Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 10:49 pm
Awww... we all have our soft spots! 
One inexpensive gift I like to give (and get) is a subscription to a magazine. Not that anybody has time to read them (but me!), but with almost every magazine I get, there's always something very useful that I wouldn't have known had I not had the magazine. And they really come in handy in the john!
This month's issue of "Real Simple" had a touching article, "Seven Sentimental Ideas." To save you the time/expense of buying the magazine, here are their ideas:
1. Make a grab bag. Commemorate years of goofing around with your best friend. Fill a bag or a box with items that will bring the memories flooding back: a pack of Twizzlers for all the ones you ate during road trips, a mix CD of theme songs from movies you saw together, an old poster of your mutual teen hearthrob...
2. Repurpose favorite shirts. They recommend making a quilt from old t-shirts. Uh, this one is a DEFINITELY NOT for me!
3. Order in. (Ruth, this one's for you!) Bring her favorite vacation spots to life. Send a pineapple in the dead of winter to remind her of relaxing on the islands; bring back all those summers on the boardwalk with a box of saltwater taffy. For the gift card, use a postcard from the destination if you have one.
4. Book it. Hand over a hardback edition of her favorite childhood book and remind her she's a kid at heart. Uh, I tried this with my brother once, but he had completely forgotten the book!
5. Relive the memories. Have VHS tape converted to digital. They recommend Scandigital.com
6. Restore an old gem. Jewelry cleaning/restoration and presented in a new box.
7. Immortalize her. Make a video of her friends and family sharing exactly why she's so fabulous. They then recommend posting on YouTube, but I'd give the person the CD/DVD.
I usually try to make photo calendars for people, and I like the one-page yearly ones with just one photo up top. This year I'm doing them on 8.5 X 11 magnet paper for a refrigerator magnet.
I've also given stuffed animals with a t-shirt that has a photo of the child on it.
Sentiment/vanity is priceless!