My niece’s 15th birthday is coming up. She’s a smart, serious kid, going to the arts magnet high school (she wants to be a writer). I don’t know her at all well (her father, my brother, and I are not close).
Any suggestions for a gift? I’ve done bookstore gift cards more than once before. Is Old Navy where teens actually shop these days?
(BTW, they live in DC, if that makes a difference.)
Thanks for your help!
NOOOOOO dont assume she will like old navy’s style! 3 years ago i would have wanted money. i got a lot of crappy(no offense) gifts which i am fully appreciable for but never used because aunts of grandmas didnt know what kinda things i liked. as much as money seems like a gift that you didnt spend too much time looking for, you should give it to a 15 year old, let her chose what she wants that will make her happy. she can save it towards a car or to get her driver’s license when she is 16, buy clothes she wants at a store she likes, spend it on more pens to write more stuff, whatever. i personally dont think old navys style is for everyone, so give her cash. teens like cash. rather than u spending cash on something she will always throw in her closet or under the bed is a waste of your money. my aunt bought me a laptop just last year because she didnt like wasting a little bit of cash here and there at all occasions for useless things. she knew i was smart and going to college the next year so she spent a large amount on a laptop and said for the next few years i will get little gifts which i am fine about, cos she still sends cards to me. give cash!
Amazon gift certificate? Pretty decent selection of stuff other than books. That’s what we give the youngster types when we’re short of ideas.
Money is really a big “no, no” for gifts imho. But unfortunately I don’t have a good idea either, I always leeched off other people’s ideas.
Although I always make a point of giving people something funny and completely useless, because they have already got the things they really want anyway.
trust me i was a teen little bit ago. i want cash so does all the others. the more trinkets and crap you buy the more we will throw it out in half a year because its just taking up room. its hard to buy for teens but if u give them cash they wilkl be happy. they will say, ya extra cash toward a new ps2 game, or whatever. trust me. if ur gonna waste your money, at least let the girl have some choice in what it goes towards. gift certificates are like cash, almost except you have to buy something at that shop. you dont want her to be stuck in a situation where she wants to go out with her friends but dont have the cash and all she has is an amazon certificate??? send a card with cash, the card says it all.
baby cat’s advice notwithstanding, I was a fifteen-year-old female wannabe writer as recently as five months ago, and IMHO Amazon are always a good idea. I love their gift certificates.
Another idea - stationery. I love pretty notebooks and pads. If she wants to be a writer, how about a really nice pen? I’ve got a silver fountain pen someone gave to me, and it’s one of the nicest things anyone ever gave me.
Um… what else can I think of? Music is good, but not so good if you don’t know her very well. Similarly with clothes and jewellery.
Oh - is there any book she might like? Perhaps one you yourself like (or liked when you were her age) and would like to pass on?
Happy shopping, and it’s nice that you’re putting so much thought into this.
I was going to suggest a writer’s journal and an assortment of really cool pens. I really liked that kind of stuff at 15 and I see Loneraven has also suggested something similar.
Throw in the latest strunk and white if you want to be educational as well 
Ooh, good suggestion, tanookie.
Good suggestions, everyone!
Last year I got her a thing where I paid for two albums from BMG music club, with shipping, etc., and she got to pick out the CDs she wanted. That was a big hit, but I didn’t want to repeat myself.
I have no idea what she’s reading these days, or has read, which makes me nervous about picking out a book. (Several years ago I got her a childhood favorite of mine and it turned out she had already read it.)
I like the “cool pens” idea – esp. since I’m an office supplies geek myself and it would be fun to do the shopping for that!
When my nieces were very young, I’d get them Geoffrey Money for ToysRUs for Christmas. When they got older, I got them gift certificates for a local music place (like I’d know their style in music?). Now, as they approach college, I get them gift certificates for Best Buy (music, software, PC stuff, DVDs, TVs, Stereos…there’s bound to be something there that they’d want but dodn’t have already).
I USED to give cash in a nice card til I heard that their Mother was pocketing the cash after I left and saying “you kids have had Plenty for Christmas already…” :eek:
mothering pocketing cash??? 
no way…thats evil
My son likes to write. I got him a leatherbound journal which he really liked. And there are a lot of cool pens out there. And maybe slip some money inside the journal.
Unfortunately, this is too true, but my experiances with my EBS (Evil Bitch Sister) are well documented on the board. I’d write about her, but I’m waiting for her to die. Sadly, so are her kids.
PLEASE do tell…
How about a calligraphy set? Complete with instructional book, paper, pens and ink? That might be a really cool thing. (I’m inot writing, and I love calligraphy.) Buy her a pretty blank book with good quality paper too, so she can learn to write in a beautiful style, then put her thoughts/poems in the book. Ask her mom/dad if this would be something she’d like?
Failing that, why not money? At least you know she’ll get something she wants/needs. Tell her you weren’t certain of what she’d like, so you decided to let her choose. Maybe give her a beautiful card, as a momento?
Karate classes.
Let’s see… my daughter’s 15… she got lots of sparkly clothes, The Sims: Superstar, sparkly pens & notebooks… I see a trend here… no wonder I can’t get her to karate class. No sparkles.
Maybe if we tried Tae Kwon Do instead 
Look, I don’t mean to be rude.
But if that’s the attitude I would be facing I simply wouldn’t get you anything at all. You wouldn’t deserve it.
Jonathan Chance, at least she was honest when she gave her point of veiw. It might not be what you would think and feel in that position, but it’s how she feels.
I remember not being able to go grab a soda, or ice cream with my friends because I didn’t have the money. Sometimes, being able to go out and do things with your friends is more appreciated than the classic novel your auntie bought you. The memories are cherished, and stay with you for life.
Yes, the novel is a gift too, and should be appreiciated, and is, but being able to go out and do things is more important to some at that age.
To each their own. It’s how she feels, and she was honest about it. Why take offense to that? I’d be more offended by the mumbled thanks, and obvious disuse of a gift than the joyful use of money I gave.
Sometimes, money is not a bad thing to gift. I’m going to send my parents a money order large enough that they can go out and eat Chinese food for their 50th wedding anniversary this month. Dad is retired, and mom is in poor health. They don’t get out much, and their finances are TIGHT! Giving them the chance to go out for an evening is the most thoughtful thing I can do. (Heck, I would not be too hurt if they applied the money to a bill either, if it gave them peace of mind.) I’m also sending them a lovely card. (Two years ago I was fortunate enough to find cards that were also matted artworks. You could hang the card up as a small print. I sent those for their birthdays.)
Just because you at first think the attitude is selfish and offensive, Jon does not make it so. She told the truth from where she stands, and she does have a point. Whether or not that point applies to the OP is a different matter.
well put…nicely done 
When I was a teenager I know I always appreciated getting cash, because what my relatives thought I would like and what I really liked were two very different things, and it was better to pick something out than get another sweatshirt with a hokey design done in puffy paint. However, I don’t like giving cash or gift certificates because I’m always afraid the giftee will feel like I couldn’t be bothered actually picking something out. Even if it’s someone who I know shops where I got the certificate, I’ll usually get something else to go with it (for example, I once gave a friend a Borders gift card with a Mr. Bean doll - he loved it).
Amazon and some other websites now have “wish lists” - ie gift registries, which are searchable. If she’s set one up, you could get her something you know she wants, without having to feel like you’re repeating the gift certificate experience. You can have it gift-wrapped and shipped directly with a message in the card or have it sent to you for personal delivery. I know etiquette purists decry the gratuitous use of registries, but I think they’re great if you don’t know what the person wants or what they already have. Again, it only works if she’s set one up, but if you haven’t checked out that option it might be worth a try.
Also, as a former teenage-wannabe-writer, I’m down with the pens and journal idea. When I got money as gifts, that’s usually what I spent it on, apart from books and music. In fact, my mom just got my cousin a journal for her birthday - she’s turning 16 soon.
My daughter sounds similar to your niece – 15 years old, magnet arts school and all. Doe loves pens, stationery, and journals or tablets of any kind. However, if your niece wants to be a writer, she’s probably also a reader, and you can’t improve on a book-store gift certificate as a gift for a reader. Maybe a couple of pens or a journal, so you have the fun of picking something out for her (and to feel you’re not just throwing money at her) and a gift-certificate for the larger balance of the gift?