Wednesday, December 16, 2015

The Five Favorite Christmas Gifts I ever Gave

FTC disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links.

I have always loved giving.  My husband has been all amused with me this advent season because I am so excited about the things I have picked out for him, I talk him into opening a gift -- or two -- or three early.  (Last night he opened a set of 48 Prismacolor Pencils.  He took a number of art classes in high school and wants to get back into being creative.  Prismacolor pencils were the only brand that his art teacher allowed the students to use.)  I wanted to give him something to encourage his art, and that's what I decided on.


Anyway, without further ado, I "present" to you the five favorite Christmas Gifts I ever gave.

1.  From the time I was little, I heard my mother talk about the book The High Cockalorum of Kafoozalum,.  She didn't remember anything about it, and in the earlier days of the Internet, it wasn't as easy to find things as it is now.  On an online sellers group, someone started a thread of what we wished we could find to buy for ourselves or others.  I mentioned this book (butchering the spelling.  I'm sure you can see why.)  Someone found it for sale, and for under $40 I had the best Christmas gift ever for my mother.  The story is, in my opinion, lackluster, and there are so many huge words used for a children's book, but it was something my mother remembered from her childhood and she was able to enjoy the memories of it.  She bought another copy for her sister for her sister's birthday.

2.  A 59 cent trial sized jar of Folgers Instant Coffee might not sound like much of a Christmas gift, but it sure is one that has been talked about more than any other.  When I was five, I opened a savings account to save for college.  In January after I was six, my mother encouraged me to open a Christmas club.  I put 50 cents a week in the bank until at the end of the year I received $20.  Even in 1980, buying gifts for $20 wasn't exactly easy, and I ran out of money before I ran out of list.  I had under $1 left, and still needed a gift for Papaw.  I was in the grocery store with Mom and saw a display of trial sized coffee for under $1.  I knew Papaw drank coffee all the time, so it seemed like a perfect gift.  It was joked about for years -- and often as I got older I would buy him a full sized jar of Folgers Coffee.  He was difficult to buy for, and it provided a laugh every year I did that.  

3.  A box of Petit Fours.   This took the bulk of my money the same year I bought Papaw the coffee.  Mom used to work in a bank before I was born, and one year all the employees were given a box of petit fours.  She only had them once and mentioned different times how good they were.  So I wanted to give her a box of them for Christmas.  This was the first Christmas gift she ever cried when I gave it to her but it wasn't the last.  :)   She was surprised I ever thought of buying that for her.  I usually got her a box every year, but of course, the first year was most touching.

4.  One jelly shoe.  Just one.  When I was in junior high, our neighbors across the street were a preacher and his wife.  They didn't have a lot for extras, so one Christmas Mom and I went through stuff we no longer wanted and gave each of the three kids a box of stuff.  One of the things tucked into a box for the oldest was one jelly shoe.  One of the things tucked into the box for the youngest was one jelly shoe.  I explained I didn't know who they would fit, and they could figure it out.  We all had a good laugh about it that day, and the oldest is one of my best friends.  (I cried when I found out she couldn't be in my wedding because she had to move too far away!)  We still laugh about that jelly shoe.

5.  An Angel Tree gift.  Mom and I loved doing Angel Tree, and I used to be big into refunding.  That was back when you would get all kinds of free stuff with proof of purchases, and I would send for everything I could and use it at Christmas for Angel Tree kids.  This one Christmas I saw a five year old boy who wanted -- as I told my mother -- everything.  She was skeptical because she wondered what I would have for a five year old boy, but he ended up getting exactly what he wanted -- everything.  A friend had a used but in good condition baseball glove he donated to the cause, and I found t-shirts, tons of cereal box prizes, stuffed animals, etc. in my collection of stuff to give this boy for Christmas.  The box I put everything in (this was back when you could wrap the gifts) was too big for the box at the drop off place at McDonalds, so I had to set it beside the drop off box.  I've always wished I could have seen that boy open that box on Christmas morning.  It definitely sticks out as one of the favorite gifts I've ever given!


Enjoy this post?  Read more Five Favorites over at The Big White Farmhouse.

2 comments:

  1. Love the one jelly shoe gift. Special is the coffee jar gift. All are from the heart and show generosity and caring

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  2. Those made me smile! I remember one year my family was visiting someone at the hospital, and my daughter Cari was around 8 years old. We visited the hospital gift shop. They had a cute Ty beanie cat that looked like her old cat Toots that had run away. It was so soft and cuddly, and that was the first of the big beanies I had ever seen. It was around $10, so I whispered to Chris to take Cari to the car, and I would buy it for her for Christmas. She LOVED that cat! It stayed on her bed near all the pillows she had, being a princess that she was.

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