Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas

With a week left to finish Christmas shopping (and just 2 more days to get Free Super Saving Shipping from Amazon, which is my favorite thing about Amazon), I thought it appropriate to jot down a quick list of some gifting favorites…

… plus maybe one or two things I’d love to see from Santa this year myself.  {I’ve been very good Santa, I promise!}

Be sure to share your favorite gift ideas in the comments.  If you prefer to make your own gifts, I’ll be back later this weekend with a tutorial for an easy gift idea that I was able to make during naptime yesterday.  And let me tell you, it was a short naptime.  Have a great start to your weekend, friends!

Have a picky eater?  This Ms. Food Face Plate might make her warm up to mealtime!  What’s so brilliant about these plates is you can make eating a variety of foods fun by creating interesting faces, and your kids will be so excited they won’t realize they are eating, say, asparagus.  Because they are ceramic, we’ll use this for special occasions or when I can closely monitor my little eater.  Wouldn’t want Ms. Food to be smashed on our tile floor!  Edited to add: just purchased the Ms. Food plate, and it won’t arrive until after Christmas.  However, this ceramic face plate will arrive before, and and it’s the cheapest version I found– at this moment, it’s $10 but be aware Amazon changes prices constantly.

Up until a few months ago, Bee would NOT sit still long enough to get through a book, no matter how short the text.  This is the book that changed it all.  He loved touching the pages and the simple text: “That’s not my plane!  It’s engine is too bumpy.”  Soon, he could sit through one book.  Then two.  Then three, and four… I have this book (and some perseverance) to thank for that.  Needless to say, my little reader is getting a few others in this series under the tree this Christmas!

This Design and Drill Travel Toy gets rave reviews, but Bee is still a bit too young.  It comes in a carrying case to hold all those pieces.  It’s a shoe-in for his 2nd birthday, though!

The price of these 60 Foam Magnetic Objects dropped 61% recently and now they are only $5.99!  Noodle loves to tell stories, these are great for language development.  Older children can use them for storytelling and ideas for writing prompts.  If I still had a classroom, I’d probably buy two!

The Putamayo CDs are wonderful, we have several and luuuurrrrve them.  Animal Playground is a favorite; the song “Littlest Birds” is my anthem for Noodle.  World Playground should be fun as well, I’m adding it to our collection this year.

Noodle has been very interested in the nativity and Christmas story this year, thanks to preschool.  This Fisher Price version is a fun way for little ones to relate to the story.  You should hear Noodle sing her baby Jesus song from school, oh my goodness it makes me melt.  I’m still not sure how it goes, something about a manger, my Lord, and baby Jesus.  But it’s cute for sure!

My mother-in-law directly requested a GPS, and I’m buying her the one I purchased earlier this year for myself.  My husband and I were both stubborn about getting a GPS since our phones have Map apps.  After getting incredibly frustrated with my phone, I finally broke down and bought a GPS unit.  It has proved it’s weight in gold (and time saved, thanks to the traffic updates), and now even my once-doubting husband won’t leave the house for roadtrips without it.  This Garmin Nuvi with Lifetime Map and Traffic Updates is a steal at $112.  It’s the version I have, it’s great!  The price decreased because there is a newer version available, but if you are willing to “settle” for this year’s model then it’s a fantastic buy.

CVS had same-day photo gifts, plus a 20% off coupon code.  I know a certain YiaYia and Grandma that would love a photo book, photo mug or calendar of a little Noodle and Bee.  😉  I wouldn’t assume your CVS for sure can do it in a day, so maybe order sooner rather than later.  Shutterfly and Mpix are two sites I’ve used for photos; again, not sure of the turnaround time but it’s worth a shot!

Can’t find a photo online and I don’t dare take a pic to show you or my daughter will want to play it again and again and AGAIN, but we found a saxophone playing Santa toy at Home Depot for $13.  Push the button and he plays a tune while his hat jumps back and forth and he wiggles his hips.  Let me tell you, I can not WAIT to bring this up to Grandma’s house on Christmas as a thank you for all the electronic talking toys shes given to my kids over the years.  Just some sweet payback, one that’s really funny to boot.   😉

My husband loves to make pancakes.  I call it perpetual pancakes, he makes a big batch of batter (say that 5 times fast) and uses it all week.  Unfortunately, that takes up a ton of space in the fridge.  This batter dispenser is the perfect solution, plus makes for mess-free pancake pouring!

These gloves from Block Headwear have slits for you to slide your fingers out to use touchscreen devices like an iPhone.  I know, why didn’t I think of that?

Beer soap.  Like men don’t smell like beer already (just kidding).  This Etsy shop promises on-time Christmas delivery!

Speaking of beer, if your guy loves craft brews then they’ll want a set of beer glasses for that purpose.  Here’s one that fits the bill, or this one that costs a bit more but comes with six different types (note: the set in that second link will arrive after Christmas, bummer).

House Beautiful had a review of this cookbook, Plenty, and it sounds perfect for summer cooking– vibrant ways to make vegetables from a famous London eatery.  Yum!

Every year, I come across different magazines bragging about the amazing-ness of Touche Eclat from Yves Saint Laurent.  I give in.  Gimme some.  It’s the least my sweetie can do in exchange for all the traveling he’s been partaking in lately.  😉

I used to own a pink BPA-Free Nalgene water bottle, but now it’s long gone (along with my waistline, ha!)  Someone who loves me might want to replace it?  No pressure, sweetie.

If I didn’t already have these Magnetic Poetry Lower Case Alphabet Stamps, I’d buy them again.  The font is modern and yet classic, and I’ve used them for several projects just in the past few days.  Etsy sellers or fellow crafters will use them all. the. time.  Trust me when I say I scoured the internet for weeks to find ABC stamps for crafting, these were the only ones I could find that were the perfect size and font.  The limitations I found with them are as follows: I wish the metal piece they attach to was bigger to make for easier stamping, and the rubber part on one has started to separate from the magnet– nothing a little glue won’t fix, but still.  All in all I love them!

Vests are just about the perfect outerwear in this climate.  I live in them.  This Thinsulate Vest from LL Bean is thin yet warm, and oh-so-chic!  I’ll take one in black and one in white, please.

I’m really trying to work on my photography skills, and photographing my kids is my number one priority in that realm.  Mamarazzi?  Sounds like the perfect book for me!

This book has been on my wishlist for years, full of projects for all those one-yard wonders of fabric I’ve been hoarding!  Apparently it’s good for those learning how to sew, a category in which I comfortably fall.  {I started to write ‘beginning sewers’, but that sounds like sewers, gross, right?}