Top gift picks for the holidays
Style at Home
Published Dec. 1, 2008
United Features Syndicate
This holiday season, you don't have to break the bank to get your loved ones gifts they will treasure. Instead, use your creativity and imagination to select one-of-a-kind presents that pull at their heartstrings. Need some ideas to get you started? Check out my top gift picks for this year:
Etched Serving Pieces: People can't seem to get enough of monograms this season, so why not spoil your loved ones with beautiful serving pieces that proudly bear their family initials? I've discovered some glass serving platters and drink glasses engraved with monograms that my customers are crazy about. Or you could make your own monogrammed treasures by taking new or antique glass or silver pieces to a jewelry store or other shop that does custom engraving. How about a monogrammed trophy cup your friend can use on her desk to hold pens or in her bathroom to contain make up brushes?
Monogrammed Linens: Monogrammed linens are the height of luxury and are an ideal gift for your stylish friends. Pick out a tip towel, pillowcases, shower curtain, accent pillow or dinner napkins with your loved one's monogram on it. I also collect vintage monogrammed linens, like old-fashioned handkerchiefs that bear someone else's initials, and I have friends on my gift list who enjoy them as well.
Kitchen Tools: Even though I don't cook, I'm still enamored with kitchen gadgets. Right now my favorite gotta-have kitchen item is a simple cutting board and serving-knife set that is emblazoned with -- what else? -- a monogram.
Vintage Books: If you enjoy poking through antique stores or flea markets, hunt for beautiful vintage books on subjects your friends might find interesting or funny. The other day, I happened upon a social etiquette book written in the '30s, and the antiquated advice it contained made me laugh so hard that I had to snatch it up and give it as a gift to one of my irreverent girlfriends.
Journals and Date Books: Every year, I put my friend Jean's beautiful vintage-looking datebooks at the top of my gift list. And this year, she's multiplying my fun by expanding her stationery product line to include a perennial daybook planner, an address book, a journal for your thoughts, a "to do" checklist and a calendar for your purse. The high quality books are not only functional, they look so beautiful stacked one upon the other that your friends will want to keep them displayed on their desks.
Anything Nostalgic: Nostalgic gifts that take your friends back to a very special time in their lives are the very best kind to give. How about an old photograph of a favorite place? Or a memento that harkens back to a special vacation? Recently, I ran across an old picture postcard of the high school my sister attended, a beautiful historic building that has since been torn down. I knew Judy would appreciate this depiction of her alma mater, so I had the postcard framed in a simple burled oak frame, and it will be waiting for her under the tree when she visits at Christmas.
Gift Certificates to Favorite Spots: Spoil your friend with a gift certificate to her favorite spa, a great restaurant or her favorite shop. Then, make the gift even more special by making a date to go with her when she redeems it.
Wooden Boxes: Simple, sleek and classically beautiful, wooden boxes make ideal gifts for nearly everyone on your list. Fill one full of treats for the man in your life, or send an adorable antique box filled with stationery to a friend who lives far away.
Bulbs: Everyone craves flowers in the dead of winter, so why not give your friends a beautiful planter filled with forced bulbs, like paper whites? Pot them in a long, thin rectangular planter that will fit on the windowsill of her kitchen or bathroom window.
