What started as a random gift post on my food blog has now become 15 years of sharing my hyper-practical, often-weird take on gift giving. I’m not likely to nail someone’s sense of taste, but what I can do is give a gift that is useful — hopefully with a dash of fun and a scoop of new and novel. What makes me sad is the Wow-You-Spent-a-Lot gift that languishes in a dark drawer for the rest of its days. What makes me happy is the slightly confused recipient who tells me later that they use that funny thing I gave them ALL THE TIME.
I’m way past the years of young kids and fun toys. There’s nothing Santa can give that will elicit squeals of delight in high schoolers and college kids. Christmas now is much more about appreciating the rare togetherness of everyone at home: cuddling up to watch Christmas specials again, feeling the warmth of the fireplace while we listen to our favorite Christmas songs, prepping cinnamon rolls to bake Christmas morning.
Holiday gift giving has become pretty mellow. Mostly we fill some wardrobe needs. Beyond that, I love a little gift that introduces something new — opens a little door in their minds to a new idea, a new skill, a new possibility.
I thought I had no ideas for this year, and then I scrambled to put some together when my friends kept asking when the gift guide was coming. Now I’m splitting it in two parts so I can feed the chirping birds more quickly. To paraphrase Mark Twain, I didn’t have time to write a short holiday gift post, so I wrote a long one instead.
Happy holidays my friends!
WHOLESOME DRINKING FUN
I’m all for getting people in the kitchen: it’s entertaining, it’s communal, it’s creative, it’s life skills and it’s nutritious (or at the very least, delicious). We pay a lot of money for beverages when we are out. But it’s super fun and economical to make your own liquid treat at home.
Make-your-own Coffee Bar/Soda Fountain
Caramel macchiato? Lavender latte? Vanilla iced coffee? You can spend $7 on a drink, or you can spend $10 on a full bottle of Torani syrup that will flavor dozens of drinks. You’ll find pumpkin spice, pistachio, rose, or any of the flavors you’d see at your fancy coffee shop. Give a gift to your coffee-loving friend, and then invite yourself over for a coffee date. A 4-pack of coffee flavors is $35 at Amazon.
The fruit flavors make a fantastic rainbow soda bar for the kids. Add club soda, and they will have a blast concocting individual creations. Amazon sells a $35 for 4-pack of fruity flavors.
Amazon also sells Torani syrup pumps ($7.50 for 6 pumps) if you want to look official. And World Market is another good source for Torani syrups if you want to browse locally ($10 each).
Moka Pot Stovetop Espresso Maker
I came home from a family trip to Italy in 2022 and bought myself a moka pot. I still love my tea. But we decided to add cappuccino to the lineup, and I wasn’t signing up for the cost or maintenance of a real espresso machine. I’m a high tech girl but I love my low-tech gadgets, and this clever little stovetop coffee maker has been a staple of Italian kitchens for 90 years. Water is heated in the base and vapor pressure pushes it upward, through the coffee grounds, to the top receptacle. It’s not quite as strong as espresso, but if it’s good enough for Italians, it’s more than good enough for me.
The moka pot sizing is confusing for Americans, as the “cup” capacity refers to espresso-sized shots. This moka pot is a good size for 2 but it’s labeled as a “6-cup” capacity ($37 on Amazon). This size moka pot makes 9 oz of strong coffee, which works well split between two cups. Dilute with hot water for an Americano or add steamed milk for a cappuccino/latte.
I’ve gone through a lot of frothers in two years of coffee making. I love a manual frother, but the glass ones tend to break, and the metal ones are more expensive. The most inexpensive and flexible solution for frothing milk is a little battery-operated wand. The Zulay milk frother ($10 on Amazon) is ready for action, with two AA batteries and a handy stand.
Tradition dictates that metal utensils should not be used with matcha. I don’t know whether this is really true, but I can say for sure that if you want to make matcha at home, you need the bamboo whisk: your everyday kitchen whisk is not up to the task of blending the fine tea powder into liquid. I like to scoop matcha powder into a ceramic bowl and whisk vigorously with a bit of hot water, then pour it into a cup of hot milk (frothed if I’m feeling fancy). This matcha whisk set is $13 on Amazon.
Make-your-own Boba Tea (plus Boba Straws)
I started making boba at home when I had four kids obsessed with boba tea. For one person, it makes sense to just go to your local boba shop, but for a group, it’s fun and cost-effective to make boba at home. Your boba-lover will enjoy the holiday activity. You can get two bags of boba (5 servings in each bag) for $9 on Amazon. You’ll also need bigger straws: 12 reusable boba straws are $6 on Amazon (or $5 for 8) and are also great for milkshakes. Brew an extra-strong batch of any tea and add ice, milk and sweeten to taste.
LEVELING UP PERSONAL CARE
Humans need care and maintenance just like any machine. But the human body has the added complication of always growing, changing and aging, and we have to evolve our care along with it. My brother-in-law didn’t love it when I gifted him with reading glasses a decade ago. But the crowd had a great laugh when he opened the gift, and he’s worn them ever since. They also look great on him, which helped take the edge off my unsubtle hint.
All-in-one Trimmer/Multigroomer
Hair, facial hair, trimming of nose and ear hairs — this little trimmer gets rave reviews for its versatility and performance. I’m trying this all-in-one multigroomer this year for the grown men in my household. Because grooming standards for guys has really taken a step up in recent decades, and a good tool has become an essential.
For the younger kids, this little dermaplaning tool (as a few of you might recall from a past holiday gift post) is a great safe start to managing brow strays and peach fuzz ($6.65 for 3 packs of 3). It’s also a great stocking stuffer.
Philip Kingsley Elasticizer Hair Repair
I’m a little obsessed right now with products from this London-based specialist in scalp care and hair loss. Their Elasticizer hair repair mask is a holy grail product for many people with damaged/coarse/frizzy/dry hair, adding back strength, smoothness and bounce. Normally I don’t recommend buying beauty products on Amazon (too many fakes) but it’s currently $22 for the 2.55 oz tube vs $31 on the Philip Kingsley website, and it seems to be sold directly from Philip Kingsley on Amazon.
Grooming Tools for Men and Women
A good toolkit is right up my alley — not thrilling but useful. A good stocking stuffer for teens, the men’s version is $15 for 15 pieces; and oddly the girlier version in rose gold is $9 and gold is $10. The girl version is 12 pieces and I couldn’t tell you what the extra three are in the guys’ version.
At-home manicures/pedicures are great activities for a cold winter day, and a mani/pedi kit is another excellent stocking stuffer. The manicure kit on the left has cuticle oil while the mani/pedi kit on the right has extra tools for ingrown toe nails, and both have files and buffers of different textures. For just $8 on Amazon, these little kits can fuel hours of entertainment. If you want to add new nail polish colors, OPI and Essie are reliable brands you can find anywhere.
Nail Files and Buffers or All-in-one Filer/Buffer
This is now overkill, but for anyone that does group stocking stuffers like I used to for 13 cousins, these nail files and buffers are a fun inexpensive addition. Just $6 for 6 files and 6 colorful buffers or this single Revlon nail file/buffer is $3.80.
Oil-based Nail Polish Remover or Quick-dry Clear Top Coat
The only thing I know about nail polish technology is it seems to be ever-harder to remove. My girls have always been fans of Onyx acetone polish remover, but I think oil-based polish remover is less damaging if they’re venturing into acrylics territory. Mineral Fusion is non-acetone and gets rave reviews ($7 for 6 ounces on Amazon).
I don’t do my nails, but it kind of seems easier to use Seche Vite clear top coat ($10 for 2 on Amazon; another useful stocking stuffer) over regular polish than risk damaging the nails with acrylics. But this is where I get the mom-you-don’t-understand-anything eyeroll.
SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic Serum
This serum has saved my sanity through tough years with my face. Throughout my chronic eczema and long healing journey, this SkinCeuticals vitamin C serum is the one product that is always healing and rejuvenating, and miraculously never irritating. Skincare is super personal, and this is super expensive, but I can back up this product’s cult following with my own experience. A 1-ounce bottle is $182, but you only need a few drops per application. Make sure you buy from a reputable source. I like LovelySkin, where you can currently get 15% off SkinCeuticals with code SKCTRRE.
(Btw, I don’t get any financial benefit from LovelySkin or any other link. Just a little bit from Amazon Associates, but I only link there because they have the best prices.)
PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
My genius cousin Karen turned me onto this Fringe red light therapy wrap. I know it sounds a little out-there — how does red light help anything? All I can say is it worked for me when nothing else did, and there’s really no downside. I will also say that my cousin treats a ton of professional athletes and went to the Tokyo Olympics with USA Volleyball. So her advice is always patient-tested.
The wrap is extremely easy to use – wrap it around any area that is in need of care, turn it on, and you are good to go. The wrap has a 20-minute timer and turns off automatically. It helped reduce inflammation in my face through a very tough last year, and it also helped my mom with inflammation in her hip.
I love the wrap because it can be used anywhere on the body, and it’s also very portable for travel. $219 at FringeHeals, currently 25% off with code HOLIDAY25 (they don’t have an expiration date posted but typically the sales are rare and short). Note that if you want to use red light on your face, get safety glasses for your eyes, since the light is very bright (and your world will look temporarily green after the red light exposure).
For the aging parent living alone, the Apple Watch can be a literal lifesaver. If they have a fall — accident, stroke, heart attack, etc — the watch will call emergency services and/or their pre-programmed emergency contacts. My mom and mother-in-law both love the security of this feature. You could buy a new Series 10 Apple Watch for $359, or you can get a Series 5 refurbished Apple Watch for $129 on Amazon. Either will have the safety features, and I know my mom would not know the difference between the two.
My husband convinced me to try the Oura Ring a year ago, and surprisingly I’ve become a fan. It only served to confirm what I already knew: I’m kind of a C or D student on sleep but an A on activity. But my cousin Karen got it after I did, and somehow she’s managed to use the stress data to mindfully reduce her levels from red to green — achieving levels I didn’t even realize were possible. We can lie to ourselves, but the data is undeniable.
I don’t wear rings but the Oura is surprisingly very wearable. They just came out with a new Gen 3 version, normally $299 but currently $249 for Black Friday on Amazon. The subscription is $6 a month or $70 for the year.
Tile Mate Tracker (for keys and other items)
Apple users love AirTags for keeping track of everything from bags to children. For those who just want to keep track of their keys, the Tile Mate tracker is cheaper ($15 on Amazon) and has a built-in hole for hooking on a key ring. It also has a louder sound and twice the battery life of the AirTag.
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Phew that’s it for Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 2!
Yey! Thanks, I look forward to your list every year.
This list is always gold 😘