Gifts in a Jar

Last Christmas someone gave me a gift of a brownie mix in a jar.
I loved it.
The brownies were to die for and so easy to make. Soft and gooey in all the right places.

So after begging the recipe off the friend I finally got round to making a gift in a Jar for my friend who just had her birthday this week.
I even managed to get the label to go how I wanted and managed to find some simple ribbon with 'Happy Birthday" written on it.

I was really happy with how it turned out.

I have managed to find loads of websites that have the recipes for Gifts in Jars. Some easy to follow others a little more difficult but the thing that has struck me is exactly what people are prepared to gift to others in jars. To me if you are gifting something to someone then you want it to be as simple a gift as possible. By which I mean the recipient should not have to add too many things to make the gift work (I don't want them to have to spend too much money just to use a gift I have given them!) The brownies I use only require the recipient to add eggs, oil and vanilla (normal basic pantry items)
Some of the recipes I checked out had an ingredient list longer than the ones already in the jar that needed to be added. So it definitely pays to check out the recipes to see if they fit with what you would like your gift receiver to have to do to make the gift work.

Ranting Over Now

Thanks for all your kind words yesterday whilst I ranted and raved.
I know they were only trying to get a gift to me in a timely manner before it was too far past when I left (I left 3 weeks ago)
I do know they are not that p****ed off with me but however they do have 3 means of contact for me and I am after all only 400m walk through the hospital away from them.
Would it have taken very much at all to contact me and ask me to pop by sometime?

I think not!

Advent Swap

I joined another little swap this year as well.

An advent swap that was organised over here.

For this one you are paired with someone and then you swap abox of advent presents to be opened daily throughout December, with there being a large gift for the 25th.

My lady is called Simona and lives in Italy. She has 3 boys and loves crafts.

I meant to take a picture of the wonderful pile of presents I had all wrapped for her but forgot until I had packed them all into the box that I was sending them in, so took a picture of the box crammed full of presents for Simona to open each day in December.

So Simona, your box of goodies is now on a Jumbo Jet (only way for it to leave NZ!) and winging its way to you in Italy. I look forward to receiving your box in return and having fun in December posting about all my fun advent presents from Italy.

Wii

We would like a 'Wii' in the house.

Several people we know have one and we, as a family, have had many a go on it. We have played bowling, tennis, even ski jumping with the Wii Fit Board, oh and tightrope walking and hula hooping!

At the weekend we played with the one my brother has, everyone had a great time, even Grandma was bowling some 'strikes' although she did say she would rather be playing the 'real thing'.

So on Monday, Alex and I crawled around several of the large shops that have them and checked out prices and deals available.

Quite interesting the difference in price in different shops, but in the end pretty much the same.

Noel Leeming did more or less the best deal. They will match the price of anyone or let you take it over 12 months interest free.

Now we would like:

The Console

Battery Charger

Wii Fit Board

And game for the Wii Fit Board.

We would also like to get a 2nd Nunchuk and a 2nd Remote Control straight away as well, then you can play 2 people against each other.
We are not in any hurry to purchase this, so are waiting for a good deal to come up.

We have decided that we will get this for everyone's Birthday and some of Christmas, seeing as we have Ben's, Mine and Steve's Birthday in the next 3 months, also Father's Day and of course Christmas. We don't actually know what to get for everyone for gifts, so even though we will get Ben something little for the actual day, we will explain that this is part of his present too. I will get Steve something very little, worth about $2 for Father's Day and his Birthday, but we won't go all out because we will have the Wii.

We do have some vouchers for this store, so that is nice. So now we will just sit and wait.

So if anyone is wondering what to get Ben for his Birthday or even me for that matter, then some vouchers for Noel Leeming would be nice, but could we have them in advance so we can use them towards our family gift now please?

Advent Swap

Ok, so I know Christmas still feels so far away, and I have to agree, it is.

In fact if you look at my side bar on the right, you will see a little Christmas countdown, quite frightening actually when you look and see how many days it tells you.

Anyway, my mum told me about an Advent Swap that she is getting involved with, so I went and checked it all out.

Looks like a little bit of fun, and the more I read about it, then the more I decided that in fact I think I might be able to manage this.

So I signed myself up. Maybe I need a little challenge in my life at the moment.

You do not need to be an addict on sewing etc to join in this swap, if you read the rules correctly then you can put anything in as the little advent presents, ok sewing related does help, but a few fun things and niks and naks will make the giving all so much more fun.

So if you fancy having a little bit of fun over the next couple of months either making some little gifts (25 of them) or just collecting little gifts to swap with someone somewhere in the world, then this is the fun for you. And just think......at the end of it you too will recieve a little gift box of 25 gifts ready for the countdown to Christmas at the end of November.

Anniversary Gifts

I am a very traditional person, well I try to be, seeing as I had both kids before getting married, maybe I am not as traditional as I would like to be.
But one area that I have always been traditional is in the area of gift giving for Anniversaries.
I have always used the gift list that people refer to all the time.

Gifts by the year
This list was compiled by librarians at the Chicago Public Library’s Information Center Sources. The traditional gift is listed first (with alternatives in parentheses), and the modern gift is second.

1st: Paper – Clocks

2nd: Cotton – China

3rd : Leather – Crystal, glass

4th : Linen (silk) – Appliances

5th : Wood – Silverware

6th : Iron – Wood objects

7th : Wool (copper) – Desk sets

8th: Bronze – Linens, lace

9th : Pottery (China) – Leather goods

10th : Tin/aluminum – Diamond

11th : Steel – Fashion jewelry

12th : Silk – Pearls, colored gems

13th : Lace – Textiles, furs

14th: Ivory – Gold jewelry

15th : Crystal – Watches

20th : China – Platinum

25th : Silver – Sterling silver

30th : Pearl – Diamond

35th : Coral (Jade) – Jade

40th : Ruby

45th : Sapphire

50th : Gold

55th : Emerald

60th: Diamond

75th : Diamonds/diamondlike stones/gold

I haven't quite worked out why they have had to come up with a modern version of the list?? Nothing wrong with the traditional one as far as I am concerned, apart from it definitely makes you have to think a little when coming up with the gift.
When searching the internet for this list I came across the following with it....

When Laura and Bob Robertson-Boyd sold their home several years ago, one condition was non-negotiable: The lilac bush in back of the house would move with them to their new home in Bexley, Ohio.
“It’s not a bush, it’s my fifth anniversary present,” Laura Robertson-Boyd said.
The bush was her husband’s romantic interpretation of “wood,” the traditional fifth-year anniversary present. The couple, who celebrated their 10th anniversary in September, use the list as a guideline for gift exchanges.
“It takes much more planning, and it requires thought,” said Bob Robertson-Boyd, 40. “The care and special attention reinforces the original idea of putting the other person first.”

The idea of attaching symbolic presents to particular anniversaries is centuries old, and in modern times has been adapted as a marketing gimmick by retailers.

Many couples still consult the list in a nod to tradition, for a sense of whimsy or simply out of desperation when they can’t come up with a gift idea.
The practice of giving silver for the 25th anniversary originated in medieval Germany. The wood anniversary traces back to a 17th-century Celtic tradition of giving a carved wooden spoon as a token of affection.

In the U.S., a list of gift ideas for the first 15 years and every five years after that was compiled in 1937 by the American National Retail Jewelers’ Association. Paper (first year), copper (seventh) and tin (10th) are a few of the designated gifts.
Since then, an updated list adding jewelry and more high-ticket items also has been created. Clocks join paper for year No. 1, for instance.

It’s not uncommon for newlyweds to start a tradition of following the list, said Sheri Stritof, a marriage educator who writes about anniversaries for the Web site About.com. She and her husband, Bob, regularly field e-mails from readers looking for gift suggestions. “It’s a real popular topic,” she said.

Chris Moyer pulled up the list on the Internet as his first anniversary drew near. He thought it would appeal to his wife’s traditional and romantic side, and ended up sending paper roses.
His wife, Elizabeth, was impressed, he said. He figures he’ll use the list next year, too.
“It’s handy for me because I’m horrible at giving gifts,” said Moyer, who lives outside Hartford, Conn.
journalgazette

I do remember that on my parents 24th wedding anniversary I gave them an ornament of china flowers. 20th = china and the list I referred to at the time (1988) had 4th = flowers, so therefore China Flowers.

Another site I checked out, Canadian site, had fruit or flowers as their 4th year gift. So at the end of the day, I guess you just find a list and stick to that one, as they all vary slightly from each other

I still have 8 months until my first anniversary, but paper is probably what I will try to aim for as a traditional anniversary gift when the time comes.

All I Want for Christmas....

Well I did want a ring...but oh look I just got that.

So I will tell you about the other thing I want....

A charm bracelet, but not just any, a Pandora Charm Bracelet.

Now I never had a charm bracelet as a little girl, but these ones are so me.

Ideal for all sorts of occassions to receive the beads or charms, would make gift time so easy, yet expensive.

I had just mentioned to Steve that I know what I want for Christmas, his response was that I had received more than my fair share this year with my ring.

But a girl can always dream, although having just checked out the price I will be dreaming for many a year to come.

Just Beads

You may remember the beautiful necklace I got given by my friends and colleagues in Auckland when I left last year.

The necklace consisted of 3 strands with a large pendant at the base. It is beautiful but too much for me to wear, plus it is very heavy.

Up the road from our house here in Hamilton is a 'Just Bead It' shop, which sells everything you need to make jewellery. A friend mentioned to me that maybe I might consider taking it to them and getting it seperated into 2 smaller necklaces that I might stand a chance at wearing.

Great idea I thought, so I took it up to them and their answer was sure you can do that no problem, with you being the thing.

So I did as instructed and have ended up with 2 gorgeous necklaces which I have had the pleasure of wearing many times since then.

Unfortunately this got me onto the designing front and the next thing I know I have developed another hobby.

I made a bracelet for each of my cousins daughters for Christmas and a necklace for my Sister-in-law. I have also made 2 more necklaces for myself.

Delicate but perfect for me.

Gifts

I had the wonderful pleasure of having a small afternoon tea at Auckland Hospital before I left.

It was nice to sit and reminisce about the last 9 odd years I had been there.

I was also very lucky to receive this rather gorgeous necklace as a small leaving gift.

How did they know that pink was my colour?

Thank you so much to everyone I have worked with at the hospital, I will miss you all so much, but life does move on.