Best gift you *gave*

[CaptainStoner]

Of course this doesn't mean the most expensive gift, but what got the best reaction.
For me it was an original 1968 edition of the trading game Bazaar which I payed a slightly silly amount for on ebay, this was for my Mom. She'd lent her copy out probably 10 years ago, and mentioned missing it to someone else before thanksgiving...totally surprised her. Good stuff. Fun game, too.

 

[Alpha_Geek]

The most positive response to anything I've done or given was to my mere presence, not a present.

My GF and I are both in the SCA, a medieval reinactment group. We travelled to a neighboring kingdom for a weekend event.

After driving about 5 hours, we arrived in the dead of night and approached the troll booth to pay our admission fees, get out site tokens, and figure out where the cabin we were lodging in was. As we approached the table, there was a sharp intake of breath, followed by my name being screamed at a decibel level loud enough to make the Concord envious!

A petite redheaded missle jumped up from her seat on the back side of the table, promptly knocked the 6 foot table over and out of the way while launching for me at high speed! The other gentles working the troll booth were agape and watched the spectacle unfold (and started picking up the stuff from the table that had spilled!)

I was then severely tacklehugged by an old friend from my EFnet days, Erzbet.

May you all have at least one reunion such as that in your lives!

 

[Alexander]

A girl at my school has been having financial struggles, and her family is months behind in payments, so there was to be no Christmas in their house. I pooled my funds and bought her and her little sister the items they desired most, and iPod Nano and a digital camera.

They were the most rewarding gifts I have ever given.

 

[Kail]

I got my son his first bike. He loves it, and we go out riding every night. Goos times.

 

[thestrangequark]

I crocheted super soft red mittens with silver buttons for my sister, and she liked those a lot. I love giving gifts.

 

[T J]

I'm sure I can't top a kids first bike as we have no kids but I did get my wife a Cylon toaster. She saw it on The Big Bang Theory, she laughed so hard I had to get it for her. We went to the in-laws for Christmas and her present was the highlight of the day. The most precious thing I ever saw! The next morning Cylon toast was everywhere!

 

[trampledamage]

This is going to sound weird, but I think the present that got the best reaction was the cookies and an apple I put in young master trampledamage's Santa sack.

He turns three in January, and doesn't eat chocolate or candy, and doesn't eat many cookies either (I had meant to get some Tim Bits because he loves those but didn't get to Tim Horton's before they closed Christmas Eve) so I put a couple of his favourite cookies in a snack pot and put them with an apple into his Santa sack along with a couple of presents from Santa.

He got them out Christmas morning, looked at them in amazement and said "Cookies?" So I said, "yes, since it's Christmas you can have cookies for breakfast."

He spent the rest of the day saying to everyone in an awed tone of voice "I had cookies and an apple from Santa."

 

[AstroSmurf]

Awesome T J! (And I really really want one of those toasters.)


Last year I ran across an old Christmas Album that my mother had when I was a kid. She had it on 8 track and played it every year on Christmas Eve until the tape finally broke. I think that was in 1989 or 1990 when it died. We tried replacing it but they had never put it out on tape and had only done one small issue of it on CD. It was very sad. It just wasn't Christmas without that album playing. Anyway, last year I actually managed to find that album on CD! I just happened across it one day in a used music store. The CD was in perfect condition and in the original case. I was practically hopping up in down in the store. Needless to say I purchased it immediately. So last year, I showed up Christmas Eve to my parents with that CD (and a couple of ripped copies for my siblings). My mother actually cried when she played it. Even after almost eighteen years, we all remembered that music and enjoyed it still. That had to be the best $2 I ever spent.

Oh and the album was Floyd Kramer's Merry Christmas. If you can tell me who he was I will give you a cookie.

The next best gift was the plush Smurfette I gave my sister this year. She had one when she was little and it got lost in one of our many many moves. I talked to her last night and she admitted she had been sleeping with it since last Friday.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I gave my Mum a snowglobe with a picture of her cat in it with a message saying "I Love You". I gave my sister a snowglobe with her dog in it. I added a ball and a glass of beer to the picture, near the dog's front paws.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

Hmm, I kinda struck out on Christmas this year. I don't think anyone was super thrilled about any of the gifts I gave. I'm kinda new to the Christmas thing and haven't really learned how to root out what people want, or even what I'm supposed to do.

The Irish Cream I whipped up from scratch and bottled seemed to go over well, though. At least, if someone didn't like it, they were soon too smashed from the obscene alcohol content in the stuff to care.

 

[Brent]

Definitely my sister, she was excited for me getting her the Twilight Scene It DVD game and a certain Wii game she wanted. In fact, I think if I had not gotten her Twilight Scene It I'd have walked away with a broken arm! hehe She loved her gifts though.

I also got a good reaction from my dad, got him a coffee maker for his truck.

Actually, when I look back, i think everyone had a good reaction from the presents I gave. I put a lot of thought into them, though my sister wrapped them all for me and put the labels on, I suck at wrapping.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

This past January, i made a big deal out of my best friend's birthday. I got him a 120 GB Zune and i took him out to dinner. No one's ever done that for him: make a deal out of his birthday, so i was gonna be the one to do it. Needless to say, he loved it and had a great time.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

My girlfriend *loved* her Mario Bros. Wii game, and my sister really liked the Stargate coasters I got her.

 

[Kestra]

My girlfriend *loved* her Mario Bros. Wii game, and my sister really liked the Stargate coasters I got her.

My brother just got me those coasters! I really like them too.

 

[Frontier]

Hrm...

Toss up.

LCD 32" TV for my sister, b-in-l, and nephew. Nephew I think liked the toy batmobile more.

 

[jamestyler]

I bought some BSG themed stuff for my GF (which she posted in the pics thread) that seemed to get a lovely reaction. Including a colony flag for her star sign, cornerless notebook and other stuff.

I probably spent more time agonising over what to get my daughter - I assume it all went down well but it's hard to judge with a two year old who keeps changing her mind on what her favourite new toys are

 

[May 20]

My DD is crazy for Harry Potter. Last summer while at flute camp, she sight-read some HP music and begged me to get her a book. I found three and bought them all (naturally) and managed to hold on to them for Christmas. They were misplaced during the move, so I gave them to her yesterday. She squealed (much to her father's dismay), jumped up and down, and hugged the stuffing out of me. I'm sure I'll have to remind her to practice her contest piece BEFORE she plays her HP music.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

Canon Rebel Xsi camera to my wife. She loves taking pictures of our daughter and this is a pretty good camera for the price.

 

[trekkiedane]

I got the last jewellery box -you know, the wind-up kind with a dancing ballerina (no batteries needed!!!)- in the store (probably in town) for my niece; she's only just entered the jewellery age so it got quite a nice reaction from her when she was finally able to tear it from the VERY tight wrapping

 

[USS Triumphant]

Our sophomore year of high school, I gave a friend who was a girl (as opposed to girlfriend - I was interested but was in the "friend zone") a birthstone ring for her birthday. We fell out of touch not very long after that because I moved away. Thanks to the wonder of social networking sites, we got back in touch a couple of years ago, and it turns out that she had gotten her hand in the wrong place around some equipment at one point, and that ring got smashed, but kept her fingers from getting crushed.

I can't think of any better gift than one that saves the hand of a fair damsel in distress.