Fish Extender gift ideas -- for the not-so-crafty cruiser

[gdulaney]

I've been reading the Homemade FE Gifts Photo thread and I'm amazed by the creativity of other cruisers..... but what about us "not-so-crafty" cruisers?

I'd love to get any ideas or suggestions for FE gifts. Maybe something you received in the past...or something you'd like to receive in the future.

Thank you!!
Ginny

 

[JenGC]

I've been reading the Homemade FE Gifts Photo thread and I'm amazed by the creativity of other cruisers..... but what about us "not-so-crafty" cruisers?

I'd love to get any ideas or suggestions for FE gifts. Maybe something you received in the past...or something you'd like to receive in the future.

Thank you!!
Ginny

Isn't there an option for a no sew FE? I know I saw one somewhere. I am going to get cruise theme gifts. Compass, binoculars, gold treasure coins etc. I want to make something that they can keep but I cant think of anything I can afford! lol I would like to do some sort of shirt but the shirts themselves cost $4 each.

 

[tjbaggott]

I find "Dollar Stores" a great place to shop for some FE Gifts. Ours carries LOTS of Disney items.
Some suggestions for the not so crafty individual:

- try oriental trading online www.orientaltrading.com they have LOTS of great priced items that come in quantities. lots of pirate and tropical items for pennies a piece.
- a postcard or magnet from where you live
- highlighters
- candy
- glow sticks
- tattoos
- cards (small game ones, I found lots of Disney ones, 60 some in a pack around Halloween at Costco)


if you look around at craft places on line, you just might find a great deal. At janlynn.com recently I found pirate pillow cases on sale for .99 cents a piece (regularly $9.99) so I got those for all the kids on our FE exchange. (these are also great for getting autographed!)

Think "party grab bag" kind of items, especially for kids.

 

[birkner]

I've been reading the Homemade FE Gifts Photo thread and I'm amazed by the creativity of other cruisers..... but what about us "not-so-crafty" cruisers?

I'd love to get any ideas or suggestions for FE gifts. Maybe something you received in the past...or something you'd like to receive in the future.

Thank you!!
Ginny

I arrived a few days early for our 2007 NYE cruise and spent one afternoon in Downtown Disney buying my FE gifts. Since there are so many weight restrictions on flying today, I found it cheaper and more fun to buy lots of Disney themed gifts at a relatively low cost for the 20 cabins I had to buy for on the cruise. I budgeted and spent under a $100 and got gifts for everyone for each day of the cruise.

 

[AKMOUSE]

We did our first FE in March. We received a variety of things. I thought that the homemade ones were definately cool. We received alot of magnets, which was neat!
I also loved the ones of people that did their gifts based on items that are unique to them. For example, we have a family from Denmark that gave out bags of black licorice a story about it.
I found items at a party story - pirate eye patches and princess beads.It is alot of fun!!

 

[gdulaney]

Last year I ordered from Oriental Trading (love them!!)... pirate beach balls, eye patch, wash-off tattoos and stickers (in case wash-off tattoos were a no-no), and candy.

I wish I were craftier.... but the craft gene passed right by me. In fact, it didn't even slow down and say "hi".

I thought about Pirate themed gifts or maybe "flip flop" beach theme. I also saw small Johnson and Johnson first aid kits and thought that might be a good idea. I usually pack band-aids, etc when we go on vacation and have a small first aid kit in the car. So, I thought it might be something that would be usable post-cruise. But...it's really not a "fun" thing.

I bet there are other non-crafties out there... so if you have ideas, please share.

Thank you!!!
Ginny

 

[gdulaney]

My dad is from a small town in Iowa that has a popcorn place. They make popcorn (microwave type) packages. Even though it wouldn't be used on the cruise... do you think having a package of that popcorn (with a note about it) would be a good idea?

I've been trying to stay away from "peanut" stuff -- due to so many folks having allergies. Not sure if popcorn is a big allergy food or not.

Ginny

 

[ilovedevin]

I think that would be a very nice gift!

 

[tinkmom2]

I second Oriental Trading Company. Sometimes here on the bugget boards or even if you google it you can find discount codes for the online site. We spent about $50 there alone on FE gifts last cruise. Also Target in their dollar section has a lot of Disney related gifts. Another great gift is theater candy from the dollar store. It can be costly to buy snacks aboard. I also get the glow sticks at the dollar store.
We made several of our gifts last time and found some Disney stock paper and made some photo albums for our fellow cruisers. We also got this really cool bowl someone made for us. I am going to make a CD for everyone. I have been downloading the free 50 days of Disney music off Facebook.
Also if you are going to Downtown Disney at all they have a Disney discount store there.
PS Many participants including myself include something from their own state like brochures. I bought little cheese erasers and postcards at our Wisconsin store but you can pick up brochures at your local visitors bureau or airport.

 

[Mojodisney]

For our cruise last summer I made bookmarks that I printed at home with our DIS group logo and then laminated them at Kinkos and tied lime green thread thru a hole punched with Mickey ears. Someone on our cruise went to Vistaprint.com and printed postcards, stationary and a bookmark. You can get free items thru vista print. There quality was pretty good. We got DH's new letterhead for his business from them and were impressed. We tried to order nice frisbees, but we had to order 200 of them and we didn't want that many with the logo/theme. Someone suggested lanyards, loved that idea. Good luck with what you decide. We also printed magnets for FE gifts too. And we gave PEZ dispensers to all the kids part of the FE, got them from Oriental Trading co too.

 

[gdulaney]

I second Oriental Trading Company. Sometimes here on the bugget boards or even if you google it you can find discount codes for the online site. We spent about $50 there alone on FE gifts last cruise. Also Target in their dollar section has a lot of Disney related gifts. Another great gift is theater candy from the dollar store. It can be costly to buy snacks aboard. I also get the glow sticks at the dollar store.
We made several of our gifts last time and found some Disney stock paper and made some photo albums for our fellow cruisers. We also got this really cool bowl someone made for us. I am going to make a CD for everyone. I have been downloading the free 50 days of Disney music off Facebook.
Also if you are going to Downtown Disney at all they have a Disney discount store there.
PS Many participants including myself include something from their own state like brochures. I bought little cheese erasers and postcards at our Wisconsin store but you can pick up brochures at your local visitors bureau or airport.

Little cheese erasers sound cute!! Hmm.... Georgia --- little peach erasers maybe?

 

[gdulaney]

For our cruise last summer I made bookmarks that I printed at home with our DIS group logo and then laminated them at Kinkos and tied lime green thread thru a hole punched with Mickey ears. Someone on our cruise went to Vistaprint.com and printed postcards, stationary and a bookmark. You can get free items thru vista print. There quality was pretty good. We got DH's new letterhead for his business from them and were impressed. We tried to order nice frisbees, but we had to order 200 of them and we didn't want that many with the logo/theme. Someone suggested lanyards, loved that idea. Good luck with what you decide. We also printed magnets for FE gifts too. And we gave PEZ dispensers to all the kids part of the FE, got them from Oriental Trading co too.

I'll check out Vista Print. Thank you for the suggestion!

 

[DLBDS]

Another vote for Oriental Trading... I bought the black w/ skull/crossbones Pirate tote bags, pirate pencils and skull/crossbones silver rings. I folded/rolled the pirate bags so they were in a nice, little, compact package, tied a piece of raffia (natural) around it to hold it together, slid the pencil inside and hooked the ring onto the tied raffia as a little decoration. I also went to the DISigners board and had someone make me a Mickey pirate themed gift tag with a hole in it to slip on the raffia. I had her print my DISname on it so folks would know who gave them the gift. It really turned out well. Couldn't believe I actually thought it up myself as I was born without the craft gene as well! Next time, I'm gonna go with something more simple like a bookmark or something like that. I bought a laminating machine for my door magnets and figure I can use it for bookmarks as well. Good luck figuring it all out!!

 

[golfnsuch]

Personally, I would love it if some wonderful FEE person on our cruise shared a CD of Disney music (great memory of the cruise) or something like the excursion/cruise survival kit (super useful) or an item from their home town/state (meaningful).

Let's face it, any gift will be a fabulous, fun surprise to find!

Hugs and a big dating game kiss to the DIS'er who came up with the FEE idea!

 

[Meskamooska]

Hi All!

Personally, I think one of the best parts of the entire FE game is the fact that it is so open to interpretation.

Now I tend to fall firmly into the "crafty" camp and for the most part I will be making most of the FE gifts for our upcoming cruise (I do have over a year to go but I have already started production...) but I will probably be augmenting with some store bought items as well.

If you check the "Just For Fun" thread here on DISboards you will find a list of the DISigners offering their services for everything from name tags and door magnets to t-shirt transfer designs and sucker and candywrappers.

As was mentioned, candy for the shows is always welcome. You could also consider giving cruise survival kits which would consist of a few band aids, some zip ties, travel sized bottles or individually sealed packets of hand sanitizer, a highlighted a few safety pins and maybe an individually sealed packet of chewable Pepto.

You might also consider getting some photo frame mats from someplace like Michaels or Joann's crafts. Get one for each cabin participating and a set of colorful sharpies. On the first day of the cruise you can drop them off at guest services to have them signed by the characters. Since you will know the cabin numbers participating make sure that each frame has a cabin number attached to it. You can also put the first "autograph" on the frame before you drop it off like "Cruise Memories" and the date of the cruise or the catch phrase for your cruise meets thread group.

You can pick them up near the end of the cruise and then deliver them yourself. I don't know how many you can drop off for sure but I do know that the last cruise we took I did this for my group (four cabins) with no problems.

8 x 10 works great and they are not super expensive especially for plain white mats. If you do decide to try this one you might want to include some candy for the crew members and characters who are helping you out.

For kids crayons and coloring pages which you can download free make a good gifts.

Also check your local Disney store (especially their sale or clearance section) fir trinkets. They also have cute reusable shopping bags for a couple of bucks each that would come in really handy on shore shopping excursions or to carry things to and from the beach or the pool.

Hope that helps!

Take care all, help lots of people and have a great day!

 

[gdulaney]

Those are some great ideas!! I didn't know about the thread with others who offer their craftiness.... did I say that right?

The cruise survival kit is a good idea. The first aid kit is what I had thought of, but I like adding hand sanitizer, etc.

One of my favorite past gifts were some very cool magnets that were personalized.

Thank you
Ginny

 

[MickeyWatch]

I am enjoying all these great ideas. I went the Oriental trading Co route for our upcoming Baltic Cruise. I don't want to spoil the surprise for other cruisers that may be on board (we have 50 staterooms in our FE group) but they are pirate related and very cute too.

 

[mstinson14]

For anyone that did the survival kit
What all did you put in it?
I have this
zip lock with band aids, rubber bands, paper clips, zip ties, safety pins, etc
But, did you put anything else in it too?

 

[ksloane]

I love all the FE gift idea threads...I am keeping an ongoing list so that even though I think I've finalized all my ideas for our first cruise in just a few days I can be ready for the one I plan on booking while we are there!!!!

 

[mollygirl13]

We leave on the Wonder on Sunday and my FE gift to everyone was from Oriental Trading. Since we have 2 stops at CC plus Nassau, I bought a mesh beach bag and waterproof beach safe container (one that goes around your neck) for each person in our FE group. They came in lot of 12 so they were pretty reasonable!
Now, everyone has a mesh beach bag to take to the beach plus a waterproof/sandproof container to put in their money, room key, etc.


Hope everyone likes what I got!