Christmas gifts for in-laws

[livinginsg]

Has anyone started shopping yet? Please share ideas! For Xmas last year, i gave a set of golf-related memorabilia to my father-in-law and a shanghai chic purse to my mother-in-law.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Those are great gifts, Living! It''s funny because just this morning I started thinking about what to give for gifts this year. I really want to be done shopping by Thanksgiving!

Both of my parents golf, so I like to give them a weekend golf vacation as a gift. There are several resorts that they love near them, so I get them a night at a hotel and a couple of rounds of golf. It''s something they can look forward to, which is nice. D''s parents are harder to shop for because they don''t have any real hobbies--well, they love horticulture, but we don''t know enough about it to get a thoughtful gift. I think this year we might get them something electronic--their TV has been acting up, so maybe a new TV? That doesn''t seem like a very good gift. Maybe we''ll get them a weekend non-golf trip. We need to figure it out.

 

[musey]

My FIL is very in to indie music and surfing, so his gifts usually have to do with one or the other. A couple years back we got him an amazing surf photography book that was done by his favorite hula photographer. CDs from obscure indie bands are always a favorite gift, too.

MIL is harder. She''s into woodworking and gardening (just like my mom!), so past gifts have been woodworking books and gardening supplies.

Last year we enacted a family-wide ''no christmas gifts'' policy. It''s been SO NICE. No one worries about fulfilling some sort of gift quota, we''re just there to spend time with one another. I love it.

 

[trillionaire]

I was thinking of a digital photo album pre-loaded with pictures for the Future-parent-in-laws, and maybe a couple''s massage package for the brother/sister in law I would do a couple''s massage package for FI''s parent''s but would that be weird? I also thought about GC''s for indoor skydiving for bro/sis-in-law... It would be fun and safe for us young folks! FFIL might actually go too, which would be hysterical!

I''ve done things like Ohama Steaks, Gift Baskets, Holiday Cheesecake, cigars and personalized mirror/compacts, etc for the in-laws in previous years... I guess I need to get crackin'' on plans for this year!

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/6/2009 2:06:08 PM
Author: musey
My FIL is very in to indie music and surfing, so his gifts usually have to do with one or the other. A couple years back we got him an amazing surf photography book that was done by his favorite hula photographer. CDs from obscure indie bands are always a favorite gift, too.

MIL is harder. She''s into woodworking and gardening (just like my mom!), so past gifts have been woodworking books and gardening supplies.

Last year we enacted a family-wide ''no christmas gifts'' policy. It''s been SO NICE. No one worries about fulfilling some sort of gift quota, we''re just there to spend time with one another. I love it.

Oh, I wish, I wish, I WISH we could do this! My family would be okay with it, but my SIL would pitch a fit. And I like buying things for my family, so there goes that idea! LOL!

 

[Pandora II]

DH and I both have big families - plus his parents are divorced and re-married so two sets of in-laws.

Last year my SIL and I decided it was getting ridiculous shopping for around 50 people, so we buy ''couple'' gifts at Xmas for a max of $60 for siblings and $120 for parents - and don''t do birthdays anymore.

So, for all the BIL''s and partners and my siblings, we gave a Fortnum & Mason Chilli Oil which comes in a grogeous bottle, a book on Chillis with recipes, history etc and a grow-your-own chilli kit with some rare species seeds.

For all the parents I put together hampers of Truffle things - truffle oil, truffle sauces, truffle pasta, a jar of truffles, a truffle shaver and a book on Truffles with lots of recipes. Oh, and I chucked in a box of chocolate truffles as well.

The hampers were a huge success - one set of parents said they''d be happy to be given the same thing every year.

Still working on this year''s presents...

 

[kittybean]

Date: 10/6/2009 9:32:56 AM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Those are great gifts, Living! It''s funny because just this morning I started thinking about what to give for gifts this year. I really want to be done shopping by Thanksgiving!

Both of my parents golf, so I like to give them a weekend golf vacation as a gift. There are several resorts that they love near them, so I get them a night at a hotel and a couple of rounds of golf. It''s something they can look forward to, which is nice. D''s parents are harder to shop for because they don''t have any real hobbies--well, they love horticulture, but we don''t know enough about it to get a thoughtful gift. I think this year we might get them something electronic--their TV has been acting up, so maybe a new TV? That doesn''t seem like a very good gift. Maybe we''ll get them a weekend non-golf trip. We need to figure it out.

I don''t know that much about horticulture, but I feel like all the plant lovers I know get pretty excited about orchids. Maybe you could get them a few orchid plants that they can grow? They will likely know how to take good care of them, which will mean that your gift will "keep on giving" every time the orchid blooms. Phalaenopsis or dendrobium orchids are both good choices (cymbidium and cattaleya are beautiful, too, but harder to grow based on my limited knowledge).

 

[kama_s]

Our families don''t spend a lot on gifts, so we usually get each parent a small gift (or two smaller gifts) plus a few stocking stuffers. One part of my gift to my MIL is usually something girly (one year it was cuchina cinnamon orange products from Fruits and Passion, another year it was an inexpensive fresh pearl necklace), because she doesn''t have any daughters and loves to go shopping with me and do girly things. I always get lipgloss in my stocking from her because she''s so excited to buy girly things for me too (but I don''t use lipgloss, so I now have a huge stash of unused tubes and pots in my make-up closet!).

This year we''re going to gift them an album with our professional pictures from the wedding. I''m almost done making it, so hopefully I get it in time! We''ll add a few more small gifts and stocking stuffers as well.

 

[kama_s]

Date: 10/6/2009 2:06:08 PM
Author: musey

Last year we enacted a family-wide ''no christmas gifts'' policy. It''s been SO NICE. No one worries about fulfilling some sort of gift quota, we''re just there to spend time with one another. I love it.

We did something similar between DH and I as well! We had a stocking-only policy last year with a max of 75$ budget. We gave each other books, CD''s, candy and a bunch of cute/goofy misc. things. It was so much fun opening the stocking and it didn''t break our budget at all!

 

[musey]

Date: 10/6/2009 10:44:13 PM
Author: kama_s

Date: 10/6/2009 2:06:08 PM
Author: musey
Last year we enacted a family-wide ''no christmas gifts'' policy. It''s been SO NICE. No one worries about fulfilling some sort of gift quota, we''re just there to spend time with one another. I love it.

We did something similar between DH and I as well! We had a stocking-only policy last year with a max of 75$ budget. We gave each other books, CD''s, candy and a bunch of cute/goofy misc. things. It was so much fun opening the stocking and it didn''t break our budget at all!

This is what it''s turned into for us, as well... some people insist on buying gifts and just say "they''re only stocking presents"

haha

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/7/2009 1:51:10 PM
Author: musey

Date: 10/6/2009 10:44:13 PM
Author: kama_s

We did something similar between DH and I as well! We had a stocking-only policy last year with a max of 75$ budget. We gave each other books, CD''s, candy and a bunch of cute/goofy misc. things. It was so much fun opening the stocking and it didn''t break our budget at all!

This is what it''s turned into for us, as well... some people insist on buying gifts and just say ''they''re only stocking presents''

haha

We''re buying a flat screen this year and "just" getting stockings for each other.

My MIL started to ask Adam what colors I like, and sizes....

I freaked out and told him to tell her for the love of little green apples not to buy me clothes!!! And immediately put together a HUGE list of things and sent it to her. The worst part is... I''d rather just get a gift card or something. Or just go over for dinner! Gah.

Sorry for the mini hijack.

 

[geckodani]

Okay, I just stumbled across some really fun soaps on Etsy - the one that caught my eye is made with Guiness (=tags&includes[]=title:2o8h065d]link) Since my FIL loves guiness, I think I may have to get him a bar as a funny ha ha for Christmas.

 

[Elmorton]

Last year, our budget was pretty tight, so we made donations and did community service for each person.

For my dad, we went to the humane society (animal lover) and donated to Americans for the Arts (fine arts lover).
For my mom, we donated blood (that''s my first memory of doing community service with her) and adopted a Bison at a prairie reserve she used to take me to when I was a kid.
For my MIL, we went to the humane society (also an animal lover) and donated a children''s literacy program (she''s an avid reader, loves kids) through United Way called Imagination Library.
For my FIL, we volunteered at Toys for Tots and bought toys to donate (he''s a big kid and LOVES Christmas).
And for my SMIL, we ran in the Jingle Bell Run (her mother, who passed away a month before Xmas had arthritis, and my SMIL is an avid runner).

For each person, we wrote a letter of why the individual inspired us to pick the charity and what we did. We included photos of us volunteering, any mementos we could from the organization (pamphlets, for my SMIL, shoelaces, the race numbers, the bells they hand out).

It was a HUGE hit, and we were so proud of the gifts. Our parents really don''t need anything from us, and they especially last year, they didn''t want us spending the money, so we were really happy that we figured out a touching way to give a good gift.

This year, I think we''ll be able to afford nicer gifts, but DH and I are thinking about trying to do the same thing. It''s hard, because we don''t want to "repeat" the gift - part of the fun I think was the surprise. So, we''re contemplating what to do.

I think for my mom, SMIL, and two SILs I might go ahead and get a strand of pearllunar pearls, just as a little stocking stuffer. Last year, I did a ton of jewelry making, and combined with work and the volunteering, it was a bit stressful, but I know the gifts were appreciated because everyone seems to wear the stuff. So we''ll see if I do that. My MIL doesn''t really wear jewelry, but she keeps a detailed gift list of books etc on Amazon, so she''s easy to take care of, and DH usually gets some golf stuff for his dad.

Another idea we''ve tossed around is a gift basket - wine, fruit, a couple of gift cards for local restaurants, etc, but I kinda feel eh on that this year. It seems like a gift that we should go with when we''re REALLY out of ideas.

 

[geckodani]

Date: 10/7/2009 9:02:28 PM
Author: Elmorton
Last year, our budget was pretty tight, so we made donations and did community service for each person.

Elmorton - what a great and creative idea!

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 10/8/2009 8:44:56 AM
Author: geckodani

Date: 10/7/2009 9:02:28 PM

Author: Elmorton

Last year, our budget was pretty tight, so we made donations and did community service for each person.

Elmorton - what a great and creative idea!

This really is a great idea. I might have to borrow that one from you. My parents and I have already agreed to not do anything gift-wise for Christmas. Though, my mother STINKS at sticking to that rule. I really hope I can keep her money in her pockets this year.

 

[noelwr]

I''m thinking of taking some of our wedding photos and making desk or magnet calendars for the family members.