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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Neighbor Gifts

You know those things that we all think "oh, SO cute" and then shove onto the counter with the rest of them...  the "I felt obligated to give a gift but we're obviously not family so this is what we came up with - hope it's not too useless" type of gift.

Some can be really cute - One year (when the entire neighborhood had come down with the flu just before Christmas vacation) we delivered Snowman bowls and cans of chicken noodle soup...  along with some really cheesy poem about sharing the spirit of the holiday without sharing germs...  I would have shared it with you (because I AM a packrat and it IS here... somewhere) - but one of the downsides of "blogging by the seat of my pants" is that I didn't think of it until I'd already typed it!  Just trust me that it was witty and appropriate to the season!

I was shopping earlier today and the local scrapbook store had a short list of ideas... only I wasn't willing to shell out the $1.50 to buy it, especially since I didn't even get one of them - not because I'm not brilliant, but because the photo didn't show what was IN the bag that went with the saying (and no, I don't remember the saying - only that it was generic)

So - as part of my frugal plan for the day - you all are going to share the cute/crazy/ingenious things you've seen out there!  Ta-dahhh... SO much better than spending the buck fifty right?

To start it off I'll share all the ones I can think of:
Bag of Mini-Marshmallows - "you've been naughty this year - so here's the scoop, all you're getting for Christmas is Snowman poop"
Scented Crayons - "hope you have a stinkin' great Christmas"
Tide or Joy detergent - "... tidings of comfort and Joy"
Big Red Chewing Gum - Hope the Big man in Red brings you all you wish for
Deck of Cards - "Deck the Halls"
Martinelli's Sparkling Cider - Hope your holidays Sparkle with good cheer
Measuring Spoons - Wishing you joy beyond Measure
Paper Christmas Plates - "a bit of disposable Christmas cheer! What could be better? No dishes my dear!"
Jolly Rancher soft chews - "we chews to wish you a jolly holiday"
2 litre of Sprite - "May your day be Merry and Sprite"
Bagged Salad/Dressing - "tossing out a wonderful Christmas wish to you and yours all dressed up with Christmas Cheer"
Cookie Cutters - "cutting out a perfect Christmas wish for you"
Box of Kleenex - "We Tissue a Merry Christmas" 
Chex Mix/Cereal - Santa Chex his list twice - hope you made the cut!
Symphony Candy Bar - just a note of sweet Christmas tidings
Toaster Strudel - May your holidays be warm and Toasty!
Bagels/Cream Cheese - "spreading a little Christmas Shmear"
Scented candle - have a scentsational Christmas
Bounty paper towels - May you receive Bounteous blessings all year long!

Oh for crying out loud - that's probably more than I needed right there!  Oh well...  please share your own - or groan along with me at some of these...  some I've encountered personally - some I stole from a newspaper article (deseret news - 2006) - and I will lay no personal claim on any (except the chicken soup one that I can't find)

Next year - FOR SURE - we are organizing as a neighborhood and donating all the "neighbor gift" funds to the local homeless shelter!!!  That way everyone wins!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are PERFECT! The neighbors (and the young women!) will love these much more than a plate of fossilized fudge! I do like your last idea, though. Much easier on the pocketbook, and much lighter on the calories!

Barbaloot said...

Good ideas!!

My family always takes out homemade bread or salsa. Can be fake cheap---but also appreciated among all the sweets:)

LC said...

Some of these are taken from today's paper (Des News)
handtowel/washcloth--here's your new washer and dryer!
roll of wrapping paper--time to wrap it up...something or other
muffins: you're gettin' muffin for Christmas
cookie dough: Thought you could use a little extra dough this christmas
OR my favorite. Our neighbor sent a poem about instead of all of us giving neighbor gifts let's pool our money together and give to a family who could really use it...we're still getting neighbor gifts though....did they not get the memo?

Heidi said...

Clearly I live in the wrrrooonnggggg neighborhood! OR maybe even the wrong state.

TisforTonya said...

Heidi - nobody comes by in California with a little Salsa to "spice up your holidays"?

I'm lovin' the "muffin for Christmas"... I might need to come up with the rest of the song for that one!

Chelsi said...

The timing of this post is ironic since I brought our "neighbor gift" by to you two nights ago. I'm trying not to picture it sitting there collecting dust on your counter. Perhaps your kids have eaten it by now?

TisforTonya said...

Chelsi (and everyone else too) - I hope it didn't come off that I don't LIKE neighbor gifts (especially little goodies that my children have definitely already eaten!), I like them a lot - I just get such a kick out of the word play that goes into some of the gifts that I just had to blog about it :)

For the record - I actually think some are quite witty and cute - and hey, who can't use more laundry detergent or Sprite :)

cold cocoa said...

Good ideas..we are still at a loss as to what to do for neighbor gifts. I do like the muffin one from Laura. Hopefully there are more Daily Herald readers around here than Des News! Megz will have to tell you the Sprite one they're using Leon made up.