Christmas Gift Idea 1: Personalized glasses

It's two weeks to Black Friday Eve - also known as Thanksgiving - which means it's the time of year when people start searching for the "perfect gift." I don't always find the perfect gift, but think I've done a pretty good job of finding or making creative and unique gifts. Over the next few weeks, I thought I'd share a few of the favorite gifts I've given or received over the years - some bought, some homemade, some semi-homemade.

Here's the back story: My family has a habit of designating a water glass for use throughout the day. We'll fill up a glass of water early in the day and continue to use it throughout the day, and then put it in the dishwasher at night. This habit works well when we are at our own homes. I have no problem keeping track of my glass when it's just my husband and me. However, when we go to my parents' house, we often play a game of "Is this my glass or your glass?" We forget where we left our glass, or sometimes pick up someone else's glass. In the end, we seem to go through a lot of drinking glasses because we can never find our designated drinking glass.

A few years ago, my parents asked for new glasses. They'd broken a bunch and just needed some new ones. So my sisters and I gave my parents glasses for Christmas, but we added a unique touch - we had our names etched on them. Now when we visit my parents, we each have our own glass and it's easy to keep track of our water glasses.

How we did it: We bought a set of twelve glasses and had eight of them etched with "Mom" and "Dad" and each of our first names (I believe we took them to Things Remembered). At the time, only two of the daughters were married and the grandkids weren't old enough to use glasses. When another sister got married, we took an unetched glass from my parents' cabinet and brought it back to the store to have our new brother-in-law's name etched on it. In fact, one of the first things he said at the brunch on the day after his wedding was, "I want a glass with my name on it!" We proudly presented it to him. As our family grows, we will add names to the remaining three glasses and buy additional glasses if we need more.

I have to give credit to my older sister for this idea. The glasses themselves are practical, but having our names on them has turned out to be practical in a completely different way. Plus, I like that I can go to my parents' house and still have something that is mine.