Most Clever Gift

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Every year I seem to manage one clever gift for someone. Not really by design, it just seems to work out that way.

You know, something that you made maybe, or stumbled upon. An idea you ran with, of which you might be especially proud.

I’ll start off with a few examples:

When I was cleaning up the yard in the fall, I was cutting back some vines and got to thinking I was Martha Stewart. Wondering how hard it could really be to fashion a Christmas wreath from such material I gave it a go. Well, low and behold if it didn’t come out perfect my first try. I kept cutting and twisting, and after some curing it looked, for all the world like something you’d buy at the craft store.

After that, I was at a loss as to what to do with the thing. Now I’ve decided to decorate it with, some autumn leaves I pressed and bird seed strings. I have some pine cones I’ll spread with peanut butter and roll in bird seed. And maybe in the center, I’ll hang big bird seed bell. A big old bow and we got us a biodegradable Christmas bird wreath. Ta da!

Not only that, it’s the perfect gift for some friends who are very woodsy types who just happen to have a big bird feeding station in there tiny front yard.

And it just came to me. I just feel sooo clever. Can you tell?

A couple of years ago, my most clever gift was a small, table top Christmas tree for my bachelor brother. It bothers me every year that I just know he has no decorations up or anything. I can understand that it’s not a big guy thing, but if they have a girlfriend or kids visiting, well, I think it has some value. Especially for men.

I got this 18" fake tree, wired the lights, small bulbs, and angel right onto the tree. I even hot glued the tinsel and garlands in place. It looked lovely when it was done and cost very little. I then built a sturdy box for it, just the right size, padded with packing in just the right spots so he could pop in right into the box and toss it around (he moves a lot) without worry. Now he just pulls it out of the box and plugs it in and voila it’s instand Merry. Every year since, he has unfailingly mentioned how great it is!

You gotta give it up, that was a clever idea.

I offer these examples to demonstrate that I mean gifts other than just purchasing something for someone which was especially appropriate.

Here’s the selfish part, as I mentioned I only get one of these brainstorms per year, so I was hoping we could share.

I’ve given you a couple of my best ideas, how about it?

Okay, I’ll admit it, I have a week left and I’m running out of ideas, clever or otherwise.

How about sharing the idea for that great gift you gave that you still remember because you knew it was just right?

2

I gave my two friends, who just recently started dating, a collar and leash.

3

I once had nothing, and wouldn’t have a car, so I made jello and filled a fancy whisky decanter.
It was still liquid when it was unwrapped, and it was a scream as people tried to figure it out. Everyone thought it was so clever.

4

I gave my mom a handmade (by me) quilt one Christmas but she gave it back to me a couple of years later. Said it was too warm. Gee, that’s kinda sad, isn’t it?

This year I was going to whip up some Russian tea mix and pack it in pretty reusable containers, but I never got around to it.

Sorry this isn’t helpful to you, but at least we’ll getcha a bump, and maybe some of the crafty folks will chime in.

5

And yes, elbows, you did well with those thoughtful gifts. You’ve inspired me for next year. Or next birthdays, why wait?

6

Not a gift, but a clever idea. A few years ago, I was about to wrap Mr. Rilch’s X-mas gifts, and had an idea on how to disguise them. I left a shirt in its bag and stuffed the bag into a cookie box. I put a video in a Bisquick box. I put a small item in a cashew-nuts can. And so on. So everything just looked like a box, like in cartoons or X-mas tableaus where it looks like there are building blocks under the tree.

Of course, in real life, especially among our age group, typical gifts look like what they are when wrapped. Some things come in their own boxes, but most advertise their category, which takes away half the mystery.

A fat rectangle is a video. A flat rectangle is a DVD. A flat square is a CD, or maybe a game disk (ooh, the suspense!). A soft flat rectangle is a shirt. A rectangle that bends when you hold it is a softback book. A rectangle with some topography is an action figure.

So I still put gifts, if at all possible, in anonymous boxes. I especially like the moments when people say, “Oh, so you’re not giving me soup!” or “For a minute, I thought the cake mix was my present!” This gives the added advantage of people appreciating your gift all the more because it’s not cake mix or soup.