truly special gifts. . .
It seems that with the commercialization of Christmas gifts have become less special. Buy the family new iPhones, get the latest gadget or toy.
When I was growing up my mom baked for weeks before Christmas, making all kinds of cookies and pies and candies, but her true specialties were her filled pastries. . . apricot crescents, nut roll, poppy seed role and prune rolls (prune was always made using a square fold).
For many years after my mom passed away the girls in the family gathered each weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas and baked our traditional pastries. The last 2 years my siblings have aged and just can't do it any more, so I have spent my weekends baking and sharing the Apricot and Prune filled pastries. My sister who is closest to my age will make the nut and poppy seed roles and share at her annual Christmas party.
Last year Susie, the sister who is closest to my age did something that I thought was so incredible.
She is retired, I still work full time, am slowly renovating my house and both Susie and I have been spending most of our spare time helping my oldest sister, who's health is failing and couldn't decorate or shop or wrap gifts . . .
Susie knows that I love building a really nice puzzle 500 or 1000 piece puzzle every year around Christmas, but last year I had told her I didn't buy a puzzle because I knew I didn't have any time to build one.
On November 30th Susie brought me a box with 24 small, numbered gift boxes inside. An advent calendar gift box. Each day I opened a box and found about 20 puzzle pieces and a small token gift (a baggie with a few of my favorite candies in it, a lip balm, sample hand cream, perfume sample, a couple of wax tarts, a tiny face exfoliator that I love (link below), nail polish, small ornament that looked like my dog . . . ) The puzzle pieces weren't random, she had built the puzzle and taken 20 pieces that fit together and placed them in each box, so each night I could build another section of the puzzle. Even the little gifts that she put with the puzzle pieces were specially chosen for me. Scents that I love, candies I love, colors I love.
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Comments (11)I'll share! I only exchanged gifts with my boyfriend this year but I got him several things I was really excited about. He is a microbiologist and I found two old microbiology books on ebay for him. One from the 50's, and one from 1921. Even though they might seem like a strange gift to others, I knew he would love them. He has been reading that 1921 book non-stop since Christmas. He's so excited to see the difference between now and then in the field. He keeps saying, "they didn't even know about DNA yet!!!" very excitedly. hahahaha Last month we went to his family's lake cabin, that has been in the family since before he was born. We were making some drinks, and he accidentally broke this Tasmanian Devil drinking glass that was the very last one left at the cabin. Apparently there had been alot of them at one time. He was really bummed about it because the glasses reminded him of all the time spent out at the lake house growing up. Well, I happened to find two of those exact glasses on ebay also. They were promo glasses by Pepsi, sold only in 1973. He was pretty excited about those too. He got me a lovely necklace that I love. He picked out the perfect one....See MoreSee the special gift we got
Comments (12)It emerged tonight and my bil set it outside. We left the plant in mil's house so hopefully she could see it emerge. It was nearly clear and you could see the beautiful colors of the monarch through the chrysalis She got excited since she can't get out anymore, ; ) http://www.sciencebuzz.org/topics/monarch/the_monarch_life_cycle...See Morevery special gift ideas needed ASAP!!!
Comments (12)Maybe two pillows, one with the flag of Belarus and one with the US. I found this place on Etsy that can do two different flags - one on each side. Unfortunately, the Belarussian flag does not complement the American one as well as one would like- it's green and red predominantly. Here is the Easy vendor: https://www.etsy.com/listing/215513060/custom-flag-pillow-two-sides-customize?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_c-home_and_living-home_decor-decorative_pillows&utm_custom1=64d6ae51-00ca-4823-b2d7-ac2ddf9d8ddc&gclid=CN2vl4i3y9QCFYlefgodB0EGBg. I thought also of coffee table art books focused on American artists or American landscapes. It sounds like a wonderful celebration in the making....See MoreSpecial gift for DD 18th bday?
Comments (31)Terrilynn: I found it on Amazon then, and just found it again for you. It’s called “The best college dorm safe V5.0” for $249.99. There were many less expensive ones, but those could realistically be picked up and carried off by some thief. I wanted a small personal safe that she could physically attach to the underside of her bed, etc. The added expense, in my mind, was worth it to safely hold her passport, drivers license (freshman year =no car), good jewelry, etc. And, when her sorority house caught fire during her sophomore year, that safe kept everything in it from being destroyed. Just then, it earned every cent we payed for it!...See More
arcy_gw
4 months ago
Here's the calendar I sent to mom. It seems she's ahead of the game but she said she's having soo much fun with it. No tiny gifts included in mine.
Jennifer Hogan thanked arcy_gw
pudgeder
4 months ago
njmomma