[mom2gabenkatie]

I have spent the past two days solid trying to figure out what to get my nieces and nephews for Christmas. They are all spread out in age from 1 to 22. I am having the hardest time with the tweens.

First off, I don't have much money. Since there are sooooo many of them (I am the oldest of 7 kids and my dh is the youngest of 5) I try to keep it to around $5 each. I feel like I have to buy something for them b/c they buy for my family and my kids. But...they are poor and they buy from $ tree. We're not poor and they expect nice things. So, I try to spend $5 and look like $10 but it really stretches my budget.

Second, I don't really know what they are into anymore. They are in that weird tween phase where it depends on the day and they don't "like" anything in that I pick out.

Third, they never even say thank you. I spend hours trying to find cool deals to get them what they might like and they don't even say thanks.

It drives me nuts!!! I can't really do the "family gift" idea b/c there isn't anything they all like to do together. My SIL doesn't even drive so I can't get the GCs either.

I have this same problem every year and I'm sick and tired of it. I wish everyone would just agree not to exchange presents or something. I know it would be a load off my mind! (My family decided not to exchange this year, except for the little ones)

Any suggestions?? Any great internet deals?? - they seem to be few and far between this year!!!!!
Thanks for listening to me vent

[freegroceries4me]

Do they have I-pods? You said they don't have a lot of money, so maybe not. I am finding that I-tunes gift cards are good gifts for tweens with I-pods. CVS has an ECB deal on I-tunes next week. I have found that gift cards are the best thing at this age - Target, GameStop, McDonald's, Baskin and Robbins. I know you said that they don't have transportation, but they must get out some time. What about a family gift of a movie gift package - movie theatres sell gift cards for tickets and refreshments.

[Pepsilady405]

I am the oldest of five and we finally a couple of years ago started drawing names for all the nieces and nephews. Since I have two kids (actually 3 with daughters fiance) I draw three names. We spent 15-20 dollars retail on each and they all open one gift. It works nicely! Plus each kid has to give a list of what they like or what they're wanting.

Aeropostale usually has some really good deals on t-shirts. Bath and body works always has great deal like 3/10 or something like that.

Good luck!

[matica]

I feel your pain, I am also the oldest of 7 and have 17 nieces and newhews. Christmas has been rough to say the least. After years of struggling to pay for Christmas a few years ago we all decided to do a grab bag for the kids. It has worked out so much better this way. Kids get so much from their parents do they really need to get a gift from every aunt and uncle. I no longer think so. If you must get each kid how about video gift cards, since your sil doesn't drive I wonder if you can get gift cards from the video by mail places like Netflix. Good Luck, Patty

[simmonds4]

Hmm....Tough!

I know you can do the family thing because of interest. But one thing I've done in the past is make a movie night basket for the family. ($5.00 Movie, Popcorn, $1 candy boxes etc) I've also made a Family dinner night basket (fixing from app to dessert with recipes so I knew the whole family would have to work together to make it)

Other idea's Amazon has the 4 books for price of 3. If you have any that are interested in reading they have a good selection for all ages add a book mark and your good.

One other thing my family has done is bought a cute Christmas box (one bigger than a shoe box) and every year the nieces or nephews get a Christmas ornament to put in it. And when they are ready to move out they have enough ornaments to do up their first tree. Some years the decoration depicts what they are into that year.

Sorry I will keep thinking about it – if I come across anything I will post. Good Luck!

[simmonds4]

Originally Posted by freegroceries4me

Do they have I-pods? You said they don't have a lot of money, so maybe not. I am finding that I-tunes gift cards are good gifts for tweens with I-pods. CVS has an ECB deal on I-tunes next week. I have found that gift cards are the best thing at this age - Target, GameStop, McDonald's, Baskin and Robbins. I know you said that they don't have transportation, but they must get out some time. What about a family gift of a movie gift package - movie theatres sell gift cards for tickets and refreshments.

My kids love them. DS always gets Movie Gift cards (loves to go to the movies) DD loves to shop and gets them to her fav. store. I my self ask for the i-tunes gift cards!

[freegroceries4me]

Tween and teen girls in my family this year are getting makeup bags with Sally Hansen nail polish (WAGS deal in late Sep), Rimmel mascara (.22 at Target), Razors (various WAGS and CVS deals), along with emory boards, nail clippers (fillers from Wags) and miscellaneous BOGO Dentyne gum, etc. The teen boys are getting shaving kits with Sure for Men deodorant (WAGS), razors, Chapstick Refresh (wags) etc. You might be able to do some variation of that depending on what is in your stockpile.

[shanabme]

One of the ladies that works for me has 19 neices and nephews. She went online to Heifer and bought rabbits and a water buffalo for charity in their names. Most of them are in their teens to early 20's and loved saying they got rabbits and a water buffalo for Christmas. She said they all got into looking at the projects on the website. (Meaningful Gifts | Heifer International Online Gift Catalog)

This year she has been looking at Goats. I thought it was a little weird to give as a gift. But my FIL is getting chickens and a goat for Christmas. He can't say he already has one, that's for sure.

[lauralovesdeals]

Originally Posted by freegroceries4me

Tween and teen girls in my family this year are getting makeup bags with Sally Hansen nail polish (WAGS deal in late Sep), Rimmel mascara (.22 at Target), Razors (various WAGS and CVS deals), along with emory boards, nail clippers (fillers from Wags) and miscellaneous BOGO Dentyne gum, etc. The teen boys are getting shaving kits with Sure for Men deodorant (WAGS), razors, Chapstick Refresh (wags) etc. You might be able to do some variation of that depending on what is in your stockpile.

I think thats a great idea, I would think they would really like it.

[jbarber8]

I feel your pain!

I am the second of 4, and the last to have children. For 18 years I bought presents for my 8 nieces & nephews, in addition to siblings and siblings-in-law... and it was a stretch many years. No thanks-you's. I know the point of the gift is not to be thanked but we were brought up with manners so I'm not sure how all my siblings forgot to teach them to their youngsters. Since I live out of state and have to ship my gifts every year, wouldn't it be nice to know that they got them, without me having to call and ask, "Um, did you get your gifts?"

Now I have my own 2 children, and even though my siblings do buy for my kids now, it's even harder to buy for all of them, since now I have someone else I want to spend our budget on! Last year, I organized a gift swap - drew names, told each family member who they had, etc. Again I was not there on Christmas to follow it through - just shipped my gift to the proper person. I found out... no one announced it was time for the swap - with 3 families coming & going from Mom's house, it was a disorganized mess. And NO ONE shipped a gift here. So I wish I could tell you it was better to draw names, but I can't.

Thanks to all who posted gift ideas for the teens... I did not organize a swap this year, so it looks like I am back to purchasing gifts for all 10 nieces & nephews (now 8 on my side and 2 on DH's). and 8 siblings and siblings-in-law. 5 parents, 5 grandparent gifts from my children, 1 Great-Grandma, 10 teachers. And my own family. (Is anyone else feeling overwhelmed, or only me?)

[simmonds4]

Originally Posted by shanabme

One of the ladies that works for me has 19 neices and nephews. She went online to Heifer and bought rabbits and a water buffalo for charity in their names. Most of them are in their teens to early 20's and loved saying they got rabbits and a water buffalo for Christmas. She said they all got into looking at the projects on the website. (Meaningful Gifts | Heifer International Online Gift Catalog)

This year she has been looking at Goats. I thought it was a little weird to give as a gift. But my FIL is getting chickens and a goat for Christmas. He can't say he already has one, that's for sure.

We have also done this but for the older almost adult kids & sibblings. We try to go to a charity that they have intrest in and donate in their name, we bought trees, donated to Victory Junction all the way to Childhelp and on down the line. They seemed to like it.

[scamelo]

For tweens I would have stocked up on the free nail polish when Walgreens had the rolling coupon ( if you have on near you that is) as my DD liked that stuff at that age, as well as make up and hair things.

Do they have a game system? If so Target is having something tomorrow on the Wii games I think where you BOGO free, and last time I was able to use it on clearance ones. Check your ad because I am going by memory. If there are more than one in a house, pool the money perhaps and give them a little more expensive game to both?

If you have glade candle coupons you could always buy them cheaply and give each one a 5.00 GC to Target with a little additional item ( like nail polish). They have to get out sometime or other with someone

I would also check stores Halloween clearance sales. A lot of years I found stuff that was not 100% halloween ( like make up) or could be easily be removed from outer wrapper and not be halloween at all.

Do they wear earrings? ( sorry all my responses are geared toward girls as my son is older now)If so you can usually find a nice pair for 5.00 or so on sale.

Also with all the game coupons out there, maybe you can find one on sale with the coupon.

[cvrdes]

For the tween girls, I made up little baskets of body stuff and cosmetics- have 1 who isn't girly but is into sports so I made up a basket with gloves, hat and mug in her team. (5 below/ big lots type stuff). For the boys- teens love MP3 players/ monster/ Amp/ Axe/ Tag and you can put them together pretty cheap with Q's.
for th in betweens- girls are pretty into Hannah montana and HS Musical- I would just check first with the parents. Boys are into video games so any gift card would do- amazon, best buys, ebay, gamestop, walmart, target,etc. the gift cards can be purchased online or at a grocery store now, so you don't need to run around. They can also be redeemed online so they can pick out stuff easily.
If you decide what you specifically want to look for I'm sure we can help you find some good deals on it.
HTH!

[Amberbamber]

I didn't read every post so if this is a duplicate idea I apologize but what about something like a subscription to Netflix for three months? Everyone in the family could enjoy it. We got one last year as a gift and we use it all the time! We do movie night as a family and it's lots of fun! Good luck with it!!

[Justlooking1208]

Yes, great ideas on here...you can never go wrong with gift cards too!

[rachelhale]

I would definitely consider "family" gifts, like a board game for the whole family to share or something like that.

[joshmamabear]

the teen girls are the easiest to make gift packages for. With all the free nail polish, make up and lots of shampoo/conditioners/deos and other hair stuff, they love, love it! Most often, the decorative baskets/boxes cost me more than what's inside But that's okay, I like them to be presentable and the sparkle in their eyes when they inspect each one is enough reward for me

teen boys are more of a challenge, I give them gift cards with $15 and if I know what they like, I add a T-shirt. If I notice they like to fix their hair, the Got2B freeze blast spray is always a hit with these boys.

as to small kids 5 and below, the DT toys work well for them.

when I give things away, I don't stress on what they do with it. If they liked it and are grateful, they will continue to be on the gift list. If not, name is crossed out for next year's list and find someone else who'll be happy with gifts. if they're unhappy inspite of the $ and efforts put on each gift, the problem is theirs, not mine.

[poshpoodle]

I was just going to suggest this as well- they could rent any type of movie and each of them could participate in which movies they wanted- and then throw in some microwave popcorn and maybe some drinks- some free candy- then you could wrap up those items and tell them it is for their family and call it a family "fun" night or movie night. But then they get movies for however loing the gift certificate is good for- I thionk that is a great idea- what family would not enjoy that! They do not have to drive- so that solves that dilema.

Originally Posted by Amberbamber

I didn't read every post so if this is a duplicate idea I apologize but what about something like a subscription to Netflix for three months? Everyone in the family could enjoy it. We got one last year as a gift and we use it all the time! We do movie night as a family and it's lots of fun! Good luck with it!!

[Alexdur85]

We don't have a HUGE family but all in all there are 10 people we HAVE to buy for. They also expect nice gifts and what not. I tried doing a gift exchange last year but it somehow got from a gift exchange (secret santa) AND everyone bought everyone else a present. I'm making baskets this year for my boyfriend's family of goodies. There will be one nice "expensive" thing in it and then the rest will be from my deals. My boyfriend gets points from his work so we use those to buy DS games and other little things. My family and I have decided to just devote to stockings this year (which is my favorite because it's ALWAYS something you can use) but my sister is going a little overboard because she is expecting multiple giftcards and what not and we just can blow that kind of dough and neither can she actually that's why she still lives with my mom at 30 (no sense of money I swear!)

I've been collecting samples from Macy's beauty counter and what not to stick in the baskets as well. I think a small stocking with a $5 itunes GC and some candy would be fine for the tweens especially. If they don't appreciate it you didn't blow the bank.

Or you can get Gift cards to the movies for the family. I know Costco sells them at a discounted price. Same with Starbucks. Last year I think there was $80 worth of starbucks cards for $60.

[Alexdur85]

Originally Posted by poshpoodle

I was just going to suggest this as well- they could rent any type of movie and each of them could participate in which movies they wanted- and then throw in some microwave popcorn and maybe some drinks- some free candy- then you could wrap up those items and tell them it is for their family and call it a family "fun" night or movie night. But then they get movies for however loing the gift certificate is good for- I thionk that is a great idea- what family would not enjoy that! They do not have to drive- so that solves that dilema.

This is a neat idea too!

[jeanettebr]

wow...well I have a tiny tiny family (only one with kids) and my dh doesn't swap gifts with his family...he's the baby and all his siblings kids are grown and married except for one.

hmmm....there were tons of great ideas posted! Also consider giving some of the teens games online? I am doing this for my half brother. He is disabled...mu mom just got him a computer to mess around with a few months ago and he likes to play games..places like Big Fish Games and others (just google) let you "buy" games for them to download on their own computers....that is if they have a computer
hth
good luck!!

[jibbers]

I've been watching Ebay's Daily Deals. On Friday they have all items for $5 w/ free shipping. They had great sterling silver heart lockets that I got for all of the older girls in the family. They retailed for either $60 or $70 - the limit was three per person. A little earlier I saw they had a set of Disney Pens for $5 - all daily deals are free shipping.

[grace.maddie]

my side of the family is know to be a bit greedy (except me) but i have a standing rule. i do not buy equal gifts for each person...if i find something fo r$10 that one person like, but something for $2 that some else would like, i don't stress out about it being even. i also refuse to buy a gift out of obligation. meaning not everyone gets a gift from me every year. if i can't find something i think you will love i don't buy somethign just so you have a gift. it was a hard thing for my family to accept at first, but when they realized that they may go a year or tow without a gift but then get a totally awesome gift it started to catch one. now they know its worth waiting if i didn't find them a gift i thought they would love this year. it really makes giving so much more fun when i know their jaw will drop when the open it.
on the other hand if you don't think your family would go for that, i have also had good luck just giving each family a tin of homade fudge, cookies, peanut brittle.....that is a gift the whole family can enjoy.
i just hope everyone can enjoy a stress free (and debt free) holiday this year!

[dixiemedic911]

Someone posted a deal on here last week and I jumped on it for my niece. I think it would work for any girl around 12 on up. There is a free gift with any purchase from e.l.f. cosmetics. Shop Eyes Lips Face | e.l.f. Cosmetics Enter promotional code LOYAL at checkout for the gift. I purchased a lip gloss for $1.00, and then the shipping was $6.95. The free gift is a makeup kit with all different kinds of eyeshadow, blush, lip gloss, etc. in one of those fold up cases. So that's what you get for $7.95. I thought it was a good deal. HTH!

[mom2gabenkatie]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!! I really love some of them.

I felt bad after I posted b/c I don't want you all to think I'm complaining about their gifts or anything. I don't mind that they buy from Dollar Tree (I love that store) and I know it's the thought that counts, I just wish they didn't expect $100 gifts in return.

Let me tell you - they do not get out. They don't go anywhere. We live in a tiny tiny town an hour from anything. We have a Walmart and a CVS and a Food Lion. That's it. A minimum hour drive to any Targets, etc. They don't have a dvd player or a vcr (though I've been tempted to buy them one just to make it easier to give them a movie!!) and they don't have a computer (so no Netflix) and they don't have iPods (though my niece does have a ds)

One year I bought them disposable cameras and a gc for $5 to get the pics developed. They seemed to like that. I did the makeup thing last year. My one niece is allergic to scents so I gave up on the body wash and stuff. I'm mostly just missing the great internet deals I used to get them when they were little - you remember the great sales....$110 worth of kiddie toys from Amazon for about $10, that kind of thing.

Thanks all for the great suggestions. I think I might make them all personal ornaments this year - or cookies.

I guess the hardest part is that they don't seem to appreciate the thought and effort that goes into it. sigh. Can't give appreciation as a gift

Thank you all for the great suggestions!!