Every year, I think of special gifts for this holiday season. I like to give gifts that are memorable, thoughtful, and that I think the recipient will enjoy.
Disclaimer: I received product in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed on this blog are honest and my own.
I have to say that my parents are probably the most difficult people to shop for, because they are at a stage in their life where they pretty much have everything they need or want, and they don’t want to be accumulating “things” (or as my dad likes to say, “dust collectors”).
If I ask my parents what means the most to them, they will both say that their grandchildren are the most important treasures. My mom often refers to her five grandchildren as her special gifts. With one of my brothers living in Kingston with his family, and the other in Toronto with his family, it’s a challenge to get together often since my parents and I are on Manitoulin Island. I know being far from their other grandchildren is hard for my parents.
Photo Blanket Gifts
We absolutely love our sherpa throw (seen below). Last year, when my mom saw my sherpa photo blanket from Collage.com, she wanted to take it from me! I knew that the perfect gift for her this Christmas would be a photo blanket of her own.
Creating the photo blanket is easy. The only difficult part is deciding which photos to include!
You can choose the fabric, design and layout, and add text if you wish. For my mom’s photo blanket, I chose fleece and I included photos of all the grandkids as well as each of my siblings’ families, my little family of three, and a group photo of my parents, brothers, brothers’ spouses, and all the kids.
Little One is pleased with the finished product.
Photo Mug Gifts
Little One has been wanting a new mug, but “not a kid mug”. She just turned 11, and is in that tween stage. She wants to be a bit more grown up. I chose to give her a photo mug with photos of her when we were on our Hawaii trip. It’s a practical gift, and she can remember the special time we spent in Hawaii.
Photo Ornament Gifts
This photo (below) is from last Christmas when we were in Montreal with my mom’s side of the family. I grew up celebrating Christmas BIG TIME! We always had a Filipino Feast on Christmas Eve for Noche Buena. The house was filled with family, extended family, friends, friends who are like family, neighbours, etc.
My cousins, brothers and I used to pose on the steps of my aunt’s living room on Christmas and we wanted to recreate the memories by having our kids pose like we used to. This photo pretty much sums up how it went. I cannot stop laughing. We need to recreate this for next time all the little ones are together!
I considered making this into an ornament to give to each of my cousins and my brothers.
I am obsessed with Collage.com’s photo ornaments. I fiddled around with designs and images. Again, the only difficult thing about creating special gifts with collage.com is choosing which photos to use. Everything else is easy!
This is what I made…and I’m keeping this ornament for myself!
I love how it turned out!
If you’re looking for ideas for special gifts to give loved ones this year, these photo gifts are perfect.
Great post. I learn something absolutely new and testing on destinations I stumbleupon consistently.
I have decided to play Joker this year at the costume party. I will make up my face similar to Joker but my wardrobe selection will be the Fallout 4 Atom Cats Jacket
Yes yes yes. We have one of these. I made one for Payton, 18, last year and gave it to her for her birthday I think it was. Love how it turned out. It is treasured here as much by me as it is by her. She takes it everywhere. If we go to the cottage or a chalet to ski, this gets packed. That makes me happy.
Those are lovely! I am sure your mother will love it!