It’s here, the Christmas shopping time of year!Β I love Christmas, I love giving gifts, and I even love opening gifts.
I don’t always love coming up with gift ideas. We are so burdened aren’t we? We all have so much “stuff”, we don’t know what to gift someone with. π Or I find that many of things I want-not need-are pricey. Too much so to give someone as a gift idea for me.
I never have trouble shopping for my kids. I could get them so many fun things. But once again, we don’t need them. They are very, very blessed with toys and they have spent hours having fun with them. I am thankful for this.
On this note, I am compiling a list and links to some things I love. And if it gives you an idea for a gift for someone on your list to shop for, then hooray!
If you know someone who like to read, I highly, highly recommend Kisses from Katie. We read this book together and our lives were touched. I think everyone who has never known hunger should read this book. We talk about Katie now,Β and Katie’s girls, and we say prayers for them. You can donate to help Katie’s ministry hereΒ or you can click through the Amazima button in my sidebar.
Some children’s books that my kiddos have enjoyed are The Imagination Station books. I like seeing my kids enjoying reading. I could own a huge library of children’s books alone, if space and money would allow. π My daughter has also loved Naya Nuki and the other IndianΒ books by Kenneth Thomasma.Β Tucker read a couple of The Happy Hollister booksΒ this school year and enjoyed them, despite not being too enthused when Mom gave him his assignment to read the first one. I remember reading them and loving them when I was a kid.Β Β My kiddos also like listening to audio books. They experienced Jonathan Parks for the first time this summer and were hooked. We have Little Lord Fauntleroy, Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables, and Little Women, in our collection and they have listened to them so many times they can almost recite them. They also are fans of Adventures in Odyssey. I’d love to hear about the books and audiobooks your family loves!
When we moved to our new house this year in March, we needed bathmats for our bathrooms. I purchased memory foam bathmats for our bathtub and two showers. I’ve been so glad that I did. I really like them. They are soft and cushy, yet they dry out quickly. I’m always so happy when I end up loving something better even than I thought I would. I wish you could know before you make a purchase if it’s going to be something you love or something you never use or wish you wouldn’t have wasted money on. Alas, it doesn’t seem to work that way. I’ve had sweaters, pajamas, socks, etc. that I have loved and worn to threads and wished I owned them in every color. I’ve had other pieces that I liked, but for various reasons I just never fell in love with them. Back to memory foam bathmats…I have one tucked away in my guest room closet to give my sister-in-law for Christmas. She had one on her Christmas list and I was happy to find one to give her. I hope they like it as well as I do mine.
If you know someone who likes or could use hairclips, headbands, or cute bobby pins, I’d be thrilled for you to shop my Lilla Rose site and order for them there. I’ve been using my Lilla Rose clips for quite a while now and I really like them. They are easy, pretty, and functional. Rates high in my book! I just became a consultant for them. I love that Lilla Rose offers their consultants websites which customers can shop through and place their order. Lilla Rose then ships them their order. If you know anyone who’d be interested in Lilla Rose, I’d love it if you sent them my way!
{my daughter modeling a mini flexi-clip for me}
New muffin tins are something on my list this year. Mine are usable, but they look terrible and I wouldn’t mind having them replaced. Another fun gift idea are these darling measuring cups. I have a set residing in my kitchen and I love them. They are by the Tag brand. I really like items with Tag stamped on the bottom or on the tag. I have some Tag table runners that are favorites. This lovely pitcher has Tag on it! While we’re in kitchenwares, this cutie of a glass measuring cup makes the top cut! It hangs out in my kitchen too. It’s so much more fun to use something when it is not only serviceable, but pretty. Another handy-dandy kitchen tool is my Silpat. I like using it and I’m happy to have a better place to store it now, in my new kitchen. You need to store them flat and I never had a very good home for it.
If you’re shopping for kids and you have no idea what to get them-which is a stretch of the imagination, because there are so many cool things to buy for kids-my suggestion would be Legos, Legos, or Legos. I would love to know how many hours have been spent playing with Legos in our home. A LOT. We had Duplo Legos when my kiddos were little and then around his fifth birthday, my son graduated to little Legos. My daughter likes them too, and spends more time playing with them now than she did a few years ago. She even has a few of her own sets. My three nieces in Ohio currently love Legos and they certainly didn’t have a brother to influence them! One of my very favorite things about Legos is the great learning tool they are. They open doors to imagination, creation, and design. This set of Lego people is a very fun set. You always need more people! They also offer a set of Duplo people. I think the people sets are really cool. Not only do I like children’s books, I also like children’s toys. Never quite grown up, I guess.
I am so thankful and I feel so blessed when I stop and think of all the little things in my home that make my life comfortable, make a task easier, or are simply something pretty that I like.
Share with me some of the favorite things you have in your home!
And make sure you hop over to enter for a chance to win anΒ iPad Mini. That’d make a great Christmas gift for yourself or someone you know! If you are Christmas shopping through Amazon this year and want to click through one of my links or the button in my side bar to do your shopping, it will earn me a small commission. Thanks so much!
*some links in this post are my affiliates
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Legos have been my boys’ curriculum these past few weeks π And you are right, they always need more people – that’s a great price for those people.
Legos are a great curriculum! The people are fun, especially now that they make so many different faces, expressions, and hair.
Lego people are at a premium around here! And the measuring cups are a fav here too! I love functional but still beautiful to set on my open shelving!
It is fun to be able to display functional things and like the way it looks. I like my Tupperware, but wouldn’t exactly call it display worthy.