In the Need

I have an idea and I'm hoping all of you who drop in are game.

Christmas is coming and I get so stressed out about gifts it is crazy . I ask people what they want and they say 'surprise me'. I'm thinking of getting those people coal but Bob has said that might mess with our karma.

So here is what I am asking. I am going to put up the gifts that I have bought family and friends and I am hoping that if you have found the best Mom gift or cousin gift or anybody gift that you will post it here also. We can do a weekly update thing. I will even post some of my best gifts to others over the years to help others out.

Just so you know, nobody who knows me knows this blog exists so I won't be ruining anyone's surprise. My Aunt said last year that she wanted Christmas ideas that did not involve DVDs. So far, we've all been stumped. Also, I try to suggest reasonable gifts as I don't want anyone to over spend on Bob and I.

I have asked my Aunt for anything white (like birdhouses) that can be put on my bookshelves. So if you have someone who's picky and they have shelves for everything except books then a knickknack of some sort might be a good idea.

First up: A gift for Anyone but I bought it for my Aunt who loves everything Mexican.

A chili pepper fajita grill (yikes, I can't find a pic but here is the Quesadilla maker, which is also fun). I think my Aunt will love it and if I get a kick out of it then I hope she will enjoy it. It was 40 dollars Canadian and was at The Bay. My Aunt also loves crafts so my husband found these old wood windows which I am going to paint in beautiful Mexican colours. I was thinking of either frosting the glass and putting three Spanish words on them or making it more of a large picture frame. I can post a picture of it when I finally get it done at 5am Christmas morning ;)

(Side story! You knew it was coming ;) . Bob and I are shoppers (even though we rarely buy, we like to browse) and we have been in some exclusive places and I noticed that old window sashes were being painted white and sold for a huge amounts of money. So we buy the first reno with all the old wooden windows and I'm psyched because I have seen what others do with them and I know I can make a bunch of fun presents. Hubby hears about this for weeks and has promised umpteen times that the wood windows are to come home. Ah, no. He actually threw them all away! I was busy putting the new windows in with my dad and didn't notice Bob loading them into the pickup to take to the dump! He hasn't heard the end of it since. New reno house, no old windows. Bob on his way home one night notices that someone is throwing out two old wood windows and he stops and picks them up. He says, 'I've never dumpster dived until now.' Good thing he loves me!)

I know that Christmas is about more than the gifts. I get that. Doesn't mean I don't get stressed. Also, apparently people are sick of me asking for book gift certificates or anything to do with books. They think that there must be something other than books that I want. They're kidding, right?

P.S. I am going to be reading for the next week so I don't know how much blogging I am going to get done. I figure most people who come here are coming for book suggestions and since I read two whole books in October I figure I better get cracking! I have to break past my book blues or I won't read for another month. Can't have that.