Gift Ideas: 80 Suggestions From Huffington Post Readers

Happy Green Monday! Today marks the official kick-off of the online holiday shopping season, which in unofficial terms means everyone is back at work and ready to procrastinate. Big, fancy gifts are out of fashion this year, and even Oprah's Favorite Things, as she kept reminding us, cost "next to nothing." Some people are forgoing gifts altogether. But if you can't escape Christmas tradition this year, we're here to help. We polled Huffington Post readers to ask for gift ideas, and below are some of their finest ideas. And if you have a better one, by all means, leave it in the comments section below.

1. Gift Ideas For Your Parents

2. Gifts Ideas For Your Significant Other

3. Gift Ideas For Kids

4. Gift Ideas For Your Friends

5. Gift Ideas For Your Boss

6. General Gift Ideas

7. Or see what Huffington Post readers consider the best gifts they've ever received.

Need more ideas? Get more gift ideas at Gift.com, or get gift ideas at Findgift.com, gift ideas for "geeky kids," or gift ideas at FirstStreetOnline.com, or gift ideas GiftIdeasEtc.com, or gift ideas at GiftIdeaShop.net, or gift ideas at GiftIdeaCenter.com, or gift ideas at Instructables.com, or gift ideas at Kaboodle.com or gift ideas at Coolest-Gadgets.com.

Comments

[rosemared]

How about a set of beautiful note cards on recycled paper so that you can send and receive handwritten cards in the mail throughout the year? A rare treat these days....

For floral themes " http://www.theageofflowers.com

For Walden Pond images " http://www.waldenpondwatercolors.com

... and for nicely priced original watercolors on the theme of landscape with archival mats all ready for framing, browse through " http://www.landscapeintoart.com

[JennyJay]

Almost anything you buy is supporting the economy of China and not the U.S.
Read labels and 'BUY AMERICAN", thereby giving a gift to your country.
Which will be giving the biggest gift of all to your freinds and family.

[fussygorilla]

Absolutely no gifts for anyone. Go visit them at home and when they come to visit you, serve them some tea and good converstion. For children, give them a dollar or two each.

[iamjoneskeepupwithme]

i always send fresh oranges and grapefruit from florida...so much better than "stuff" people don't need. these people have the best service and excellent fruit!

http://www.hyattfruitco.com/

[alyceobvious]

there are many fabulous handmade and unique artist/designer-made items at brooklyn-based supermarkethq.com. please forgive the shameless self-promotion, but i just launched a line of "superhero-quality", good-vibe emitting neckties made out of an audible fabric woven from recorded, recycled audiocassette tape: http://improbable.supermarkethq.com. more info here: http://www.sonicfabric.com.

[tre]

What I'd like my wife to get me is a new Ruger SP101 .357 magnum with Crimson Trace lasergrips.

[princessk]

An amaryllis bulb with a reusable planter. A blooming plant can liven up the dreary winter months, and is great for a hard-to-buy-for person.

Last year, I bought some family members each an amaryllis bulb, along with a vase suitable for holding an amaryllis (ideally: clear glass, tall with straight sides, circumference slightly larger than the girth of a bulb) and a bag of gravel rock to anchor the roots and weigh down the bottom. This year, they're just getting a bulb that they can put in their planters. The bulb provides all the nutrition an amaryllis needs to blossom, so there's no soil needed: the bulb can just sit on top of the gravel with its roots planted in the rock (which is kept moist). A good nursery will have some interesting bulb varieties.

[Twopennygal]

My partner and I make candy for our friends and family. It's fun and has that persnal touch.

[bellasuerte]

Vote with your dollar and support your local economy rather than sending your dollars overseas. Spend a little more for a little less perhaps ( the true value of things: http://www.storyofstuff.com/ ).....a gift certificate for a local service: House cleaning, Massage, car wash, local diner, Acupuncturist, Yoga class....local goods: Farmers Market, soaps, candles, cheeses, food basket....local shops: stationery, consignment store (think recycling).....when you start to think about it you can come up with lots of exciting ideas of what to share in your own back yard.

[iwebie]

If its for Christmas, than I have got my share of ideas for Christmas too. Take a look

http://www.iwebie.com/christmas-2008-gift-ideas

[cheflette]

How about making things for people? Knit a scarf or a hat for someone, bake batches of brownies, make truffles (they're easy, really), decorate some sugar cookies and bag them as gifts. I think we're all to accustomed to buying things and have forgotten that we can make them. Think of something you like to make and decide who should get what. Get your kids into the act, teach them that making things for people brings out the creativity in you, but also gives something of yourself to the recipient. It's less expensive, maybe a little more labor intensive, but ask yourself - shouldn't a gift be something personal, from the heart?

[outsidein]

www.simonandcleo.com

great for the people that already have all the gadgets and need the trimmings, i bought a bunch of stocking stuffers from em last week, look great

[arkansasgirl]

Buy American-made, eco-friendly gifts this holiday season and help the environment and our country's economy at the same time! For some ideas, check out my blog, Eco Eco America:

http://ecoecoamerica.blogspot.com

[orangepetal]

I like the pic. I would like a little green with some bipartisanship on the floor in Washington.

[kloche]

I have a suggestion: water and government cheese. That's all we could afford now.

[ThereGoesOneNowwww]

mmmmm......government cheese