The hard to buy for person thread

[Handbag Lady]

Need ideas for my mom.

She is another one who would be FURIOUS if I made a donation in her name. She thinks that is the stupidest "gift" ever! One year my cousin donated to the WWF in my DS's name. He got a certificate telling about his animal and a plush of the animal. My mom was LIVID that my cousin couldn't be bother to buy a 'proper' gift. My DS loved it!

She is 62. Retired. Not married. Has no hobbies, unless you count gambling. Likes jewelry but only good (meaning $$$) jewelry. Would likely scoff at anything handmade. Very picky, yet thinks she is easy to buy for. Won't like a gift card.

How about a gift certificate to her nearest hotel casino and perhaps plane tickets (or offer to go with her, etc.)? I enjoy gambling and I would love a free night at one of my casinos.

Or, is she near Las Vegas? How about a subscription to the Las Vegas Advisor?

 

[RadioNate]

How about a gift certificate to her nearest hotel casino and perhaps plane tickets (or offer to go with her, etc.)? I enjoy gambling and I would love a free night at one of my casinos.

Or, is she near Las Vegas? How about a subscription to the Las Vegas Advisor?

I'm going to look into something Vegas related. The problem with hotel nights is that she has comps all over the strip, food too. Maybe a SW gift card. She won't like not having a package but if I wrap it up in a giant box, it might go over ok.

She gets Casino Player.

 

[Handbag Lady]

See my ideas in red.

Great thread, I have a couple of hard to buy fors..

Male 53, loves football, family tree research, old sci fi movies, would probably enjoy a gift card but I always seem to get him them, Haunted Mansion obsessive?

Check on eBay. The HM just had a 40th Celebration at DL and they have a lot of merchandise out now.

Female 22, isn't a real girly person but not a tomboy either, she likes stationary sorts of things, loves David Bowie, unusual handmade things.. she always gets me great personal gifts and I can never match it!

Go to etsy.com and find some quirky handmade hats and matching shawls/scarves.

 

[Planogirl]

Michael Buble?

If so maybe this for a big time fan
http://www.michaelbuble.com/store/product/exclusive-fan-edition-crazy-love

My tough one is my Dad. He is a golfer. But really has everything for Golf. He likes word puzzles(but I bought him the nytimes crossword books several years ago and he "saves" them - doing only one a week.) He lives alone. I got him an ipod last year and he still hasn't used it yet. My teenager is going over to show him how to use it.
But really no ideas. Thinking of just taking him out to dinner.

YES, Michael Buble. Thanks for the link. I will have to find out if she has this. She might, she adores the guy!

Does your Dad use a PC? My Dad had little use for computers until he got a golf computer game and then it was hard to get him off.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Okay, I need an idea for my dad's wife. We have nothing in common and I am sick of giving her crystal figures, which is what she appears to like. But, my dad has hinted that perhaps she has too many now and that we should move on to something else.

I got her a nice pink cashmere pashmina one year, she said she liked it...hever saw it on her again!

I've gotten her crystal jewelry and Winnie-the-Pooh everything for an adult.

She's 54 years old (for those keeping track, yes, she's just 13 years older than me!), she's from Norway and enjoys antiquing. She also likes those old scales with the small weights. They have a few in their home for decorative reasons.

We once brought her home a lot of stuff from Norway in Epcot (thinking it would be a nice gesture and we hoped to accidentally find a favorite treat of hers) and it turns out there is a Norwegian grocery store near her home! Well, we tried!

So, I am out if ideas!


HELP!

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My SIL and her husband are hard for me to shop for. It may be because I don't really like them all that much. My SIL is silly and foolish and is about as deep as lilypad. Her husband isn't much better. He's germophobic, intense, and obsessed with complete cleanliness. SIL is diabetic and BIL is just fanatical about his healthy diet.

So no candy or other food. No scents, soaps or lotions(too germy for BIL). They drink wine, but they are incredibly picky. They don't like gift cards. They rarely eat out or go to movies. They have no hobbies. They make about 4 times the money we make and they expect nice gifts. I'm just at a loss.

See, in my extended family we don't give gifts to each other. We do charitable works, either giving cash or volunteering. Half the fun of Christmas is finding out what my siblings did for other people in my name. I don't need any more junk. I don't need another popcorn tin, box of chocolate turtles, scented candle, paperweight, or cutesy angel with inane saying inscribed on its feet. I just want to scream "Please! let's stop buying junk for each other!" We have talked with them about giving to charity and they were horrified. They want gifts!

Get them a subscription to Wine Spectator Magazine, a good wine opener, gift card to their favorite wine store or wine of the month club.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

My DH bought his parents one of those digital picture frames that you download photos onto. He included a lot of photos of our kids and pictures from around their farm during the different seasons. His mother loved seeing her beautiful flower garden year round.

 

[tennvalgirl]

I second the digital photo frames, those are awesome.

 

[golfgal]

Ideas for my Twilight addicted younger sister? She's seeing New Moon opening weekend and fallback plan is a GC for Hot Topic (aka the land of twilight) and the soundtrack is out since she's got it on preorder (if it helps, she's Team Edward)

What about one of those life size stand up cut-outs of Edward? They have them at Best Buy, etc.

Need ideas for my mom.

She is another one who would be FURIOUS if I made a donation in her name. She thinks that is the stupidest "gift" ever! One year my cousin donated to the WWF in my DS's name. He got a certificate telling about his animal and a plush of the animal. My mom was LIVID that my cousin couldn't be bother to buy a 'proper' gift. My DS loved it!

She is 62. Retired. Not married. Has no hobbies, unless you count gambling. Likes jewelry but only good (meaning $$$) jewelry. Would likely scoff at anything handmade. Very picky, yet thinks she is easy to buy for. Won't like a gift card.

I'm going to look into something Vegas related. The problem with hotel nights is that she has comps all over the strip, food too. Maybe a SW gift card. She won't like not having a package but if I wrap it up in a giant box, it might go over ok.

She gets Casino Player.

I would get her airline tickets, show tickets for when she is in Vegas maybe? Is there a local Casino you could get her an overnight package for? How about a trip somewhere different to go to Casino's?

Great thread, I have a couple of hard to buy fors..

Male 53, loves football, family tree research, old sci fi movies, would probably enjoy a gift card but I always seem to get him them, Haunted Mansion obsessive?

Female 22, isn't a real girly person but not a tomboy either, she likes stationary sorts of things, loves David Bowie, unusual handmade things.. she always gets me great personal gifts and I can never match it!

Check out local art fairs for your 22 female friend. You might be able to find a fun piece of pottery or something.

 

[golfgal]

Ok, I am going to send some of these ideas for my Dad to my sister to pick up-we usually do joint gifts for them.

Anyone else need help?

 

[Micca]

and now, a light-hearted interlude re people who are difficult to buy for...

My b'day was last weekend and my (adult)DD sent me a care that read:

People who say you are hard to buy for evidently don't know where to get beer!

 

[CourtasanSatine]

I love the cut out idea!

 

[EthansMom]

My SIL and her husband are hard for me to shop for. It may be because I don't really like them all that much. My SIL is silly and foolish and is about as deep as lilypad. Her husband isn't much better. He's germophobic, intense, and obsessed with complete cleanliness. SIL is diabetic and BIL is just fanatical about his healthy diet.

So no candy or other food. No scents, soaps or lotions(too germy for BIL). They drink wine, but they are incredibly picky. They don't like gift cards. They rarely eat out or go to movies. They have no hobbies. They make about 4 times the money we make and they expect nice gifts. I'm just at a loss.

See, in my extended family we don't give gifts to each other. We do charitable works, either giving cash or volunteering. Half the fun of Christmas is finding out what my siblings did for other people in my name. I don't need any more junk. I don't need another popcorn tin, box of chocolate turtles, scented candle, paperweight, or cutesy angel with inane saying inscribed on its feet. I just want to scream "Please! let's stop buying junk for each other!" We have talked with them about giving to charity and they were horrified. They want gifts!

One year, I got DH a subscription to the Gold Medal Wine Club. He loved it! 2 bottles of wine would arrive on the doorstep every month from a different winery with information about the wines and the winery. It isn't cheap, but you can pick how many months you want to subscribe... so maybe just subscribe them for one or two months. Here's a link: http://www.goldmedalwine.com/wine_clubs/gold.php

For a gift to open, you might get them some of those charms for wine glasses and put in a little note saying that you've subscribed them to a wine club for X months.

 

[golfgal]

and now, a light-hearted interlude re people who are difficult to buy for...

My b'day was last weekend and my (adult)DD sent me a care that read:

People who say you are hard to buy for evidently don't know where to get beer!

I NEED to get that card for my FIL--is is Hallmark??

 

[Micca]

Might have been a shoebox card. It was square shaped with an illustration on the front. HTH.

 

[quentina]

Ok, everyone has a person or more that is hard to buy for. Post here with what ever details are important-age, gender, hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc. and we can try to help each other out.

I will start:

My Dad-age 70 (going on 50)-likes to garden, woodworking, writing books and cooking. They can pretty much buy whatever they want so finding something unique is good. We got him a laptop desk from IKEA as a suggestion from my Stepmom (it was $17.99 so that will be from the Grandkids). What fun, unique things with the above hobbies do you suggest?

A birdhouse for the garden....they have some really nice ones in the specialty stores (we have wild birds unlimited around here). I have got that and bird food for my FIL, he loved it.

 

[quentina]

My aunt/godmother is impossible! She's elderly and contemplating moving into a retirement place. She will have limited space so she's giving most things away. We can't get her flowers because her cat eats them. She's a picky eater with a ton of allergies. She mostly reads, watches some tapes on TV and music wise only likes one singer (can't think of his name- young, good looking and sings easy listening/jazz) but has all of his stuff. She doesn't like gift cards either.

That's the one I'm completely stuck on.

A basket with all her favorite snacks (a lap blanket is also nice). We did this for my hubbys pop every year, he loved it.

 

[golfgal]

A birdhouse for the garden....they have some really nice ones in the specialty stores (we have wild birds unlimited around here). I have got that and bird food for my FIL, he loved it.

They do have a lot of bird feeders already and they don't really have any trees to put the bird houses in--but good idea if it would work for them.

I checked out those aerogardens--those are pretty cool. I want one now so I can have good tomatoes year round.

 

[quentina]

I think I'd go with the winglasses then. If they like wine, it's a good gift that they will always use. Depending on how much you want to spend on them, get them a couple of really nice crystal glasses. I have Waterford crystal wine hocks and they are a pleasure to drink wine from...makes it very special.

I was at a craft show and grabbed this persons card, she had amazing, personalized stuff including wineglasses. Touched by Fantasy....website is name in all one word.com

 

[Bluestars]

Ideas for my Twilight addicted younger sister? She's seeing New Moon opening weekend and fallback plan is a GC for Hot Topic (aka the land of twilight) and the soundtrack is out since she's got it on preorder (if it helps, she's Team Edward)

I bought my own dd the Scene It Twilight DVD trivia game. Walmart and Target both carry it.

I bought my FIL (who has everything) a gift that I got the idea from someone on the Dis. It is a high definition Flip camera. It looks like something he would use because it is compact and you just plug it into the computer. It records a couple hours of video. I found this at Target.com.

I'm getting my MIL one of those scanners where you scan in photos and it will make digital images that you can load on your computer or put on CDs.

I'm getting my son-in-law a bluetooth speaker system for his car so he can use his cell phone in his car. I found this at Best Buy.com.