Christmas hits and misses this year?

I created a book reading challenge for 2024. It's like a bingo card with a different "type" of book in each square. I had seen the idea on indigo. Then I gave them 3 books that I thought they would like that fit into the types to get them started. It was very well received.
Also my kids liked the small iphone-compatible travel chargers.

Chex (except Wheat Chex) is supposedly gluten free...

No misses at all this year which was a huge surprise. DD’s favorite gifts were the pink cat gaming chair she had in her list (from Santa) and the new (to her) trumpet that we bought from a friend of a friend and had fixed up and cleaned. She’s been playing it off and on all day and really sounds great! She liked everything else she got, even the dumb stuff like the pack of mechanical pencils and new underwear in her stocking, LOL.

But best of all was a surprise gift she gave a friend. A couple months ago when they were playing games online with a group of friends, he jokingly said he wanted a body pillow with a specific anime character on it. She muted the call and said, “We could totally make that! Can we make that?” I was pretty sure we could, so we bought the body pillow from Target for $10 and ordered a plain white pillowcase from Amazon for another $7. She did the design on her iPad and we printed it with my sublimation printer, pieced it all together and pressed it onto the pillowcase. We wrapped it up in a big box and brought it over to his house yesterday. It was so fun to see his reaction because he completely forgot about it and was so surprised!

I make a giant batch of gluten free Chex mix every year. Corn and rice Chex, gluten free pretzels (I prefer Snyder), peanuts/nuts, and I don’t use Cheerios even though they claim to be GF so I buy a natural/generic version like Nature’s Path. Watch your Worcestershire sauce - Lea and Perrins in the US is but I think their Canadian version has malt vinegar (which could be ok if it’s truly just wheat you have to avoid and not all gluten).

I’m pretty pissed about what my husband got me for Christmas - a very generic type of lavender scented bath products. Just some crap he ordered from Amazon. I have been struggling with my hands and feet since this summer. Earlier this month I saw a dermatologist and am being treated for a specific type of psoriasis that is difficult to treat. I am currently trying to accept that I am going to need to take a medication that is likely to help, but it is a pretty strong med that will likely have some strong side effects. My husband knows that I have a collection of products that are recommended by my dermatologist. He’s annoyed that I’m pissed, but I said he is going to fix this. I refuse to accept such a thoughtless gift. We’re not poor and this was the best he could do. He just doesn’t care if I get a nice gift or not. He just wants me to have something to open so that he can say he did his job. Now and then he does a good job. I have hobbies. I have favorite stores. I like clothes. I like makeup. I like a new pair of pajamas, slippers, or a hoodie like everyone else. He gave me something I should not use because he can’t be bothered to leave the house or spend more than 10 minutes of shopping online for me. I got him something he needs but wouldn’t buy for himself - a reflector jacket and a tv antenna so that he can watch the local news. We cut our cable and that is the only thing he misses. He’s out in the living room watching the news right now and I am in bed bitching about him on the internet.

We had hits…my adult kids got big gifts this year. Dd got a Kitchen Aid Pro mixer and ds got a new XBox. We are having lots of renovations done starting in a couple of weeks and I keep asking ds to pick a paint color for his room. He said he just wants his walls to be purple (seriously??) I bought him a floor lamp with a remote and app that he can change the colors on and he loved it!  Dgd apparently forgot all of the things she told me she wanted and was jumping up and down with excitement when she opened her gifts!

That is gorgeous! I’m sure your friend appreciates a “just because” gift!

Bitch away. My late DH would just say "buy yourself something". It's really hurtful when they don't make an effort.

My absolute best gift in years was from my kids (they went in on it together).... A LITTLE FREE LIBRARY! I have wanted one forever! Dd drove up a couple of days ago and hauled in a HUGE box. I could not imagine what the heck it was. lol. I had NO CLUE.   This is the model that comes put together (well, it still has to be installed onto the base, then put into the ground, but the box itself is put together) but not painted. Dd painted it sky blue and yellow, with a sun and clouds on it. She got the plate that says "Little Free Library" in English and French, and she's ordering the plate that goes on the post that says "This Little Free Library shares banned books."  

And what's even funnier about what a good secret this was is that my ds gave one to his partner! Only he's very handy so he ordered the blueprints and made the pieces himself. And, he gave her one per day as an Advent calendar! So I knew what hers was going to be, but had no idea I was getting one myself. lol. 

I can't wait to get it installed and start putting books in it!

I think all of ours were hits or at least well received. Our kids are 21 and 19. They really enjoyed their stockings. I fret over DS (21) because I seem to have an easier time with DD's (19). But he commented wow, you really stuffed this. So that was good.

But my favorite gift I gave them and I think was a big hit were gift cards. I have been picking them up all year. I get them at Kroger, especially when they do the 4x the fuel rewards. In total, they had 14 cards each. I made an accordion booklet to hold them all. It ended up being the last gift they opened.

I am pleased with all that I got. A good many books. I think one of my favorite is a Gamecocks beach towl. DH gives me a snow globe every year and this year he got me a Georgia Bulldawg snowman one.

I'm a little down on my gifts to dh. He had a hard time coming up with a list and I have several people that I have to split it with. So I had little to work with. I did get him a wind chime that has our last name and Est 2001 on the little thing that makes it chime. He seemed happy and said he had a good Christmas but I still feel like his was a little lack luster.

I was excited for the gifts I gave DS and his husband. i had a pokemon card made of his husband's dog and he loved it! He's really into Pokemon so it was a big hit. I also got them a custom print of their home that they bought in August. I bought it off of FB and DS said that he had seen them on FB so it wasn't a big surprise for him but it was custom with their names and dates.

A friend was selling her 4 Pink tickets so DH and I bought them and gifted them to our girls.

I wrapped up 3 boxes of Kleenex for DD20. Kleenex is no longer made or sold in Canada and she's always been a big tissue user and we always only bought Kleenex. So she was happy with that.

Good gifts from wildly different price points!

No real misses in our house. Everything was greatly appreciated, including small gifts like Ov Gloves for DH and reusable makeup removing washcloths for DD.

DS bought me the Lego Up house . I can't wait to put it together and put it in my new craft room.

DS and DD gave DH a first edition (US) copy of Mary Poppins, his absolute fav Disney character.

Our bonus kids and grandkid (DDs best friends) gave DH and I a gift with the tag written to Mom and Dad (so sweet!). It was one of those Wonderful Life digital picture frames that everyone can email the frame directly.

The gift with the best reaction was from me to DS (23). He started opening it and started chuckling, and by the time he got it out of the box, it was full on howls of laughter that continued for a while.

The gift was a Mountain Dew Snuggie.

I got it as a gag to go with his Taco Bell Crocs that he bought himself last summer that he absolutely loves.

Best $20 gift ever.