GiftFilter

December 19, 2004 9:35 AM

My SO and I need gifts for our families. Of course this is really late and we are kinda broke. [+]

We moved to a new house in a new city and are experiencing an (adjusted for cost of living) income reduction. Because of the breadth of both of our families we thought it might be more practical to buy gifts for each for all to share on Xmas day (will have to send by mail). My family = 3 brothers + parents, her = sister + mom + new husband. Any Ideas?

posted by jmgorman to shopping (9 comments total)

Food or wine. Get something fun and distinctive. Then call and say how much you'd love to be with them and talk with each member of the family individually.

The best thing would be to buy some local food or drink specialties that your families couldn't get (or couldn't get easily) at home, take a bunch of photos of the new place and yourselves waving, blowing kisses, etc., wrap the food/drink up with photos of you and your SO, and send it all off by the end of business on Tuesday.

However, if that's too much to handle, some reliable food delivery services are: Delightful Deliveries, Harry and David, and iGourmet.com.

There may be local gourmet or specialty shops that send baskets, also, but you would probably need to place your order by the end of business on Tuesday.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:12 AM on December 19, 2004

This year I'm giving everyone a year off from getting me anything. It's what they really want anyway!
posted by nicwolff at 10:30 AM on December 19, 2004

wine

Note that you cannot send wine through the mail.
posted by oaf at 10:30 AM on December 19, 2004

You can have wine shipped from most states, though it's true that you can't send liquids through the US mail.
posted by Sidhedevil at 11:16 AM on December 19, 2004

Liquids can be sent through the mail, unless they have 0.5% alcohol or more.
posted by oaf at 12:21 PM on December 19, 2004

Depending on the ages of the folks involved, a good, fun game that they can play together can be a nice gift. I've done it for families with kids as a gift for all.
posted by departure lounge at 12:31 PM on December 19, 2004

I would probably go to a used bookstore, pick out a book for each one, write a little personal note in it and send that. Then again there are few things I enjoy more than spending the afternoon wandering around a bookstore, you may not feel the same way.
posted by cali at 2:07 PM on December 19, 2004

gift certificate for a family portrait? of course, you'll probably have to show up for that one later.
posted by hindmost at 3:08 PM on December 19, 2004

I don't know how you feel about company or your family, but since you just bought a new house, perhaps you can create a nice coupon using a picture of the house, with an offer to come visit for a few days.

If that's not agreeable, a jigsaw puzzle of your new city, or a family-friendly board game might be a nice family gift.
posted by FreezBoy at 7:53 AM on December 20, 2004