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TeresahRN
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Pickle Bottle Stopper, $7.
Because, who really wants to use a cork in their wine bottle? The perfect gift for a friend who happens to really adore both pickles and wine.
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TeresahRN
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Pillow Remote Control, $15.
For the true couch potato, this pillow comes with a built in remote control. You'll never have to worry about losing the remote between cushions ever again.
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TeresahRN
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Zoltar, $9000
We all loved Zoltar — the classic arcade fortune teller — as children, but it's time to grow up. Perhaps revisit your favorite arcade instead of dropping serious dough for this one
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TeresahRN
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Santa's Farting Butt Travel Pillow, $20.
'Tis the season for traveling! Why not cozy up with this pillow while you're on the go? Well, we can think of a few reasons, though we're sure no one will stare when your pillow farts.
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TeresahRN
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Bacon Candy Canes, $6.50.
Looking for the perfect gift for the bacon lover in your life? Look no further than these mouth-watering candy canes. Nothing says "Christmas" like the smell of bacon, right?!
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TeresahRN
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Inflatable Turkey, $12.
Don't like cooking? No problem! Nothing would be funnier than inviting everyone for Christmas dinner and serving them this turkey — the joke will outweigh their hunger.
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TeresahRN
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Upcycled Sweater Moose Head, $50.
Remember your childhood? The only thing you wanted for Christmas during the majority of your first decade were toys. This sweater moose head adds a perfectly refined taste to any kid's room, leaving the child wishing he or she had received a new Furby, instead
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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Dream Man Arm Pillow, $25.
Remind your friend she's single this holiday season when you buy her this arm pillow! When she cuddles with it at night, it will be just like the real thing.
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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Zombie Bleeding Mutilated Target Dummy, $90.
Help your loved ones prepare for the debatably upcoming zombie apocalypse with this target. It even bleeds when it's shot!
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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Chew-By-Numbers Christmas Tree, $15.
We all know that chopping down trees isn't environmentally friendly. Go green this Christmas by making your own tree out of the gum you've chewed! The kit even comes with 32 pieces of gum for your convenience.
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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Barack Obama Chia Pet, $30.
The perfect gift for the Obama supporter in your life? We beg to differ. This political gag gift is a bit controversial, complete with an afro-style hair growth.
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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Dance Moms Bobblehead, $25.
As if watching Dance Moms wasn't enough, you can now bring Abby Lee Miller right to your very desk.
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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TeresahRN
25318 posts
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Perfect Christmas Presents for Cheapskates
Do you know someone who loves saving money more than eating candy? Well, consider these Christmas presents for the savvy saver.
Selecting the perfect Christmas presents for the people in your life requires a fine eye for detail, a keen knowledge of each recipient’s interests, and the occasional spate of research… although there are certain exceptions.
For example, there’s the eleven-year-old who gives you an annotated list of each and every thing he wants, right down to the accessories, prices, and where “Santa” can find them. No one beats a cynical tween with Internet access when it comes to developing a buy-me-that list.
The Bargain Hunter
Be that as it may, many people are relatively easy to shop for, so long as they get their 37 gifts like Dudley Dursley did on that most special of days. But what do you get the savvy consumer, the one proud to wear the label “miser,” having learned to pinch pennies so tightly that Honest Abe screams?
The easy answer is “anything.” After all, they’re the cheapskate, not you. But imagine how appropriate it would be if you could provide a gift that reflects their skinflint tendencies — something that really fits their lifestyle.
The Ultimate Triumph
We all know how hard it is to get that last smidge of toothpaste out of the tube, which is why manufacturers compensate by putting in a bit more than they advertize (bet you didn’t know that). But the true cheapskate still wants that little bit extra. Heck, so do most of us.
They make various items to accomplish this, some quite simple. But my favorite is the Metal Tube Wringer, a downright medieval-looking device sure to gladden any skinflint’s heart. For just $21.95, you can help them save an extra penny per tube!
In all fairness, this version is really for industrial use (caulk, adhesives, etc.), but it works so well for toothpaste tubes…
Other Possibilities
Christmas gifts for cheapskates are limited only by your imagination. For example, you might let someone you trust share your Amazon Prime account, so they can get all kinds of free movies and TV shows, not to mention free shipping on a bazillion items.
Christmas gift cards are always a hit, as is access to just about anything free.
Detergent for Years!
I once jokingly told a sister-in-law that if she really wanted to win my heart, she could buy me a year’s supply of dishwasher detergent. To my surprise, that’s what I got when I opened her heavy package that year. In an economy brand, of course; she was also a super-saver.
I got the same gift from her for years… so regularly I came to depend on it. And you can bet I used it, too! Some Christmas presents just beat the heck out of socks and power tools.
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TeresahRN
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Suffering from Sticker Shock? Consider Handmade Christmas Gifts
Is your holiday budget tight this year? You can stretch it with all kinds of nifty handmade Christmas gifts.
If you’ve priced most store-bought gifts lately, then you’ve probably developed a healthy new respect for the concept of handmade Christmas gifts. Now, when I talk about pricing commercial items, I’m not talking about the inexpensive stuff you find at the dollar store.
Let’s face it: while I’m all for saving money, most dollar store items aren’t suitable for gifting, beyond, maybe, some stocking stuffing. (Although some of them have pretty good jigsaw puzzles). Let’s call a gimcrack a gimcrack, shall we? Homemade gifts don’t cost much more, and the quality tends to be much higher.
So Many Possibilities
Many people learn how to knit or crochet for one reason or another — often to while away unexpected downtime while waiting for things, or to keep their hands busy while watching TV or listening to the radio. Knitted or crocheted items make wonderful, warm gifts.
And if something goes wrong with your erstwhile Christmas present, you can always use it as a pet blanket. Your fur-kids aren’t going to care about dropped stitches or ugly yarn colors. Well… cats might. You know how they are.
Other Options
Then there are the plastic canvas aficionados, the diehard woodworkers, makers of Christmas wreaths, amateur photographers, basket weavers, puzzle-makers, welders, mechanics… well, you get the idea. These folks and all manner of other part-time craftspeople can produce unique, useful, and enjoyable handicrafts.
Even kids can get into it, though you have to forgive them their enthusiasm and lack of coordination. Probably the most unique homemade gift Yours Truly ever got was a paper-mâché dinosaur egg, suitable for a pinata, from my seven- or eight-year-old niece.
I never could bring myself to use it, though, despite the splotchy psychedelic paint job. It was just too well done!
That Said…
Most handcrafted gifts will get used, and sometimes used to pieces. I’ve worn out many neatly decorated plastic canvas gifts from my Mom by using them so much, from coasters to handy little boxes and baskets, and I still use some daily.
And let us not forget the gift of edible goodies. Fudge, cookies, muffins, brownies, and those sticky Rice Krispies treats, among other things, you can count on being gone within days. Hey, you can’t blame the recipient. Sweets and baked goods kind of have a sell-by date, right? Can’t let ‘em go to waste.
One Final Note
Some people might appreciate receiving nothing more than you — that is, your time. Hang out with them and offer to do things around their home that they could use a little help with. Heck, paint their house. That’s a handmade Christmas gift they’ll never forget, especially if you add a great big peace symbol to the roof.
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TeresahRN
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More Weird Christmas Presents!
Got an odd sense of humor? Here are some weird Christmas presents to give, some of them even useful.
When you ask people to talk about the weird Christmas presents they’ve received, their stories run the gamut from useless to misguided to actually kinda cool. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few such Christmas gifts, this time from the giving rather than the receiving perspective.
They say that it’s the thought that counts when giving a gift. What they don’t say is precisely what that thought happens to be…
Have a Cow, Man!
One source of unusual gifts is actually something superbly useful — just not for the person you give the gift to. In this case it’s a charity, which is always a nice thing to donate to in someone’s honor. If you have a buddy who enjoys philanthropy, consider Heifer.com.
Through this site, you can contribute to the purchase of a sheep, heifer, llama, a flock of poultry, a trio of rabbits, a pig, honeybees, or even a camel for a poor person somewhere in the world, at a cost of $10-10,000. Your choice. Oh! And for the “Princess Bride” fan, don’t forget the Rodents of Unusual Size package.
Run, Forest, Run!
Know someone who prefers trees to livestock? There are all kinds of charities that will plant anything from a handful of trees to a whole forest in your giftee’s name, some starting at very low prices indeed — just $10 or so. Of course, they plant them where they want, which may be in Africa, Asia, or Israel.
If your recipient is really hot to see those particular trees, though, they can usually consult a map and go looking. Good luck: there are no plaques or anything identifying exactly whose trees are where, and they really don’t like people carving their initials into their best guesses, I can tell you!
A Bit Off the Beaten Path
If you prefer a gag gift — or a dig at someone, perhaps that Secret Santa gift recipient the company forces on you every year — then there are other charities you might consider. They don’t actually cost you anything; your “contribution” is fake. Check ‘em out here at Care4Less.
My favorites are the Leprechaun Leprosy Foundation, for those li’l Irish gold-guarders whose bits are falling off, and Adopt-a-Banker, for those unfortunate financiers who can’t afford gas for their Bentleys. You might prefer one of their six other faux charities, though
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TeresahRN
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Weird Christmas Presents: What’s Your Favorite?
People being what they are, the concept of weird Christmas presents crosscuts gender and age — especially when you consider that weirdness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beer-holder… er, beholder.
We have all gotten weird Christmas presents, things we had either no idea what to do with or no idea what the giver was thinking. Here are a few examples.
Mmmm…Tasty
Take that “cookie” maker thing my friend once got as a kid. Green slime was bad enough. With this thing, you stuck a pile of that kiddie dough modeling clay that’s interesting for about five minutes into a slot, pressed it through some shaped molds, and cut your “cookies” off as they emerged.
You could even make whole snakes of the shaped dough with that thing. Yum! Then you could cook them into solid uselessness in a little oven. At least with the E-Z Bake Oven his sister got, you could cook edible chocolate chip cookies.
Oh, wait… come to think of it, maybe that’s where we cooked the things. No wonder she was mad.
Adult Options
My Mom once receive a boxed Christmas gift that read on top, “I bought you a gold bar…” and then when you opened it up, the inside of the lid read: “BUT MY DOG ATE IT.” And inside the box, on a fine velvet bed, was a big pile of fake doggy doo sprinkled with gold glitter.
Yep. Right up there with the whoopee cushion and the fake barf, that one. I thought it was really, really funny when I was seven.
Just a Little Creepy
Now they have gifts called LifeGems, where you can take some of the ash from a cremated loved one and have it made into an artificial diamond that you can wear in a ring, a necklace, or whatever.
It’s genuinely doable, since diamond is just pressed and heated carbon…and as V’ger pointed out in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, we humans are mostly carbon. Of course, it’s less creepy if you use, say, a lock of a living relative’s hair for the process. The diamonds still cost the Earth, though.
Just a Lot Creepy
While the above at least nets you a piece of wearable jewelry, there are other…gifts that are a tad beyond the boundaries of good taste. Take, for instance, the person who was offering pendants with small animal heads on them last year. Real animal heads.
I respect the art of taxidermy as much as anyone, but c’mon now. A parakeet on a pendant? That’s got to be the weirdest present yet.
Then, for the prank-inclined young lady, there’s the Always Positive Pregnancy Test. Your young man is sure to love this one…for about as long as you can keep a straight face. Here we are back in fake doggie doo territory. Talk about your weird Christmas gifts that keep on giving…
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TeresahRN
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Giving Meaningful Presents for Christmas
This year, give presents for Christmas that mean more than a good time. Handmade gifts are sometimes the best.
We all love to give presents for Christmas. We like to receive presents, too. But sometimes I find that the real joy is in spending time with my family. All those little wrapped packages are fun, but more than that, they’re a reason to spend time together. We make the gift opening last as long as possible because every second it continues is a second we’re together with no other obligations.
Sometimes, though, that translates to a lot of stuff you don’t really want or need and feel obligated to keep. I hate giving gifts like that. So this year, I really thought about it and decided that neither I nor my kids need a bunch more clutter in our house. Instead, we’re going to focus on meaningful presents for Christmas. If you want to try it with us, here’s the list we came up with.
Giving meaningful presents for Christmas
Here are some meaningful gifts my family is giving this year!
1. Handmade items, especially edibles
When you take the time to make something, it means something special. When you take the time to make something edible, it’s delicious and doesn’t clutter up the house. Plus, depending when you give it, it may be a load off a busy hostess’ mind in the holiday season.
2. Charitable gifts
My kids love those catalogs where you can pick presents for Christmas overseas. My son ‘gave’ his sister a set of soccer balls for a village in Africa. To make it more special for her, he drew a picture of the kids playing soccer and carefully wrapped it so she’ll still have something to open on Christmas morning.
3. Making room
Let’s say you just can’t face Christmas without boxes of toys and stuff to open. That’s OK — you can still add some meaning to the holiday season and clear out your closets besides. As a family, go through your rooms and find a pile of donations — clothes, toys, books, etc. — that you don’t need anymore. Give these gently used items to charity. Or, hold a mid-winter garage sale for friends and family and use the proceeds to buy toys for charity.
4. Themed gifts
Another idea to give more meaning to gifts: have the whole family collaborate on a gift for one person. For example, if you buy your daughter an Xbox, grandparents could buy a Kinect and siblings could pitch in for a game. It shows that the whole family was thinking of her and creates that fun feeling of Christmas secrecy.
So this year, let’s abandon that last minute mad Christmas rush. Instead of buying dozens of unnecessary gifts, buy a few presents with meaning, or better still, focus on handmade items and charitable giving. You’ll be surprised at how even the youngest children enjoy these presents for Christmas.
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