Pointe shoe gifts for 12 year old girl?

[Elinor Dashwood]

My oldest is finally going on pointe and is so excited! I thought with her upcoming birthday that I'd put together some sort of pointe shoe themed gifts. Problem is, I'm not a dancer and have no clue what she needs or thinks would be cool to have. We already purchased her pointe shoes, toe tape and foot roller thingy. Any ideas are greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[disprincessatheart]

It's been more than a few years since I tied on my point shoes but I don't remember having anything to go with them other than tape and cushioning for the toe box. A cool gift might be a shadow box to put them in when she moves on to h er second pair. Maybe an ornament for the Christmas tree this year too with the year on it.

 

[Distinkt]

How about some leg warmers, footless tights, or a a little mesh drawstring bag for the pointe shoes?

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Mesh drawstring bag, cedar shoe inserts to absort moisture, really soft socks, foot soak, squishy flip flops for after her class. Her feet are going to be swollen after class and regular shoes can be torture after.

 

[leebee]

Let's see...
A small sewing kit with pink thread, several needles, and some decent scissors as she's going to be replacing a LOT of ribbons/elastics.
A container of crushed rosin.
A pointe shoe key chain (these are really cute).
Some jet glue (if she isn't wearing Gaynors or any of the shoes with elastomeric boxes).
Maybe a different kind of toe pad (DD loves her gellows).
A bottle of nu-skin and some bandaid blister bandaids, and maybe some moleskin.
Flexors ribbons
Peppermint foot lotion

Congrats to your dd! Seems like yesterday when DD got her first (of many) pair of pointe shoes. I still love to go to "first pair" pointe shoe fittings!

 

[cornflake]

Sewing kit with thimble, etc.

Lamb's wool, glue, gel thingys, alcohol, scraper.

For fun, include some ridiculously gigantic thing of band-aids, Like some Costco gross of them or whatever.

 

[turkeymama]

DD just started pointe this year too. Congrats to your daughter.

DD has been wearing a pair of very very thin no-show socks with her shoes. She says it just feels better.

I like what others have mentioned already. The ornament for the tree sounds nice. Anything that she can use to pamper her little feet is probably a good idea too. DD likes to wear comfy shoes ALL the time now. I've had more than a few former dancers share the same sentiment.

 

[cabanafrau]

Absolute necessity would be some arnica salve or cream she can rub in to reduce the inflammation. Occasionally some dance stores do carry some, but DD swears the brands from the vitamin & health food store were always most effective. Her favorite was the salve that comes in a little round, silver tin. Early on in pointe she did have a bottle of the essence w/ a dropper that she would use to apply it right around the toenails. That was messy but really saved her a lot of pain at the start.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I visited Wilbur Chocolate Factory last summer, and they had pale pink pointe shoes, made out of chocolate, that were practically life-sized. They would make a great cake-topper or special gift. You would probably have to call to special order them. (1-888-294-5287)

Aside from general stuff (key chains, ornaments), I would hesitate to buy a bunch of supplies--dancers are notoriously picky about what they use. I know my DD needs a certain type of shoe, certain type of insert, certain type of tights--and got yelled at for her ribbons being the wrong shade of pale pink! So, I wouldn't get her any actual supplies unless I was positive they were what she wanted.

 

[smschex]

A Bunheads Stitch Kit is a very useful small gift. It contains very strong nylon thread and two very sharp, long needles that are perfect for sewing ribbons and elastics. Add a cute pair of small scissors and she will be set.

http://www.capezio.com/products/23838-bunheads-stitch-kit

 

[Elinor Dashwood]

Thank you all for the suggestions, they were so helpful! Here's what I decided to get her:

Knitted warm up shorts and matching sweater
Cedar chip bags for each pointe shoe
Pointe shoe glue
Skunkeez for her dance bag
Several fun ballet keychains
Sweetfeet foot spray
Cool striped legwarmers
Peppermint foot cream
Bunheads stitch kit
Bandaids
Pointe book called "The Pointe Book: Shoes, Training, Technique"