For Kids – The Birthday One

Pillow Pets

July 13, 2020July 12, 2020Tagged For Kids, For TeensLeave a comment

Why are pillowpets a good gifts for little kids and teens? Pillow pets are cute cuddly and soft like stuffed animals and also useful as a pillow or decor. There are many different pillow pet designs as well. There are cute animal designs and brand designs such as Disney and Sesame Street. Some special types have nightlight designs and others can have scents as well. These can be taken on travel trips on car rides or flights. It is extremely relaxing to nap with or on top of one as well.

Where can you get pillowpets? Walmart and Target should have some pillowpets, but you can see the variety of designs online at Amazon.com and pillowpets.com

If you are on the budget, subscribe to the pillowpets.com email. There are special deals from time to time where they offer sales on special designs. I’ve seen sales for $9.99 or less. The website also generally has a Sale page where they have specials.

**NOTE OF CAUTION: Be cautionary about any allergies or health issues that the Birthday One may have.

Chocolates

May 11, 2020May 10, 2020Tagged For Elderly, For Her, For Him, For Kids, For TeensLeave a comment

Why are these gifts a good choice for Him, Her, Teens, Kids and the Elderly? Chocolates make wonderful gifts! Tasty, decadent, and generally not an everyday snack, recipients usually enjoy and love this as a gift. If you like it simple, you can keep it simple with chocolates found at your everyday grocery store or convenient store like CVS and Walgreens. You can also find them at gas stations! If you like it with fancy packaging, this is also available from a variety of special chocolate shops like Godiva and Ghirardelli, and these shops also have online stores. Not to mention, the options are unlimited in the types of chocolates available: solid milk, with variety of nuts, with cookies, mint, with fruits, with caramel, dark chocolate with different types of percentage of cacao, etc. It’s a treat for a day that is supposed to be celebrate with sweetness and happiness.

However, keep in mind that there are people who aren’t into sweets and chocolates that much, so it is best to make sure the Birthday One would like the chocolates before purchasing and giving as gifts.

Where can you get chocolates? You can make it a simple chocolate bar purchased at your everyday grocery store or convenience store, or you can make it a fancier gift purchased from brand stores like Godiva and Lolli and Pops. There are also many local artisan and gourmet chocolate shoppes that offer different types of chocolate to be given as gifts. In Houston, Texas there is a specialty chocolate shop that makes its own chocolate call The Chocolate Bar.

If you are on a budget, a nice simple chocolate bar can be purchased at the local grocery or convenient store. Ferrero Rocher chocolate have great chocolate packaging and a easy grab and go gift too if it is in your price range. There are also Godiva and Lindt bars available at the stores as well. If you would like to save even more money, chocolate candies does tend to be on clearance after holidays. If you are able to find one with not an too apparent seasonal packaging (and hopefully not expired!), then it makes a nice gift as well. Sometimes grocery stores do run a special, and grabbing a bar of Hersheys here and Snickers there, Reeces Pieces, Kit Kat bar, and Nestle’s Crunch and wrap it up nicely with a birthday card, it makes for a nice birthday chocolate bundle!

**NOTE OF CAUTION: Be cautionary about any allergies that the Birthday One may have.

Birthday Cake

April 28, 2020April 26, 2020Tagged For Elderly, For Her, For Him, For Him or Her, For Kids, For Oneself, For Teens, Real Birthday StoriesLeave a comment

Why are cakes a good choice for EVERYONE? Birthday Cakes are the *PRIMARY* traditional birthday gifts since forever! It’s a good way to celebrate and share with a group of people at a party too.

There are so many different types of cakes that it may be difficult to pick one that the Birthday One likes. It may be helpful to ask around to see what type of cake the Birthday One likes.

*A Hello Kitty Cake from Six Ping Bakery in Houston Chinatown*

Where can you get cakes? There are many local bakery shops that specialize in making cakes that you can probably find on Google or Yelp. Some Asian bakeries make the most cutest or gorgeous, and tasty cakes, but they are also very pricey.

If you are a good baker, you can also try making a cake. A Real Birthday Story example is when my good friend baked a chocolate banana cake for my birthday the last two years! It was so yummy and tasty. It was also a very sweet gift since it took her time to make it.

If you are on a budget, try grocery stores like Walmart, HEB, Kroger, etc. They usually have nicely designed cakes at an affordable price. Go for the ones that has the latest ‘good until’ date – those are usually the freshest.

If you are the Birthday One and are looking for some free cake, some restaurants and bakery stores offer a free piece of cake for dessert as birthday freebies for dining there or being a customer. Two notable ones are La Madeleine which offers a free pastry in the birthday month if you sign up for their app and Nothing Bundt Cakes which offers a free bundlet in the birthday month.

Another Real Birthday Story experience – My boss wanted to save money so instead of ordering cakes for employees on their birthday, he opted to get a birthday cake quarterly and all those with birthdays in that quarter would have their birthday celebrated. It’s quite a unique experience but I guess late cake is better than no cake.

**NOTE OF CAUTION: Be cautionary about any allergies or preferences that the Birthday One may have. Some may not want to eat cakes made with eggs or gluten. *

Pinata

February 2, 2019January 27, 2019Tagged For Her, For Him, For Him or Her, For KidsLeave a comment

Why are these gifts a good choice for Him, Her, Teens and Kids? For adults, it’s a fun, surprising way to celebrate. Fill it with alcoholic candies and treats or maybe even money, so when it breaks, everyone can start grabbing them! For kids and teens, candies and small snack bags would be good enough. It is mainly the fun of striking the pinatas which is fun for the kids and teens. The Birthday One can be the only one playing or everyone attending can participate. You set the rules!

Where can you get pinata? Party stores often sell ready-made pinatas. At a Super Walmart, I saw quite a few pinatas on sale in their party supplies aisle. You may need to find a bat or good stick to hit the pinata with and also a bandana or cloth to cover the eyes.

If you are on a budget, guess what? You can home made pinatas! Here is a link on how to make pinatas: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pi%C3%B1ata

**NOTE OF CAUTION: If the gift is for kids and teens, make sure there is adult supervision. The pinatas should also be put in a location that is relatively open or spacious without anything that would break to allow proper space for striking the pinata.

True Birthday Story: I had attended a birthday party once in which the adult Birthday One had a pinata gift. Everyone at the party got a chance to play, and it took a while before the pinata broke, but it was fun seeing who was able to break the pinata first!

Birthday Gift List

February 22, 2017February 24, 2017Tagged For Him, For Him or Her, For Kids, For Teens, GeneralLeave a comment

If you are not sure and or short on time, be honest and direct, and ask the Birthday One what they want for their birthday gift. Some Birthday Ones may be humble, and others don’t really care, but then you will not know until you ask. You can see whether the Birthday One wants to give a Birthday Gift List, and if they do, then you can try to see if you can work on getting a gift(s) from the list.

There shouldn’t be any guarantee or pressure on your part to give but you can also list some criteria like the items on the list should be under $10 (kind of like White Elephant or Secret Santa so maybe you can call this The Birthday One List). You can also say you would only pick one thing to give from the list to give. If they ignore your criteria, or if you do not set a criteria, and they put only Burberry items on the list, it does not mean you are obligated to give a gift on the list. However, there may also be some level of disappointment for the Birthday One if you do not. It is best to set criteria and set a low level of expectation for the Birthday One if you use this approach.

If you are able to get a list, it is also something you can pass to other friends if they are also figuring out what gifts to give to the Birthday One.

If you are not sure where to start, you can download this Simple Birthday Wish List Template (same as above pic) to start! Email it to the Birthday One and get their Birthday Wish List.

Why getting a Birthday Gift list may be a good choice for everyone? 1) You would know what items the Birthday One wants or need without racking your brain to get something that you are not sure they would 100% like. 2) If you get the list, you can also surprise them since you are not likely to get everything on the list. Always set expectations low, and if you decide to surprise them and get more than one gift, then they can be surprise when you give it to them.

However, I would recommend you use this Birthday List approach with only close family members and close friends only because getting this list from the Birthday One means there is some level of expectation set for something on the list. If you fail to get something the Birthday One wants on the list, close family members and close friends can forgive you, with others, you don’t really know (unless you want to test them, that is).

Where can you find the Birthday Gift List? You and the Birthday One have to sort it out. be direct and ask in person, on the phone, or by text. If you ask a few months in advance, it can also be more of a surprise since the Birthday One may likely forget about the Birthday list they gave you.

If you are on a budget, try to get the Birthday Gift List a few months in advance so you can check on sales and save for the purchase, especially around the holiday season.

Gift Cards for the Birthday One

February 20, 2017February 22, 2017Tagged For Her, For Him, For Him or Her, For Kids, For Pets, For Teens, GeneralLeave a comment

I love Gift Cards, and I think when I give Gift Cards to the Birthday One(s), they also appreciate it a lot because of the gift card’s flexibility to make purchases based on their decision. Some people think Gift Cards are too impersonal, but on the contrary, it is very much personal since it’s something you know the Birthday One does like, would need, or would find useful, or it’s something a little luxurious that would make the Birthday One truly feel special.

Gift Cards comes in several categories as a Birthday Gift:

I.Something the Birthday One likes – It is a gift card to a place you are sure the Birthday One likes to spend money on or enjoy to spend money at. Most likely, you’ve seen them use their money there at that place or hear them talking about their purchases there. Food places are excellent choices to get gift cards at (Starbucks, Chick Fil A, Movie Theater, other Restaurants)

II.Something the Birthday One needs – It can be something the Birthday One may need like for example, maybe they have mentioned briefly they may need to get new tires ASAP, or they need a new car battery soon, or their labtop broke down, and they need to get it fixed by a technician. It could be something that stresses the Birthday One down, and or they are low on cash to get it.

III.Something the Birthday One finds useful– Something useful can be a Gift Card for Gasoline or a Visa Gift Card to be used on anything, a supermarket gift card, or a Walmart or Target gift card they can use to buy necessities. It may not be great, but when it comes time to use it, they will sure appreciate the extra help on payment.

IV.Something that the Birthday One finds Luxurious– The term luxurious can be different for different people. To me, it means it is not something the Birthday One would purchase regularly. In this case, you have to be careful that for some places, the Birthday One might have to fork out money to pay the balance, or they would be forced to give it to someone else. For example, if you give a gift card for Michael Kors, there are not many options that are under $15. This option should probably be only used if you know there’s something the Birthday One really want, or would like to purchase for the first time something at the store (in this case, your gift card would serve as some help to achieve their purchase.)

Why are these gifts a good choice for everyone? The decision on what purchases the Birthday One would get rests solely with the Birthday One. They can decide what they want, need, find useful, or get something to pamper themselves with. It’s in their hands and less headache on your part.

Where can you find gift cards? If you know the brick and mortar location of a store, it is the easiest to pick it up straight from the store. Otherwise, many many places have stands at their stores where a variety of store gift cards with different amounts are sold. To name a few, Walgreens, CVS, supermarkets, Target, and Walmart have these stands.If you choose to get gift cards , please do check that the code on the back of the gift card is not scratched off. There had been some issues years back where thieves target gift cards and steal whatever amount that was paid on the gift card because they had access to the gift card numbers and code on back.

If the store has a website online, they may be able to send the gift certificate straight to the Birthday One’s recipient email address. Some may offer to send it by snail mail. If you choose to p, you can either send it directly to the Birthday One’s recipient home address or to yourself so that you can have with you to give to the Birthday One in person.

If you are on a budget, decide what amount you can afford first before you buy a gift card. A simple $5 gift card is also very nice already. It is really the thought that counts if you decide to give something to the Birthday One. If possible, try to save some money each month to help with the gift card purchase. A few places offer a discount on a gift cards (for example, if it is $20, some places offer 10% off so it would a little cheaper to purchase).

College Sports Memorabilia or Collectible Gifts

February 18, 2017February 19, 2017Tagged For Her, For Him, For Him or Her, For Kids, For TeensLeave a comment

If the Birthday One is a fan of college sports or an alumni of a certain college, college sports memorabilia or collectibles would be a good choice. If the Birthday One has been seen in public with college sports memorabilia, then it pretty much means they are proud of whatever college team they are rooting for.

Now, when I say college memorabilia, I am not talking about expensive items with autographs by actual players but items that have the college sport team on it like mugs, or glasses, pennants, stickers, can holders, caps, tshirts, water bottle, and gym bags. Some places may even have baby clothes, umbrella, scarves, belts, cell phone cases, ice boxes, lunch boxes, etc. etc.It’s a variety of stuff out there – just have to go and check it out!

Why are these gifts a good choice for Him, Her, Teens, and Kids? There is so much variety of products out there that it’s not hard to find something to give to him, her, a teen, or a kid. Some things are useful and decently priced – I’ve seen umbrellas, lunch bags, cups, mugs. Some things are purely just collectibles or decorative – like pens, pencils, stickers, key chains. Some things are fashionable – I’ve seen scarves, tshirts, caps/hats, jerseys. Whatever it is, if the Birthday One is a college sports fan, then they would surely appreciate the gift.

Where can you find college memorabilia or collectibles? Target and Walmart should have some items. Academy definitely would have something. Hallmark has a few items as well. Some supermarkets also stock up on college sports collectibles If you want something a little bit special, do some search and find something unique online that can’t be found at stores.

If you are on a budget, college memorabilia does not need to be expensive. After the season is over, there are often clearances if you check at the stores. I like to visit Academy as sometimes there are some very nice college sport items that would be an awesome addition for the Birthday One. You may also get a few things together like a mug and some sticker decals and call it a day too. There’s just a lot of variety to choose from. If you can get the gift when it is on clearance, you may be able to save money and get something really nice with the college sports team the Birthday One roots for.

This is a seat cushion. It’s pretty unique, isn’t it? You can probably get it for someone against the team as well! They can sit on that team everyday! LOL

What a nice and pretty scarf! Great to wear to a game, no?

Look at all the clearances at Academy! You can get a few things on clearance, and it would make a nice collection for the Birthday One!

50 General Gift Idea for Birthdays

March 31, 2016March 31, 2016Tagged Birthday Gift, For Her, For Him, For Him or Her, For Kids, For Pets, GeneralLeave a comment

Below is a quick list of ideas for birthday gifts (in no specific order). I will write more in detail in future posts, but it is a good list for those who need ideas now. I will add to this list as I think of more ideas!

1.Gift Cards

2.Pay for Meal/Movie

3.Birthday Cake/ Cupcakes

4.Chocolate/Candy/Fruit Arrangements/Cookies

5.Flowers/Balloons/Stuff Animal

6.Jewelry

7.Makeup

8.Skincare products

9.Fragrances

10.Lotion/ Hand Sanitizer

11.Puzzles/Games

12.CDs/Music Related

13.Movies/TV series in DVD

14.Video Games

15.Handbag/Purses/Wallet/Clutches

16.Activities related (bowling, arcade, golf, skating)

17.Spa

18.Manicure/Pedicure

19.Hair cut

20.Books/Comic Books/Audio Book

21.Clothes (Tshirt/hat/dress/shoes)

22.Computer Related- mousepad/mouse/flash drive

23.Something for the Car

24.Something for Protection

25.Picture Frames

26.Tea/Coffee

27.Groupon/Living Social Deal

28.Magazine Subscriptions

29.Subscription Boxes

30.Educational Lessons (cooking/language/designing)

31.Organizer/Planner

32.Fitness Sessions (Yoga/Dance Lessions/Boxing Lessons)

33.Aromatherapy

34.Basketball Game

35.Concert Tickets

36.Theater Play

37.Museum Tickets

38.Zoo Tickets

39.Painting Classes

40.Wine tasting

41.Something for the Pets

42.Something for the Kids

43.Stuff Animals

44.Disney related

45.Legos

46.Gardening Tools

47.Something for the Home

48.Cookware/Food Prep Related

49.Mugs/Cups/Water bottles

50.Be Creative and make something!

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