New here and Christmas :) - Page 2

[rere]

Originally Posted by doubledutch 

she's two? i would get her one cool thing, and probably used, or diy if possible. play kitchen, skuut or rody or some other indoor ride-on thing, musical instrument.

if you want the convenience of just going to the store and buying something, play tents are ridiculously cheap (like $20) and get a ton of mileage among the kids i know, anyway. just get one big (frugal) gift.

if you also want to do a stocking, i think it's probably cheaper (and more fun for her) to buy a set of something, open it, take everything out of the package, and put all the bits into the stocking as individual items. that could work with a set of play food, a dollhouse family, whatever.

I agree.

Actually when my daughter was 2,it was the only year we got her a  big gift but...I still had money saved from when she was born.We got her a kitchen(which has been an awesome investment)and I filled her stocking with play foods.

When she was 3 her "big gift" was a wind up jewelry box.

This year(she's 6) she'll get a music maker,mancala and some doll clothes from Santa.And I made her a travel case for a sketch book and colored pencils.I used to make some of her Santa gifts but she's too observant for that now.

[MonkeyPrincess]

We do stockings on St. Nicholas Day...filled with fruit, nuts and chocolates.

We do one gift on Christmas morning, that they request. 13yo asked for a video game, 11yo asked for a computer game, 8yo asked for a gift card (he wants the fun of picking something out himself), 6yo asked for a nerf gun and the 3yo asked for a play doh ice cream shop.

We also celebrate Solstice, and that's when I pick out a gift of my choice for the kids that I KNOW they will love. I have been scouring craigslist and freecycle the past few weeks! :)  13yo is getting woodworking tools, 11yo is getting a sewing machine, 8 and 6yo's are getting a paintball gun (my husband and older son already play, the littles can't wait to join!) and the 3yo is getting a wood playhouse, made my by dh.

[heatherdeg]

We do St. Nick's eve (same stuff but in a shoe left at the door), Solstice (which is more about traditions than gifts) and Christmas.

My kids are 6 (he'll be 7 in mid-Jan) and just-turned-2.

I'm making them a play kitchen for Christmas and then trying to make some felt food to go with it (although I don't know if I'll get to finish that).  I also have some old Mary Engelbreit kitchen stuff that will match the new play kitchen that I'll give them.  I've had them packed away for about 12 years and couldn't bear to part with them and now I'm so glad I didn't!  They'll be awesome for the kids kitchen.  I'm painting the parts bright red and I also have some Target stuff that's bright red that I used to use with the ME stuff that I'll give them for their kitchen, too.  :)

I didn't do well on "frugal" for my son, but I got a good deal!  He will get a Snap Circuits Extreme 750 because I got it for $70 vs. the normal $114 during Amazon's Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals (and because we homeschool and this is somewhat an educational thing that I'm backhandedly giving him because it will take advantage of his love of Legos AND circuitry to learn more about circuitry :)  ).  I also broke down and spent $37 on a Bakugan that he's wanted for almost a year and that I was watching for the year hoping to find it cheaper... and didn't.  So I finally got it since he still wants it.  That's a HUGE splurge, but we always try to get him one thing that he'd really, really love and just "makes" his Christmas.  

My 2yo dd is getting wooden blocks that I scored as part of a kids.woot deal where I got 3 different Melissa & Doug sets (shape sorting cube, alphabet nesting & stacking blocks, and 100 pc. wooden block set) for $25 plus $5 shipping.  Total score.

ETA: I'm also putting together a "pocket" (purse) for my 2yo complete with an old wallet (TOTALLY stealing the driver's license idea from this thread!) with pictures and coins (which she loves and doesn't put in her mouth), a Kiss Your Face chapstick and some other typical purse items.  She's going to absolutely FLIP. OUT.

Edited by heatherdeg - 11/28/10 at 6:29pm

[mommariffic]

3 year old is getting: dress up bin with angel wings, pirate costume, butterfly wings, and family is giving her some other outfits for it

From Santa: wooden fold up castle + castle folk + Haba castle book with puzzle pieces [excited for this, got it used from Amazon but in brand new condition!] and a wooden doll bed (etsy) for her dolls

I also made her an art box with a smock, glitter play doh, cookie cutters with castles/unicorns/princess stuff (she's obsessed) and an art bag filled with buttons, glue sticks, little objects, fabric scraps etc. Also a few books for winter book basket