It’s that time once again! Thanks for stopping by!
So…..welcome! Kick up your feet and relax a while. I hope you’ll browse around a while and like what you read & see. (And don’t forget to hop over to my reviews blog, Muse Reviews, for another fantastic giveaway!)
I am giving away “a few of my favorite things” this time around. I wanted to give away something specifically for the ladies, too, since we all spend so much time and money on our kids already. (Right?)
Here’s the little gift ensemble I’ve put together for one lucky winner:
- Samara O’shea’s book Note To Self, an excellent commentary/how-to on journaling your life
- A hardbound, gold-gilded lined blank journal for your writing pursuits or fleeting thoughts
- A selection of teas and chocolate (of course, right?)
- Another surprise or two, perhaps! (You’ll have to wait and see.)
All you have to do is, in a comment, tell me the most thoughtful or creative gift you’ve ever given OR received. In a world of pre-wrapped gifts available for immediate purchase and delivery, it’s nice to hear about gifts that truly come from the heart, especially with the holiday season right around the corner. (One comment per person, please, and U.S. entries only!)
I’ll close the contest this Saturday night (Nov. 1, 2008) at 11pm EST and contact the winner the next day. Good luck!
Thanks for dropping in! Don’t forget to enter some (or all) of the other great contests at Bloggy Giveaways!
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Jingle (3 years ago)
A couple of years ago my Nana gave me a photo album/scrapbook that my Great Grandmother had kept. It had her beautiful handwriting in it along with photos of me when I was a baby and growing up. It is the most treasured collection of photos that I own.
Ashley (3 years ago)
For my Bridal Shower, my pastor’s wife gave me an amazing gift basket that she put together herself.
It had thank you cards, two fancy pens, stamps, coffee mugs, hot chocolate, and candles. Then it said to have a relaxing night together writing thank you cards!
It was so unique and creative!
Thanks for the giveaway!
-Ashley
Pamspride (3 years ago)
My most thoughtful gift is a Christmas globe for my MIL. I had my sister’s three kids a few years ago…I had them for two years. I also had 4 kids of my own. My MIL was the only one that would watch all of the kids for me…that is 7 kids under 8!! Well, my sister’s youngest boy broke my MIL’s Christmas globe and it was a globe that was VERY special to her!! It took me a couple of years to find the globe in a Christmas shoppe when I was traveling out of state. I started bawling right in the store when I finally found it!!
Karen (3 years ago)
One of the presents I’m working on for this Christmas is a cookbook of “classic” family recipes – Mom’s pancakes, Grandmom’s Cheese cookies, you get the idea. I’m putting it together in tastebook & will be getting a copy for everyone.
Mia J. (3 years ago)
The most thoughtful gift I have gotten is when my husband gave me a trip to Paris for my 40th b-day. Not only had I never traveled out of the country but I could go and see my brother and SIL who had moved to Paris and I had been missing a lot. It was wonderful.
Becky (3 years ago)
For my 40th bday, my husband planned a weekend getaway to Chicago (just us 2). He arranged everything, including every single detail involved in leaving our kids at his brothers. It was great!
Chrysa (3 years ago)
When we got married, someone made us a set of wine charms that had symbols of Minnesota (where I’m originally from) and of NYC (where we were living at the time). It was so thoughtful and personalized!
Jeanine (3 years ago)
I love making tailored gifts for my friends. One big hit was for a friend of mine that is a knitter and coffee lover. I had a friend that worked in a local coffee shop and I asked her if she could snag me one of those clear cups with the domed lid. Inside of that I put a sein of latte colored yarn, and some remants of a cream colored yarn that I had on top of that to look like some foam, and a pair of needles (the straws). I wrapped a ribbon around it and included a gift card to her favorite cafe.
Angela (3 years ago)
Last Christmas my husband made me an actual paperback book of pictures of us and our friends and family. I absolutely adore it! Ever so often I look through it and smile at all the memories it contains.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Angela
itsahumanzoo at gmail dot com
P.S. I am giving away a subscription to Parents Magazine on my blog, so if you or someone you know might be interested, stop on by! :)
Dani (3 years ago)
When I went to college a lady at my church gave me the most beautiful desk clock. I loved it!
daniwilliams30 AT gmail DOT com
LisaW (3 years ago)
The most thoughtful give I’ve ever gotten was a gift certificate for a massage when I was pregnant with my youngest. It was wonderful!
Jesica (3 years ago)
My favorite gift ever was from my daughter. She was about 5 years old and went shopping with daddy. She picked out a manicure set because “remember mommy when you lost your’s at the airport”
It had been months and she remembered that security had taken mine away. I was touched
Elizardbreath (3 years ago)
A very thoughtful gift that I recently received was a set of handmade magnets and a beautiful handmade card from my closest friend. She wrote a very special message to me and even had her kids make me cards. It really blessed me that this whole family was thinking of me on my birthday.
elizardbreath8@hotmail.com
Marcia (3 years ago)
My sister-in-law bought us tickets to a zoo I wanted to take my daughter to, with a dead line of this year! It was perfect :-D
learningmama at yahoo dot com
Becca (3 years ago)
I have twice now done family cookbooks to give at Christmas, spiral bound, nice printing. I’d love to win–what a treat! Thanks!
cross_home2001 (at) yahoo (dot) com
Lindsey@A Kindred Spirit's Thoughts (3 years ago)
One of my favorite gifts is a blown-up picture of my sister and I on our horses as teenagers. My sister gave it to me and I love it!
beth shepherd (3 years ago)
Thank you for having this. The most thoughtful gift I have ever received was from my daughter. She drew me a picture and my husband had it framed. I loved it. THank you!
tatertot374@sbcglobal
Jenna (3 years ago)
I’m going to go for the most recent creative gift I’ve received because I’ve given and received some great ones! Anyhow, when my second son was born my aunt sent me a blue piggy bank and wrote a neat little note to go with it about how she learned while raising her children to put in deposits – encouragement, etc – so that there would be something to take out when she had to make a withdraw – correcting her children. It is daily a visual reminder to keep making deposits into my son’s life!
Chrissy (3 years ago)
One of the most thoughtful gifts I received on my last birthday was a slideshow my friends made me of pictures from when were in college. It was a sweet surprise :-) Thanks!
Nicole L. (3 years ago)
My mom’s best friend gave me a journal when I graduated from high school. I wasn’t sure if I would use it but it became one of my most treasured items after I filled it up.
Maggie (3 years ago)
My husband hand carved me a little penguin out of wood. It’s not the most glamorous piece ever, but I love it.
Nicole (3 years ago)
I handmade a quilt and gave it to my grandma, who taught me to quilt, for christmas.
shoreview3(at)hotmail(dot)com
Janell (3 years ago)
My most treasured gift is a VCR tape made by my daughter..it is a collage of events of my 3 daughters growing up.
Mom to 2 boys (3 years ago)
I think my most creative gift I will be giving soon for Christmas. I’ve just started sewing more and made a lovely bag for my best friend from high school. Thanks for this give a way!
Janel (3 years ago)
For a wedding night present I’ve given the couple a “survival package” for their honeymoon. Energy drinks, Gatorade, chocolate, chocolate syrup, etc. You get the idea!
Charlotte (3 years ago)
I got a perpetual calendar with inspirational quotes as a high school graduation gift. All these years later, I still have it on my desk at work.
Liz G. (3 years ago)
My family and I planned a trip for my husband to Germany for his 30th birthday! It was awesome, because we had requested all the time off for him from his job and gave him 2 days to pack. It was seriously the best feeling ever. =)
Ang (3 years ago)
from a mom with 2 boys, 21 months apart, a quite day to myself was one of the greatest gifts ever when they were both under2!
Jacqueline in Atlanta (3 years ago)
When I had my son everyone kept stopping by the hospital with baby things for him. That was nice, but I had post partum blues, I had just pushed out a ten pound baby and I was feeling ignored while everyone carried on over the big beautiful boy. My friend marsha came in late in the afternoon with a big basket just for me. It had chocolate, tea, a book, lotion for my poor belly, nail polish, thank you cards so I could get started from my hospital bed, and more. I sat and cried!!
Thanks for having the giveaway!
Loralynn (3 years ago)
A couple of years ago, I put together a family photo book for my Mother for Mother’s day. It had cute little sayings for each picture a picture of each of my kids, me (and I avoid pictures), my husband, Dad, Mom when she was young and my Grandparents. I even made the book it was in. It took a long time and was one of the nicest things I have made!
Michelle B. (3 years ago)
I think one of the most thoughtful/creative gifts you can give is a diaper cake. Plenty of diapers for the baby with other things the baby needs. I like to coordinate what I put on the cake with things from the couples baby registry. I also like to make a crocheted blanket and a name cross stitch with date of birth and birth stats.
Hollie (3 years ago)
My husband and I made up a “monopoly” game for his parents – you know how they have every possibly version available from star warsopoly to dogopoly? It took a lot of time to put together the board and come up with property names, chance cards, etc., but it was a lot of fun and I found out a lot about his family history.
Thanks for hosting!
hedwards25(at)yahoo(dot)com
Angie (3 years ago)
A few years ago my younger brother wrote me the most lovely poem for my birthday.(he is an aspiring writer and poet) He wrote about how he thinks I am the greatest mom in the world and how much he looks up to me…needless to say, I still get teary eyed when I read it. It meant so much to me that he thought that about me…he has really turned out to be wonderful man!
Chel (3 years ago)
I have a friend who is an amazing artist but who makes her living doing something else. One year, I put together what I thought was a pretty unoriginal gift of all sorts of different art supplies. She was thrilled. She said I was the only person to ever give her art works. I like that I knew her well enough to give what she loves.
Angie (3 years ago)
When my brother was an unemployed teenager, and I was a new married woman, he gathered his entire youthgroup and brought them to our house and had the choir sing happy birthday to me. He had no money to buy me anything, but to this day, I remember the effort and thought he put into making my day special.
Angie
quillysilly at yahoo dot com
Sweetpeas (3 years ago)
When I was pregnant with my twins 2 of my friends went together and made a BUNCH of frozen meals to stock our freezer with. That was a LIFESAVER in the first weeks after our twins were born!
Rita A. (3 years ago)
I made a holiday gift package for my dad a few years back based on the 12 days of Christmas song. I put an ink cartridge in a little pear tree for a cartridge in a pear tree, 2 pairs of sweats, 3 new sweatshirts, 4 pairs of socks, etc. He opened them in order and sang the song each time he did. It was the most fun gift ever.
carolyn sharkas (3 years ago)
My most thoughtful gift was a scrapbook I made for a friend. She had a new baby boy and wasn’t a scrapbooker herself, she knew I was and when she saw it she said “I was hoping you would make me one of these, it will be my most favorite gift”. thanks for sharing.
carolyn s.
ceashark@aol.com
becky (3 years ago)
wow, what a thoughtful contest. Last Christmas money was very tight… several friends from church, without knowing anything from each other or even anything specific from us, gave us money specifically to buy presents for our kids. And we were given a ham and a turkey by my teenagers bosses.
Meredith F. (3 years ago)
Just recently, I have made some really cute onesies for two of my pregnant friends. They were customized with little sayings with a play on words with their last names.
And last year, a friend of mine got married, and I made a “movie blanket” for the happy couple. I crocheted a large blanket, in their wedding colors-which are also her favorite colors- that would cover their laps while watching movies, their favorite thing to do. My best friend loved it and she stole it and basically uses it for herself. Her poor hubby hardly ever gets to use it!
Genevieve Larson (3 years ago)
My bunco group threw me a baby shower and surprised me with the most beautiful quilt. Each lady had taken a square home and made their own square for my sweet daughter Summer Rae.
Carrie (3 years ago)
Back when my husband and I were dating, we were really poor. He lived in my college town and I was back home for the holidays. He didn’t have a winter coat and was walking to work every day in December. My mom drove me to the Goodwill store and I bought him a winter coat for a dollar and shipped it to him.
What’s crazy is that from pictures it looks exactly like a coat his dad owned. It might have even been the exact same one because his dad had died a few years earlier and his stuff could have ended up in Goodwill. So, a special gift.
LadyVampire2u (3 years ago)
The most thoughtful present I ever got were these two books I got from my brother. Not that the titles were ones I had told him about, but the thoughtfulness of the gift was more because my brother remembered. I mean here my brother was stationed out in Iraq in a place where he told me bombings took place almost everyday, and he remembers to log online and order these two books for my birthday. It made me cry.
Carolyn (3 years ago)
I learned how to Water Bath Can. This year I am giving Homemade Canned Goods.
Carolyn
shelt28@yahoo.com
thebarberbunch.blogspot.com
Pamela Vest (3 years ago)
The most thoughtful gift i have ever recieved was after the birth of my first child. Everyone buys you things for baby, I recieved a package just for me with personal items that are a must for new mom and some nice pamper me items. Let’s face it we done the work and we need to be remembered too. Now I do the same, instead of cute blankets or expensive outfits that baby will probably never wear I get mom things she can really use.
Lori (3 years ago)
The best gift that I have ever gotten was a photo book that my husband made for me the first Christmas we were dating, it was pictures of our fist year together.
Becky Grayson (3 years ago)
The most thoughtful gift I ever received was from my husband. It was a Christmas card and he had written all the reasons he loved me inside. We had just gotten back together after a seperation so it meant so much to me. I still have and cherish that card and we have been married for almost 29 years. I pull it out every once in awhile and re-read it and my heart swells with love.
Thanks so much!
Mrs. Sara (3 years ago)
I’m not sure if it’s the most thoughtful gift ever, but I had great fun sewing puppets for my niece’s 2nd birthday this year.
Thanks for the giveaway!
saharagreen at gmail dot com
Eden (3 years ago)
With contributions from several friends… we filled a brand new laundry basket with baby clothes. we got a long line of twine and wooden clothes clips and hung each piece of baby clothing to the twine. Hope this makes sense.
Nina (3 years ago)
My husbands first birthday gift when I was a freshman in high school. It was a teddy bear and I loved it. I still sleep with it every night. lol Thanks for the chance to win.
Nina
NinaGonzalez0430@yahoo.com