Creative Christmas Surprises

17 years ago

A friend of mine has asked me if I would write here for some suggestions on how to surprise her Mom with a dog she is getting her as a gift. She is not really sure how to do this. Either some small gifts leading her to a bedroom where the dog is going to be or to send her on a scavanger hunt. Another questions is for her oldest daughter who has asked for a drum set, my friend is going to give her daughter a cymbal with a fan and tell her 'that she could not afford the set and this is her drum set!'. Actually, she needs some ideas to lead her daughter to the porch to see the complete set!!! I hope some one can help her and I for she is really suck for some creative ideas for her Mom and daughter.

Thanks,

Deb

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Comments (13)

dilly_dally
17 years ago
Don't. Never surprise someone with a pet. There has to be a good match of personalities for a living arrangement with a pet, and a person should choose their own animal companion.
Toni S
17 years ago
Hmm, I can't remember how my mom surprised her mom with her chocolate poodle. I know grandma loved that dog like a child. LOL, now THAT was kinda weird but it was the best thing that happened in grandmas old age. ~~~ I kinda like the scavanger hunt idea. Take pictures of where the pet might lay down. First A chair, then by a fireplace, or a porch. Eventually the bed with the pup in kennel wrapped with a bow.
I think if the dog idea has been talked out and ok'ed, it would be a great Christmas idea.
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I've used the little knit "magic gloves" you can get at the dollar store, with crisp new bills rolled up and inserted into the fingers. The fingers are just the right length and the gloves (at least at the dollar stores around here) come in some kooky patterns and colors. I used $2 bills (so few of the "young'uns" know about $2 bills, they think it's fake money!) and it made a $20 gift look pretty nifty, but you can even get away with singles for things like office gifts or teacher gifts. For instance, if you have a strict $10 limit, deduct the $1 for the gloves and roll up a note reading "just gotta HAND it to ya, you're a great person!" or something dopey like that for one of the fingers, with $1 bills in the other 9 fingers. These are also fun to hang on Christmas trees or used to decorate another gift. (Wouldn't it be fun to find these tucked into the pockets of a new coat?) Ohhh, just thought of something... I see those prepackaged gift boxes of hat, scarf, and gloves go on sale after Christmas for next to nothing - I think it would be a hoot to take the gloves out of that, slip rolled bills into the fingers, and put them back into the gift box. Recipient opens up this rather boring gift (you could make it a joke gift by getting really, really ugly ones, or giving sets that are totally inappropriate for the recipient like pink butterflies for a teenaged boy) but it has a hidden surprise. Would take preplanning, of course, but it's a thought for the future and you could get some mileage out of it. Or those of you with bigger budgets can make the gloves part of the gift, using nice cashmere or leather gloves with whatever amount of money rolled up into the fingers, or $1 bills in all the fingers except one which has a $100 (for example) bill rolled up inside the $1, so they have to unroll all the bills to find the "jackpot". I have a "regift box" of things I have received and can't use or don't want (lots of the "WHAT on EARTH were they thinking?!" items... LOL Perfectly nice items, just totally inappropriate for me), but keep around for stuff like office gift exchange and the semi-obligatory "I don't really know you but apparently I'm supposed to give you a gift" situations. I also always give my mother a gift card to the grocery store for Christmas (although we don't celebrate it, she does, and it's a big deal for her so we go along with it). Usually I get her a new book and tape the card to a page about 3/4 of the way in but I think I might dig something really gawdawful out of the regift box, something that'll make her scrunch up her face and think "oh, UGH!", and tape the gift card to the bottom of it. :-) Also, Google "duct tape wallet" and "duct tape purse" for instructions on how to make a wallet or purse out of duct tape (there are even video instructions on YouTube, but my computer hates YouTube).
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msmarion
17 years ago
She could give her mom gifts like a leash, a dog coat or sweater and then bring the dog out after the other dog related gifts are opened. But I agree the holidays are not a good time to intoduce a new pet into a household. It's too stressful on the pet.
msmarion
17 years ago
She could give her mom gifts like a leash, a dog coat or sweater and then bring the dog out after the other dog related gifts are opened. But I agree the holidays are not a good time to intoduce a new pet into a household. It's too stressful on the pet.
heather_on
17 years ago
One year for Easter my mom tied a string on our bedpost and then unwound the string all around the house inside and outside. At the end of the string was our Easter present.
lydia1959
17 years ago
I've done the string thing before for my DD. She had to follow the string all through the house to find her gift.

I've also used clues written on paper - one leads to the next until the gift is finally found.
Mystical Manns
17 years ago
One year my sister-in-law got a dog for her mother ... the mom LOVED to babysit their dog when they'd go on vacation, so she thought it'd be a good idea.

WRONG.

The mom chewed her out royally and told her she IN NO WAY wanted to be responsible for a pet on a daily basis. She wouldn't accept the dog, and we ended up taking it in. It was a mess all the way around.

Only give a pet if you're 100% sure that the recipient truely wants one.
lindaohnowga
17 years ago
I have no clever ideas for you, but I would not want anyone choosing a pet for me. If your mom wants a dog, take her to pick out the one she wants.
stephmc72
17 years ago
She posted this note for her friend, asking for advice on how to give clues to the dog, not whether or not it was a good idea to even get the dog. How does anyone here know that it hasn't been discussed, the logistics haven't been worked out, etc? We don't. While I'm sure everyone means well advising her not to give the pet, nobody knows the circumstances and it's really not anyones place to offer unsolicited advice when she specifically asked for something totally different. Sorry if I sound harsh, it just sounds like she's being scolded for something totally unrelated to her original question.

With that said, I think little clues as to where a dog might go or sleep is cute. Send her on a little scavenger hunt. My husband did that to me one year and it was fun.
Happy_Go_Lucky_Gayle
17 years ago
My Grandmother had the last Poodle of her Females Litter and she asked my Family to Dog Set him for a couple of weeks. We fell in love with Pepe.

She gave us a Big Box under the tree that was so heavy. We couldn't imagine what was in it. When we opened it we found 3 Bricks and a Note. "My name is Pepe, I'm yours if you want me". That was Ganny's way of finding out if we were a match.

About the drums. I'd set them up in the Garage. Ask Daughter to go on an errand with you. When you drive up open the Garge Door. "Looks like Santa was here". Then cover your ears.
jannie
17 years ago
I agree a pet is a bad idea. My Mom is 86, lives alone, no longer has any pets. I really would love to give her a kitten but I though better of it. I bought her a book with photos of a place we spent our summer vacations back in the 1950's.
nodakgal
17 years ago
Can she make fake doggie footprints on the floor leading to the bedroom where the pup is?
Or a trail of puppychow to the bedroom?
I really like the idea of wrapping all the accesories for a pup, leash,dishes,stuffed toys and the last one a note in a box leading her to the bedroom.
Jodi_SoCal
17 years ago
How about asking the breeders or puppy's previous owner to take daily pictures until just before Christmas. Print them out and make an album to give at Christmas. That way Mom will have photos from before she gets the puppy (they grow up so fast) and at that point it can be judged whether Mom would like a puppy.

Jodi-

Creative Christmas Surprises

Comments (13)

dilly_dally

Toni S

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