Presents, Christmas and a lot of relatives

[Deetee]

So Christmas is next week and I have a ridiculous amount to do.

I better explain my background. My husband and I both have divorced parents. The parents have pretty much all remarried with new families (If the parent doesn't have kids, there is a close uncle with kids that is close family). This gives us four sets of families to visit and buy gifts for (plus some close friends with kids).

It works out to about 25 gifts (that's leaving out some friends and buying gifts for the kids instead already). This is further complicated by the fact my husband and I generally buy our gifts for other people separately (we may "chip in" on a cool gift). Also, we both work quite a bit (I have not taken a full day off work in a month) and have done next to no shopping.

Also, most of the people we buy for have far fewer people to buy gifts for, so in some places we are showered with a ridiculous amount of presents in relation to what we give (this is part of the reason we both give gifts separately. For example, his mother only exchanges gifts with her two sons and me. And she always goes overboard.) I feel I can't not buy gifts.

I was just thinking how wonderful it would be to exchange no gifts at all with anyone this year, but when my husband talked to his mom back in November to mention we would be home for the holidays, she was glad to know because she was about to mail our gifts out that week.

So, does anyone have an idea for 40 presents that my husband and I can buy in the three hours we have allocated for Christmas shopping tommorrow?

[sammycat]

Are the people you need to buy unlikely to see each other gifts?  If so, and they are all around the same age, could you just buy multiples of one thing distribuite it out to all the recipients? Failing that, what about photo frames, calendars, diaries, gift vouchers, Cd's, DVDs, premade hampers - food/cosmetics. Children would probably enjoy craft items - markers, crayons, paper, paint etc. Just throw it all in a gift bag and they can have fun pulling each thing out individually.  Good luck!

[Clara Bow]

POD to sammycat, I'd like to also add that some of the moms on your list might like a recipe box of some of your family's fast favorite dishes (you can send me some come to think of it...being a fulltime student, wife, mother and overall domestic goddess is hard enough without having to spend hours in the kitchen to come up with something good). You could get a plain plastic card file and do some puff-paint to personalize it...

[Deetee]

The families do not interact so multiples of things are good. (In fact, we often buy things in stacks and sort out later who gets them-it's a good thing almost every woman on the list loves scarves)

Calandars are a good idea. I can't do DVD's or CD's, as I don't know everyone well enough to know what they have already (One year we bought a DVD of Shrek because we loved it so much and each of the children we wanted to give it to already had it or didn't have a DVD player-It was a little disheartening-fortunatly we checked before actually handing over the gift)

I don't do gift cards because I loathe them-I never use them and it's basically like giving me a little plastic square of guilt.

I like photo frames, but them I would feel I should include a photo and that is just a time suck. We have to fly, so hampers are too bulky. I forgot to mention that part. We are flying and bussing, so things need to be small.

Crafty things could go for the young kids, but I have a very old 10 and 11 year old to buy for. (I usually do books, but haven't seen them for 2 years so don't know what to get.)

Thanks for ideas though. I'm just trying to get a plan before I head off for monster shopping.

[Deetee]

POD to sammycat, I'd like to also add that some of the moms on your list might like a recipe box of some of your family's fast favorite dishes (you can send me some come to think of it...being a fulltime student, wife, mother and overall domestic goddess is hard enough without having to spend hours in the kitchen to come up with something good). You could get a plain plastic card file and do some puff-paint to personalize it...

That is a lovely gift idea. I just don't think that will work for me.

However, I'm not kidding about the 3 hours tommorrow being most of my time. We fly next Saturday and work constantly till then. I have no time to do anything crafty. Also, I'm not certain that my dad's new wife really wants my mom's baked tortellini recipe.... Those family things work best within a family.

Also, I am pretty terrible at crafty stuff.

However your suggestion reminded me of a lovely gift I got. Some of my mom's friends gifted us with the rehearsal dinner (for 50 people!) for our wedding. That Christmas, they gave a recipe book with pics and recipes of all the wonderful, wonderful food they made (better than the wedding dinner I think). I thought that was just so sweet.

[sammycat]

Seeing as scarves are popular, what about putting one into a gift bag for each female and then addding a nice cosmetic type thing - jar of cream/moisturiser/hand cream etc.  Re. the 10 and 11 year olds - girls might like a cosmetic kit, diary/journal with a nice pen, stationery, scrapbooking stuff (just throw a heap of stuff in a bag, maybe with a disposable camera), boys are often into electronics at this age and there are a lot of kits you can buy designed for that age group. Lego is also popular but may be a bit young in some cases.  These things are all flat so would be good for travel.  I've received heaps of photo frames and rarely do they have a photo in them (although the ones I give to grandparents usually do.  Maybe take a photo with the person when you see them for them to put in it later).  For something small, what about Christmas ornaments such as the boxed ones from Hallmark.  All this talk of shopping has made me want to rush out to the nearest mall and start spending money!
ETA:  I'm assuming you're in the US, (or at least the northern hemisphere), what about a nice matching scarf/mittens set?  I'm in Australia and winter clothes are the last thing on my mind at the moment LOL

[Deetee]

Seeing as scarves are popular, what about putting one into a gift bag for each female and then addding a nice cosmetic type thing - jar of cream/moisturiser/hand cream etc.

OK, you just reminded me that I bought a bunch of lovely silk bags back in April when I was travelling. I thought they would make good gifts.

I really have not thought about Christmas at all since then.

[freakyfemme]

How about some nice but tasteful costume jewellry for the females, and Christmas socks for the guys?  Also, most people like chocolate, so that's a pretty safe bet.  For the younger kids, they might enjoy small colouring/activity books and packs of crayons, or travel-sized versions of board games like Crocodile Dentist or Connect Four or Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Actually, I recommend Crocodile Dentist and Hungry Hungry Hippos especially, because their travel versions don't have any loose parts that can go missing.  The travel-sized HHH has a dome that prevents the balls from escaping (I think), and travel Crocodile Dentist is played by pushing the crocodile's teeth down with your fingers rather than pulling them out with plastic pliers, so you're set.  Small Etch-a-Sketches might be good too, except most little kids aren't co-ordinated enough to draw actual pictures on them, so they might get bored with just doing straight lines and "stairs."  Oh, and do kids still play with Beanie Babies?  If so, that's another possibility.   

[Reika]

What about trying to make gift baskets? They generally don't require a lot of work or craftiness and many places will have some absolutely lovely ones already made up.