Gifting and Regifting: The Giveaway
I’m a regifter.
Yep.
Please reserve your judgement. This is about to get interesting.
See… I’ve been given all sorts of gifts this year. From two blogger conferences, I’ve amassed enough kitchen supplies to equip a small army of chefs.
The good news is that I want to share all of this loot with you. It’s not that I don’t love these things, it’s just that I love regifting more. It’s like the most fun recycling… ever. That’s where you come in.
I’ve got silly whisks. I’ve got gorgeous cookbooks. I’ve got coffee and milk frothers. I’ve got choppers and tenderizers. Cuisinart, people. I’ve got fancy sporks and way cool forks… all sorts of little gems.
I’m regifting four little bundles of kitchen goodies to four of you. Keep the goodies as a gift to yourself or regift them this holiday season. I won’t tell a soul!
To enter this (both humble and perhaps ethically questionable) giveaway, just leave a comment in this post sharing the best holiday gift you’ve ever received. Comments are accepted until Sunday at noon.
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When I was young, my mom sewed me Christmas outfits, headband included!
I regift when I can. I admit it.
ha, i didnt even answer the question. i was so excited about regifting. i really don’t have a memorable gift which is sort of sad. i remember getting a nintendo when i was around 6. that was fun!
I love experience gifts… so my favorite gift ever was a gift certificate for a hot air balloon ride from my boyfriend (now husband).
And regifting – totally cool in my book, I actually keep little post-it notes on things though just to make sure I don’t try to give things back to the person/within the same circle of friends/family as in certain groups (ie certain parts of the family) they wouldn’t be okay with it. I always see it as a way of giving something to someone who will actually really appreciate it and use it.
My Mac Notebook – it was a huge surprise, and opened me up to a wonderful world of blogs – food blogs – after a year, I am still so in love with finding amazing sites where people share their lives.
My best holiday present was lovely picture, gift from my mum
Hi, the best present i’ve ever got was a kitchen-aid mixer from my mother, after she realized nothing will prevent me messing up her kitchen with attempts to create the best cake\bread\cookies.
This gift made me try more recepies and it makes me happy at least once a week while i’m using it, and the other part of the week when i stare it and picture to myself the things i can do with it….
hi joy!
the look on my 2 yr old’s face when he opens each and every gift on Christmas morning. The way he runs and jumps into my bed and snuggles in… the way his eyes light up. That’s the ultimate holiday gift.
however, interms of wrapped gifts, last year i got a 12 cup kitchen aid food processor which i cherish. Fire engine red!
merry christmas!
I think regifting is fab. If you don’t like that ugly sweater your mom gave you this year…just pass it on to her next year. So easy…no fuss.
lol
The best Christmas present I ever received was a hand crafted 2 story dollhouse that my dad made for me. He stayed up into the wee hours of the night out in the garage to finish it before Christmas. He even made all of the furniture to go inside! I had to be about 7 or 8 years old at the time, and I was so pleased with my gift!
Hope your Holidays are filled with tasty treats and happy memories made with all of your loved ones!
Best present ever was when my husband proposed to me on Christmas of 2002. :)
A gift card to Surfas, one of my favorite places to pick up all things cooking and baking related!
Canon Digital Rebel
The best holiday gift I ever received was for another holiday – Valentines day. One super busy and stressed year, my teen daughter got my clothes ready, did my makeup AND my hair PLUS a manicure & pedicure. Then my husband took me out to Hoffbrau’s where we sat in the bar by the window. We talked, ate and watched some car race on the big screens, and then we walked around the outdoor mall. It was the perfect de-stress romantic time with my man. It was wonderful!
My best friend made me a time capsule sort of contraption out of chipboard, string, and superglue. The entire surface was covered with transferred traces of photos I had taken at concerts we’ve gone to, places we’ve eaten, and parks we’ve played in.
I had to look around a bit to find the drawer, and once I opened it, there was a mixtape that I’ve definitely overplayed and a sketchbook with a long rambling letter written in microscopic handwriting (which is the kind of letter i love).
It was perfect; still makes me smile today :]
my engagement ring
When I was 5, my daddy brought home a puppy as my Christmas gift. I still remember him walking in with a cute fluffy ball of fur with a red ribbon tied around his neck. I asked “Daddy, is that really my puppy?” He answered “Of course it is sweetie!” I couldn’t believe my eyes! It was so surreal, even dreamlike. I’ll never forget it!
My best holiday gift was my bf who flew in from Germany. :)
My best holiday gift was a mp3 player from my brother – it was a surprise and very thoughtful.
And by the way, I don’t think this kind of regifting ethically questionable, it’s not like you’re giving away something your best friend specifically picked out for you… (and I’m not just saying that for my own benefit ;-) ).
Last year I was given the entire WillowTree Nativity set. The Nativity has always been a special obsession for me at Christmas time; my brother and I set it up every year and I’d spend hours staring at it or playing with it. I’ve been very excited to share this same love with my son. Well, his “Fairy Godmother” (that’s what we call her) heard about my obsession, that I didn’t have even one piece of a Nativity set, and that I particularly loved the WillowTree set so she went out and bought the whole thing for us. Lovely, lovely woman. :) And yes, my son and I had a BLAST setting it up for the first time this year!
Definitely my son. He was actually born one year ago today. What’s that? Not exactly Christmas? Ok, well then I’ll go with my best actual Christmas gift and that would be my engagement ring 5 years ago.
One year my husband surprised me with tickets to a musical I had been wanting to see. He also got tickets for my sisters and mom—it was so much fun and something we all wouldn’t have done on our own!
The best holiday gift I ever received was an instrument that haunted my dreams for most of my life: a thermin. It’s the world’s first electronic instrument played by manipulating electrical waves out of two antennas. One controls the pitch, the other controls the volume. I’ve been playing pretty regularly for over a year now and almost feel like I’m ready to possibly perform for other people. I was never expecting something so elaborate and expensive as a Christmas gift. It show just how much my family cares about me.
yeah gifts! ’tis the season.
Two favorites….when I was 3 years old Santa left me a note telling me to go to the basement. There I discovered an entire supermarket contstructed from cardboard, complete with shelves, boxes and cans of food and grocery cart (straight out of the Sears catalog I think). Another favorite is the gift of peace and joy (came from straight above I should think!). Heavenly peace!
At the risk of sounding totally campy .. my daughter graduates from college this Friday and my son and his wife scrimped and saved their pennies (campus ministers) so they could come from Colorado to Texas to be here with us for graduation and Christmas. My house will be full of love, laughter and cookies! I can’t wait!!! I think I just wanted to share my joy more than anything. Christmas greetings to all of you! Thanks for your blog, Joy! I’m so happy I just might dance!
My boyfriend gave me a vintage jewelry box that played the tune “I left my heart in San Francisco.”
This was especially touching, because it was at the beginning of our long distance relationship, with me living in Berkeley and he staying in Los Angeles.
By December 23rd, we will live in the same city again!
My best gift would be the original Nintendo I got in 3rd grade. I played that thing for hours on end and was sooo happy! In my adult life, my husband got me a bread maker and I absolutely LOVE it!
Hi Joy! My parents divorced, and I had to drop out of college to take care of my brother and sister. Things were hard, we lost everything and stayed in motels and were just starting to get on our feet again after moving into a new apartment. I took a job at Victoria’s Secret for the holiday season where, unbeknownst to me, the manager would go in my locker and steal all my money – everything I saved to cook my family our first healing holiday dinner! My brother and sister and dad were so amazing and we all went to McDonald’s for special dinner, and later that week, we went to pawn shops and thrift stores to pick out gifts for one another. It doesn’t sound like the best holiday – but going through that with my family and how humble we all were and how close we became – has made it the BEST holiday memory ever!
Oh my…the Best Christmas gift I’ve ever received??? That’s a nearly impossible question so I’ll go with the first thing that popped into my mind…Christmas 2004 I got a Picture of my engagement ring. Yes, a picture. My ring wasn’t ready, lol, and my husband couldn’t wait to show me what it looked like. I still have that picture somewhere.
My favorite Christmas gift was a little bit of Christmas magic. When I was about 8 years old, my (much) older sister pulled me aside and talked to me about Santa, “You don’t really believe he’s real, do you?” For the first time, I started to doubt. Christmas morning, there was a tuft of white Santa coat trim fur clinging to the tree, where he would brush it as he clambered out of the fireplace and a great big Santa size boot print in the fluffy carpet by the hearth. With evidence like that, how could I not believe? That bought me at least a couple more years of childhood Christmas magic, best gift ever.
My best Christmas present? A little pony. For reals! When I was 5, my parents found her somewhere and brought her home for Christmas. She was a chocolate palomino (chocolate colored body with flaxen mane and tail), named Tazzie. She was so adorable. Every little girl’s dream! (and, of course, it just fueled the horsey obsession for the rest of my life…)
Here’s a photo of her chilling under the tree with our malamute:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2746/4181664648_267c4c5dba_o.jpg
Probably one of the best gifts I have received was a keyboard from my parents when I was younger. The best part is that I opened the stand before the keyboard itself!
The best Christmas gift I ever received was probably my first crochet hook and some yarn in my stocking. I have no idea where the crappy scarf I made is, but a few years later I’m still crocheting and my items are no longer so crappy.
The best holiday gift I ever received WAS AN ENTIRE HOUSE FULL OF MY FRIENDS.
When I was about five, Little Miss Makeup was THE gift that I wanted, and I think one of the big gifts for that year. Somehow, I managed to get one for Christmas. The more amazing thing is that my DAD found it and bought it. Usually my mom does all the shopping especially back then, but my dad actually when and found this doll that I wanted sooo much, and that’s why it was my favorite gift.
My favourite present I gave to someone else — a few years ago I gave my husband a new laptop for Christmas and he was 100% surprised!
A trip to nyc with my mom and sister!
A classic, beautiful necklace from Tiffanys that my romantic husband got me… knowing that I had wanted it for over 3 years. (Even though I didn’t “get” him at Christmas time, if people count then my adorable husband would definitely be my best gift.). :)
A handpainted Santa face mug from my husband’s Aunt Diane. She had painted them for my huband’s generation when they were kids, then we had kids, and she painted them for that generation—so now my husband and my kids had hand-painted personalized Santa mugs—but I didn’t. It really bummed me out. Evidently the mold for these mugs was missing, and AD jumped through hoops and drove all over the Pacific NW to get the mold to make the mug to match the others….it was AMAZING! It warms my heart every year I pull it out.
My gran made me a princess dress- light blue like the Disney Sleeping Beauty, and all silky. Fabulous.
My best gift ever was a diamond and tanzanite ring my husband surprised me with on Christmas Eve!
Last week a friend offered me space to open a bakery in her street-facing yoga center . . . rent-free for a year!
When I was little, my favorite book was called “Never tease a Weasel”, a quirky book from the sixties. I loved that book, and practically had it memorized. Unfortunately, at some point the book was lost, and since it was out of print, assumed lost forever. I cried when I opened my present from my sister a couple of years ago, and saw my favorite book! She had found a used copy online. That was my favorite gift.
My best Christmas gift ever was my first Doll from Santa when I was 5. How did he know??? :-)
I just love my Kitchen Aid food processor, I know it doesn’t sound romantic, but my boyfriend really got that Christmas just right!
My best gift were the keys to my girlfriend’s place!
My Giant bottle of SoCo.
The best Christmas present, past & present, is a plane ticket home to be with my family!!
A technivorm moccamaster coffee maker. I’ve never had better coffee than what comes out of that machine. mmmm