Anyone Christmas shopping yet... continued...

[MomToOne]

I totally just ordered that for him! Thank you SOOOOO much

Glad I could help Somehow I randomly stumbled across it a few days ago, and I've had it sitting in my shopping cart ever since. But I just haven't been able to think of anyone to give it to - no Star Wars folks on my gift list, just a bunch of old fuddy-duddies (I include myself in that group so no one take offense) and kids who just want cash. I'm glad someone was able to take advantage of the deal!

 

[1GoldenSun]

How about this? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U0NDBDA/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I wish I could think of someone to give it to - at less than $10, it's a deal!

Thank you! I just ordered one for my daughter; what a bargain! I hadn't even started thinking about Christmas shopping yet, but now I have one gift purchased, haha.

 

[la79al]

Looking for ideas here. I have 3 kids, 10, 8, 3. They have soooo much stuff and don't want to part with any of it. The 3 year old is really the only one that plays with most of it. This year for Christmas I have decided we are going more with experiences (ie tickets/gift cards to go do things because I'm not really sure there is anything near us to buy season passes for) and less with stuff. The problem is, all 3 still believe in Santa and are pretty used to tons of stuff under the tree. How do I balance a still exciting Christmas morning with gifts that will fit in an envelope?

 

[mco65]

Dammit, every year i tell my self, i am going to Christmas shop early (get it out of the way).. all year long in fact and i never do.. dammit.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Looking for ideas here. I have 3 kids, 10, 8, 3. They have soooo much stuff and don't want to part with any of it. The 3 year old is really the only one that plays with most of it. This year for Christmas I have decided we are going more with experiences (ie tickets/gift cards to go do things because I'm not really sure there is anything near us to buy season passes for) and less with stuff. The problem is, all 3 still believe in Santa and are pretty used to tons of stuff under the tree. How do I balance a still exciting Christmas morning with gifts that will fit in an envelope?

I haven't done this, but if it were me, wouldn't it be cool to see a bunch of helium balloons with strings and cards attached to the bottom - might look pretty magical (and the Dollar Store usually sells the balloons for $1/each).

And then I'd save some large "winter" stuff, like boots or coats (whatever they need), and wrap them and put them under the tree to give some heft.

You'd probably have a very full looking tree that you could break down into almost nothing once you decide to toss the balloons...

 

[figment3258]

I started in august no room to really store gifts though had to empty out my drawer to hid stuff hit up a nice Disney store sale and now ive been picking up mostly items that will be hard to find come November so wanted to get them now last year we didn't really do Christmas since we saved all last year for our dream trip to Disney we were there for over two weeks and came home right before Christmas and the kids were fine with it. but this year I want big fun Christmas My oldest is the hardest she buys herself everything she wants so not too sure what to get her.

 

[pblack]

Looking for ideas here. I have 3 kids, 10, 8, 3. They have soooo much stuff and don't want to part with any of it. The 3 year old is really the only one that plays with most of it. This year for Christmas I have decided we are going more with experiences (ie tickets/gift cards to go do things because I'm not really sure there is anything near us to buy season passes for) and less with stuff. The problem is, all 3 still believe in Santa and are pretty used to tons of stuff under the tree. How do I balance a still exciting Christmas morning with gifts that will fit in an envelope?

What about Christmas movies or cheap dvds? I'm not sure what your usual plan is for Christmas, but you could gift them movies and then spend the rest of the day watching them and eating popcorn/Christmas cookies/etc. Or maybe even puzzles or games that you could play as a family. You could also find each of them a really nice blanket (generally you can find some inexpensive ones on Black Friday) and then they have something to cozy up with. I know this is all technically stuff, but it's stuff that you guys could do together.

 

[MomToOne]

Looking for ideas here. I have 3 kids, 10, 8, 3. They have soooo much stuff and don't want to part with any of it. The 3 year old is really the only one that plays with most of it. This year for Christmas I have decided we are going more with experiences (ie tickets/gift cards to go do things because I'm not really sure there is anything near us to buy season passes for) and less with stuff. The problem is, all 3 still believe in Santa and are pretty used to tons of stuff under the tree. How do I balance a still exciting Christmas morning with gifts that will fit in an envelope?

While experiences are great, I think kids that age should still get at least one gift that they can immediately start enjoying Christmas Day. So maybe get at least one nice gift for each. That will make the tree look better

For the experiences, I print out a "certificate" (often homemade) and still wrap it in a box of some sort. I may add books related to it, or even just brochures, to give them something to look at and dig into. It helps jump start the recipient's imagination!

To help fill the time you would normally spend opening presents, how about making a special breakfast that everyone helps with. Or decorate a Gingerbread House. Or give everyone a bottle of silly string or small nerf-type gun in their stocking and have a parent vs. kid "war". Also think about how to slow down the present opening experience - if you are the kind of house where everyone just starts opening presents in a wild frenzy (nothing wrong with that - that's the way we did it with 5 kids growing up!!), maybe change it up so that one person opens a gift with everyone else watching, then go to the next person, etc.

 

[mmbrad02]

Looking for ideas here. I have 3 kids, 10, 8, 3. They have soooo much stuff and don't want to part with any of it. The 3 year old is really the only one that plays with most of it. This year for Christmas I have decided we are going more with experiences (ie tickets/gift cards to go do things because I'm not really sure there is anything near us to buy season passes for) and less with stuff. The problem is, all 3 still believe in Santa and are pretty used to tons of stuff under the tree. How do I balance a still exciting Christmas morning with gifts that will fit in an envelope?

My inlaws are a merged family.. my FIL married my step MIL after DH and I had been married several years, and along with DH's sister, Step MIL had a grown son. We have merged quite well, and between the 3 "kids" there are 6 grandkids ranging from age 2 to age 10, with one family who likely isn't done growing. Step MIL has decided to focus the gifts on the young kids but still gives us adult kids a good Christmas. To make the evening more fun, we do the following:

We do the saran wrap ball game. It's so.much.fun. Even the little ones really enjoy it. She puts a variety of things in there, from $25 Fuel giftcards to packages of juicy fruit gum, and everything in between. Stuff that appeals to our youngest to oldest. There is a $50 in the dead center too It can end up lopsided with the winners but typically it seems to work itself out okay. I know my inlaws play also and then usually share their winnings with the person who might have come up short while playing. Then the little ones open their presents, then my inlaws open their from us kids, and then the adult kids open theirs - this year we all got cash, but it just wasn't an envelope to open. One couple (we are all married but you can incorporate it for the younger crowd) opened a box. For example, mine and DH's box was a roll of toilet paper. Step MIL had completely unrolled it and rolled money back up inside. Then we opened another box. Which was the first note of a scavenger hunt. It sent us to yearbooks of theirs and we had to flip through and find the cash and then there was a note on how to divide it up. So all adult kids were on the missions together. Another couple opened a huge box with balloons inside and had to pop every single balloon to get their money out. The last couple opened a box of Kleenex tissues with the money throughout. We had 3 different scavenger hunts total to find the cash. I admit it was VERY fun!!

 

[kymom99]

What about Christmas movies or cheap dvds? I'm not sure what your usual plan is for Christmas, but you could gift them movies and then spend the rest of the day watching them and eating popcorn/Christmas cookies/etc. Or maybe even puzzles or games that you could play as a family. You could also find each of them a really nice blanket (generally you can find some inexpensive ones on Black Friday) and then they have something to cozy up with. I know this is all technically stuff, but it's stuff that you guys could do together.

I like that idea. You could give each kid a basket with a movie and things to go with it. Popcorn, candy, little toys themed with the movie, a cozy blanket.

 

[kymom99]

Kohls has Disney classic characters for $5. Actually I think they are left over but I got a Mickey, goofy, and Donald. My niece is taking her 2 to Disney in April. She doesn't want us to buy them a lot because their house is small so I will give them each one of those and maybe a little money for treats. My grandson gets the goofy.

 

[dreamin_disney]

I haven't started shopping yet, but I do have a list for my DD. It's her 2nd year in college and she lives on campus. She's full time student in an accelated program so we told her just focus on school no job. Her bday is a few weeks before Christmas so I plan on giving her cash for both. Sending her a bday package with a few lil things. Christmas will be cash, gift cards, game of humanity, meme game and whatever else she has on her list.

I need to know if any stores have giftcard deals. I don't want to do any of those online discount websites just legit online/instore gift cards. Usually we get her one big items ticket. I will see dd nextweek so I'll see if she added anything else to her list.

Will be looking for deals on
-chick-a-fila
-del taco
-dominos pizza
-Dunkin doughnuts
-wing stop or buffalo wings (can't remember which one is by her school)
-yogurt place

and a few stores

 

[tcufrog]

Not yet but I really hope I do start earlier this year.
I asked dd what does she want this year
She mentioned
-game of humanity. I think that's what its called
-and another game

I want to add some fun $$ gift ideas. Every college kids favorite gift-lol! Plus some gift cards so when she goes back to school after Christmas break

The game she wants is Cards Against Humanity. It’s popular with college kids.

So far I got my kids and the dog’s Christmas pjs from Zulily. DS11 is already 5’ 2” so it’s getting harder to get them matching ones and these were the ones I had my eye on. I also bought my sister a wooded yarn bowl from Zulily. She asked for one a few years ago and I didn’t get it. We have a Lego Christmas village we put together Thanksgiving week and I always get the family a new set for it. I already have one.

I’m not sure what I’ll get them this year. They were saving up to jointly buy a Switch so I had planned to get games for it. My dh and I cut out all video game playing and drastically cut back on computer time because they’re much better behaved without it. DS11 is hard to shop for. Too old for toys and not into his personal appearance or music yet.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

Looking for ideas here. I have 3 kids, 10, 8, 3. They have soooo much stuff and don't want to part with any of it. The 3 year old is really the only one that plays with most of it. This year for Christmas I have decided we are going more with experiences (ie tickets/gift cards to go do things because I'm not really sure there is anything near us to buy season passes for) and less with stuff. The problem is, all 3 still believe in Santa and are pretty used to tons of stuff under the tree. How do I balance a still exciting Christmas morning with gifts that will fit in an envelope?

Go to local craft store. Buy a blank puzzle for $1. Write on the puzzle ( we are going on a special family adventure to the zoo or arcade or indoor pool or something) wrap each piece up separately (inside to roll or paper towel roll etc) divide between kids. As the kids open presents and get more pieces, they have to work together to put puzzle together.

Something else fun was to buy a cookie mix. Fancy wrap - cute certificate to go with it saying “ one on one time with mom” and “you get to eat the first ones”

 

[mommy2twingles]

Done with one son except for a chill sack that he wants for his room. Not sure where to store it or I would have bought it already. DD is mostly done plus we are doing a girls trip in November that I will pick up a few things for her. Other DS is always the hardest. He will be getting a SW Virtual Race entry along with books and video games. Also new phones for DD and one DS this year

 

[Sagginit]

I am going to start in the next week or two. I honestly used to stash gifts all year but it was mostly generic stuff I found on sale so I skipped it this year as we were planning on moving and it wasn't worth the hassle. I have lots of toddlers to shop for so I'm thinking about picking up some Ikea wooden toys and some educational toys (puzzles and stackers) from the Spark line at Walmart.

We have a baby due in February and our son's 2nd bday is in mid-January, so I got a lot going on (we also have several family bdays between Oct and Dec). Last year I did the four gift thing with my husband and it worked well so we will do that again. For my son I get lots of questions from family on what to buy so I'm looking into some sort of universal registry so I don't have a ton of returns like I did last year when we got duplicates or things he wouldn't play with.

As for extended family I'm trying to convince people to do a gift limit (secret santa or 4 gift rule) or just do gifts for our children since our generation will all have kids this year for the first time

I actually get really stressed about gifting with so many people and we are trying to go minimalist so we just keep giving away stuff we have been given. I told my husband last year I bought and wrapped gifts for over 20 people which was out of control considering most are adults and don't need anything lol. I know people mention experiences so I'm thinking to buy more of those types of giftcards than physical gifts to save my sanity. My nephews are now in 3rd and 6th grade so I think giftcards to a local place with laser tag or movie theatre will replace the board games/legos we usually get.

We just got the Cozi app so I'm going to put a list in there and reach out to family this week to determine who I have to shop for.

 

[DreamIsaWish]

With all of the hype this summer around the Harry Potter 20th anniversary, I have been buying and stashing away for DD8. Target had a full section of HP and the cutest "flip sequin" HP pillow. I don't know that I got great prices (but they seemed decent enough for items she'll really like) and it killed me not to buy things on crazy cheap clearance, but I wanted to take advantage of having so much selection. Any favorite Harry Potter suggestions to add to my stash?

DS13 will be going on a high adventure hiking trip with Boy Scouts next summer (to Philmont in New Mexico) so gear for that will be part of the Christmas list. I'm hoping to take advantage of end-of-summer sales for at least some of that. But I feel really puzzled since I'm not a camper or hiker, and for this trip he will need really light gear since they have to carry it all for the week. Any suggestions of places to shop (or favorite gear choices/brands for those who are more knowledgeable on this subject than I am)?

 

[pblack]

With all of the hype this summer around the Harry Potter 20th anniversary, I have been buying and stashing away for DD8. Target had a full section of HP and the cutest "flip sequin" HP pillow. I don't know that I got great prices (but they seemed decent enough for items she'll really like) and it killed me not to buy things on crazy cheap clearance, but I wanted to take advantage of having so much selection. Any favorite Harry Potter suggestions to add to my stash?

DS13 will be going on a high adventure hiking trip with Boy Scouts next summer (to Philmont in New Mexico) so gear for that will be part of the Christmas list. I'm hoping to take advantage of end-of-summer sales for at least some of that. But I feel really puzzled since I'm not a camper or hiker, and for this trip he will need really light gear since they have to carry it all for the week. Any suggestions of places to shop (or favorite gear choices/brands for those who are more knowledgeable on this subject than I am)?

Pottery Barn Kids has some really cute Harry Potter stuff right now, albeit not cheap.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

DS13 will be going on a high adventure hiking trip with Boy Scouts next summer (to Philmont in New Mexico) so gear for that will be part of the Christmas list. I'm hoping to take advantage of end-of-summer sales for at least some of that. But I feel really puzzled since I'm not a camper or hiker, and for this trip he will need really light gear since they have to carry it all for the week. Any suggestions of places to shop (or favorite gear choices/brands for those who are more knowledgeable on this subject than I am)?

I think most of my son's camping gear for BS came from REI. Don't overthink the clothing. My DS's troop literally wore the same pair of shorts until they were unbearable, then changed. The first pair was absolutely ruined. I could never get them "clean." All said, my DS still says it was one of his best trips ever. Hiking the Grand Canyon was the other.

 

[DreamIsaWish]

I think most of my son's camping gear for BS came from REI. Don't overthink the clothing. My DS's troop literally wore the same pair of shorts until they were unbearable, then changed. The first pair was absolutely ruined. I could never get them "clean." All said, my DS still says it was one of his best trips ever. Hiking the Grand Canyon was the other.

Thanks for the encouragement! I have a feeling I also won't want to see those clothes again. ;-)

I think I'll hit up the after-season clearance right now to pick up shorts and shirts (although he already has a lot of the "dry-fit" style shirts in his closet so that's less urgent). We also went to REI over the weekend and tried out some sleeping pads and got some great advice from the folks working there. Apparently they have a gift registry so that may be a good approach for getting family members to chip in as well. I loved how low-pressure the guys were there. They were excited to talk about Philmont. I'm sure a bunch of gear will come from there, but it also gives me perspective as I look around for good prices (maybe Black Friday there or other stores?).