Christmas presents for significant others

[Cardinal026]

Originally Posted by ThetaLove

I swear, they're were 5 items that I saw he needed/wanted, but he bought them for himself before I could get them!

I know what you mean! Tomorrow is my boyfriend's birthday, so I got him Guitar Hero 2 and a wireless controller. Hey, guess what he bought at Best Buy last weekend? Yeah, both...jerk, now I have to return it and come up with something else! Who buys themselves presents the week before their birthday?!?

[ufdale]

The BF and I always spend $200 for eachother on Christmas. Because we have a set price, it's more about finding a great present than the price itself. (we also aren't in a spending war).
We've only been together for 4 years

[cutie_cat_4ever]

Originally Posted by Cardinal026

I know what you mean! Tomorrow is my boyfriend's birthday, so I got him Guitar Hero 2 and a wireless controller. Hey, guess what he bought at Best Buy last weekend? Yeah, both...jerk, now I have to return it and come up with something else! Who buys themselves presents the week before their birthday?!?

Oh oh, before you return it, have you ever thought about playing it with your boyfriend? It could be fun too! And it's always fun to have 2 controllers so you guys can invite friends over to play too! If your bf is an outgoing person, I'm sure he'll be in need of 2 controllers

And I suck at Guitar hero...I can never play things with more than 5 buttons

[Cardinal026]

Cutie Cat - we actually already had two controllers, and I try to play with him sometimes, but I suck too, I'm a good Easy player and adequate Medium...whereas he kicks ass on Expert...so rather than battle, we tend to take turns, but he'd much rather play with his guys when they come over than me Speaking of which, now that he has GH2, seems like there are always boys at our house, all hours of the day, to play...! Anyone else need ideas? Get GH, they love it, lol.

[adpiucf]

My boyfriend really needs some "Friday night date" clothes so I bought him a pair of jeans and a sweater at ExpressMen.

I think depending on your budget...
$35-75 dating under 6 months
$55-100 dating over 6 months

Then again, it could be more or less, depending upon your financial situation. Or you could take a trip together, pay for concert tickets, a theme park visit, etc., rather than something material.

For the man who has everything, I say go for an accessory having to do with his hobbies: a state of the art bike pump for the cycling enthusiast or a gift certificate to REI for the guy who loves camping; a gift certificate for a massage or a hair cut at an upscale salon, gifts that remind him of his favorite sports team or alma mater, etc. Homemade gifts and dinners are always appreciated; just make sure any homemade gifts aren't overly cutesy to offend their masculinity.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by adpiucf

Homemade gifts and dinners are always appreciated; just make sure any homemade gifts aren't overly cutesy to offend their masculinity.

Like, say, a scarf.

Seriously - say "no" to knitted scarves, unless he's a "scarf guy" . . . chances are he'd rather have a backrub and some doing it.

Bottom line: if you wouldn't buy it for him (like food), it's probably not right to make it for him, unless you wouldn't buy it because of the expense.

[valkyrie]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Like, say, a scarf.

Seriously - say "no" to knitted scarves, unless he's a "scarf guy" . . . chances are he'd rather have a backrub and some doing it.

Bottom line: if you wouldn't buy it for him (like food), it's probably not right to make it for him, unless you wouldn't buy it because of the expense.

I was wondering about this -- I sometimes hear about women making scrapbook-y type things or collages for their guys and have to admit I'm pretty WTF about that. Do guys LIKE this stuff? I don't even like this stuff and I'm female -- I'd break out in hives if anybody got near me with anything related to scrapbooks. Then I'd go have a beer -- hey, that would be a good gift. You could do the Twelve Beers of Christmas.

[ufdale]

My boyfriend is a photographer as a part time thing and he always makes me a great photo album of all of our photos photoshopped. The photos aren't photoshopped for blemishes, (lol it's not "look honey I made you pretty"), he makes some of the photos black and white and he messes with the colors. He spends months working on it (an hour or two a night). It's really really interesting and neat to look at. It's probably my favorite gift.
lol Valkyrie it's not cutesy either.

[Rudey]

I can't decide if you should dump him because he needs Friday night date clothes or he should end things because you bought him clothing from ExpressMen.

And I have easily determined that overpiced designer jewelry (like meandrojewelry.com) takes a lot less time and a lot less thought. Thanks to all the previous girls I dated for making gift buying so much easier for the next girl.

-Rudey

Originally Posted by adpiucf

My boyfriend really needs some "Friday night date" clothes so I bought him a pair of jeans and a sweater at ExpressMen.

I think depending on your budget...
$35-75 dating under 6 months
$55-100 dating over 6 months

Then again, it could be more or less, depending upon your financial situation. Or you could take a trip together, pay for concert tickets, a theme park visit, etc., rather than something material.

For the man who has everything, I say go for an accessory having to do with his hobbies: a state of the art bike pump for the cycling enthusiast or a gift certificate to REI for the guy who loves camping; a gift certificate for a massage or a hair cut at an upscale salon, gifts that remind him of his favorite sports team or alma mater, etc. Homemade gifts and dinners are always appreciated; just make sure any homemade gifts aren't overly cutesy to offend their masculinity.

[LeslieAGD]

My husband and I have been together for over three years and we usually spend about $100-150 on each other each year.
This year I got him two DVD box set collections, a hockey t-shirt, and some office supplies.

[ThetaLove]

Thanks for all the advice!

I finally decided to get him 2 DVD's that he wanted, an LSU stocking filled with candy, little presents, etc. and an LSU mat that is really nice. He liked them all!