Christmas gift idea 5: Support your favorite blogger!

I may have outdone myself this year. I think I'm retiring as a gift giver.


My favorite blogger, by far, is Allie Brosh at Hyperbole and a Half. She's absolutely hilarious and you need to follow her immediately. You're not going to learn anything crafty or find ideas for dinner, but you will laugh your head off. And if you're me, you'll find ideas for Christmas presents.

You see, Allie has a store where she sells t-shirts and mugs and other things with her drawings on them. And I love them, and I love her, and I don't want her to be homeless, so I bought something from her.

Let me back up:

At some point last year, probably over the summer, my sister Lucy was bored at work. Normally when she is bored at work, we chat online. However, on this particular day I was busy doing work so I couldn't entertain her. Instead, I directed her to Hyperbole and a Half and told her to entertain herself by reading the posts. The most recent post was Dog, but I told her if she didn't want to read that one, she absolutely had to read the one before it, entitled This Is Why I'll Never Be an Adult. I know Allie says that it is about her, but I'm pretty sure that it was written about me.

Then Lucy and I had this conversation:

Lucy: Do I have to read it? It's so long.

Me: Yes, read it. You'll thank me later.

Lucy: (Five minutes later). That is freaking hilarious.

Me: I told you. Don't ever doubt my abilities to find awesome ways to procrastinate.

And she was hooked.

Once I realized that Allie had a store, I knew I had to get something for Lucy. Because I introduced the blog to her as a way to procrastinate, I thought something about procrastination or responsibility would be appropriate. Ultimately I decided to draw inspiration from this post, and bought her the Responsibility Champion mug.


Because Lucy gets shit done. Or pretends to anyway.

Like the stapler in jello and Gilmore Girls cookbook, the idea behind the gift is something I share with the gift receiver. My sister and I love this blog and have gotten hours of entertainment from it, so I thought it was only appropriate to give a gift to commemorate this time in our lives. My intention was for her to use it at home or work, of course, but really to have her smile whenever she looked at or used it. And hopefully think of me.

A lot of bloggers have etsy or zazzle shops, so I encourage you to look at their shops and give gifts from your favorite bloggers. The money goes to someone you support and believe in, and has a personalized touch, even if you didn't make it yourself.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, if I ever have a kid, I want this:

I (heart) U Alot Infant Creeper from Hyperbole and a Half Zazzle store

Feel free to post your favorite bloggers and their shops (or yours) in the comments section!

Christmas gift idea 4: Scrapbook

I was a huge scrapbooker before I moved to Michigan, and I've started to pick it up again now that I have time and the space to do it. Since the advent of the online photo centers and the subsequent drag and drop photobooks, traditional scrapbooking has fallen off. I understand the appeal of those photobooks - choose a layout, choose photos, and they get printed and shipped- and I think they can be great gifts. I highly recommend giving these to grandparents. Still, I think nothing beats a traditional scrapbook.

There are two ways to approach a traditional scrapbook as a gift. The first would be to take my own pictures of say, my hypothetical children, and make a scrapbook for someone who would like these pictures, such as their grandparents. The other is to take the gift receiver's pictures and make a scrapbook with those pictures. For example, making a scrapbook from a friend's wedding photos. Either way is a cool gift, but my intention behind this post is to highlight the latter approach.

How to do it:
I've done this as a Christmas gift, a wedding present, a birthday gift, etc. Each time I approached the gift a little differently, but my favorite way to do it was for my friend's bridal shower. She mentioned she wanted to make a scrapbook of all the things she and her fiance had done together, but she was completely overwhelmed by the six years of photographs. For her shower gift, I wrapped an album and a few supplies - a tape runner, a couple of papers, and some stickers - and included a gift certificate that said, "You bring the photos, I'll bring the supplies. Together, we will create your wedding scrapbook."

We scheduled a day (and night) to work together on her scrapbook. First, we sorted all of her photos and then decided which ones would actually go in the book. As we sorted, we created preliminary layouts so we'd know which photos and how many could fit on each page (I have a great organizer that helped us with this step, but you can do whatever works for you). This is half the battle. Then we created the actual page layouts, and cropped the photos and papers for each page. As we did this, I had my friend tell me more about the events captured in the photographs. These stories served two purposes: I got to know my friend and her future husband a bit more, and I got her thinking about what to write about in the scrapbook.

One thing I emphasize when I scrapbook is journaling. I think preserving the pictures is important, but really, it's the story behind those pictures that most needs to be preserved. The stories make the pictures come to life. It's nice to capture the moment that I got engaged, but I think my grandchildren will want to know how their grandparents got engaged - where we were, the words that were said, the emotions that were felt. All of this can be captured through a brief description accompanying the photos (check this out for some ideas).

Anyway, we spent the day and night putting together her scrapbook side-by-side. (Really, I did most of the cutting and sticking while she did the journaling). She had input on which photos, papers, and stickers to use, but she trusted me to make the album beautiful for her. She was grateful to have someone help her overcome what she perceived as a monumental task, and I enjoyed learning more about my friend and her relationship.

I've given scrapbook supplies as gifts before, and they were always well-received. However, in the case of my friend's shower, the gift was not just in the supplies I gave her, but also in helping her finish the album so she could display it at her wedding. I gave her the gift of my scrapbooking creativity and expertise, and relieved her stress about trying to finish yet another project for her wedding. In one day, we knocked out a project I'm sure would've taken her months to finish because she was so overwhelmed she didn't know how to begin.

If you want to give a gift like this, I'd suggest doing something similar to what I did - give an album and some embellishments, maybe a bottle of wine and some treats to suggest a fun girls day out/in, and gift certificate letting the receiver know that you're going to help her get all those pictures into an album. AND SET THE DATE ASAP!

When finished, the gift receiver will have a task checked off the list, a completed photo album, and great memories of the day you spent together. Every time she looks at the album, she'll remember not only the events captured through the photos in the album, but also the time spent with you, sharing and laughing (and maybe crying) as you sort through all those pictures. Those memories are my favorite kind of gifts.

Happy St. Nick's Day

Do you celebrate St. Nick's Day? I've met people from different religions, ethnicities, and geographical areas who celebrate St. Nick's Day, all in a similar way, but I know it's not a universally recognized holiday.

Perhaps because my family is from Milwaukee (a city of strong German heritage), or maybe because we're Catholic, or maybe because we're of Eastern European descent, or maybe it's a combination of all three, but my family has always celebrated St. Nick's Day. We leave out our shoes or stockings on the night of December 5th and awake with our shoes or stocking filled with treats on December 6th. Based on stories from friends and family, this is a fairly common way to celebrate St. Nick's Day (in the United States).

Even if you're not familiar with the history of St. Nick, you probably are familiar with his most famous derivative - Santa Claus. But the real Saint Nicholas was a raised by wealthy parents who died while Nicholas was still young. He dedicated his life to Jesus, became a bishop, and used his inheritance to help the needy. There are many stories about him - that he rescued a young boy who had been kidnapped and the boy was returned to his family on December 6th; that he tossed gold through windows that landed in the shoes of poor, young girls and this money was used as a dowry so they could marry instead of being sold into slavery; that he entered homes in the middle of the night and left fruit, candy, and/or small toys for poor children. These stories built his legend, and his generosity and good deeds are celebrated and honored by sharing candies and small gifts on his feast day. In parts of Europe, St. Nicholas day includes dressing as bishops and begging from neighbors (kind of like trick or treating in the US, but for money for the poor). Of course, some believe kids now keep the money for themselves but let's not ruin the nice story with cynicism.
At least not today.

Like I said, my family celebrated with treats in our shoes or stockings. When we lived nearby, my Grandma also gave us a stocking. After we moved away, my Grandmother sent us a gift, and often that gift was an ornament. She would go to Hallmark in October when the ornaments were released, or hit up the craft fairs throughout the year to find the perfect ornaments for each of her grandchildren. My one male cousin (on that side of the family) received a classic car every year since he turned sixteen, and even after my grandma passed away, my aunt (not his mom) gave him one last car ornament because it was the last in the series, and my grandma had told my aunt that she wanted to finish the series for him. Grandma listened to what we were interested in, and always tried to find ornaments that reflected our interests at that time in our lives.

My ornament collection from my grandma is very reflective of who I was growing up - softball players, Olympic medals, violins, and roller blades. These are all incredibly special to me, and remind me of my Grandma every year when I put them on the tree. Perhaps the most special to me are the last ornaments she gave me, weeks before she passed away.

My grandma was in the hospital that Christmas, so imagine my surprise when I, as a second year graduate student, arrived at my parent's home on Christmas with my fiance to find a gift from my Grandmother that contained an entire set of Sesame Street characters. I immediately burst into tears, and sobbed, "I can't believe she remembered."

Months earlier, my Grandma had asked me if I collected any ornaments. In retrospect, I think she was asking because she had forgotten whether she got me a series every year, like she did for some of my cousins. I told her I didn't collect any, but that I wanted to collect all the Sesame Street characters. My high school class mascot was Elmo (just for our class, not the school), and I had collected a few Elmos through the years. (In fact, my nephew and then my niece have both cuddled with one of my Elmos, and I'm pretty sure they think he is theirs - he's not and I want him back!). Aside from Elmo, I had great memories of watching Christmas Eve on Sesame Street as a kid, so Sesame Street always had a special place in my heart. When I told her that I'd always wanted the Sesame Street characters, I had no idea she would remember or even think about getting them for me.

My Sesame Street characters have not faired so well over the years - poor Burt has a broken nose - but my husband doesn't even suggest that we toss him out. He knows how important the whole set is to me, and he'd never ask me to give them up, broken pieces and all.

This is the reason I have continued this tradition, passed down from my Grandma. I've always bought ornaments for my husband and me every year, but now I also get ornaments for my family too. It started with just my nephew, but then grew to include an ornament for everyone - something special that reminds me of that person or couple. There have been Star Wars, engagement rings, Starbucks cups, gym bags, cell phones, and Packers ornaments, Batman, ballet slippers, baking tools, Peanuts characters, and Sportscenter Santas. Each special, each representing the receiver.

I'm sure giving ornaments isn't exactly what St. Nick had in mind, but I believe the spirit of St. Nicholas is alive every time I find a perfect ornament to give to my family - a small gift given to show them that they are loved very much.

Christmas Gift Idea 3: For "The Office" Fan

When you hear words "stapler" and "jello," what do you think of? Maybe Jim Halpert, Dwight Shrute, or The Office. I think Christmas present!

How I did it:
I started with gel candle wax, yellow food coloring, a glass jar (mine had a lid but it doesn't need one), and a mini stapler. I followed the directions on the package for melting the gel and added the food coloring while it melted. (Fragrance can also be added to the gel.) I poured a little of the melted gel into the jar, put the stapler in, and slowly poured the rest of the gel into the jar. The stapler was big and heavy enough that I didn't have to secure it in place while I was filling the jar. Let the jar cool completely. TA-DA!

By using the mini stapler and gel wax, it's small and non-perishable so it can easily decorate a desk which was my intention. I made this for my sister, who also watched The Office, so she could put this on her desk at work. I knew she and her co-workers often talked about the show, and I thought they would get a few laughs from it too!

This may have been one of my favorite gifts ever. It was obviously very easy, but just the idea of it made me laugh. I mean really, how stupid is this? (And by stupid, I mean awesome.) I had so much fun making it and was very excited to give it to my sister on Christmas.

Christmas Gift Idea 2: Cookbook for the television lover

Last week, I mentioned that I needed a project to keep me occupied. I still haven't found one, but I thought I'd give you an example of the type of project I'm looking for, and also share another Christmas gift idea with you.

During one of my husband's trips last year, I found myself bored and in need of a project. My youngest sister, who is my default source of entertainment when I'm bored (and by "source of entertainment" I mean that I stalk her on Facebook, text relentlessly, chat, call, and otherwise bother her while she's trying to work), suggested I watch my Gilmore Girls DVDs. I generally don't need encouragement to watch Gilmore Girls, but I knew simply watching Gilmore Girls wasn't going to cut it. No, I needed something to do. However, while watching Gilmore Girls, I noticed how many food references were made and how much time was devoted to eating in each episode. Thus, the Gilmore Girls Cookbook was born.



How I did it: I watched every single episode of Gilmore Girls with a pen and paper or my laptop in front of me. I waited for food references, and then wrote down the quote, noting the season and episode. After I compiled an extensive selection of quotes, I re-read them and looked for funny sayings that I could turn into recipe names, and then searched my favorite food websites for recipes. I looked for recipes that were both appropriate for the created name and fairly simple since I was planning to give this cookbook to my sister who is a novice cook.

Here's an example:
Lorelai: Ooh, meringue.
Sookie: Yeah, I thought I'd do a variation on a Baked Alaska for dessert tonight.
Lorelai: What kind of variation?
Sookie: Yeah, I hadn't thought of that yet.
                                 ~ Season 1, Episode 12: Double Date

I entitled this recipe "Variation on a Baked Alaska" and included this recipe from the Food Network magazine. When I printed the cookbook, I used a booklet format so that the quote is on the left side, and the recipe is on the right-hand page, and I had the booklet spiral bound with the cover made of card stock with a plastic cover so it would be durable.

I ended up with 30 recipes, including such gems as:

• Yale Special
• Emily's Burning Loin
• Sleeping with the Zucchini
• Devil's Starchy Fingers
• Coffee, Coffee, Coffee

I think this is a great gift for any television addict and amateur foodie. I chose Gilmore Girls because it is a show that my sister and I both love, but any television show or movie could work. It's also practical - she asked for recipes and cookbooks for Christmas and I intentionally chose recipes that I thought were easy to make and sounded delicious. It's also the kind of homemade gift that I think most people appreciate - inexpensive, but thoughtful and very personal.

Do you have any ideas like this? Please share!

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.