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It's That Time of Year Again!


The Turkey has been cooked, and the leftovers enjoyed (or, if your house is anything like mine, the leftovers are still being enjoyed), and now it is time to unabashedly start getting ready for Christmas. It's time to pull out the ladder, get the lights down from the attic and up on the house. And while I have been trying to chip away at my Christmas list slowly for a while now, its time to kick it into high gear!

 

Celebrating The Twelve Days of Christmas is an important part of my family's holiday season. That means picking out fun little trinkets and goodies throughout the year to fill the boxes for our family members to open from December 26 through January 6. To give you a jump-start on shopping for The Twelve Days of Christmas this week I am going to share with you some of the toys and trinkets that we have given to our family (and received ourselves) over the past couple of years. Today I will share with you some of the goodies that have been found inside the male family member's boxes. Later this week I will share some of the goodies that the ladies have gotten. None of the things on this list are very masculine, so most of these ideas could go for either gender and any age.

  • Wall Walker

These are fun little toys. They are a bit sticky, but harmless. You throw them against a wall or window and they walk their way down. Fun for adults and kids.

  • Cube Robot

These are fun toys to position and play with. They start out as a cube and then transform into a robot. We have two - the smallest one which will fit in a Twelve Days box, and the next size up. Both robots like to hang out in various places around our house. One is hanging out on our wine rack right now.

  • Pencil sharpener/eraser - for the artist or doodler in your life, a fun pencil sharpener and eraser combo makes a good Twelve Days gift. There are lots of cute shapes out there now.
  • Puzzles - these are a yearly occurence in our Twelve Days box. From small jig-saw puzzles to brain-teaser puzzles, they are always a crowd pleaser.
  • Robot pinball

I put one of these in one of my husband's boxes last year. They are a bit hard to play with adult sized fingers, but still fun. And cheap.

  • Chapstick - my father-in-law loves chapstick, as do I. There are so many varieties out there today - from your standard Chapstick brand to Burts Bees to all kinds of other brands with a wide variet of flavors from sweet to minty.
  • Cork animal

 

These are fun little gifts - especially if you know someone who enjoys wine. Most of us have a couple corks lurking around in a drawer somewhere, so why not dress them up? These "Corkers" come in lots of different sets.

  • Metal bookmark - the kind you can clip on the top or side of a page
  • mini 8-ball - you remember the Magic 8-Ball, right? Well in some party stores and toy stores they sell miniature versions for party-favor bags.
  • geode - I loved geodes when I was a kid. In some toy stores you can find geodes now where you can crack your own. It just looks like a rock from the outside, but if you split it open with a hammer you might find a beautiful geode inside!
  • nose flute

 

These are fun for kids of all ages. You stick it in your nose and hum, and somewhat like a kazoo it makes noise.

  • chocolate elves - lots of candy stores sell fun little chocolates in all sorts of shapes this time of year. Cost Plus World Market is a good place to look.
  • movie ticket gift cards - we don't go to the movies very often, but at Costco you can usually get movie ticket gift cards that cut the cost down by a couple dollars per ticket, so they make a nice gift for a night out after the holidays are over.
  • Fishing IOU - my husband made a little gift-certificate for his dad that was an I.O.U. for a fishing trip. There are lots of fun things you can make an I.O.U. for - a massage, homemade dinner, free babysitting, etc.
  • Finger monsters

I remember these from when I was a kid, maybe you do too?

  • Light keychain - I like to have a little light on my keychain, for when it is dark and I need to see something (whether it be the keyhole on the front door or to find something in my purse). A little light keychain makes a great Twelve Days gift.
  • Wine aerator - there are quite a few wine-related things that will fit in a Twelve Days Box.
  • Gift cards 
  • Gift subscriptions - you can make your own little coupon to put in a Twelve Days box for any kind of non-tangible gift.
  • Small toys - yo-yos, silly putty, etc.
  • Ornaments
  • Keychains

The list goes on and on. Get creative!

 

 


2 Days Until Christmas - A Cozy Christmas Light Tour!


 

Gift idea: a cozy tour of Christmas lights in your neighborhood

Makes a good gift for: Anyone!

 

If you are like me, then you LOVE Christmas lights. I love every evening when the lights switch on (ours are on a timer) and seeing them shimmer and flash through the windows. I love bundling up and taking the dog out for a walk and oohing and aahing at the great lights in our neighborhood.

A fun last-minute and very low-cost gift would be to take a Christmas-light lover like me on a cozy tour of the best lights in the area. You should scope out a couple neighborhoods a few nights before and take notes as to where the best places are. Then arrange (or surprise) your guest of honor with a tour - complete with a travel mug of hot cocoa or hot cider, and of course some Christmas music! You could wrap up the evening by stopping somewhere to get a slice of pie, or maybe a milkshake. Sounds like a fun night to me!


4 More Days Until Christmas - Gift Cards and Then Some


Some last minute Christmas Gift/DIY Gift Ideas will be coming your way from now until Christmas.

Gift idea: Gift cards, and then some

Makes a good gift for: Anyone – good last minute gift

Christmas is fast approaching, and as time runs out sometimes we remember that we totally forgot to get someone something. That feeling has to be one of the worst. And as Christmas gets closer, it can get harder to find certain items, and also just more hectic to go out in to the masses of last minute shoppers.

These ideas don’t have to be just for last-minute gifts, though. A well-planned gift card or other type of gift certificate can go over very well. All of these ideas will also fit in a Twelve Days of Christmas Box, and can be a great way to pack a punch into a little box!


Gift Cards: as I said above, these don’t have to be a last minute thing you pick up at the checkout counter at the grocery store. It seems like pretty much every store has gift cards these days, and so do movie theaters, restaurants and amazon.com.









Magazine subscriptions: Every year I get Jonathon a gift subscription to Harpers Magazine. Its only $10, and it lasts all year! Lots of magazines have deals these days where if you buy one subscription you can get a second free, or very cheap – so you could always do magazine subscriptions for multiple people, or treat yourself!





Lottery tickets/scratchers: Just swing by a 7-11 or other corner-store to pick up some fun chances at winning. And just imagine how excited the recipient will be if they win!








Event tickets: Do you know someone who loves a certain sports team, comedian, artist or play? Search the web to see if they are playing nearby and buy a couple tickets. Giving the gift of an experience like this can be a lot of fun.








Homemade I.O.U.: Maybe someone on your list really likes your homemade lasagna or loves the way you grill a steak – why not write up an I.O.U. for that special homemade dinner or treat for the recipient to redeem whenever they want? You could also do a more elaborate gift and have a whole weekend itinerary planned, or maybe have a certificate redeemable for a full house cleaning?


5 Days Until Christmas - A Nice Clean Christmas


Gift idea: Soap 

Makes a good gift for: Anyone – stocking stuffers, Twelve Days of Christmas gifts

Soap might sound like a crappy Christmas present – akin to getting socks from your grandma (although, for the record, I love getting socks and my mom usually gets me some every year). But soap is one of those things that comes in all shapes and scents, and if you look hard enough (I don’t think I need to plug Etsy again, but if I do, then there you go) you can find soap that is somehow personal for almost anyone. And I doubt I am speaking for myself alone when I say that I don’t buy nice soap for myself – just my standard Dove bar soap for the shower.

Below are some nice soaps I found online, but you by no means have to stick to the internet for soap – check out your local drugstore, Target or even the mall for stores like L’Occitaine, The Body Shop, etc.

Small cherry-blossom scented soap:

Fun Christmas coal-shaped soap:
Coal-shaped soap on Etsy - two for $7.50



6 Days Until Christmas - Fun Phone Accesories


Gift idea: iPhone/smart phone Accessories 

Makes a good gift for: Techies/ Stocking Stuffers/ Twelve Days Gifts

It seems like just about everyone these days (kids and myself included) has an iPhone or some kind of smart phone. Chances are if you appreciate the features of a smart phone, you will also appreciate some of these fun accessories:

Keychain light:
Micro Light Smartphone Pack - comes with two microtools and a stand for smartphones - $5.99

Jelly lens for mobile phone camera:
Jelly Lens - Wide Angle - for phone cameras - $7.50

Macro lens-band for mobile phone camera:

Higher end specialty lens for mobile phone camera:

Mini-microphone speaker: 

Joystick for iPhone:







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