The HoGGIEs - Kid-Friendly Edition

While everyone was out actually doing their post-Thanksgiving shopping, I took a break from my gift idea series. I found that very few people were staying home and, you know, reading blogs. I'm assuming they were all out there spending their hard-earned money on bargains. Yay for the economy! But now it's time for a new edition of The One Ping Only 2008 Holiday Gift-Giving Ideas Extravaganza, the HoGGIEs. Yay for gift-giving!

Next up as a fictional HoGGIEs gift recipient is my friend, Kirsten (formerly known as Mama Ginger Tree) who now makes her bloggy home at The Norwindians. She and I actually live closest to each other out of of all of the people over there in the Mo-mmy Blogger Lovefest, yet we have never actually managed to meet! We are hoping to rectify that soon.

One trip to Norwindia, and you will realize how central Kirsten's kids and husband are to her life. (That's NOT to say that anyone else I've "gifted" here or have yet to feature isn't the same way, it's just the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Kirsten.) So when I looked in the CB2 online catalog for what kind of gift I would select for her, it had to be something that she would share with her family.

Recently, in her Sunday's Simple Pleasures series, Kirsten posted a great picture of her whole family gathered on the couch in their jammies, enjoying a cozy fire on a rainy day. That picture was the inspiration for the gifts I ended up choosing for her.



A set of these Spoon Coffee Mugs, with a cute "hip pocket" for the spoon, and Comic Appetizer Plates, which just happen to have the same accent color, seem like just the ticket for a young, active family like hers. I'd arrange them in a basket with packets of gourmet hot cocoa, some "Yum" nibbles (like maybe some Mint Chocolate-Covered Oreos...) and some orange cloth napkins if I could find them, wrap the whole thing in cellophane and tie it with a big ribbon in that same orange accent color.

This falls into the family gift category, for which you want to find something that everyone in the family can use and enjoy. You know the kids are going to be getting a ton of toys from their family already, so while I love buying toys, that wouldn't really be a "family" kind of thing and they probably don't need any more this time of year. Something like a gift certificate to a favorite restaurant just for the adults can be nice, but then you're practically handing them a bill for a sitter, too, unless you know they've got built-in care. What I like about putting together a gift like this is that it isn't a pre-assembled set but goes together in a workable way and is just fun.

Go forth and gift!