Hi, dear readers! Wow – this year went by fast. It’s already November, and in the blink of an eye, we will be celebrating the holidays! Let me help you make your holiday season a little easier, with some great gift ideas!
We had a great Halloween, did you? This year, it was just the three of us, watching spooky movies and eating a festive meal, dressed up to answer the door to the trick or treaters and their fun costumes.
If it seems like the holidays arrive faster every year, you aren’t wrong. Holiday music started playing on my favorite satellite channel the day after Halloween, and egg nog was already on grocery store shelves the week before. Stores are also stocking Christmas earlier, in response to influencers and not wanting leftover stock.
I have my Thanksgiving decor out. I will wait a bit to start Christmas decorating, not wanting to push the holidays too soon. However, I do like to be prepared when it comes to gifts. I don’t like buying gifts under pressure, and while I like the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I don’t want them to become stressful and lose the joy. A little planning, some great gift ideas, and a good dose of joy make the holidays so special.
One of my favorite things to give or get is fun jewelry! I love the bracelets from Fahlo, a company that partners with nonprofits that help conserve and protect wildlife animals. The bracelets themselves are nice – beautiful colored beads with a different animal bead that represents a real-life animal in the wild that you get to track! Each bracelet comes with a code attached to an animal in the wild that you can follow through the app. (Don’t worry, the trackers do not hurt the animals, and the tracking is delayed so the animals are safe). My daughter and I love checking in on polar bears, sea turtles, and other animals. The app also gives interesting facts and photos. It’s fun to learn about different animals and I am amazed at the travel they do! Fahlo’s plushies are super-nice, too. (I ordered my daughter one when she had her wisdome teeth taken out). We have found the bracelets at the Paper Store, at our favorite local zoo’s gift shop, and online at myfahlo.com.
Speaking of nice plushies, another favorite gift to give or get – Warmies! Perfect for anyone, they are plush animals (or a plush neckwrap, if you prefer), that are weighted and can be warmed in the microwave. They also have a pleasant lavender aroma and are so comforting! They work well for aches and pains, and just to warm up and relax with on a cold day. My favorite one is my Snoopy, that my daughter ordered for me when my father passed. I bought the scruffy puppy for my mom, as a faraway hug from me. It became even more precious to her after she lost her real scruffy pup. Plushies can also go in the freezer to use as an ice pack, and all of them are so cute! There is something for everyone. Find them in gift shops and online at warmies.com.
Another favorite gift that is always special are books. One of the most beautiful books I have ever seen is perfect for anyone who loves a dog. Love Immortal: Antique Photographs and Stories of Dogs and Their People – A Collection of 200 Antique Dog Photographs by Anthony J. Cavo, is one of my favorite books. The photos are all at once haunting and beautiful, illustrating the love between dogs and their humans. The author’s commentary and knowledge is amazing – I learned a lot of interesting facts about history and dogs from this special book!
For your favorite bird-watcher, check out Barnes and Noble’s 2024 Gift Book of the year, Amy Tan’s The Backyard Bird Chronicles. Created from Amy Tan’s own journal from her backyard birdwatching, she is witty and keen on the daily movements of the many birds that visit her home. Reading this diary-like book was like having a cup of tea with novelist Amy Tan. Even though she is on the opposite coast as me, I learned new things about backyard birds and the hobby we both share of backyard birdwatching. The best part of the book? Amy’s own, hand-drawn sketches and illustrations of the birds, which are beautiful and amazingly detailed.
I hate to be hot! When my cousin and his daughter visited from Texas in September, it was still so hot and humid. Touring the sites like Mystic Seaport and Kent Falls was fun, but it was so warm! My cousin had brought a small, personal fan he bought from Amazon, and it was amazing how well it worked! Since I am always melting in the heat, my husband ordered me one in pink, (but they come in all sorts of colors). Rechargeable, it’s small enough to fit in a pocket or purse. It’s lightweight, but with five speeds it works as well as a large tabletop fan! The bonus is the nice, bright LED flashlight inside. This is a great stocking stuffer for anyone!
Also on Amazon, last Christmas, in my stocking, was a “hug light”. This flexible LED light slides around your neck like a hug, with two bright lights at each end. This adjustable, rechargeable flashlight with varying light intensities makes it easy to see tiny, dark stitches when I am knitting, or tiny detail work.
I think buying gifts for adults can be difficult! I love homemade gifts, but sometimes there just isn’t enough time. None of the items here cost a lot, but I have really enjoyed them. The holidays are not about the gifts, but it is still so nice to give someone something that is thoughtful, beautiful, or really useful, and for the recipient to think about the person who gave it each time it’s used.
I hope you all have a wonderful start to the holidays! Tell me your favorite gift ideas – to give and to get! Share with me in the comments below, or just drop me a line and say “Hello!”
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