I’ve been pretty overwhelmed with gift lists this year! But as in years past, I wanted to share a few of the gifts I gave last holiday season, in hopes of helping inspire you with your own ideas. Since I found the time for this post a little late, those ideas might be a little last-minute anyway!

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Cookbooks

If you’ve been following this blog the past year, you’ll know I’ve been obsessed with cookbooks! I like checking them out from the library and then if I read one of real value, I find a used copy at {referral links –>>} paperbackwap or thriftbooks to add to my collection. Here the specific cookbooks I gave at gifts last year:

• Skinnytaste Fast and Slow – After checking this one out from the library, I got it for a gift exchange, my in-laws, my bro and his wife and, of course, me!
• Teens Cook: How to Cook What You Want to Eat – for my teen nephew
• The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook – for my niece who had recently coupled and left the nest
• Cooking Class: 57 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Make (and Eat!) – for my nephews who were 9 and 11

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Charter Fishing Trip

The gift of time is one of my favorite gifts to give. Even though Green Bay is only 4 hours away, it’s really hard to get my parents to come visit us in the Twin Cities. Also, my husband has been wanting to fish with my dad ever since they met and it had not yet happened. I decided to make both things happen!

I created a voucher for a Charter Fishing Trip for the four of us in the Duluth this summer. I let them pick the weekend and gave some options on charter companies and said we’d cover the charter and two-night accommodations. We stayed at The Suites Hotel in a two bedroom suite because the parking lot backs up onto the marina and all we had to do was walk outside to the boat at 5:30am.

My dad has been on plenty of fishing trips like these; but I have not. So I don’t think the trip was as special to him as it was to me in a fishing sense; but I think he really loved spending the time with us! Even though it was June, it was COLD out on the water. Locals joke that they only have one month of summer per year – August. Looking back on this photo, I can’t get over how happy I look!

The actual fishing wasn’t exactly what I expected, but we took turns reeling in the fish each time one bit. We made memories!!!

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My dad ended up with the last one and the biggest so far of the season of that charter company. The captain was proud!

Here is the video of him reeling it in. It took a long time. This two-minute video feels long, but it really took about 20 minutes or so to reel that ^ big guy in! If you want to fast forward, it’s about at 1:38 where the good stuff starts happening… you’ll hear from all the swearing at the end! HA!

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And this is one of my fave photos of the trip, with my parents looking at each other, laughing:

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Regifting: Why I think it’s Okay!

I am not anti-regifting. Truth be told, if an item you are given (or purchased) isn’t quite the right fit for you, someone else may get so much more joy out of it! But I’m not talking about your great aunt’s fruitcake or a sweater you hate…

I have two real big rules about re-gifting.

#1 – It must be something that if you won’t use or enjoy that you know that the recipient will.

EXAMPLE: Rob was obsessed with wanting to kayak one year, but didn’t want to buy all of the equipment. He did oodles of research and purchased a blow up kayak similar to this one. The review that sold him: some guy packed it as luggage for his trip to Europe. However, Rob blew it up all of once when we were up at his parents’ lake place, but never put it in the water. Almost two years went by when he realized who could use it more: my brother’s family! They go up north to our cousin’s cottage on the lake every summer. It was in like new condition since it had never been used. Last summer, Rob received a text with a picture of our nephew in it:

#2  – It must not be the *only* gift they receive. You should also give another gift.

For me, this is sort of like a backup. Before regifting, I like to be sure that it’s something the recipient will love. But in case my intuition is completely off, I won’t feel like I completely bombed.

EXAMPLE: You may want to give someone something that is a family heirloom or tradition or something that you once loved, but no longer use. When I was a kid, my mom found an old lava lamp and set it up in my bedroom. I loved the soothing aqua-colored “lava” pooling around when I’d turn it on at night. In retrospect, it was meditative. When we moved, that lamp somehow got lost. So Santa bought me a new one for Christmas, this time with green “lava” because I liked all things Kermit-the-Frog. When starting it up, I liked to call the first little lava balls Kermy Turds. So clever, I know. Recently, I had rediscovered that lava lamp when my parents delivered all of my stuff that I’d left back at their house since college.

My nephew is a HUGE Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan and his favorite color is green. I decided he’d love to have my lamp! He did seem to love it when he opened it on Christmas last year. But recently when I asked about it, his mom said he hasn’t set it up nor turned it on because he is afraid of breaking it! (I may have to change that the next time I’m in town. 😉 ) But my point is here that this was not his only gift last year. I didn’t want that to be his only gift in case he didn’t like or use it.

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If you regift, what are your rules?

What are your tips for last-minute gifts?

Want more unique gift-giving ideas? Here are a few of my posts from past years:

• 5 Gifts I gave in 2015
• 7 GIfts I Gave in 2014
  
• 5 Gifts I Gave in 2013
• 6 Unique Gifts You’ll Actually Use
• Gifts for that Hard-to-Buy-for-Person Who Has Everything
• His and Hers Gift Guide

Looking for more ideas? Try these links. Some are older, but I still think they have great ideas:

• For Travelers – 15 Perfect Travel Gifts from Etsy
• For Kids – 100 Non-Toy Gift Ideas
• For Kids – Incredibly Meaningful Gifts You Can Give Your Kids
• For Him – 20 Gifts Guys Actually Want
• For Her – 50 Gift Ideas for Women under $20
• For the Foodie – 10 Ingredients Food Lovers Never Buy for Themselves
• To Make – DIY Christmas Gifts
• If you procrastinate – 20 Last Minute Gifts You Can DIY

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Happy Holidays!
Carrie