What are you getting grandparents that have everything for the holidays?

[3 ladybugs]

We typically buy for 3 grandparents and ALL of them have everything they need normally. One is downsizing even. 

 

In years past I have done the photo blanket and coasters, and things like that. However I need new ideas. I mean, how many coasters with grand children's faces on it do grandparents really need? 

 

So are you doing something creative for grandparents this year that you would be willing to share? Needs to be mail-able for us. Grandparents are all over the country. All of them (hopefully) will have just moved into a new house (either to them or actually new house) by Christmas. 

[Guest]

I always always get consumables.  Food from Williams Sonoma, including a pudding with a hard sauce that they adore!  WS ships directly to their house.  No muss no fuss, nothing to store.

 

Another family, we get 3 months of cheese.  

 

Siblings get cookies or cakes.  

 

 

[regentrude]

We do a yearly calendar with photographs of our family. 

[ashfern]

We make food baskets that we send (apple butter, candied nuts, cookies, chocolate dipped pretzels, etc). We used to order from Harry & David but it's so expensive for what you're actually getting. We put it in one of the "if it fits it ships" boxes from the PO. This year I'm going to add in crocheted coasters for my MIL since she mentioned how much she liked mine when she was visiting. 

[OrganicJen]

Usually some sort of personalized calender or mug with grandkid photos on it.

[J-rap]

We've gotten ours: gift certificate to a theater; gift certificate to a restaurant; a food subscription; a 3-month gym membership; one day of cleaning by a housekeeper; a gift certificate for a manicure or pedicure (for my mother); Amazon gift card; Barnes and Noble gift card.

[medawyn]

I make a calendar annually, and then send consumables.  Murray's Cheeses, Eli Zabar baskets, Dean and Deluca, American Spoon.  This year I'm sending olive oil and vinegar combos from a local shop.

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

There's only one left and that's FIL. In the past I've done photo calendars. Currently for FIL we usually get a consumable (food) gift or we send a Kindle book he's been wanting. He usually keeps his Amazon wish list up to date with books he wants. If not, we get an Amazon gift card. 

[KarenC]

We give a calendar with pictures of the kids each month and a monthly delivery of citrus fruit.

[fraidycat]

Consumables - food, or hobby supplies

 

experiences - movies, plays, concerts

 

services - housekeeping, meal delivery

 

Etc.

[Paige]

We have given gift certificates to new, cool restaurants in their town that they may not have tried, tickets to experiences like a mystery dinner, or other atypical show- not plays because they aren’t into that, tech gadgets that are new to them that DH will set up and teach, a night at a B&B, or consumables of their favorite foods. Sometimes it’s wine, or it could be a special ice cream flavor from their hometown store, or a gourmet version of something we know they like. It’s hard to come up with something different each year. I try to make it personal and not some random gift card to a generic place because they could afford anything they wanted.

[katilac]

Consumables. 

 

Digital subscription to Audible, Kindle Unlimited, magazines, etc. 

 

If they are the type to use it, they have those home binders where you keep track of purchases, maintenance, and so on. 

 

When I don't find anything suitable for the grandparent who doesn't need anything and is downsizing, we have an agreement that I just won't get anything. Which is most of the time, lol. When we see that grandparent, the kids will usually bake a box of cookies and gingerbread, which they love.

 

If any of them express a desire for no gifts, I would take them at their word. 

[Kassia]

We do restaurant gift certificates for local places.  Before that, we did a subscription to Golden State Fruit.  Years ago, we got them Netflix.  We usually get them a new jigsaw puzzle each year and they like doing that in the winter.  We also got them a Roomba years a while back.

[Cindy in FL.]

I used to make my dad a calendar with pics of the grandchildren. He looked forward to it every year.

[Annie G]

Consumables. Always a calendar but it kind of bugs me that they don't throw them away after the year ends.  I usually do a theme, like one year I did one for my dad with pics of places he'd traveled the previous year.  

I also usually send a restaurant gift card. 

 

 

 

[AppleGreen]

I always give my ILs a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant. They don't want more stuff, but travel regionally and appreciate having several meals covered when they hit the road.

 

I gave my aunt and uncle, whom I am very close to, a gift certificate to a coffee place they love. They have a number of appointments they drive to and so appreciated this last year. 

 

I would do the same for my mother, but she does not like receiving gift certificates. Gifts are one of her love languages, so I give them to her. I go for other types of consumable/practical gifts for her.

[almondbutterandjelly]

We get my parents a Sam's Club membership every year.  They would never pay to have it but they like having it.

 

Also, restaurant gift cards.

[Wheres Toto]

We have three sets of grandparents that really don't need more stuff so we've been doing the photo calendars for the past few years.  They always appreciate more pictures of the grandkids.  We usually pair it with a gift card to a favorite or local restaurant.

[alisoncooks]

We do the photo calendar, too.

I've been toying with the idea of paying for them to do ancestry.com or a dna testing site. I think they would enjoy it.

[Ali in OR]

We do restaurant gift certificates for their favorites and sometimes a book for each from Amazon (free shipping!). Last year I made the mistake of putting together a box for my in-laws with a long frame of 3 5x7 photos of the girls. Won't do that again--$42 to ship the box to FL.

[Amber in SJ]

If you saw my MIL post you will know the answer is not an iPad for them to keep up with the grandkids.....

 

Every year I'd get my mom a calendar from Shutterfly with family pictures and all the birthday & anniversaries already on it.  She loved it.

 

I think I already posted this, but if the grandparents are religious, one of the things I did for my mom on Mother's Day was I bought her a new set of scriptures in large print and each one of the kids underlined their favorite scripture or wrote grandma a note on one of the blank pages.  Then I sent it to my sister who had each of her kids do the same & she sent it to our brother and so on it went from family to family until it finally ended up at the sister who lives in the same town and once her family had written in it she wrapped it & gave it to my mom from all of us. 

 

My dd who is super artistic has drawn gorgeous family trees for the grandparents.

 

Another fun gift was a year-long project between my kids & the grandparents.  Every week one of my kids would email grandma/ grandpa a question like those found here:  https://www.thoughtco.com/fifty-questions-for-family-history-interviews-1420705 Usually the grandparent would take a minute to email back.  I collected all the info for each grandparent & had the answers put into a book & gave one to each family as a book of family stories.  My kids really love those stories.  They still talk about Grandpa making his mom a mouse skin coat or Grammy marching in protests in the 60's :)

 

 

Amber in SJ

Edited October 23, 2017 by Amber in SJ

[MotherGoose]

Interesting books. Meat of the month (or whatever). Bacon of the month club?! Bird feeders with seeds. Bird houses. May need to put them up depending on their level of handiness. Nice sweaters. A pot of bulbs with instructions for care so they will have tulips or whatever bloom in a pot in the spring (pretty sure you can do this by the month too, or you can google directions and DIY for cheap.) we got my mom a cold frame with automatic lift so she can have salad greens. Split cost with my sister as it was $$$ but she loves. Also maybe do tHose household projects they never get to--my mom has been wanting to get her porch furniture powder coated for forever but hasn't done it. Haul it away and organize it for her.