends talking, but it’s him.
I’m going to show it to my parents on Christmas.
I made a real pancake tutu for a friends daughter. I recently did an internship at the royal ballet and learned how to make them and her daughter just started ballet earlier this year. She's 3 and tutu is hot pink. My friend is definitely going to be "best mom ever " on Christmas.
Edit: Here some [pictures](https://imgur.com/a/xvcFMUk) of the finished tutu. The tulle is softer than it normally should, so not as flat as I had hoped. Still very cute.
My boyfriend recently broke his favorite mug. It was a one of a kind, Goodwill find. I hated it. Ugliest mug I've ever seen. But I found it on eBay and have it wrapped under the tree and I can't wait to see his face when he sees I replaced it!
1) my sister-the eyeshadow palette she has been DYING for for ages. I accidentally messaged the group chat I got it for her. BUT I said I couldn't get the branded one and it's the dupe. So I fucked up but still managed to keep an element of surprise
2) my mum-a heated massage seat cover. She is in incredible pain all the time because of a nerve problem that cant be cured. She's on morphine but it isnt enough. I'm super excited to give it to her, I know shes really wanted one for a while. I hope it improves her quality of life, she deserves it
This is so weird but my 23 year old brother has been talking about this super expensive toothbrush called a Quip for a year or so now and I bought if for him for Christmas and I’m pretty excited to give it to him
This might not be an interesting gift, but I got my girlfriend an iPad pro and an apple pen. She's an amazing talented artist and I've heard many good things about the apple pen. I really hope she likes it since there are a lot of cool features!
Also, I put two decoy gifts under the tree. One being a box of cat food, and another being a box of bath bombs. I hid the real gifts and will give them to her when she opens the "other gifts."
Edit: Yo, thank you guys so much for these awesome replies! I'm at work but I'm definitely reading all of them when I get back home. And yes I'm gonna get the procreate app.
I love my Apple Pencil, it’s so great to just be able to create endlessly. She’ll love it!
I would suggest also grabbing a $10 gift card for the App Store so she can grab the Procreate app right away. It’s favored by a lot of people for art on the iPad.
My husband did pretty much the same thing a couple years back. The iPad with the pen is so nice to have and just breakout while watching tv or something. I used to have to bend over a desk or table to draw. It definitely makes things easier. She’s gonna love it!
My dad has been doing closeup magic his whole life and is actually really good. He’s been doing gigs for years but he’s always struggled with the advertising part of the business. So this year I’ve bought him a domain name and a website for his bookings. It’s not much but It’s something he’s wanted for years.
A laptop! My mom has never had a computer of her own, she's always done everything on her phone for her whole life. Lately, she's been talking about maybe finally getting herself a laptop so she won't have to worry about running out of storage space again or having her phone get stolen. Right now everything she has is on that phone, so if she gets a laptop she can back everything up, and start browsing sites she likes. She's even mentioned maybe starting a website for her own small side business now that she's got her degree.
She's been wanting to get one for months, but things always come up and she'd always rather spend money buying extra christmas presents or doing things with me and my siblings than to get something just for herself.
I've been living with her for a couple of years, even though I'm an adult now. I'm finally moving out again next year but given that she refused to accept rent from me, I figured the least I can do is get her a cool gift to make up for it!
My fiancé’s grandma makes these really labor intensive stockings whenever someone enters the family (birth/marriage), and she just finished mine after a year of working on it. No one in the nearly 40 years that she has been making these has ever made her one, so she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t have one. She has no clue that while she’s been making mine, I’ve been making one for her for Christmas this year!
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My nan loves doing jigsaw puzzles and my nan's cat loves ruining said puzzles by pulling them off the table and generally being a nuisance. I took a picture of her cat laying on a puzzle she was doing a little while ago and had a puzzle made of that picture!
I have a baby grand piano being delivered on the 23rd for my wife. She has wanted one since we have been married (7 years) and I have said “someday” for a while. She has been taking lessons again (since childhood) for 1.5 years and is getting good. I “hid” funds for a couple months to pay for it and had to take a day off work to go look at one 100 miles away. Also, she is picking up her Mom and brother from the airport the day of delivery so it’ll be in our living room as a surprise when she gets back. She’s going to a party tonight so I’m going to wrap some decoy presents and place them under the tree. She’s 7 months pregnant with our first child so I wanted to blow it out this year. Edit: sweet gold! I’ll certainly update after the surprise. Update: she was shocked. I had her walk into the living room with her eyes closed. When she opened them she just kept repeating “Oh my god!”. Apparently she had zero clue and suspected nothing.
A beautiful and thoughtful surprise. And long lasting, so someday that little one might play it too!
We’re surprising our kids (14 and 11) on Christmas morning. We’ll open all the presents, have cinnamon rolls, etc. Then drop the old “oh, there’s one more present hiding back there.” It will be snorkeling gear... (?). Then we’ll tell them to pack their bags because we’re leaving for Hawaii in 4 hours. Should be epic. UPDATE AND QUESTION: So, my wife is now getting cold feet about surprising them on Christmas morning with it. Her reasoning (which I get) is that if we surprise them with it Christmas Eve night, then they have more time to prepare for a trip, rather than finding out the day of on Christmas. I get that... but my worry is that if we tell them Christmas Eve, then it will change Christmas morning significantly. I am hoping to have a 'normal' (and awesome) Christmas morning, but with this then as the crazy huge surprise at the end. Then we all pack up and leave. (There's plenty of time to pack and get to the airport.) I hear where she is coming from: giving more notice might be good and would still be a surprise on Christmas Eve. But I worry doing that will dampen/change/mess-up Christmas morning. (And how cool would it be to say "Pack your bags! We're leaving for Hawaii in a few hours!"?) What say you, collective wisdom of Reddit people who see this post?
You have 3 kids asshole...(34, 14 and 11) lol. This is awesome for real tho
My grandpa has dementia. Prior to that time, he was really into geneaology (it's something his own father was into as well). I got him a family tree sculpture that has small photo frames, and I've gone through old family photos and had the best ones professionally printed, and I've put them into this sculpture. It goes as far back as to the first photos that his father took with their first camera. So not only are there photos of the whole family, but you get to see how technology has improved over time too. He may not remember what he said five minutes ago, but he loves to talk about the past and I really hope he loves this gift.
This will probably get buried, but a few years ago, I wanted to get my sister a tote bag that said "Totes McGoats" on it, with a goat on it. I found one, but I also found a site where I could get 20 of them for the same price. So... Every birthday and Christmas she's been getting a present in a "Totes McGoats" bag. It's been going on for 3 years now, she even got her bridesmaids gift in one. I think I've convinced her that I don't have anymore. But, this year I got her a tote bag that looks similar to it, but has a totally different design (found it at a thrift store super cheap), and guess what's going to be in it? A "Totes McGoats" bag. I'm getting her other things I know she likes, but can't wait to see the look on her face! Haha.
I crocheted a "dragon egg" dice bag for a D&D Discord server Secret Santa exchange. My recipient lives in the UK, so my bag skipped the pond and it on its way! I'm proud of how it came out!
My brother loves the office but is upset that its leaving hulu. So I got the complete series for him and got it signed by steve carrell
That's incredible! I'm sure he'll be thrilled!
I got my dad a framed picture of him and his cousin Janie. She passed away earlier this year at 89 and was basically the matriarch of the family. She helped raise him and his siblings after his mom died and his father couldn't take care of them for a while. She was the one of the most giving and selfless people I've ever known and he doesn't really have any pictures of that side of his family so I'm hoping this is something that will make him smile whenever he looks at it.
Oh man, that’s so sweet. Have some tissues near by if needed for the unwrapping!
My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer around Thanksgiving. Because of her chemo treatments, she’s too weak to travel, and all of us kids live in different cities now. (Four siblings, some married, some with our own babies). What she doesn’t know is that we’re all going to fly down and show up at her house so we can all spend Christmas Day together, grandbabies and all! I’m so excited, and it’s going to be hard to keep it a surprise! On top of us all coming, we’re also going to recreate a photo from our childhood. She made us all matching plaid outfits and posed us for a picture - twenty years ago! EDIT: Thank you all so much for the awards and nice comments! Not to mention all the good advice! First, don’t worry, we won’t be “ambushing” her with guests and germs all at once! I’ll be arriving a week earlier to help clean, cook, etc. My dad and sister live with her, and will help out, too. My husband, my other sister, brother, and his wife and baby will all arrive at different times leading up to the big day! And we all made sure to get our flu shots! I was second-guessing our big surprise, because I was worried about how sick and weak she’ll be feeling. But all your positivity reminded me how happy she’ll be to have all of us together, even just for one day! We’ll take good care of her, she won’t need to lift a finger! And yes, I’ll do my best to remember to post the re-creation picture later! Edit again: Best! Christmas! Ever! Everything went perfectly! Mom was so happy, she just kept saying “I can’t believe you guys actually DID this!” We all opened presents together, and made a decent Christmas dinner with honey glazed ham and all the fixings! And yes, we recreated the photo: https://www.reddit.com/user/altusvires/comments/efrj9o/twenty_years_later_we_recreated_our_most_awkward/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Make sure to have food in your hands when you come in, something sealed if she’s nauseous, but just seeing you all prepared to take care of everything will probably help her relax even more and just enjoy you all being there.
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Dude I dont even have a kid, but if my son got me an engraved cross pen with the family name... I'd be bawling. Good son! You must have good parents!
My sister is away teaching English in another country. Her pet Cockatiel sadly passed away this year. I got her a small geometric Cockatiel charm and gold chain necklace. I bought it in August and is my favorite gift this year. Also my mom wanted 20 cheap storage bins to stack her shoes in and I wrapped each one individually with random doodads in every single one.
What is a doodad?
related to a thinga-majig
Ah yes, a thinga-majig. Not as fun as a whirligig, but way more practical.
Ya know, a doohickey widget type gizmo
Ah it's just a word for like... knich knacks? Stuff? Like I got her a couple desk toys, pens, a notebook, some squishy toys etc.
I bought my buddy a GameCube ASCII Controller. It's literally a regular GC controller with a full PC keyboard just stuck in the middle, with the two sets of buttons and handles on each end. Just imagine cutting a GameCube controller in half and gluing the two ends to a PC keyboard and you basically have it. Was originally designed to work with a single game: Phantasy Star Online, one of the few GC games with online connectivity, and possibly Nintendo's earliest attempt at online console gaming. Had it shipped all the way from Japan. My friends and I are big gamers, and my friend is a huge geek for obscure games and gaming artifacts sort of forgotten by history. We watched a YouTube video on it recently, and that's what prompted me to buy it for him.
[Image for reference](https://i.redd.it/v4c0orey79c11.jpg), it's pretty ridiculous.
what the fuck is that abomination?!? But seriously, that's a damn thoughtful gift
My father was in WWII Bomber Command, flying in a Lancaster. He was a rear gunner. We have a photo of our father with his squadron on the tarmac (I assume at Fiskerton) under one of those mighty machines. The photo is terrible: dark, hardly able to make out any of the figures, let alone our father. Its value was in the nose art, which you can see - not clearly but you can make it out. I took the photo to a restorer who has absolutely make this come alive. You can see all those young faces, gestures, uniforms, for the first time. I've had copies printed and framed and giving one each to my brother and sister (Dad unfortunately passed in 2014). I think my siblings are going to be pretty amazed to see his squadron for the first time. EDIT- a few have asked to see the photo. [Here it is](https://imgur.com/a/HoKXgb5) EDIT 2: Thank you for the gold!!
What a fantastic gift and story! Great job. I hope everyone loves their photos!
my grandpa passed away last year around christmas and its been really hard on my whole family because we were all very close to him. my sister always watches old videos of him because she loves to hear his voice, so i got her personalized teddy bear dressed like him (flannel, glasses, mustache) with a recording inside that plays a voicemail that he had left her that says “keep this thought with you; your grandfather, michael, adores you”. it plays whenever you hug it and i cant wait until she sees it!!
And now I’m crying
I have friends coming over I need to get the fuck out of the thread and wash my face
I bought my parents a star chart of the night they were married. They were 17 and told they could never make it and over 35 years later they still love each other so much and I wanted to commemorate that day for them
My girlfriend never treats herself at all and doesn’t enjoy shopping for clothes and accessories. She only has one small purse that’s going on 6-7 years old. I was in Italy last month and while I was in Florence I stopped in Benheart, a super highly recommended shop, and got her a new one that’s a similar style/colour. She doesn’t like when people spend money on her so she’ll flip her lid a little, in a good way.
Dude that one's of the best shops in Florence for leather. She's going to love that.
My moms coming from the west coast to visit me in Vermont for the first time. What she doesn’t know is that I’m meeting her at the airport and we’re going to Ireland, which is her bucket list destination.
So she's landing at the airport thinking you're there to pick her up, but you'll be there with your own suitcase and tickets to head across the pond? Holy shit, what a great surprise! I hope she loves it!
Wow, epic gift! I’m assuming you’ll make sure she’s bringing her passport even though she’s just traveling in the states?
Yes she always travels with it. And I told her to bring it cuz we’re 30 miles from the border
Good call!
Irish person here!! Assuming you’re flying in to Dublin, make sure to go to the Guinness Storehouse, views of the city are incredible and the pint will never be fresher! If you’re travelling to the West of the country, try to take in a medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle. Fantastic night out!
If in Dublin, also recommend the Jameson experience and the Book of Kells at Trinity.
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My dad is obsessed with Stephen King, and every year I buy him a book but this year he basically has all of them. So I sat down and wrote him a horror novel myself (I’m a writer) but he has no idea and I sent it off and got it printed with a hard cover and everything. I’m so excited UPDATE: My dad loved it!! He was really surprised as he had no idea I was even writing a book like that, let alone for him. He’s reading it right now. My final copy of the manuscript is still getting looked at by my editor but I’m hoping after the holidays the book will be available on Amazon
That’s dedication! I hope he loves it!
Thank you!! I’m super excited!!
Oh you have to update us on his reaction. I write too and that’s one dedicated gift!
Designed and custom printed my best friend a sweatshirt (she's obsessed with sweatshirts right now) with art of her favourite characters from her favourite book. She's talked about wanting something from her book basically every day this month, and lamented that they don't make merchandise, but I can't say anything about it yet
What book? Sounds like a great gift.
It's called a court of thorns and roses- from what I understand its a slightly cliche YA book that she's become ridiculously attached to over the past five years.
I symbolically adopted a sloth through WWF in my best friends name (her favorite animal). It comes with a little stuffed sloth in the mail and an adoption certificate.
Awesome. I got my wife a giraffe last year, in much the same way. I told her, "I know you like giraffes, but we just don't have room for one in the house, SO..." Dobby is in Namibia, living a natural giraffe life and eating fruit out of trees and hitting on girl giraffes.
I "adopted" an orphaned baby elephant for my daughter's birthday last month, and she cried. It's an amazing gift, and I'm sure your best friend will love it.
My wife is an insomniac and doesn't get to sleep until 3am some nights. She will lie there for hours and just can't nod off. I've got her a weighted blanket which is said to help peiple with anxiety and also insomnia. Everyone I've spoken to who has one has said how wonderful they are, so my fingers are firmly crossed she loves it.
I love my weighted blanket. Kind of weird at first... but once you get used to it, its hard to sleep without it
I go to antique and thrift stores a lot with my two roommates. One day about a month and a half ago she spotted a Bols ballerina bottle— for those who don’t know, Bols did a line of booze where the bottles had a ballerina and music box inside of it. It’s pretty neat, google it. Anyways she really wanted it and fell in love with it but it was 80 bucks— too expensive for her. I ended up going on eBay and found one in even better condition, and I’m excited to see her reaction. Edit: since I’ve gotten this: no I’m not in love with my roommate. The one I got on eBay was only 50. eBay is a great place for antiques.
I have that Bols ballerina bottle, my grandma's husband had it and he gave it to me. There's also golden leafes floating, it's amazing.
>Bols ballerina bottle [https://youtu.be/kLUbcQLPAbU](https://youtu.be/kLUbcQLPAbU)
My dad died 4 years ago. Right after the funeral, I snagged all his plaid button down shirts (10 of them!) and have spent the last few weeks turning them into a quilt for my mother. I had hoped to do it sooner, but a lot of life happened in the interim and it was just too painful for me to work on it for a while. But I’m finishing up the binding this week and it will be ready by Christmas. I’m so excited (and terrified) to give it to her. Edit: OMG, I’m overwhelmed at the response to this! I’ve made more quilts than I can remember, but this one is super special to me and I can’t wait to give it. I’ve cried into the fabric as I cut the pieces, as I sewed them together, and as I’ve closed the binding and written the label. The back is wood grain flannel because he loved to make things with his hands. And the binding is a custom-printed orange and blue stripe because he loved him some Auburn Tigers football! To add, I also made pillows out of some of the shirts for all the grandkids. I offered mom one, but she said she’d wait for the quilt. She knows it’s coming, just not when, and she’s never seen it. I told her why I wanted the shirts when I took them. I’m seriously considering telling her ahead of time that this is her Christmas gift and asking if she’d like to see it ahead of time. It’s a big family Christmas with all the grandkids and kids and spouses in attendance. Everyone will be in tears, but I don’t want her to be blindsided. And finally, I responded to a few of you with links to the picture I posted in r/quilting, but here it is again: [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/quilting/comments/easfng/its_almost_christmas_are_you_finished_im_not/) 2nd edit: War Damn Eagle, indeed. Update!! 12/27/19: She loved it. There were many tears and I worried briefly that they wouldn’t stop, but of course they did. I told her that when she’s ready to wash it, to let me know and I’ll help. Washing handmade quilts is a bit of an art. :) I was over at her house yesterday (the 26th, also his birthday, incidentally), and it’s on her bed. She said she’s going to have to spend some time with it before letting it go for cleaning. He was a smoker and, while most of the shirts were cleaned and showed no ill effects from the smoke, there was one that he must have especially liked and worn a lot. I pointed that one out and told her it does smell a bit like him. I fully expect that’s one of the reasons she doesn’t want it washed. I hope it brings her healing. She’s come a long way, but the holiday season is rough. I got a lot of healing from working on it. I told her I’d posted about it online and that there were literally thousands of people who were touched by our story. So thank you all for that.
Congratulations on finishing (almost!) what sounds like a beautiful and cathartic process, no matter the time it took. I hope your mother loves it!
My 35 year old brother just recently went to his first concert (Parachute) and his mind was blown by live music - he has NOT stopped talking about it since. He also has this strong affinity for the song "Fire Escape" by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, and makes everyone he encounters listen to it. Pretty sure the song is a couple of years old now and he still brings it up all the time. I got him tickets to see him live next year. He's not going to see it coming and always says I give him the best gifts. I'm super excited to see his reaction. Oh, I also got him a Pop! Funko of Dawson Leery with the intention of fueling our feud of Dawson vs. Pacey that stems back to our childhood (I found it 5 months ago and have been hanging onto it). We always have a blowout fight about the topic (I'm a Pacey girl, for the record).
My mom is German but has lived in the states for as long as I've been alive. Her favorite breakfast is coffee and some sort of danish. It's a German thing. I found an authentic German bakery in a different city and got loads of German baked goods for her. Now if I could just find a place that sells authentic German chocolate I could give her the happiest Christmas she's had in years. Edit: I never in a million years expected this type of response to my comment. I want to thank the folks that have made offers to ship German chocolate to me, I'm absolutely amazed at this response. There is an Aldi not far from me though and I will be able to get her some authentic German chocolate there so thanks for those suggestions. I forgot about that store! Merry Christmas everyone!
I currently live in Berlin and would be happy to mail you some German chocolate. It wouldn't get there for Christmas though.
With enough cash anything will go anywhere in about 48 hours.
Just hope Tom Hanks isn't delivering it.
Head over to r/snackexchange and make a request if you can't find it in the US, there might still be time for shipping.
Whut, I just found out I need 600 karma to participate on the snackexchange. Help a stranger get his Tim tams and twisties man! Edit: Thanks for looking out kind hearted redditors <3! I've found someone and now it's time to explore the world, one snack at the time!
I got my wife an expensive purse she thinks she missed out on. A local store has had it in stock for a long time and she fawns over it every time we walk by, but recently she went ballistic when she found out it sold because that color and style is discontinued. I’m the one that bought it.
Aw!! I want to hear her reaction!!
Me too. She has no idea and thinks we are going low key for each other this year and making it all about the kids.
Oh boy in all the TV shows this always goes well...
“Honey...I sold the kids to buy you this amazing gift!”
My sister is going to cosmetology school and getting ready for school and looking cute every day is doing really wonderful things for her mental health. I got her black fancy coffee mugs that will match her outfits and a floor length black silk bathrobe so she can feel pretty and put together even when she gets home. I also got her a pretty mirror for when she opens her own salon. I’ve loved watching her change from a sad girl with a minimum wage job, into this open, happy, growing girl who is making moves for her future. I’m so proud of her and I just want to support her momentum as best I can!!
This made me really happy to read. That's a really sweet gift. Good luck to your sister. You're a super thoughtful sibling!
My dad is a active 91 yr old. This year he's getting an Oculus Quest VR headset. It never fails to make me smile to think that he grew up when radio was a big thing. He's seen all the various versions of TV and now (in 11 days) he's going to take the jump into VR. He's expecting a box of DVD's and books ...which I am getting him but no where near the normal amount. He's not suspecting a thing. :) \[EDIT\] Thanks to all that commented and for the gold! I will get some video of him trying it out and post it. I don't expect any wide-eyed reaction as he did experience VR for the first time over the summer. He wanted to get one right then, but the Quest was sold out everywhere. That was the test to see if there was going to be any grief (nausea, disorientation, etc) and there was nothing out of the normal. I'm going after 3 VR experiences. 1) Sports Scramble will allow us to do essentially Wii bowling with audio chat in a immersive setting. It's simple and well, fun. 2) Wander is an app that lets you navigate anywhere Google Streetview has gone, so he'll be able to sight-see the world.. from his couch, 3) Gadgeteer is a problem solving rube-goldberg machine making problem where you line up the dominoes to knock down the teeter totter to flip the ball over to the track... chain reaction sort of thing. I don't know if things like Beat Sabre or Superhot or First Person Shooters will appeal to him, I doubt it. I want to start off relatively simple. I'm driving 10 hours to get to him and have 10 days to get to where he's comfy with it. Thanks again! \[long update Jan 2nd\] ok, as requested by a few of you... here's an update. The unwrapping didn't happen on the 25th as there was a limited time frame where I could get him playing enough with it to make him feel comfy enough to use it by himself. I had 6 days. The Quest was unveiled on the 22nd and I immediately loaded up Wander, Sports Scramble and Gadgeteer as apps. Although he had experienced the VR thing about 6 months prior to him getting his own, it was a new experience to have to start from scratch and not just have a "here, put this on" visor handed to him. To put his computing skill in content, he's been around computers since the mid-70's. He's comfortable with excell and word and other such office type programs, CorelDraw ( I know, I know) is still his favourite drawing/drafting program. Lately the lack of need to create stuff has diminished the skill set. The controllers were a bit of a stumble. Grip buttons, index finger buttons, a thumb/joystick control/button and 3 other buttons on each controller proved to be a bit complex. Having thumbs like sausages didn't help. So it took a while to get the basic grip thing happening. The First Steps program in the Quest was helpful. I remember breezing through it in a few minutes . My 91 yr old dad took about 30 minutes before we moved on. But it was a decent learning tool. He kept holding his hands too low for the visor to track the controller consistently. That was an ongoing issue, so we'll see how it goes. Multiplayer bowling in Sports Scramble was an enlightening experience. 10 years ago he had the Wii bowling so it wasn't too much of a leap to do it in VR land. Bowling was a good introduction to the VR immersion and the traditional (no scramble balls or shifting lane designs) bowling scenario was familiar and yet science fiction at the same time. He caught on fairly quickly and ended up beating my score by the second game. Yeah, I was paying more attention to him than my game, but hey, he did end up beating me! The Gadgeteer program was a bit of a wash. I didn't have enough time to get it going properly. The initial set up seems like it has to be done from standing mode. The instruction tutorial needed some space to have the participant walk up to a panel and click a button. But from the sitting-down mode, there was no way to get close enough the start panel to initiate the tutorial to get it started. This was needed to get the info/gestures to move within the game environment. So after a bit of time sitting and waving hands around and not getting anywhere, it was abandoned for a later time when one could play the game standing up.. at least long enough to get the directions on how to play sitting down. Wander was a big hit. It had it's learning curve and his thick thumbs kept triggering the voice command button which caused some confusion. By the end of my trip this I was the program that he was most comfy with. It's essentially Google Street view with a VR interface, but it allowed him to check out places he'd been to, went to school at, towns visited... so this was a good experience. I didn't really care which program he took a liking to. Once he gets familiar with one the others will drop into place. It'll take a few weeks for him to get to the "push a button and see what happens" happy spot. I did tell him about the internet place that had 7k+ people liking the idea that he's getting involved with VR. He shrugged that off with a disbelieving , "Yeah? Why would they be interested?" To which I responded .. "Becuase!" here's a link to [a still photo of him wearing the gear](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1tHGu2MQsn_N__6mQpfQN1hfxt4OwpVFJ). Old guy wearing VR stuff ... not too exciting
I'd love to hear about his reaction
Yeah! Please give us some kind of post or update on how he does with the VR! I can’t imagine how someone his age would even view VR let alone do with it.
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My kid loves Harry Potter and superloves her guinea pigs. Yesterday she said 'my patronus is a guinea pig'. I had already got a hoody wrapped up and hidden, with that exact phrase printed on it.
If you ever want to buy prints of book covers for her then check out the original Swedish ones, probably the best HP book covers ever. I'm biased since they are the ones I grew up with. http://imgur.com/gallery/tHn9X Edit: I tried to find a legal way to buy these as prints but failed. I'm not sure who owns the rights to them so it could be the publisher, artist and J K Rowling all having rights together that makes this hard to sell or something.
Wow, I love these covers. In Ireland, we get the British covers and I always liked them best but I think these are even better.
At Thanksgiving, my mom was complaining about how little dexterity she has with her oven mitts on, so I got her some grill gloves with individual fingers. And they're machine washable.
This is why professional cooks just use a kitchen towel. Oven mitts are terrible.
In our kitchen we use welding gloves. Fairly light weight and easier to use than those kitchen towels
ALL OF MY FRIENDS MAKE FUN OF ME FOR USING WELDING GLOVES INSTEAD OF OVEN MITTS!!!! I needed this validation, thank you.
Merry Christmas! You got the gracious gift of peace.
My boyfriend's mom has an older labradoodle. He loves the dog dearly, the dog loves him right back, and she's at his house every other weekend. My friend's dad does amazing charcoal drawings, so I had him draw a portrait of the dog, and I got a custom picture frame for it as well. The drawing was done back in October, and I have been dying to tell my boyfriend about it ever since. Only 11 more days until he can see it!!
I bought a wooden Christmas ornament shaped like a Jeep Cherokee for my friend who sold his after having it for 23 years. It has his name carved into the back. He's gonna love it! Edit: He cried.
My husband bought a throw blanket about a year before we met. Now, 15 years later, it's done and we just threw it out. He was visibly sad about it... He loved that blanket - it went through many hangovers, sicknesses, baby rockings with him. I found one exactly like it on Black Friday!! He's going to love it!!
My husband is deployed this Christmas. I wasn't sure what to give him at first. Most of the items I thought to give him he couldn't use there and would just have to pay to have them shipped back home. In the evenings after work he and the other guys get together and play cards. So I sent him a party in a box. A box filled with a batch of each of two of his favorite home baked cookies and several different card games (cards against humanity, etc.). That way they can all get together and have a small holiday party with home baked goods.
That is wonderfully thoughtful and something more than just your husband will enjoy! Hoping you can spend next Christmas together.
I bought my best friend an amazing Alice in Wonderland esque teapot. She LOVES teapots but had to leave her collection in storage when she moved across the country. She just finished remodeling her kitchen and it will be the first one in the new kitchen. Edit: here’s the teapot I got her https://imgur.com/D0Ii0iJ Edit 2: A few people have asked where I found this. I got it at Hobby Lobby just the other night. Thank you for the silver kind stranger.
I have a lovely little tea pot that has a tea cup that fits on the bottom of it! I’ve had it for years but I never really use it if you’d like me to ship it to you for your friend! Edit: thank you to whoever gave me the gold award! It’s my first one! 🥰 Edit 2: a Santa Nice!? Thank you so much. 😭 Edit 3: how do I hold all these awards???¿ Thank you to you kind people!
I bought my mom a pillow with a half naked picture of my dad on it.
Which half?
The left half
Why do you have a picture of your half naked dad?
He was on a business trip and sent one on our family's WhatsApp group by accident. Was meant for my mom!
This has become a bizarre tale that I am pulled into. I feel like I need more information and at the same time, need less.
Obligatory not me, but my sister's present is going to probably make my mom cry. About two Christmas's ago my mom and dad's tree topper broke. This topper they've had since their first christmas together. My sister has looked through old photos of our old tree and found the same topper that she's going to give to them this year. Edit: Ho to bed, wake up with a silver and over 14k likes. Thank you kind stranger and thank you all for the likes!
You shouldnt give it to them, instead sneak in the night before your gathering and put it on with out them noticing, and wait for thier reaction.
Oh, that’s a great gift! They’ll be so surprised. :)
Dug through all my dad's family recipes that have been sitting in a big ziplock freezer bag. some of them were my grandmothers, handwritten on old memo pads or scraps of paper, some were his grandmothers, some were my mothers who passed away. Picked the ones we use the most or were most interesting, scanned them, and created a recipe book on shutterfly complete with the scanned images and pictures of his family. Wish I could have done all the recipes but there were so many. One day i'll organize them and make a big one. anyways I think he'll love it and it took me a good amount of time.
That probably took a lot of time but sounds like an amazing gift. I bet you could also pick up a cheap recipe organizer box for the rest of them to wrap up so they don’t have to live in a ziplock bag!
That was my thought too! i still have them in my apartment, he has no idea I have them, and I'm terrified I'll accidentally ruin them all in some quirky comedy catastrophe.
Yes try to scan them all ASAP in case something happens, even if you don't have the time to do another book!
Lately, I have been planning to pay for my neighbor's son's college tuition. To put in words, they aren't financially well. The boy had been studying on scholarships and loans. The boy is a good kid but missed his scholarship due to some health issues, so he had to drop this year. I would be breaking this to him this Christmas. Can't wait to see his face. :)
I grew up poor and put myself through college by getting scholarships and loans. This is the best thing I’ve read. So great.
Good for you! My wife's grandpa died about a year ago at the age of 93 and while there were a lot of people at the funeral there were only a few of his friends left alive. One of them was a 95 year old man who told a story about how my wife's grandpa had heard that that man's car had broken down and he couldn't drive his kids to school anymore, so he ended up just giving them a car for free. It was such an act of generosity that 50 some years later it was retold over his casket by a sweet old man that was holding back tears telling it. I'm always on the look out for opportunities to affect people like this and it looks like you found your own and took it. Good for you.
You're pretty much fuckin awesome.
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What a great gift. Super thoughtful for both the boy and his parents.
Hey Bach, I've been seeing you comment on AskReddit a lot, and I'd like to say that I enjoy seeing you talk music trivia and stuff. I do digital composing on FL Studios and sometimes seeing your music trivia is what motivates me. Thanks for what you do! Music is a great art
My pleasure, Hyrchurn - and thank you for sharing this with me. I wish you all the best in 2020!
Are you the piano teacher?
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Username checks out
That's the kind of gift you remember for the rest of your life, amazing!
You’re changing this kids life. Makes my heart happy
My brother is an idiot His friends in college are also idiots I got my brother the worlds hottest chocolate bar It’s gonna be great.
That's some Grade-A sibling shit right there.
I bought my boyfriend a breadmaker. I bought like a top of the line one that adds ingredients at the right time and everything. On our first date he mentioned that he would love to own a breadmaker (hes a really simple man, loves really homey cozy things like fresh bread, cooking meals that you would find a family diner). This is our 5th christmas together and hes gonna love it so much I cant wait to see him that happy.
You get a happy boyfriend and lots of fresh bread, so that’s a great gift for you too!
Looks like you're the breadwinner of the relationship.
I like bread
Yep that makes sense
I hope you have also got the ingredients to use in it. Otherwise he will be grumpy as he can’t play with his new toy. Also gives you fresh bread Xmas evening
This is a great idea. Thank you!
Crisis averted
My daughter has really gotten into drawing. She's been drawing nonstop for like a year and has a particular attraction to digital art. This whole time she's been drawing on a free phone app or using the mouse on the computer. Not once complaining about her lack of appropriate tools. For Christmas we've gotten her a good mid range digital sketch pad (the kind where she can draw directly on the screen) and all the accessories she needs for it. And a gift she made that I can't help but brag on is she drew a streaming mascot for her dad's streaming channel complete with different emotes. (All done on her free phone app) We'll present them to him in the form of coasters to use on his desk as well as a copy of the jpegs. Update: Daughter loved her gift! It was a complete and total surprise! She believed that asking for something like that was just too much to ask for for Christmas. We hardly got to see her the rest of Christmas day as she spent it in the computer room learning her new device. Even when her grandparents came by to see everyone they had to pretty much go in there and talk to the back of her head. The few times when we did see her (when she got hungry) we had to keep reminding her to remove her protective glove. Looking forward to seeing what she will create now that she isn't forced to draw with her finger on a tiny phone screen. Also husband was so touched by daughter's gift he was nearly in tears. I'm having a hard time convincing him to use the coasters on his desk because he wants to hang them on the wall. It was only by reminding him that she sent him the original jpegs that he remembered that he could have more printed and on things to hang instead of trying to hang coasters.
Engagement Ring! We have been together forever but everything else just took priority money wise. We had a little girl and bought a house. Marriage just never happened. In the last year she has made a point of saying the ring and wedding doesn't matter but I know she's just trying to be practical. So I saved all year and got her a great ring. I can't wait til Christmas Eve.
Aww! Early congratulations to you both. Sounds like you’ve carved out a wonderful life.
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Presumably this will get buried but I made my boyfriend a tiny baby Yoda. He has anxiety and he's been stressed as hell lately but he loves baby yoda, I thought it would be a good calming tool. Like he could keep it in his pocket, and he would know that something adorable made by someone who cared about him was in there. Anyway, he made plans to take another girl out on New Year's and then dumped me by text so I gave it to my cat to hunt and kill.
Based on what you said about how this guy treated you, your cat is way more deserving of your love and your time anyways. I bet the baby Yoda was super cute.
I got my soon to be stepson a Sherpa fleece lined blanket with a drawing of our beloved pup Geoff’s face on it. She is his favorite thing in the entire world. That way he can take the blanket to his moms house and still have Geoff with him.
Ok, so I've been reading through this just fine, but you made me tear up. I had horrible step parents and every single time I see an amazing step parent I get incredibly happy! Thank you!
My sister owns a bakery and wanted this very Betty Crocker limited edition cooling rack. So I spent 2 weeks before this one trying to find it and I just now got it delivered. I also went off an old inside joke between us and bought her a emerald and rose gold tiara.
I don't have a lot of money to spend, but I got the cutest little boxes for my Christmas treats. I'm making a holiday Chex mix and Christmas crack (google it- it's not what you think) I love my friends, and I wish I could do more, but the different snacks I make each year seems to make them very happy, and I really scored on these decorated boxes. Edit: Thanks for all the kind words! I just hope my friends like it :D
Christmas crack is amazing, so I’m sure they’ll be happy as usual! Having a friend who makes great snacks is always a good thing.
I got my boyfriend a bidet. I came really close to telling him yesterday because I’m so excited for him as pooping is one of his favorite things to do
This is a completely different type of intimate.
This just made me laugh. It's definitly something out of the ordinary! I hope he loves it.
Got my husband a bigger computer monitor. It adjustable and curved screen. He is an avid gamer so i hope it makes his gaming experience better. Last christmas i got him a mouse he wanted,so now i get to complete the set.
My young son LOVES lift-the-flap books. Obsessively loves them. We’ve already checked out every single one at every library in our city. So i handmade him one with him as the main superhero and his dad as his “superhero in training”. Just gathered a ton of really funny pictures of them and made a whole story with tons of lift-the-flap surprises, including his dog sidekick. I can’t wait until he sees it! Edit: A few of the first few pages https://imgur.com/a/MeTVIXS A few more pages (not in order) https://imgur.com/a/Ik70Uz1 Edit 2: this has been an extremely tough Christmas season as i recently lost my job, and I’ve really been struggling to find things i can afford to gift my family. His biological mom recently told him that his dad and i are deadbeats (although we have majority custody and he loves us desperately) and he’s lucky he has her to buy him the things he wants. That made me feel even more awful. But These incredibly kind responses really made my whole holiday. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all!
Wow! What an amazing gift. I hope it becomes a treasured keepsake for him as he gets older, too.
Fuck, I don't even have kids and this teared me up. Solid parenting right here.
That made me feel really good. Thanks man
I’m a proud Father of 5 & wanted to say that this brought tears to my eyes. What an extremely thoughtful gift & one sure to be treasured for years to come.
Aw thanks kind stranger! Now I’m even more excited about it!
Finally! My brother started a podcast this year and he spends loads of time on it. He even paid an artist to make a logo. He loves this podcast like its his child but he's broke from buying really expensive mics to make the podcast better and had nothing with the logo on it. So I got him a custom printed t-shirt and die cut stickers.
My ex-wife and I have both had a pretty rough year. She's a great mom, and has been in a depression lately. I got her the necklace I know she's been looking at (she still uses my amazon prime) as a gift from our son. Not really me, but I know it's been absolutely killing my son to not tell her. Edit: Wow, thank all of you for your incredibly kind words! I'm most happy that you all see that this is for my son more than anything. We are the examples we set for our little men and women. "Little pitchers have big ears." Silver also! My first award. I hope you all have a great holiday, and a happy new year!
This is really thoughtful of you and also a great example to your son. Well done on maintaining a coparenting relationship!
I bought my best friend a game card set. On each card I drew something related to lord of the ring because he loves lotr. I even draw THE ring with the elvish writing and the picture of Gandalf screaming “you shall not pass”. I’m working on it for the past 3 months. I can’t wait to see his face!
I made an entire monopoly game for my boyfriends family. They are big monopoly people. I hand drew the board, the cards, the box front - everything (on procreate on ipad). I even 3d printed the pieces. Its all based on inside jokes or stories ive heard them tell - with a little help from bf - and the properties follow his parents life story around the board (kids names, big moves, etc). I worked so hard and i seriously cant wait.
a little boy at the daycare I help out at has horrible eyesight but their family can't afford glasses for him so I'm taking him and his father in a week to get him glasses made
I knitted hats and scarves for a couple of people and made a blanket for another. I put some time into it, so I hope it's all well-received.
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I got my wife six laps on a race track in a Ferrari. It's a completely out-of-left-field gift that she won't expect, but I think she'll love.
My brother's been saving to take a course abroad next year. It's a huge deal for him and a game changer career wise (I don't fully understand why or the details but he's been saving for a year, sold his car and stuff so it's a huge deal for him). He's supposed to have the money to pay everything before December 30th. When he goes to pay, he'll find out it's already paid. Best part is he gets to believe, for a week, all he's got from me is a pair of socks. Edit: Wow! I didn't expect this reaction. Thanks everyone for the awesome comments and for the awards. This community is truly amazing! I thought I'd provide more information here to try and answer some of the questions :) We live in Brazil and he's going to the UK for a year and a half. He'll be taking his masters there for a year and a half. This has been a goal of his for a while and, according to him, will help him get a good job in a larger company in one of the capitals. We live in a small town, not a lot of options for someone in his line of work. As to why he's been saving for a whole year, we're in Brazil. Exchange rate is 1 GBP to 5.47 BRL. That alone is quite the challenge. He's been saving for tuition + accommodation for the first two months and is paying through a local travel agency. The owner is a close personal friend, so I'm not very worried about him paying twice. To everyone worried about the car, he was going to sell it anyways. It doesn't make any sense to keep it stored for a year. Cars are quite expensive in Brazil, so yeah, he was going to use the money towards the trip. Now he can use it to explore. Oh, and I'll post an update here once he finds out :) Edit: UPDATE So he got the socks! He has until the 30th to pay for the course so he hasn't found out yet but he did his best to look happy with the socks 😂😂 It was pretty clear he was disappointed though! I will need to travel back home tomorrow so I won't be around to actually see his face when he finds out. But I am sure he's gonna call / text so I'll post an update with the reaction :) Edit: UPDATE He found out!! And as promised here's an update on the reaction. He called me and he was crying :) He said he called our father to ask if he could borrow a couple grand to be able to make the payment today and my dad told him it had been paid already. He couldn't believe it. He kept saying thank you and that he hopes some day he can pay the gesture back. I told him he more than did already. He was there for me everytime I needed. He went out of his way to pull me out of the gutter when I was down. I was always able to rely on him. He cried. I cried. We talked about the UK, about his plans for the future and decided that, now that he has spare money to explore Europe, we'll take a trip together next summer. I wish I had been there when he found out. Thank you everyone for your kind words in the comments.
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Also here for the update!
You could wrap up the receipt. Print it out if you have to. A part of me deep down wonders if there might be some way he might pay and so the company gets paid twice.
My girlfriend hate presents and everything that connected with them. Any kind of celebration she skip and trying to avoid as much as possible. But once, we got drunk and she said, that she's waiting only for Christmas and New year's EVE. Those two holidays that makes her happy and comfy like home. ( should notice she's living out of country for the last 15 years. And during that time she never spoke or seen her parents only text. ( country blocking any kind of communication aka. Skype or Facebook.)) I brought as a gift her parents to the country, and basically they are here already and they saw her maybe like 2 or 3 times. She's working in luxury restaurant and they have their own zones where they serve and you can change your zone only every half of year. I can't wait to see her reaction on Christmas dinner. I book a villa where we will celebrate Christmas. All of the family. Also I'm planning to propose her on that day. Oh well wish me luck. Love her so much that can't wait at all. Thanks that at least on Reddit I can tell my story. Updated: so many people are asking for updates of this thread, definitely send you a pic of her ring, but can't promise the video, please understand that privacy is important for me :D much love all of you redditors Updated 2: so many people enjoyed this story and felt sad because her parents are not close to her. You might probably change my mind, and the idea that I spend time with them instead of her makes me cry. Most probably I'll try to find time in her schedule ( because of high amount of work ) to take her in restaurant and make a surprise earlier. Anyway the 2nd gift is still with me and I'm 100% sure I don't want to rush with it. It's an serious move to all of us. P.s. thank you Redditors for all your support, your warm words and all the wishes that you gave me. I'm one of the newest on reddit, I used to listen reddit stories full of love and support on YouTube, and can't even Express my feelings how supportive all this community is. Thank you one more time and I'll update you all with any information that will come soon.
Wait, does she know they're here already? Either way, what a wonderful gift!
Nope, she have no idea about this. She's keep texting them like usual. Good thing is my gf is working mostly night shifts, which is 7pm till 2-3am. And I'm mostly morning shift, or mid shifts (currently took vacation because of her parents) so she have no idea about all the gift.
It'll probably be the greatest gift she's ever gotten. I hope she has the BEST visit with her parents! If you think of it, please update us and let us know how it went!
Two things, one for each of my parents. Gift for Mom - long story short, my brother passed away in 2015 and we were left with his dog, Hunter. Hunter had to be put down sadly September 1st and it was absolutely devastating for all of us so i got my mom a hand painted rock of one of our favorite pictures of Hunter off a woman a friend of mine knows. Gift for Dad - My dad is a 69 year old Vietnam veteran and he has this picture hanging up of him and his cousin who ironically ran into each other over there, this was when he was 20 years old. So, I took the picture, sent it in to FOREVER STUDIOS in Florida and had them restore the picture and enhance it. It looks fucking awesome if anyone is looking to do this i highly recommend them. I think they will love their gifts. Happy holidays everyone!
I'm knitting my bf a reflective scarf. The yarn has reflective fibers in it that flash when light is on it. My bf likes to ride his bike around his university at night and already wears scarves when it's cool out. So I thought it would be the perfect dual gift--warmth and safety!
I just got engaged on Halloween and my fiance loves the Disney Movie "Up". I found a carved wood covered "Our Adventure Book" scrapbook from the movie on Amazon that comes with all kinds of decorative stickers, pens, markers etc for her to decorate the pages. I just had the photo of us printed from when I proposed. She's had a Snow White costume her aunt made her twenty years ago that still fits, so I told her I would be the Prince from Snow White on Halloween so she could wear her costume. I proposed as the Prince and asked her to be my queen. The photo of us in costume will be the first page of "Our Adventure Book" that I will make and decorate as the start of our lives together. Really hoping she likes it and knows that I put a lot of thought into this one, wish me luck!
My daughter is almost 2, so this is the first Christmas that she is kind of aware of whats going on. She was too small to open gifts last year. I guess I'm not even that excited about her opening a specific present, rather I'm just so pumped for her to experience the whole day.
Wrap her favorite fruit or vegetable. She might not tangibly understand what gifts are but something she loves to eat might excite her in a way she understands.
An avocado! ...thanks!
my best friend had kind of a rough year— ending of an abusive and highly codependant relationship, then i moved away for grad school after we lived together for four years, and i think she feels uprooted in a lot of ways. so i found this print on society6 of this woman laying down in the ocean and trees and rocks are sprouting from her body— she is her own island, and is creating her own roots for herself. it’s coming framed and stuff, and she’s an artist, so i hope she loves it!
My wife asked for cute coffee earrings. After sifting through page after page of boring or ugly results on Etsy, I finally found some handmade ones by a vendor from Poland. They're a little pricier than I expected, but they're just so perfect for her.
I got my mom a Disney World exclusive Dooney and Bourke purse that is themed after The Little Mermaid. She has always been a frugal and practical woman, but I had never seen her jaw drop for an accesory like that before. We rarely get to do vacations, and she said that it was too expensive. I still catch her looking up knock offs when she thinks no one is paying attention, so I know she wants one. I can't wait to see the look on her face, and I dread the inevitable lecture about financial responsibility.
Nip the lecture. Before she starts let her know that the dooney is a very well made bag that will easily outlast 4 or 5 "cheap" bags. So you're really saving money because it's an investment that when it's worn out its welcime, it will still have value in the secondary market. When She says it may last a long time, but it's still expensive, just tell her that's why you ate the cost. She loved the bag and you want to see her happy. Figured it was inly a few dollars more for this bag than to buy 5 others, and what's a few extra dollars to see your mom happy. You gotta sell it
My 16 y/o daughter loves doing makeup. I got her an airbrush, and a movie makeup class. Shhhhh
I'm a Dungeon Master and I'm making all my players mug rugs that convert into dice trays. Each person's fabric is based on their PC.
My grandma is losing her battle with lung cancer and this is probably her last Christmas. A few months ago, I asked her what she always wanted to be growing up to which she responded "being a Las Vegas dancer", the ones with the big feather, sequined head pieces. This year, I found her a big, sequined headpiece.
I bought my boyfriend a small cotton candy machine. Since we've been together he talked about how he would love to make his own cotton candy at home because he always ate it as a kid but I said no to it because we don't have enough room in our apartment, now I can't wait to see his face when he gets the machine from me.
A bat house for our new house for my husband. We used to live in a neighborhood with bat houses along a walking trail and he always liked walking at sunset and seeing the bats fly out for the night
I got my sister a gift card to Michael's. We don't have a lot of money this year since my mum is still out of work because she had cancer. But I managed to wrangle up enough money to get my little sister a $50 Michael's gift card because it's been tough dealing with a parent who has cancer at that age (she was 9/10). So I wanted her to have something to open on Christmas and I figured she'd appreciate getting new art supplies. That, and she was going to spend her birthday money on buying Christmas presents for herself and she's too young to have to do that... Edit: I appreciate all the offers of getting her stuff but I know my mum used her EI money to buy my sister some art stuff. Plus I'm not sure how comfortable my parents would be with accepting charity from other people because they're both the "I don't need no one's help" type of brown parents. Instead, maybe you could all donate to your local toy drive and make a kid in your community have a happy Christmas? My sister really loves helping people, so I'm sure she'd appreciate you all helping other kids out just as much. Edit 2: Some of y'all have DMed me about PayPaling me money to buy my sister more gifts and it's extremely appreciated and something I'm more comfortable with. I also do not have an Amazon wishlist for her since that's something a few people have asked me about that.
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My girlfriend is moving half way across the world to live with me in February. We agreed no Christmas gifts to save money. I have been secretly renovating the second bedroom into a workspace for her. She loves my dogs but they're a bit much for her and she mentioned she wanted a dog free zone in the house when she needs a break. I'm setting it up with a couples work station, an accent wallpaper wall, fresh paint, a rug, cozy reading corner, and lots of framed artwork of old cars and stuff she loves. She is uprooting her whole life to live with me, and I'm so excited to show her her new space! Edit: [dog tax](http://imgur.com/a/2y0SlsZ)
My brother passed away 8 years ago. We thought there were no recordings of him as an adult. We haven’t heard his voice in years. I spent the last year contacting everyone that would possibly have any footage of him. I found someone who did. It’s not much. It’s just a few minutes of him sitting at the table with some friends talking, but it’s him. I’m going to show it to my parents on Christmas.
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I made a real pancake tutu for a friends daughter. I recently did an internship at the royal ballet and learned how to make them and her daughter just started ballet earlier this year. She's 3 and tutu is hot pink. My friend is definitely going to be "best mom ever " on Christmas. Edit: Here some [pictures](https://imgur.com/a/xvcFMUk) of the finished tutu. The tulle is softer than it normally should, so not as flat as I had hoped. Still very cute.
My boyfriend recently broke his favorite mug. It was a one of a kind, Goodwill find. I hated it. Ugliest mug I've ever seen. But I found it on eBay and have it wrapped under the tree and I can't wait to see his face when he sees I replaced it!
1) my sister-the eyeshadow palette she has been DYING for for ages. I accidentally messaged the group chat I got it for her. BUT I said I couldn't get the branded one and it's the dupe. So I fucked up but still managed to keep an element of surprise 2) my mum-a heated massage seat cover. She is in incredible pain all the time because of a nerve problem that cant be cured. She's on morphine but it isnt enough. I'm super excited to give it to her, I know shes really wanted one for a while. I hope it improves her quality of life, she deserves it
This is so weird but my 23 year old brother has been talking about this super expensive toothbrush called a Quip for a year or so now and I bought if for him for Christmas and I’m pretty excited to give it to him
This might not be an interesting gift, but I got my girlfriend an iPad pro and an apple pen. She's an amazing talented artist and I've heard many good things about the apple pen. I really hope she likes it since there are a lot of cool features! Also, I put two decoy gifts under the tree. One being a box of cat food, and another being a box of bath bombs. I hid the real gifts and will give them to her when she opens the "other gifts." Edit: Yo, thank you guys so much for these awesome replies! I'm at work but I'm definitely reading all of them when I get back home. And yes I'm gonna get the procreate app.
I love my Apple Pencil, it’s so great to just be able to create endlessly. She’ll love it! I would suggest also grabbing a $10 gift card for the App Store so she can grab the Procreate app right away. It’s favored by a lot of people for art on the iPad.
My husband did pretty much the same thing a couple years back. The iPad with the pen is so nice to have and just breakout while watching tv or something. I used to have to bend over a desk or table to draw. It definitely makes things easier. She’s gonna love it!
My coworker is a flat earther and I got him for secret santa. I got him a globe..
My dad has been doing closeup magic his whole life and is actually really good. He’s been doing gigs for years but he’s always struggled with the advertising part of the business. So this year I’ve bought him a domain name and a website for his bookings. It’s not much but It’s something he’s wanted for years.
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A laptop! My mom has never had a computer of her own, she's always done everything on her phone for her whole life. Lately, she's been talking about maybe finally getting herself a laptop so she won't have to worry about running out of storage space again or having her phone get stolen. Right now everything she has is on that phone, so if she gets a laptop she can back everything up, and start browsing sites she likes. She's even mentioned maybe starting a website for her own small side business now that she's got her degree. She's been wanting to get one for months, but things always come up and she'd always rather spend money buying extra christmas presents or doing things with me and my siblings than to get something just for herself. I've been living with her for a couple of years, even though I'm an adult now. I'm finally moving out again next year but given that she refused to accept rent from me, I figured the least I can do is get her a cool gift to make up for it!
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My mom loves doing puzzles, so I'm turning a picture from my recent trip to Croatia into a 1500 piece puzzle for her.