My Favorite Gifts of 2017

I’ve spent a lot of time discovering my favorite gifts to give and maybe you’re like I was, looking for something a little more special.

I know this isn’t food, it’s not my favorite recipe for spaghetti sauce or a fat and fluffy roll you want to shovel into your face, but it is something I’ve worked a long time on. You see, I’m not really a gifts person. I enjoy giving them of course, and I appreciate when people give them, but I am always happier with time spent together or a gift that has meaning versus something that cost a lost of money.

After searching and asking friends and family about all of the best gifts I feel like I’ve got the best list around. Whether you use it for Valentines Day, an anniversary or birthday or even save it for Christmas I’m sure you’ll agree, it’s the thought that counts and these gifts all come with just that.

SouthTree Video to DVD

Last summer we were able to work with Southtree to turn all of our old VHS family home videos into DVD’s and digital copies that we surprised my parents and siblings with at a family reunion. It has not only been amazing to watch moments from my childhood but I didn’t expect to love sharing it with my children so much. Everyone went crazy and it’s a gift that just keeps giving back.

We’ve started watching home movies on Sunday afternoons, a nice little family time. We turned our older digital movies from when the kids were born into dvds as well which they really love.

It was such an easy process too. Just log in online, choose how many copies you want and in what format and then send off your VHS or digital videos. That’s it. I am so exhausted by tedious projects and this was totally a breath of fresh air. We got email updates about everything too, the videos had arrived, the videos were being archived, videos were being transferred, the videos were shipped, and on and on. I didn’t ever worry that something would go missing and they cleaned up the videos for us so they looked better than when on VHS.

The whole process was so easy and it’s seriously something I wish I could beg you all to do.

Story Worth

Have you heard of Story Worth yet? I’m in love with it. Please, oh please purchase it for your parents, yourself or your grandparents. It is going to be one of your most prized possessions.

When I was younger my maternal Grandmother wrote down a bunch of stories from her life along with photographs and had it all published in a book which she gave to each of her children and grandchildren. It is one of my favorite gifts I’ve ever received. I still read her stories over and over again. In fact, I’ve written about a few of them on the blog. There’s the story in Heirloom Apple Rolls, Old Fashioned Strawberry Ice Cream, Cinnamon Roll Cookies and that ex-lax story. 

Well I got to thinking, I treasure this book, but what will my siblings and our children have of our own parents? The thought of just sitting down to write stories is exhausting, but then I found Story Worth.

Every week a question is emailed for the subscriber to answer and they have all the time they need to answer it. Story Worth saves all of the stories and photos and then at the end of the year you can print off everything into a hardbound book for you and anyone else that wants a copy. It’s so easy!

JORD Wooden Watches

I know, you’re a little surprised I am bringing up watches, but I was told by a few people that a watch, both for males and females have not only been favorite gifts but something that they’ve had passed down to them from loved ones. You know I love that idea. I discovered these beautiful watched and that you can have them engraved so it’s more of a keepsake than just a regular ol’ gift.

The watches go quickly so you need to act fast when you find one you love, snag it before it’s gone. JORD Wood Watches are such cool watches, it’s not like the stretchy gold band watch your grandpa always wore. There’s men’s watches, women’s watches, and like I said, engraving available for both.

Cade absolutely loves his Walnut and Black Wood Watch. It looks so classy too, so I’m totally a fan. Cade has NEVER worn a watch, but these wood ones completely changed his mind. Annnnd now I’ve been sucked in! I’ve never worn a watch but I want one too. Here’s the problem, I cannot decide which to buy. I want something classic that I can wear all the time, but I’m not good at fashion so hop over the women’s section and fill me in on which is the best.

Finally, JORD Wood Watches has been incredibly generous and offered a chance for a lucky reader to win $100 credit AND anyone who enters automatically gets a $25 credit no matter what. I love free money, don’t you. 😉

Saranoni Blanket

I mentioned this one in our Christmas Gift Guide but I just had to mention it again because one thing I’m working really hard on is putting away the things I think need to be done and take the time to snuggle up as a family instead. A blanket with popcorn, a movie and a note about how you’re going to devote more time to building a successful marriage or family than anything else is one of my favorite things to give and this is the snuggliest blanket on the market. And I know because I shopped all over from the cheapest to the most expensive, this is the blanket everyone should own.

Artisan Bread

I almost guarantee you that some one out there is rolling your eyes at this, but think about it, your significant other orders you fresh, artisan bread and you get to tear into a crusty loaf of bread and devour your favorite thing in the world, carbs. Put the kids to bed, turn off the tv, turn on the fire and hang out on a blanket eating a platter of bread, cheese and grapes. I bet you money you’ll go to bed happier than if you had just vegged out in front of a tv show, hardly noticing the other person is there.

Personalized Stationary

One of the best gifts I’ve ever been given was a simple poem that Cade wrote me. I still can’t believe he did that. It’s very much not his style to write poetry, but it meant so much that he spent so much time. I guess that’s kind of the point of this whole list, things that point to time and memories, thoughts and feelings versus a pretty new shirt or whatever. Pick up some personalized stationary and vow to leave a kind note for the one you love or your children once a month until the end of the year. You can do it. Put a reminder in your phone and make them feel as special as you’d want to feel all year long.

Luxury Wooden Watch

Luxury Wooden Watch