Things I Love – #20
Holiday Gift Ideas
As I’ve gotten older, I like to focus on gifts that involve an experience. Since travel and public experiences (like a spa day) are limited now, below are some ideas for stay-at-home experiences. (Click on blue text {NOT photos} for more details or to purchase.)
Hand / Foot Treatments: Between the constant hand washing and the cold temps, everyone could use extra hand cream. Buy a package of white cotton gloves and a few tubes of thick hand lotion. (The cotton gloves will warm up hands to help the lotion soak in – also there won’t be greasy hand prints on everything.) Fill several small gift bags with a pair of gloves and one tube of lotion, now you have little gifts for all your girlfriends. To elevate: Include a foot mask with a thick pair of socks and a lip balm.
Manicure / Pedicure: I love these cute polish and top coat ornaments from Olive and June. To elevate: Fill a plastic storage container with a polish remover dispenser, cotton rounds, a fingernail file, buffer and orange sticks.
Spa Time: Include a favorite face sheet mask, bath salts and body lotion. To elevate: Include a facial steamer, a cooling roller and under eye masks. I love this face steamer and cooling roller (store the roller in the freezer and roll over your face and eyes to reduce puffiness and brighten your skin.)
Build Your Own Pizza Night: A pizza stone, a pizza cutter and a pizza peel. To elevate: Include Italian beer or wine and a gift certificate to a local Italian market for gourmet supplies.
Charcuterie Board: Order a custom cutting board and combine it with small serving bowls and a set of cheese knives. To elevate: Add a bottle of wine and assorted shelf-stable charcuterie items like: fig jam, Marcona almonds, olives, cornichons and gourmet crackers or include a gift certificate to a local cheese shop.
Cookie making: A new mixing bowl, cookie sheets, spatulas and cookie cutters for an afternoon of baking. To elevate: Include a Kitchenaid mixer an apron, pot holders and / or a family favorite cookie recipe.
Hallmark Christmas Movie Night: A mug or two, hot chocolate, marshmallows, crushed candy canes and a set of Christmas movie bingo cards. To elevate: Buy glass canisters for the hot chocolate fixings and a handheld frother to create a fluffy hot cocoa. This frother almost doubles the size of your drink, so leave lots of room in your mug!
Book Basket: Fill a basket with your favorite books or an assortment of best sellers. To elevate: Include a monogram book embosser and embossing stickers or a Kindle with a Kindle Unlimited membership. Consider sending the same book to multiple friends and setting up a virtual book club date in January.
Bulb Garden: You can purchase a bulb garden or kit online or from your local garden store. To elevate: Make your own kit with a pot that matches the recipient’s style, a gallon baggie of potting soil or stones, a paper bag with paper white bulbs and don’t forget to include potting instructions. Once planted, the bulbs will bloom in about four weeks. Everyone could use flowers during the January gloom.
Movie Night: Put together a basket with classic Christmas DVDs and treats including popcorn, flavored popcorn seasoning, traditional movie theater candy and bottled sodas. To elevate: Include popcorn bowls and a cozy blanket or a subscription to Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime video.
Game Night: Choose a favorite board game like Life, Monopoly, Trouble or Scrabble, add a deck of playing cards, Uno or Skippo, then add some sweet and salty snacks. To elevate: Send snack boxes and a game like Yahtzee to multiple households and schedule a Zoom call for a virtual game night.
What are some of your favorite stay-at-home experiences? I’m always looking for more ideas.
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