Family/Friends Gifts

hp_momma

I know we've talked about what we want for the holidays, but I need some ideas on what your getting other people and I figured everyone else would get some use out of the ideas too. 

So please share what you are getting for your spouse, parents, in-laws, siblings, friends, etc.! 

OmegaRose3

I love the bath sets from Walmart (etc) especially for family members that love baths, they have some nice Epsom salt sets. For coffee drinkers, I get funky mugs. Books and socks are always a good gift in my opinion. Restaurant gift cards for people who have a favorite lunch spot. For the kids I like to get PJs. And when all else fails there's always homemade gifts made by the kids or Pinterest.

ShadeofGreen816

We did an Amazon echo for inlaws - she keeps saying how cool she thinks it is! Step-MIL gets earrings and a Barnes and noble gift card, MHs step sister and her H get a movie they're GC, their kids just got some toys I'm sure they already have, SIL is getting some face mask kit and probably a new coffee mug, Hs grandparents get GC ago their favorite restaurant (re aren't allowed to buy them "stuff" they say they have enough), my mom is getting a bunch of bath stuff, FIL is getting a new magazine and some ammo for his gun, and my dad is getting an Echo Dot to go with his echo he bought himself a while back and probably also some ammunition. 

Sorry that hat was a terrible run on sentence with horrible structure. But I gotta get up and get ready for work!

vrj0522

We do food items for adults... cookies, cupcakes, nuts, tea, fruit baskets, chocolate, etc, or gift cards, unless I know for a fact that someone wants something specific. I hate giving gifts that people don't care for so we go the safe route.

rkstro2

Last year we made little baskets with BBQ items, like our favorite rub, favorite sauce, a marinade, and a few grill tools.  This year I am doing something with all locally made items...it has some locally made chocolates, salsa and chips, etc.  I also had an idea for local craft beers or a local wine in a basket. (None of our family live in the area where we live). 

champhe

@rkstro2 I love your idea! 
I usually do home made bath gifts with body butter, bath bombs, salts and scrubs. I'm not sure if I will do all that this year or not. I ordered calendars and pictures  (my son is the only grandchild on both sides and the grandparents love pictures) last night. I found an awesome gift on amazon called "letters to my grandchild". The book asks questions that prompt letters and they put an "open on" date on the letter. We recently found out my stepmom has maybe three months to live due to pancreatic cancer and this was the only thing I found that I think she would love. I think all the grandparents will love it though and my son will love it when he opens them all. 

mcvgal

My mom always gives us the best Christmas gift - a popcorn tin with a $100.00 grocery store gift card. I love the gift card that we are definitely going to use anyway.

KMD1106

I usually get my mom and MIL a shirt and some sort of inexpensive jewelry. This year my dad is getting a bunch of Christmas Vacation stuff I found at Kohl's. FIL is getting a shirt and slippers. My brother is getting a mustard making kit that he asked for, another is getting a George Foreman grill, and BIL is getting a gift card for clothes because he recently lost a lot of weight in the military. Great Grandparents are getting a framed school picture of DD. That's all we have done for now.

MrsFox2008

For DH we have decided to do stocking stuffers for each other. Like candy, scratch off tickets, and a small gift that can fit inside the stocking, I'm going to get DH some cds for his car. For everyone else we do a draw from my family and his family does a drawing too. Who ever we draw is who we buy for, saves everyone money that way! 

nda_roxybabe

I have a formula of sorts for some family members.
Nieces (there's 5 now that I get gifts for) get books, a dress, and some hair pretties.
SIL 1: A cookbook, a kitchen item she requests (they're small), and something pretty from Anthro.
BIL 1: A book from his list and typically some other cool item.
BIL 2: Something coffee related and whatever else we can figure out because he is hard to shop for!
My Mom: Either a table runner and napkins (she loves them) or something pretty from Anthro
This year H heard about some crazy flavored PB, so we ordered most everyone a jar and 3 for ourselves, haha.

H and I stopped getting each other gifts a few years back. Sometimes we will still do something random. He just bought me a new pair of boots from Nordys and a new fancy dryer (It has an app! OMG! yay!) so those are pretty much my Christmas gift. I bought him the follow up book to The Expectant Father and still plan on getting him something else off his list.

The whole family pitches in for stockings. For the men we typically do extra stuff from H's Birchbox. Hey, the guys love it! For the girls I'll order homemade amazing smelling soaps from this seller on Etsy as well as scrubs. We often pick cool sock for everyone too.

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot

@nda_roxybabe Do you mean a hair dryer? Tell me more.  I'm in the market.

nda_roxybabe

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot said:

@nda_roxybabe Do you mean a hair dryer? Tell me more.  I'm in the market.

LOL. Nope, but I do need one of those! My MIL gave me hers oh....10 years ago. Luckily I only use it a few times a month.

Dryer like washing machine and dryer. I'm hoping he will still surprise me and get the washer too. He talked about it...

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot

@nda_roxybabe Ahhh.  I see.  I read that as getting a fancy dryer at Nordy's.  Pregbrain attacks again.

achays11

Our sisters are all getting coffee mugs, my BIL is getting a shirt and some beer, in-laws are getting a gift card to a restaurant they've never been to (we do that every year), and my mom is getting some new shirts because she just recently lost weight. 

nda_roxybabe

@NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot Haha, I can see how it reads that way.

diann21

@ShadeofGreen816 our family is in the same boat of "we have too much stuff." 

So we try to do memory-making/experience things. So for BIL & SIL we might give them a gift card for a night out and provide babysitting. Or for M&FIL we might coordinate a family photoshoot. Or we may get tickets to a fun show, or fun cooking or painting classes that we or they can do together. Things like that.  

For kids I saw this on Facebook and thought it was a great idea, limiting gifts to only 4 items: "Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read."

PghMom412

@diann21 we do the 4 gifts for our daughter- want, need, wear, read- and it works so well. she gets so much from her aunts, uncles, and grandparents and her birthday is in January. I figure set the standard now and hopefully it will stick as she gets older. 

nda_roxybabe

I plan on having baby fill a garbage bag of things to donate every year before Christmas to help reduce the clutter.

mspacman34

DH: I got him a cast iron skillet, new razor, dress socks, and a jacket. I'm sure he could guess each and every thing I got for him.
Grown up in-laws: each couple gets a calendar with pictures from the past year and a framed family picture. I take their family pictures every year.
Kids in-laws: This year I made them all pillows from fat-quarters and put a decorative patch on them. There are so many kids that I typically make them something simple.
Other adult family members: I try to get some nice clothes, gift cards, and other random things that they may not want to buy for themselves, but need. 

RainyDays86

There are some great ideas on here!  

For my brother and sister, I try to do something small that they'll like (got my sister a calendar with pictures of DS because she's obsessed with him and lives far away) and a gift card (usually Sephora for my sister, general Visa pre-paid card for my brother).  This year I made donations to Heifer International for my whole family which is fun because you get to pick the kind of livestock you are buying for a family in need in a developing country.

hp_momma

Thank you for sharing all your ideas!! 

I have to buy for my parents and in-laws still and those seem to be the ones I struggle with every year. 

We always do Secret Santa on DHs side amongst the adults and kids (because I'm not buying for 6 adults and 10 kids!) 

chocolatelemons

We do a secret Santa on my moms side and I got my grandma this year. We got her the New York Timea Birthday Book... It has a page from her birthday for every year.

My siblings and I split the cost of a new tv for my dad. I got my sister a gift card so she can put it toward a plane ticket to a bachelorette party she's going to. I haven't gotten to my brother or my mom. 

Husband and I aren't exchanging gifts this year. We plan to go away for a weekend instead.