What's the coolest gift that you GAVE anyone this year?

[Wonk]

My hair had grown down to my belt (hippie leftist whatever style) over the last few years. I shaved it off and gave it to the Cancer Society for use in a wig. I'll never know who will end up wearing my hair, but I hope it makes their fight with cancer (chemo, etc) a little easier for them to deal with mentally .

[Booberdawg]

1. That was a very thoughtful gift, Wonk.

:thumbsup:

[7th_Sephiroth]

21. i got my dad an awesome

hunting kinfe

[southerngirlwriter]

2. GOOD FOR YOU.

That's awesome.

I went to a paint-your-own-pottery place and got a small picture frame. I painted it and put in a picture of me and my adoptive father. He got it today and absolutely LOVED it. :-)

[kixot]

3. mine to my wife

[Generic Other]

4. Sent Michael Moore book to soldiers in Iraq

Tucked a copy of DUDE WHERE'S MY COUNTRY under the beef jerky and shaving cream.

[sasquatch]

16. That's real cool

Help us overthrow the Bush Crime Family:)

[Booberdawg]

5. Didn't do it this year but one year

I volunteered to relieve the Meals on Wheels volunteers on Xmas and Thanksgiving so they could have a break. Just takes a couple hours to deliver the meals and gives the volunteers a well deserved break.

[Lisa0825]

6. That's wonderful!:-)

I gave my best friend three gifts.

1) A painting by a Jamaican artist. She loves all types of ethnic art work. His name is William Rhule, and I was helping him with looking for a job (I am an employment counselor). He told me about his art, and said he would make me a good deal. His paintings sell for much more than I can afford. He says he was kind of famous in Jamaica, but hasn't made it big here yet, though he has displayed at several shows/small galleries. He calls his work "Primative Art." I found one of his paintings online. http://www.panamericanart.com/html/Detail.asp?WorkInvNum=799&whatpage=search

2) A coffee maker.

3) Coffee from Ten Thousand Villages ( www.tenthousandvillages.com ). If you aren't familiar with them, check them out! They are a fair trade store. They sell all types of really cool imports from artisans and companies that pay a living wage and treat employees well. Apparently, the coffee industry is pretty bad for the little guy, so fair trade coffee has been making waves lately.

I love to give gifts with a story behind them, so it was a nice Christmas exchange for me:-)

[devilgrrl]

54. I got my Mom & sister great gift sets from Special Teas...

http://www.specialteas.com their teas rock the house!!!!

[carols]

7. Well my kids put Anti-Flag CD's on their lists

I believe we now own the entire collection :-) Did I raise 'em, right or what?

[NightTrain]

8. For a Net friend in New York City who loves classic soul music...

...but can't buy a whole lot of CDs for herself because she's a single mom with a teen-aged daughter, I copied several of my homemade CD comps of '60s and '70s R&B and dropped them in the mail to her. She left a message on my answering machine tonight while I was napping, telling me that the CDs arrived today and thanking me profusely.

Just call me "Soul Santa," y'all! :kick:

[greatauntoftriplets]

9. I know a woman who had her long, long hair cut and did that.

Mine is not so long that I could -- shoulder length only.

But good for you. What a neat thing to do.

When the woman at work had her hair cut, first time I saw her I asked what had happened to her hair. She pulled it out of a bag and told me where it was going.

[pansypoo53219]

10. i sent a pal in Denmark

3 boxes of Kraft Mac and cheese, which she craves over there. and another pal a jar of honey roasted panut butter. and all my family got a 25 dinar Sadaam bank note.

[Colin Ex]

11. Here's what I got my little sister

(who is sixteen this year).

She's getting a copy of "The Complete Zombie Survival Guide." Some dude wrote a book on how to defend yourself just in case ten thousand zombies spring up out of nowhere.

-C

[Liberal Christian]

12. A Heifer project llama

to my 17 year old niece and 14 year old nephew. We're all going to meet up in Belize and I am going to tell them how their llama will help a struggling family.

www.heifer.org

[Limbought]

13. Your's was a VERY COOL gift!

I made a lot of my christmas presents this year. Two "dolly aghans" for my 2-year old neice, slippers for members of the immediate family (8 pair), & I am still working on a queen-size afghan for my Mom.

[ornotna]

14. That is very cool

:thumbsup: My wife did the same. She gave 14 inches to Locks of Love.

[sasquatch]

15. Chris Spielman Ohio State throwback jersey

for my Mom:)

[scarlet_owl]

17. I got my dad a Strong Bad t-shirt.

My stepmom gave him a Moai tissue box holder where the tissue comes out of the nose.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

18. A bike

We had a secret Santa at work and I drew a woman who doesn't have a car. She rode a cheap little boys BMX bike to work. I had a nice women's 15 speed mountain bike that I never used. I gave it to her. It was deemed that I was the best secret santa ever.

[lazarus]

19. Sent my daughter to visit her mother

The flight had to be postponed due to her catching the flu, so we ended up having to spend all our Xmas money on the new tickets, plus driving from San Diego to LAX tonight for a flight at 0700.

This would be the mother who hasn't bothered paying any child support this year, and who didn't even bother calling to talk to her daughter for the first 4 months she was living here.

Merry Clausmas, everybody.

[DemOverseas]

27. Second greatest gift

for your daughter. I'd put you as #1!

[lazarus]

52. Thanks

:-)

[AdrianInOcala]

20. Bought my wife a new Tablet PC to replace the laptop my 2 yr old trashed

Also got her an iPod. Bought a ton of stuff for my daughter for her first 'real' Xmas.

[SoCalDem]

22. Gave our son a portable dvd player

boring old gift cards to the others.. They do not live near us, so I figured they could get whatever they wanted.. There are plenty of Target stores and they should be able to get something nice for $200.00..

[Madrone]

23. I got my SO a cool

little Sharp 3cd bookshelf stereo system. What makes it cool is that it also plays DVDS! And it has 2 rear and one center channel speakers. And it has an optical out and a subwoofer out on the back!

I got him a 27inch tv for his birthday, and have been wanting to get him a stereo. He plays cds on his cheesy computer. I also wanted him to be able route the television sound thru the stereo. HE'S been whining about a dvd player for awhile now - but my objective was the stereo.

Now he gets it ALL, in one nice, compact little package. How cool is that? :)

[freeminder]

40. that's real cool !

you made me remember the days when I was a boy dreaming of these "systems" :-)

So tell us what the reception was like ?

[Madrone]

41. Don't know yet -

Something happened with the shipping, so it won't be here until at least tomorrow (Friday). I haven't seen him all day anyway, as he's been at work. I KNOW he'll love it.

The other cool thing I bought and forgot to mention was for his 8 year old son - a discovery toys real and working metal detector. I can't WAIT for him to get it, because it's all I can do to keep from ripping it out of it's package and playing with it myself! :)

[freeminder]

42. be careful with the ripping !

because when YOU play it you will drain the batteries or something :P

On the other hand, if you'd use the thing on a car like mine you could afford another one :D

[Skittles]

24. I adopted a 88 year old senior in subsidized apartments in Dallas

his three wishes were: bath towels, bed sheets, kitchen towels. I spent 120 bucks at Linens 'n Things and got him EXTRA LARGE PLUSH TOWELS and KILLER SHEETS and GORGEOUS KITCHEN TOWELS, all in the colors he indicated. Plus I added some COOL SLIPPERS and a TIN OF HOT CHOCOLATE. I think I did good !!! :D

[Bundbuster]

25. Skittles - I KNOW you did good

That must have meant so much to him. Imagine if enough people did that so every "subsidized senior" in America could have a Christmas like that - it could easily be done by a country of our size and wealth. I'm proud of you.

I spent about 2 months burning custom, individually tailored 78-minute music CD's for my 4 closest relatives, about 80 CD's in all. I think the best gift is something that the person could never do or get themselves, and will enjoy forever.

[Skittles]

28. YOU DID GOOD TOO BUNDBUSTER!

LOL, what's funny is, I'm in DESPERATE need of new SHEETS, TOWELS, A COMFORTER, but I find it so difficult to shop for myself!

[Bundbuster]

29. Tis better to give than receive

As you obviously well know. I am usually embarassed to receive gifts, but always trying to give them, all year long.

[Booberdawg]

32. I love you Skittles

:D

[bearfan454]

39. You did Darn good Skittles.

I like helping old people too.

[Wonk]

26. kick

[Lisa]

30. George Bush lawn ornaments ...

... to two Americans who run websites critical of the administration. They are made by a small company on Vancouver Island and very few people have them.

http://www.castartstudios.com/Products/bush.htm


USPS delivered the goods, yesterday ... way to go! The recipients are thrilled -- they sent me multiple excited e-mails about how their family, neighbors, etc. were envious ...


Also, a friend of mine is visiting her fiance's family in France this Christmas. I got some Euro notes from the bank and gave them to her in advance, with instructions to take her in-laws (who sound like very nice people) out for lunch as a break from holiday preparations!

And this year, for the first time -- a live animal. I gave a friend who's been waiting for this a LONG time, a Silkie bantam hen to add to her flock. She fell in love with it and wants more of them. (The breeder is a local woman who is a single parent and can really use the money, so it's a bonus on top of that!)

And on Christmas night I went out for pizza, and tipped all the servers and kitchen staff. (Only about $2 each, since it hadn't occurred to me ahead of time, and I only had about $50 on me.)

But none of these are as cool as the gifts mentioned by others on this thread (like Wonk's hair). I see that a LOT of people here seem to like giving presents, even more than getting them. (I too get specially jazzed when the gift is something unexpected that manages to make the recipient very happy.) Happy holidays to all!

[amazona]

34. I love Silkie bantams!!!

What a cool gift. They are beautiful and so good for your other birdlets too.

[Lisa]

36. you should have seen the recipient's face ...

I snuck the carrying cage into work, through the back entrance, and then asked her to come into the staff lounge to consult her about a problem. She thought I had a paperwork question, and wasn't expecting this -- even though she'd asked me if I knew where to find Silkies locally, back in the summer.

The hen is about 12 weeks old and buff-colored. I assume she'll fluff out a bit more when she gets her next set of feathers ... very bright eyes. I couldn't decide between brown and black, so I just asked the farmer to "grab one that doesn't want to run away".

[Don_G]

31. A Computer And A Quarter's Tuition

For someone....

[amazona]

33. don't laugh...but...

...I have a friend who is hopeless and helpless who is also a very well-to-do wingnut who gave me a very extravagant gift I couldn't possibly match dollar per dollar...

But after some pondering I remembered that he is fairly helpless and resourceless and he had mentioned he had a speeding ticket in a construction zone in another state that he couldn't figure out where he was supposed to pay it.

I got his ticket and called the state in question. It was not easy -- the police officer in question has very poor handwriting -- but a state employee helped me figure out where to pay the ticket to get this episode off my friend's record.

He was thrilled. As a "libertarian," he would be driving around for years without license or insurance racking up even more fines if I had not done this.

He admitted I had saved him endless trouble and worries because he could have never figured it out!

I know I should not be exchanging gifts with the right wing but he loves to give luxe gifts so...I have to be polite and do something!

[Lisa]

35. impressive!

That's Christmassy in so many ways, amazona.

First, it was something that required a lot of thought and effort on your part (rather than just doling out cash). There are some places in the world (e.g. Holland) where a gift like this is considered more suitable for Christmas than something bought from the store.

Second -- you've made an effort to reach across political lines and see someone as a human being, rather than belonging to a political party. That's VERY true to the spirit of the season.

Third -- it's a surprise, and something that the person in question may not have thought of doing for himself -- which is often more welcome than something that they already knew was forthcoming!

[TheZoo]

45. I'm glad you helped them.

I remember last year that I gave a similar gift - someone that was trying to be a chef in Chicago, and she needed tuition because she couldn't afford it. I had the money available, and couldn't think of something better to do with it.

She did GREAT this semester, and is going to graduate this upcoming year. The major bonus is that she's going to make me X-mas cookies, even though I asked for nothing in return.

Even though I don't ask for the money in return, she has offered to pay me back on Paypal. She's a great person, and I really hope that she makes it through Chef school so she can become the great chef that I know she will.

[TheZoo]

49. Ooops, sorry that should have been

A reply to Don_G's post. Except for the computer.

The person that I paid for is definitely NOT a RW-er. I really hope she becomes a great chef!

[Padraig18]

37. We sent 20 gift boxes to my friend and his unit in Iraq.

Nothing really fancy in them: hypo-allergenic deodorant, Gold Bond foot powder, shaving cream and disposable razors, toothpaste & toothbrush, Carmex lip balm, a 2# bag of Brach's hard candies, flea collars, 30SPF sunscreen, either a pocket-sized magnetic chess, backgammon, checkers or dominoes board, stationery and envelopes and 2 paperback books.

:)

edit: typo

[demgrrrll]

38. That was so thoughtful. I am sure your gifts were greatly appreciated.

./

[Character Assassin]

43. To my little sister: a complete (hardbound) edition of "The Golden Bough"

And, goddamn it, she'd better read every frickin' word! ;-)

Merry Christmas, Allison, ya little psychologist, you.

[JVS]

44. I gave my dad a VCR.

His eyesight is bad and he really can't read anymore. He has to stay home when mom works and he doesn't have much to do. Last year I got mom and dad a $50 DVD player at a thanksgiving sale, but they have a collection of old tapes and their VCR has started eating tapes. So I saved up some money and got them a Sony VCR, which should last quite a while before it starts eating tapes. He was really surprised and happy to get it.

[BiggJawn]

46. Car wash coupons to my GF...

She actually SQUEALED when she realized what they were...

[The Zanti Regent]

47. I got a Mr. Beer machine for my best friend at work.

Poor guy is henpecked all the time by whis wife and the boss at work. He loves to get a beer at the end of the day. I saw Mr Beer and immediately thought of him. You should have seen Dave's face light up when I gave it to him on Wednesday. Looked like the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders!

[JVS]

50. Those are fun. I got one when I was 16 so that I'd have beer.

[nostamj]

48. haiku for wonk

years of finger combs,
shorn. but not a sacrifice--
an intimate gift.

i had another post altogether in mind when i saw the subject line! i was just so touched by the simple specificit of your gift... damn.

I actually had a HIT with my parents... an oriental fountain for their lanai in FL. loved it. total gamble.

[nostamj]

51. i KILLED your thread! i'm so sorry

it's SO wrong...

you did such a lovely and specific thing

[BlueCollar]

53. "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease"

T-Shirt and bumperstickers for Mum...:-)

[FDRrocks]

55. Money for college books

to my girlfriend for next semester. She almost shit her pants.

I got my grandparents a DVD player so they can move beyond the stone age (and borrowed the first LOTR movie for them to watch, so they can experience valhalla).

A good Xmas overall

[LWolf]

56. A few:

I gave my mother an ornament made by a native artist/craftsman:



I gave my son a yamaha silent brass mute, so he could practice in his apartment:



I gave all of the locked-out strikers at my local alberston's a copy of this book:

[bobthedrummer]

57. An old Stella guitar in original case

to my bass playing wife.

[wysimdnwyg]

58. I gave to the DNC for my Mom

She wants to get Bush out as much as I do. She LOVED it!

[jimbo fett]

59. I gave my 8 year-old niece her first CD Walkman.

She was so thrilled I thought she might pass out.

[VelmaD]

60. It's a tie...

I sent care packages filled with goodies to several fellow DUers.

And I bought all the accessories to go with my 4 yeal-old nephew's new bicycle. He got a Spiderman helmet and Hulk elbow and knee pads and a horn. He was very pleased. I'm the bestest aunt in the whole wide world. :-)

[Obamarama]

61. Donated 10,000 Frequent Flyer miles to HeroMiles....

And helped some soldiers get home on leave...

If you want to do the same, it's really easy. Just go to
www.heromiles.org.

[HEyHEY]

62. I'm broke they're lucky they even saw me

;-)