What about some Irish Dew - a bottle/can of Mountain Dew with the following poem on a tag: I ran into a leprechaun And asked if he'd been told Where the rainbow ended With the treasured pot of gold. He didn't know, but then gave me A special Irish brew (dew) To brighten your St. Paddy's Day I'm sharing some with you! OR..... Sit right down I have something for you, Here's a green bottle of very good brew. (of special Irish Dew) It's not a clover or rainbow or gold, Just a great drink, or so I've been told! (or a magical drink) author unknown or - take a small terra cotta pot and spray paint it gold (pot of gold) and put a roll of lifesavers in it standing up(the rainbow) and wrap with tulle and tie with a nice green ribbon and a tag wishing a Happy St. Pat's Day. Have fun! Lorraine

Just reading this now and enjoying ALL the ideas. My husband's family used to do the pull a name out of the hat at some summer get-together. Not everyone has to be there...his mom would send out the names to all. So my side started trying this too. It works out fine since we all get along so well. But in some families it might be tough if you get someone's name with whom you don't get along that well. It can be a good opportunity, or just a problem. I love the idea of making things - we tried that too but for everyone (or at least a family gives to another family something they made). In the end, you probably need to consider all ideas and customize. One thing is certain - only a handful of well-off family members who LOVE to shop and give will not be happy with any suggestion. Most of the time, I hear over and over that everyone found it to be much less stressful - financial and time wise. One thought is to talk the idea over with a single sibling, or parent, and see what they think. Coming up with a plan as a family is a good thing though. So if you suggest the idea, leaving part of how to go about it might be a good thing. Suggesting adults draw names, and kids still get something from the adults is one way to go. College aged "kids" can be adults, or they can concentrate on the little kids. But you might get more cooperation/interest if you give them some say in how to go about this. Good luck - hope to hear how it went!

My hubby's BF did a tour in Afghanistan, and Lynn has already mentioned some of the popular/requested items we sent to him... chap stick, individual drink crystals for water bottles, sunscreen, beef jerky.... etc., etc. Our friend was often "out" on patrol away from camp and eating only MREs (or whatever they're called now) for long periods of time. He would crave fresh fruit, but it was hard to come by, so we sent him the small lunch-size cans of mandarin oranges, fruit salad, etc. We even sent him my MIL's homebaked molasses cookies that she packaged individually with her FoodSaver.... he said they arrived in remarkably good shape, and if heated were almost like freshly baked. I think he said they set them on the engine compartment of their vehicle to heat, or something crazy like that.... he came home with some incredible stories.

We had the same problem for years. We have a group of seven couples (all close in age). We would take trips together once every year or so but during the year we would take turns hosting a monthly dinner. Of course this always necessitated a hostess gift. All of us are comfortably off and at our age have everything (material) that we want or need. It drove me crazy because I was constantly being gifted with craft type items. I am just not into cutesy things and I had a difficult time coming up with items that I thought the other ladies would enjoy or use. I failingly ended up giving food items or fresh flowers. We all finally came to a consensus that we should stop doing hostess gifts and at Christmas put funds together to donate to a charity. Thank goodness! The pressure every month is off and we can give to those in need. It's a win/win.