[2 tbs]

where I run around last minute trying to decide what to buy for the BO's of the farms where my horses live. I'm hoping maybe someone can help me as I've come to the end of my creativeness it would seem. You'd never guess I think "what can I buy them for xmas" pretty much all year because I never have an idea come the time to actually shop!

The one BO is also my trainer. She helps me in soooo many ways. She takes care of my horse like he's her own and doesn't charge me a thing. I help her out by feeding/farm/house sitting pretty much whenever she asks. I think, in 4 years, I've only said no once. I've only boarded with her for 4 years but I've been riding with her for 14. She's a big wine drinker so it's a given I'll give her some wine BUT I need something else. I did dinner gift cards last year so I'm looking for something different. She has everything, as you can imagine, and she doesn't really ride much anymore so it shouldn't be anything related to that. I'm thinking some sort of wine compilation but I don't know what....

The other BO is actually a married couple and their daughter. They are super great and are like family. I've been boarding my retired horse with them for about 5 years. They have a couple horses who do not have name plates on their doors. I was thinking I'd get them those. The kicker is the husband half has a nice name plaque on his horses stall so the name thing would only be for the wife's horse, the daughters old retired pony, and maybe the daughters horse (but that's another person to buy for and I'm not sure where I'm going with her so...). Name plates are cool enough but again, I need something else. I also did dinner and a movies for them last year so I was thinking something more farm oriented this year.

Anyone have any ideas. Nevermind the fact that my budget is next to nothing. I'm a low level boss at my job and just dropped $100 bux on gifts for the staff under me and my two bosses! I have yet to buy for my family and am already out of money!! Damn that no overtime!!! Anyway, cheap, practical gifts that don't look cheap is right up my alley!

Thanks in advance for any ideas!! Back to gift hunting on the internet...

[seabreeze]

BO #1...
a nice scarf
one of those Baker mini-totes (I love them!)
a gift certificate for some sort of spa-type service (pedi, mani, or massage)

BOs #2... gift certificate to TSC or SS
Magazine subscriptions (that could work for BO #1 as well)
matching shirts/sweatshirts with the farm name embroidered on them

Have fun!

[goeslikestink]

take a piccy and then have it blown up poster size ie perhaps one of there daughter doing show or something ie a jumping piccy nothing like a proud mum and dad moment and that moment been kept for ever so they can hang it upon a wall and look back to that moment cheap and inexspensive

[2 tbs]

Both fantastic ideas but...

BO #1 is not girly, doesn't do spa stuff, gets every magazine on the planet, and is a photog so has a gazillion photos all over the house of her dtr. That's why it's so hard! She got into breeding (racehorses) a couple years ago. Any ideas with that? She has one filly of racing age but as the breeder she gets the win photos so I can't even get those for her as a gift. She literally has or gets everything she wants when she wants it...she's very independent that way. So frustrating this time of year!!

BO #2 - the dtr hasn't shown or shown with good results where a picture would be worth it but the dtr is into photography also so she has a bunch of pix and has friends who take her pic when she riding-again, pix everywhere in the house. I do so love that idea but they are on top of that one unfortunately. I really do like the sweatshirt idea too but we don't really call the farm anything We do but not a farm name, just reference it by their first names

Help my it's almost Friday and I've had a stressful week brain: TSC?? SS?? I'm sure I'm well aware of what those stand for but am not getting it right now

[seabreeze]

Both fantastic ideas but...

BO #1 is not girly, doesn't do spa stuff, gets every magazine on the planet, and is a photog so has a gazillion photos all over the house of her dtr. That's why it's so hard! She got into breeding (racehorses) a couple years ago. Any ideas with that? She has one filly of racing age but as the breeder she gets the win photos so I can't even get those for her as a gift. She literally has or gets everything she wants when she wants it...she's very independent that way. So frustrating this time of year!!

Help my it's almost Friday and I've had a stressful week brain: TSC?? SS?? I'm sure I'm well aware of what those stand for but am not getting it right now

BO #1 would probably get the same thing she got from me last year, then, if she's that difficult to buy for. Gloves? Baseball cap? Personalized coffee mug?

TSC = Tractor Supply Company
SS = Southern States

Both fantastic ideas but...

BO #2 - the dtr hasn't shown or shown with good results where a picture would be worth it but the dtr is into photography also so she has a bunch of pix and has friends who take her pic when she riding-again, pix everywhere in the house. I do so love that idea but they are on top of that one unfortunately. I really do like the sweatshirt idea too but we don't really call the farm anything We do but not a farm name, just reference it by their first names

So how about matching shirts with matching horsey logos and the individuals' names? Available at Smartpak without much wait.

[GallantGesture]

One year one of my students got me a cute horsey polar fleece blanket, a mug, some hot chocolate packets, and a barnes and noble gift card. There may have been something else I don't remember, but it was a relatively simple gift that I really enjoyed! I love to read though... but the BO with all the magazine subscriptions maybe does too!

[pines4equines]

How about a nice set of wine glasses for the wine drinker? Everyone always needs glasses.

And, the family B/O, why don't you buy them 3 movie tickets that they can use whenever.

[olympicprincess]

You don't have to put yourself into debt for Christmas (no one should!).

Wrap whatever you get them very nice, and either spend time with them and tell them how much you appreciate the care they give you horses or write it in a note.

P.S.- I thought SS = Schneider's? (sstack.com)

[Lucassb]

Perhaps a subscription to Wine Spectator would be good for the wine drinker?

For the others... if you want something inexpensive but nice, why don't you bake some treats for them? Put them in a pretty basket, maybe an Xmas ornament or two, wrap nicely with a card saying how much you appreciate the great care for your horse, etc.

[Dressage Art]

Chocolate is the best gift and can be easily fund in your local supermarket as well.

[Simkie]

I bake for gifts. Cookies and bread and whatever else. Wrap it all up pretty in a basket and include a bottle of wine and you're good to go. Everyone is always happy to get tasty things.

[Dance_To_Oblivion]

I am also a baker. I have a spiced pecan recipe that I make around the holidays (buy the pecans at Sam's so they aren't horribly expensive) and then wrap them up in a bag or tin from the dollar store and good to go! Everyone loves them and looks forward to them at the holidays

[kdow]

For the wine drinker- If you can find one locally, wine tasting sessions/courses are supposedly very interesting (my mom went on one and raved about it) or wine pairing courses (where you learn how to match wine to food- even if she doesn't often serve wine with food, it's interesting to see how different foods and wines bring out the flavors of each other.) I think I've seen them run from a one-day sort of thing (where it's just a couple of hours) to multi-day things, so hopefully you'd be able to find something in your budget.

Also along the lines of an 'experience' gift- look around to see if you have any local wineries. Sometimes they pop up in unexpected places, and even if it's a pretty bad place (in terms of wine quality) it can be an interesting day out, seeing how stuff is done.

Alternatively, if she buys a lot of stuff for herself, I'd be hesitant to buy wine glasses because in my experience wine drinkers tend to have their own preferences- that said, if you can find out if she needs new wine glasses, Riedel(sp?) is a good brand, and they make glasses specifically aimed at getting the most out of different types of wine (so there's a chardonnay glass and a riesling glass, and they're different shapes) and they have different 'levels' of price, from fairly affordable to really absurdly expensive for the all hand-blown ones. So you could get her a pair of glasses to match the type of wine you buy her.

Another cute wine-y gift might be personalized wine- I don't have any links to hand, but I know I've seen advertisements in dog magazines for wine with your dog's photo on the label, so I'm sure something like that exists for non-dog folk.

On the cheaper side would be to just put together a gift basket including the wine you're already planning on. Use something useful for the barn as the 'basket' (like a cheap bucket- who doesn't need more buckets?) and then get a nice piece of cloth or a cloth tablecloth for fill, and put together a wine-and-cheese 'picnic'- Wine, cheese (if you go someplace like a Whole Foods or other shop with a large cheese selection, someone should be able to help you with picking a good cheese to go with your wine), good bread, a small wooden cutting board and knife, and some really nice looking grapes and a pear or two. Maybe some nuts. If you have a TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Filene's Basement type place near you, they tend to have a lot of cheap winey gifts this time of year, so you could also pick up some cheap wine charms (they go around the stem of the glass so at parties you can tell whose is whose- if you're crafty they're pretty easy to make) and a cute stopper or a stopper/pourer- things which don't take up a lot of room, but that having multiples of doesn't hurt.

For the other folks, if you can bake, I'd go with that. Just put some effort into packaging so it looks really nice (honestly, this makes HUGE difference to the percieved value of gifts, and it doesn't take a lot of time to find a cute tin, or line your box with parchment paper and tie it up with ribbon and a nice tag) and if you feel it's not enough, again if you hit up the discount store type places, you can get fantastic deals on good quality plates/platters (like Lenox) and use that to arrange your gift on- even just a decorative christmas dinner plate. (And when I say cheap, I mean, like, $4. So even if they just throw it away later, big deal.)

[Chief2]

You can't go wrong with food and drink baskets. Breakfast baskets are fun (pancake mix and maple syrup, sticky buns, Portuguese rolls, etc), hot drink baskets (teas, coffees, biscuits, with mugs if you have a little extra to spend), chocolates from a good chocolate company, etc.

One cheap thing we sometimes forget to check is the points our charge cards have accumulated that can be converted into gift cards for merchandise, stores and restaurants. Those points really come in handy at Christmas time, and there is still time to redeem them for gift goodies.

[eventchic33]

For the wine drinker how about those little charms that go around the necks of the bottles or glass stems. I have only seen them don't know where exactly they go ~ not a wine drinker. And a cheese and cracker basket.

For the family how about a nice house plant or dish garden and a cheese basket.

[Laurierace]

www.winecountrybaskets.com has lots of baskets that don't have anything to do with wine but since one of them is a wine drinker it increases your choices even more. I like that site a lot.

[LAZ]

I got my boarders an awsome gift this year--some of them read on here so I'll PM you!

[Lilykoi]

I second the gift of food idea. Just bake some cookies or bread. Believe me, I have customers and I tell them to spend the money on themselves or family. It truly is the thought that counts. And if they really feel the need to buy me something, I hint very strongly at Starbucks cards!

[kdow]

For the wine drinker how about those little charms that go around the necks of the bottles or glass stems. I have only seen them don't know where exactly they go ~ not a wine drinker. And a cheese and cracker basket.

For the family how about a nice house plant or dish garden and a cheese basket.

Those little charm things are the wine glass charms I mentioned- they're supposed to be all different in the set, so that each person can note what charm they have and keep track of their wine glass.

To the OP- I just noticed your location. If you're in the Pgh area and you're interested in the wine tasting thing, pm me and I'll find out where my mom actually went.