Mother, Father & Stepmother, MIL-Homemade Biscotti, homemade peppermint bark, homemade candied orange peel and homemade watermelon rind pickles, plus a cute snowflake ornament with a picture of my kiddos in it.

Sisters 2&3 and Brother-Covered Journals with fabric and printed out journal prompts for a journal jar, peppermint bark, orange peel, and a homemade "emergency kit" w/tylenol, motrin, antacid, tissues, comb, gum, pad of paper and pen, sewing kit, etc etc.

Sister 1&Husband-watermelon rind pickles, emergency kit and a Lemax holiday house

Nephew-(he's 2 1/2) knit a really cute sweater, hat and scarf.

dh-XM Satellite radio for his motorcycle, one of those joysticks you plug in to the TV and play pac-man etc, homemade H4rley gingerbread ornamnets (He has an entire tree to himself w/just harley stuff) ties, homemade fleece blanket, and I'm sure more stuff I forgot.

The kids are little and they have a large variety of stuff that I can't list I did make my daughter barbie doll clothing hangers-MIL bought her a cute wooden b4rbie armoire for her birthday, but the dowel in it is way to big for the little b4rbie hangers, so I made some out of wire.

I actually got started really early this year and am done-I think that making so much of it spurred me to start much ealier than usual.

I'm looking for a ring for my SO, but I don't know where to go except T!ff@ny. I like this one from their website: http://tinyurl.com/6xy8f

Though I can't buy THE ring yet, I want to give a simple but pretty ring to my SO to express my love and commitment

So anyway, my Bangkok weekend was a roaring success:

Mum: Absolutely divine Thai silk blue and silver evening jacket. She goes to the opera every fortnight so she always needs evening clothes. Also Thai silk glasses case, makeup bag and various bits and pieces.

Brother 1 (hippie): Thai bead bracelets and t-shirts.

Brother 2 (yuppie): red striped silk tie, Diesel t-shirts.

Sleazy friend: small brass monkey with enormous hard-on. I think it's some sort of virility amulet. He'll love it.

and a whole sports bag full of various bits and bobs for in-laws, friends, me etc.

My dad is my only remaining problem. What do you buy for one of life's true ascetics? He likes art and tea. I can't afford art and you can't send plant material into Australia, so I'm stumped.

Mom- pots and pan set
sister 1- jewelery organizer, burts bees gift set
sister 2- ??? (help! she's a hippie physics major in Berkeley)
friend- Trivial Persuit 90s edition, pin
D- home beer brewing kit (not so sure if this is a good idea or not, but it's what he wanted!)
D's parents- homemade goodie assortment
D's aunt- requested DVDs
D's other aunt- ??? I know she's getting new bedroom furniture soon, so I was thinking about scented drawer liners as the start of a theme...

quote:

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Originally posted by sneakers:
sister 2- ??? (help! she's a hippie physics major in Berkeley)

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My boy, who's a physics guy but not a hippie, loved "The Code Book", a non-fiction book about the history of codes and code-breaking.

quote:

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Originally posted by noraneither:
Is it better to not give married couples joint gifts?

I'm thinking of making coasters for all my relations -- they are all coaster-users -- do you think one set per couple or one set each and try to coordinate if they're going to the same house? Or think of a different gift so not everyone has to get the same thing?

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Given the house-related nature of your gift, I would DEFINITELY say one set per household would be fine. If the couple lives in separate households, I would say you might want to think about making different sets.

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Originally posted by crowjoy:
Hey can I get your rind pickle recipe??

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Sure, just have to remember to post it while I'm at home. I'll put it in nourish in the next few days hopefully!

OK, I posted it in the canning thread in nourish. Enjoy!!