Posts Tagged ‘everyday gifts’
Build Your Own Trader Joe’s Gift Bag
I love Trader’s Joes. For the uninitiated, this grocery store chain offers its own private-label products with high quality, low prices and great service. The store is practically a tourist destination. My wife’s uncle and aunt drive almost 100 miles into another state to reach the nearest Trader Joe’s.
If you know another Trader Joe’s fan, assemble a TJ’s gift bag. (See if a store is near you.) Start with the colorful, reusable Trader Joe’s tote bag (ranging from 99 cents to $4). Then fill the bag with your TJ favorites. Or try choosing products based on themes like breakfast time, just snacks, taste of Italy, south of the border, Asian favorites, or chocolate lover.
My Trader Joe’s dream gift bag would overflow with my favorite non-perishable products:
- Spicy and Tangy Almonds
- A bottle of Charles Shaw Chardonnay (a.k.a. “Two Buck Chuck”)
- Pita Bite Crackers
- Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels
- Truffle Brownie Mix
- Olive Tapenade Spread
- Triple Ginger Snaps
- Baked Jalapeño Cheese Crunchies
As a bonus gift bag item, visit Amazon.com and buy Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s
Tags: books, chocolate+candy, everyday gifts, food, gift baskets, gift ideas
One year ago today, I started blogging on Gift Giving Guy. To celebrate my first blogoversary, I’m treating myself to gifts from the SomethingStore.com. And I have no idea what they will be.
The SomethingStore launched in October 2007 with this creative idea: you give them $10 and the store will send you something. The something gift could be almost anything, regardless of age, gender or interests. What might something be? The site keeps a Something Tracker, so you can see what the store has shipped out. Recent items from their eclectic inventory include a Targus Tripod, women’s blue jeans, a soccer ball and a red coral jewelry set. You can get up to five somethings in one order, and each item will be different. And they keep a Something Not list of what they won’t send out: nothing illegal, nothing highly questionable. The $10 cost per something, collected via Google Checkout or PayPal, includes shipping. All sales are final; no exchanges or returns, short of a damaged product.
The Something Store began as a way to send yourself mystery gifts, but the site has expanded to allow you to send a something gift to someone else. Not everyone will appreciate a something gift, so please exercise caution. You do want your gifts to be thoughtful. But a something gift might work as a surprise “just because” gift; the conversations this novelty will spark can be a present in itself.
I just ordered two somethings for $20. When I receive my mystery blogoversary gifts, I’ll post the details.
Update: Something I Won’t Try Again
Tags: blog, everyday gifts, gift ideas, gift sites, shopping, surprise
A taste from Chicago’s Navy Pier landed on my door step yesterday. It’s one of my favorite snacks — popcorn from Popcorn Palace. I happily received the red, one-gallon tin as a Christmas gift from my boss. As I type, I am savoring the kernels of Chocolate Drizzle Caramel Corn. You can’t get this chocolate treat from May to October due to the warm weather — unless you ship the popcorn overnight, I suspect. On the other side of the divided snack tin, I’ve been scooping handfuls of tangy cheese popcorn. (I have to wipe the cheddar dust from my fingertips before returning to the keyboard, so the handfuls make it worthwhile.)
Popcorn Palace offers 27 flavors of its gourmet popcorn, including Chicago Style, a sweet-and-savory mix of caramel and cheddar. The company’s “pop artists” make the flavored popcorn fresh, just before it’s packed in tins for shipping. When ordering, you choose from a number of tin styles to fit the occasion. Holiday, birthday, and thank you gift tins are available now. Tin sizes range from the standard one-gallon tin ($18-$25 plus shipping) to the whopping six-and-a-half gallon party size ($40 to $75 plus shipping).
If your giftee absolutely loves popcorn, consider the Kernel of the Month Club, offering 3, 6 or 12 months of munchies. For those who give business gifts, you can send Popcorn Palace to your clients, customizing tins with your corporate logo.
My wife has also enjoyed this fully-popped, fluffy/crunchy popcorn. When we start seeing the bottom of the popcorn tin, I might just order a refill. Popcorn Palace offers “Just the ‘Corn, Please” refills in one-gallon resealable bags ($11 to $21 per bag, plus shipping).
Tags: chocolate+candy, everyday gifts, food, gift baskets, gift ideas, shopping, shopping online, thank you
Enter the upstairs study in our home, and you’ll see a treadmill, an iMac poised on a corner workstation, books on a credenza and a writing desk — all on hardwood floors. In other words, it’s a room collecting sweat and dust. My wife suggested I should get a “manly scented candle” to freshen up the study.
My first reaction was laughter. Nervous laughter. There is no such thing as a manly scented candle, I professed. As definitive proof, I summoned Google on the iMac and typed in manly candle, confident that I could count the search results on both hands.
Google humbled me. There were some 481,000 results for manly candles.
Mandles.
I clicked the first link and discovered the Manly Man Candle Company. The company’s name was set in maroon military stencil, flanked by angry bulls. The site declares it’s all about “[c]andles that were designed and developed with guys in mind. None of the ‘froo froo’ garbage, these are smells that guys like.” These white candles (and they only come in white) sit in a metal tin, suitable for storing nails, screws and washers when the candle is gone. Prices are $5 for 4 ounces, $7 for 8 ounces, and $13 for 16 ounces.
(Update on July 5, 2010: The Manly Man Candle Company is no longer in business. Try Mandles instead.)
The most popular Manly Man Candle scents to date:
- The Hunting Lodge: “A strong, woody outdoor scent accented by cedar…. Think back to your favorite cabin….”
- Wild Alaska: “A great outdoor scent” of pine that “doesn’t leave you thinking about pine cleaners.”
- Alpine: “Rain forest meets the alpine tundra…. It is not sweet and definitely not flowery.”
- Leather: “From a fine sports car to working gloves, the fresh smell of leather is always good to the nose.”
- The Coffee Shop: “This isn’t one of those sweet coffee smells that you find in most common candles, rather a good plain cup of joe.”
- Irish Springtime: “Will definitely remind you of a bar of Irish Spring…. There isn’t that soapy or sweet smell…”
- Yardwork: “This one smells like fresh cut grass.” “One of our company’s founders starts sneezing whenever he smells this candle.”
So would I appreciate one of these mandles as a gift? Yeah, probably. The Hunting Lodge, Leather or The Coffee Shop might be welcome in the upstairs study. Sometimes the best gifts are those you might like but you wouldn’t think of buying for yourself.
Tags: candles, everyday gifts, gender, gift sites, guy gifts, popular posts
My Saturday morning begins with a short walk to the local farmer’s market. My wife is not with me as I peruse the tables of fruits, vegetables and flowers. I find a colorful bouquet (pictured right) and return home to give her the flowers. There’s no special occasion; it’s just because.
I believe that flowers are best given unexpectedly and just because. I also give flowers to wish a happy birthday, to congratulate, to express sympathy, to say “thank you” and to say “I love you.” I don’t advocate flowers as an apology. Guys: Want to get out of the doghouse? Don’t give flowers, give a sincere apology.
Some additional flower giving tips:
- Find one or two great local florists, perhaps one near her/his/your home and one near her/his work. I usually avoid Internet sites for local deliveries because I want reliable same-day delivery and outstanding quality in flowers and arrangement. If the floral gift will be delivered out of town, I like to use ProFlowers.com.
- Traditional roses are wonderful to express romance. If you are looking to mix it up, ask the florist about a seasonal arrangement.
- Before ordering on the phone or online, have the following ready: the recipient’s name (with proper name spelling), recipient’s address, recipient’s phone number, preferred delivery date and time (morning or afternoon), the message for the card, a phone number to reach you, and your credit card number. If sending to a workplace, offer specifics such a room number, floor or department.
- If giving the flowers in person, think about how you would like to actually give the flowers. I like to hide them in some way (e.g., behind my back, inside my coat, covered in a laundry basket) then spring them out as a surprise.
Tags: birthday, everyday gifts, flowers, for her, for mom, gift sites, sympathy, thank you
