The Fairy Godmother’s 2010 Holiday Gift Guide

Yes, boys and girls! She’s baaaack! The Fairy Godmother is now in her third year on Hot Flashbacks, Cool Insights. She’s here to bonk you with her magic wand and sprinkle you with fairy dust. As always, she’s got new gift ideas for spirited giving. I hope you find a match between some of Mom’s ideas and your gift list.

Spa-La-La- La-La – If you’ve got women on your list that love to soak in the lap of luxury, go to the health food store or your favorite boutique and buy some natural bath products. Plantlife is one of Mom’s favorite brands. These carefully chosen items should smell so good, it’s hard not to keep them for yourself! Pack them in a little basket, or in the case of the Plantlife products, soap and bath packets are square. They can be stacked, wrapped in clear vinyl wrap, tied with a bow and a tag that says Spa-La-La-La-La.

The Merry Martini Mixology Book.  Here’s one good-time gift for Sex & the City type girlfriends—or for any guy or gal who likes their holiday cheer unique and fun. Even if you aren’t an expert mixologist, no worries! The Martini Diva will guide you through all the necessary steps, making you laugh out loud while making your martinis—not to mention the laughter to follow while drinking them. Click the book cover to purchase. And don’t forget, you can mix it up a little on New Year’s Eve. Save the champagne for midnight, sandwiched in-between a few fancy ‘tinis on either side. Don’t forget to drink in moderation and schedule a designated driver or call a cab when living spirited in the distilled spirits way. This small volume will jingle the bells of your friends who like to party!

Avatar, Collector’s Edition – With its metaphysical and ecological themes, Avatar is a natural for your spirited friends. I plan to see it over and over again! It just came out in DVD in mid-November and is available on Amazon for under $20 regular and $25 in Blu-ray. And if you want another one of Joyce’s punny tags to go with this Godmom suggestion, try Feliz Na’vi-dad!

Winter Wellness Basket – Sniffles, flu, the blah’s. Anticipate winter and bringing comfort to those you love who have a tendency to get under the weather when the thermometer plummets and the rain or snow sets in. Fill it with some of these helpful, natural products: Occillococcinum to avert or reduce the symptoms of flu; and for colds and building immunity, big bottle of Vitamin C or other great C- products like Emergen-C (comes in yummy flavors) or Airborne. Echinacea tincture is another immune booster. You can include bath salts for aches and pains (Batherapy) or Dr. Singha’s Mustard Bath. It knocks bugs on their bum! Any health food store or Whole Foods can utterly inspire this gift basket with natural products from lip balm to cough syrup to comforting medicinal teas. Rescue Remedy, which now comes in drops, pastilles, or spray, can fight the blahs and emotional heaviness that sometimes sets in with winter. For pure comfort, add a teddy bear, fluffy slippers, and or a lightweight fleece blanket that offers warmth without weight for sitting in front of the fire. If you want to go all-out, add a paperback book packed with humor. Laughter is always the best medicine!

Nostalgic Music and Dining – If there’s someone 60ish or older on your list, “era” music CDs are a can’t-go-wrong favorite. The soundtrack from American Graffiti is a great choice for baby boomers. There are countless collections on Amazon for music from nearly any era—30’s, 40’s, 50’s or styles such as Big Band or Do Wop. Check your local PBS affiliate, too. There are often pledge drives that feature collections from these groups that are dynamite. Amazon carries some wonderful nostalgic Christmas music. Alternatively, if you’ve got a local Mel’s or similar ‘50s-themed diner, a gift certificate can let them blast to the past in person.

Kindle – If you can afford a big gift for your closest loved ones who are also avid readers, they will never stop thanking you for an e-reader. Did you know that Amazon predicts by year’s end that e-books will outsell paperbacks? Check out the three Kindle versions now available. The two smaller ones are $139 and $189. Tim and I are foregoing other gifts to give each other Kindles for Christmas. Check out other e-readers, too. I prefer Kindle for its light weight and several other features, but each person’s needs are unique.  Here’s a link to start comparing e-book readers.

Dressing Up Gift Cards

With times tough on the financial front for many people, gift cards are often the way to go. Many of us can’t go to Starbuck’s much any more, and I’m telling you, at the price of groceries, I’d jump up and down if someone gave me a card to one of my favorite markets. Restaurants are always a winner, but the problem with gift cards is that they seem a little uncreative and blah compared to a present that was carefully chosen. Gift cards could stand to be punched up a little, so here are some ideas our Fairy Godmom shared with me:

“Jungle Bells” – The Amazon’s a jungle, and there’s surely as much “wild life” when it comes to diversity of gifts on the website of the same name. If your recipients are web savvy, an Amazon gift card is a great choice because of Amazon’s many departments. Consider adding in a small stuffed “jungle” character like a monkey. The card can be taped or propped in the animal’s arms with a tag that says “Jungle Bells.”

Travel by Restaurant – In lasts year’s Fairy Godmother post, I talked about creating a “travel” gift by packaging an Outback Restaurant gift card as a trip to Australia. This same concept can be applied to any cuisine—a trip to Italy, Mexico, Greece—you name it! You can also apply this idea to gift baskets. Pack a basket with olive oil, pasta, the canned ingredients to make sauce, and your favorite recipe. Add a $10 gift card to a grocery store for meat, sausage or other fresh ingredients needed. Tag it as a trip to Italy and don’t forget to add “Merry Christmas” in the appropriate language (Buon Natale!).

Winter Reads – There’s nothing like curling up with a good book in the cold weather by the fire. Create a warm and cozy environment for your favorite bookworm. Package the card with some nice winter tea (the Celestial Seasons holiday line is superb) or cocoa. Place in a small basket or box with a bookmark or other reading paraphernalia, such as a pair of inexpensive reading glasses (if you can sneak a peak at their prescription), or my favorite reading tool, a leather book weight. It helps keep pages with a mind of their own flat and open. If you’re computer creative, you can even make your own bookmark with something special to the recipient, like a photo of grandkids or a favorite quote.

Between this year’s and the previous year’s Fairy Godmother’s posts, linked below, I hope you have plenty of ideas to make your holiday gift giving a delight to both giver and receiver. Spin off these suggestions and make them your own … and remember that the thoughtfulness behind your gift will shine through and keep giving long after the gift opening ritual is just a memory.

Happy Shopping—and Happy Holidays!

~~~

Photo Credit:  Granny Fairy © Regissercom | Dreamstime.com

Past Godmother Gift Posts:  The Fairy Godmother (2008) and The Fairy Godmother Wands You (2009)

The Fairy Godmother Wands You!

Gift Ideas. Last year, I wrote a post about my gift for gifts called The Fairy Godmother. I invited readers to Comment and share some of their best gift ideas, too. The results were fabulous! Many of you said the exchange sparked ideas for your holiday shopping lists. We could all use a little help this time of year. I’ve decided to invite my Fairy Godmother persona back for another visit—to make her magic dust and gift tips an annual feature. Voilà! Here are this year’s flicks from the Godmom’s Gift Wand:


(SPOILER ALERT! If you are someone who normally gets a holiday gift from me, don’t look, as I may be talking about the gift you haven’t gotten yet this year.)

• eBaybe Basket - Our niece has recently become a passionate eBay shopper. Inexpensive baskets make the base for many of my gifts. After the season last year, I got three nesting holiday baskets in green and red for next to nothing. I used the medium-sized one for this collection of goodies: a nifty, electronic kitchen timer for making sure she doesn’t miss those last-minute bids; a pound of Bad Ass Coffee, a company whose name and donkey logo send the right message about being an online shopper in stubborn pursuit of winning the latest auction; and an eBay gift card. I lined the basket with raffia style “grass” and used my computer to create a tag that reads eBaybe Basket.

• A Trip Down Under – Some of our relatives can’t travel much anymore due to limited mobility. I figured out a way to send them to Australia, and they only have to go 10 miles from home to get there—no airport security, three-ounce jar limitations for carry-on, and no baggage fees. In fact, no baggage at all except an appetite! I found a darling little stuffed kangaroo at Barnes & Noble online. His pouch is perfect for fitting a gift card to Outback Steakhouse, that yummy Aussie-themed restaurant. I made a special card modeled after an Australian postcard, touting the features of this trip Down Under, no passport needed.

• Relief for the Older Relative Who Has Everything - One of my relatives is a challenge for being of a certain age where he has most everything he wants or needs. Also, he travels from across the country to be with us for the holidays. Anything I get him needs to pack well for the return trip. At my local CVS Pharmacy, I stumbled across Sarah Peyton’s Hot & Cold Personal Spa Set. Aside from sounding like the name of my blog, it has soft wraps with therapeutic gel inserts than can be heated or cooled for the aches and pains that invariably go with the turf of an octogenarian—or a someone often much younger. (Me!)

• Peace on Earth Bracelets - I love that the peace sign is back! It’s that time of year when we talk most about Peace on Earth. I found wood bead bracelets at Mixed Bag, one of my favorite local boutiques, that have tiny, sterling silver peace sign charms on them. They are perfect for two of my friends, who are as dedicated as I am to being part of the Peace. One of the most beautiful compliments I ever received was from my late, great friend Garry. Writing about me, he said, “She’s all about peace on the planet.” I love recognizing sister peacekeepers in such a lovely way! (Aside to the astro-savvy: These two friends and I, as a trio, call ourselves The Venus Girls for having the planet Venus in a prominent in our charts. If someone you know is a Venus Girl—especially if she’s a Libra or Taurus—two of their big loves are peace and beauty, and this bracelet covers them both.)

• Coffee Lover - Last year I focused on another love of my eBaybe niece—Starbucks. We have two credit cards where we accumulate points for purchases. They can be redeemed for gift cards. We often cash in our points for holiday gifts, as in this case. I bought a lovely reindeer gift box for $3 at Michaels, square and deep with the design both inside and out. I put in a gold mug. In the mug is the Starbucks gift card. Also in the gift box was frankincense and myrrh soap by Indigo Wild. The brand is Zum Bar, and it’s made from goat’s milk. I buy the soap at our local Natural Foods Co-op or Whole Foods. It smells divine! However, to unacscentuate that part of the gift till opening and so it doesn’t mingle with the smell of coffee with possibly strange results, I wrapped it in clear cellophane wrap. It sits in a bed of white sparkly “grass” that looks like snow. Behind the mug is a half-pound of Starbucks Christmas Blend in its shiny gold package. I created a bubble in Word and cut it out, so that the deer inside is thinking/saying: There is no greater gift than Love—followed by gold, frankincense, myrrh—and Starbucks!

• For the Runner on Your List - I gave my friend Wendy the book, Women Who Run by Shanti Sosienski. In interviews with numerous women, it explores why women run, what drives them, and what continues to spark their interest in the sport. Even before she pounded pavement, Wendy had some “tootsie trouble.” To help keep her feet in good running condition, I also gave her some new-fangled toe stretchers that can help realign the lower digits if you have any podiatry problems like hammer toes or bunions. While the running book and toe stretchers were Wendy’s gift last year, think of the possibilities for the runner in your life that could accompany a book about running: good padded socks like Thorlo’s, sweat or wrist bands, or iPod download gift cards to make the run both a walk and a concert in the park.

• Literary Mama - My friend Lucy is an excellent writer, but motherhood and working have put literary efforts on the back burner for her. However, she wants to take the pot out and stir it as often as she can. I got her the book, Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined by Seal Press. Mom-writers share the growth they’ve gained through motherhood. Writer’s Digest offered me a free gift subscription if I renewed early. I asked Lucy; she wanted it. This part of the gift wasn’t a surprise, but I asked them to start it with the January issue and bought her a single copy of the December issue to go with the book. It gave me something to present besides just a gift card and served as a preview and “teaser” till her subscription kicked in.

• For Your Favorite Travelers – Another great find for my uncle who travels from afar and around the world is the Travelon Leather ID and Boarding Pass Holder. It’s a fashionable, practical, hands-free “necklace” for your travel documents while doing the airport security jig. What’s more, it passes the true test of a great gift find. I want one!

• Seasonal Delights - Last year, for my sister in Pennsylvania, I put together a seasonal package with a tag that read, Open Before Christmas. Enjoy all season! Starting with a holiday tote bag I got for $4 at Barnes & Noble in a special seasonal promotion (they have them again this year), I started filling it with the darkly playful humor of one of my favorite memoir writers in his gut-buster, Holidays on Ice: Stories by David Sedaris. Also in the package were my favorite frankincense and myrrh soap and a Santa mug filled with packets of exotic hot chocolate blends. I got a kick just thinking of introducing my sister to David and his holiday antics. I could see her sitting in her house, sipping hot chocolate. I added a personally made card (MS Publisher). On the outside, it said Merry Sismas with a vintage boomer photo of the two of us at ages 12 and 13. I added a personal note to the sentiment: Having you for a sister makes it Christmas every day of the year! 

This last idea can be modified to fit any favorite friend or relative. Even the family curmudgeon might enjoy a copy of Scrooge, book or DVD. Add one of with those hilarious cloth gift sacks marked Naughty, containing licorice or other goodies as “lumps of coal.” I just bought a relative one of those cool money jars available at every other store this season. It has a digital gismo that counts your change as you put it in. Wouldn’t your favorite Scrooge enjoy counting his cash while everyone else revels? Oh, and don’t forget a set of earplugs so he can’t hear the carols. And one of those lapel buttons that says “Bah, Humbug!”

I hope this “conversation” has brought out your inner Fairy Godmother! Please have her visit the Comments with any ideas for this annual gift idea exchange.

Don’t forget, Google and your mouse are your best friends during this time of year. No crowds, no parking problems, no snarky shoppers or crabby clerks. However, you must stock a box cutter at home and recycle all the cardboard that will overflow as delivery trucks bring the holiday right to your door.

May your joy in giving catch fire and light the world this holiday season. Peace!

~~~

Photo credit: HOLIDAY © Lenta Dreamstime.com

The Fairy Godmother

I have the gift for gifts. For the most part, I find unique and personal presents my friends and family love. I’m not sure if it’s a talent or just a combination of caring, listening and a dash of creativity. Whatever it is, it’s a skill I’m glad I to have developed. I think most anyone can learn to do it. It sure comes in handy this time of year!

While I wish I could be like the Fairy Godmother or genie in a bottle and grant my loved ones three wishes, the title of this post refers to a business I used to dream of—a boutique where I’d make this gift giving talent a paid gig as an owner/gift consultant. It didn’t take long for me to figure out; it wouldn’t be half as much fun without the personal connection to the recipient.

Some of these gifts I have given stand out in my memory.

· Joyceisms for Tim - When I first reconnected with my childhood sweetheart, now husband, I was influenced by a dream for the first Valentine’s Day gift I gave him in 36 years. I got one of those beautiful wooden boxes from Things Remembered, and I had engraved on the gold plate, Joyceisms for Tim. In the dream—the one that ultimately nudged me to look him up— he was a relationship book author. Tim was coming to a signing in my city where I’d see him for the first time in all those years. In his book, he wrote about me with great warmth as his foundational relationship. When he talked about someone doing things in his or her own inimitable style, he said it was to “Joyce it” after me. “Joyceisms” were things I had said or done that he found endearing. My Joyceisms in the wooden box were little typewritten slips of paper, rolled and banded into mini-scrolls. Each one is a reason why I love him. Under Joyceisms for Tim, I had engraved Valentine’s Day 1997. Not only does he enjoy them any day; he especially enjoys dipping into the box on days I’m crabby, when he’s wondering if I even like him!

· The Boundless Birthday Wish Box – This gift consists of a colorful, square box, the kind that can be found at stores like Michael’s or Beverly’s. Inside are a small spiral notebook and a birthday candle. (Michaels sells them in tins for travel, with Happy Birthday literally written on the lid, and they’re only $1.) Lastly, I made a card in MS Publisher on my computer that explains what the Boundless Birthday Wish Box is all about. Why celebrate your birthday a measly once a year? Especially when it’s all about the candle and the wish?

This box contains all the materials to make magical wishes any day of the year. Directions on the inside of the card advise: (1) Use the spiral notebook to write down and date your wish, also creating a wish diary; (2) Prop the wish diary open with the candle in front of it. (3) Say the wish to yourself—light the candle; (4) Blow it out after the universe has time to absorb your desire; and (5) Check back now and then to see how many wishes have come true. Note them on the back of each wish sheet. This one-of-a-kind blessing box costs only $3-5 to make and is priceless to the recipient.

· The Duct Tape Basket – One year, I was at a loss about what to get my brother-in-law who works hard as a handyman. I stumbled across a wallet on Amazon made out of duct tape material. A spark went off in my brain, and soon I was searching for books on uses for duct tape. I found one that had all kinds of artsy and practical ideas of what you can do with this versatile material. I added the book, the wallet (with a $10 Home Depot gift card in it), and a roll of duct tape to the basket. He was thrilled.

· Chicago Hot Dog “Picnic in Winter” Basket – Tim and I come from Chicago, and there’s no dog like a Chicago dog. His sister and her husband met there long before we all moved to California. My sis-in-law had just talked recently about a hot dog stand she missed from the old days. This inspired me. I looked up the fixin’s and recipe for a Chicago dog. I found information online about the hot dog stand and its history, along with the general history of Chicago-style hot dogs. Along with the recipe card and the hot dog history in a presentation folder, I added everything but the dogs and buns—bottled green peppers, celery salt, relish, and an onion—and a grocery store gift card to buy the rest of the ingredients fresh. My special card suggested an indoor wienie roast in the dead of winter to remind them of the warmth of summer days when we usually eat hot dogs. How much fun would that quick dinner be in front of a roaring fire? I guess you could even roast the dogs over it.

I love gift baskets, as you can tell, and I’ve done a lot of different themes, including one called “Our Favorite Things,” spinning on the tune from A Sound of Music. It contained all kinds of products and foods we particularly enjoy or find helpful like a jar opener and Goo Gone, that stuff that gets off those sticky price tags, or Downy Wrinkle Releaser, my favorite alternative to ironing. I always create a card that explains how it all fits together.

This year, I’m giving my sister- and brother-in-law a gift cluster I call Ménage à Tweet. (Nope, it has nothing to do with Twitter.) I found this wonderful bird feeder—a metal squirrel with bright orange leaves on the umbrella-style top. It caught my attention because my sister-in-law and I share a love for autumn. I’m including a package of gourmet birdseed. Finally, there’s a bottle of one of my favorite blend wines, Ménage à Trois by Folie à Deux Winery. The card will explain that this is winter entertainment. You feed the birds that didn’t fly south for winter; then, you open up the wine, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show as their fine feathered visitors go nuts at this high-end bird diner. Husband, wife, and the birds—a Ménage à Tweet.

Since I have no real time to be your Fairy Godmother, feel free to use any and all of these ideas. However, I am going to offer a special holiday gift to my readers. If you’re stumped for a gift idea on your shopping list, Comment and tell me something about the person. I’ll give my wand a quick flick and offer you some suggestions! I’d also like to hear about unique gifts you have given or received.

In my next life, I’m coming back as Santa Claus. Ask me if I like Christmas …


Photo: I always knew that this Christmas ornament I have had for eons would be the model for the logo of The Fairy Godmother boutique. The motto: Your wish is my command. Here she is on a wand too big for her wings, britches—whatever!