Gifty Gift-Gifts 2011

We had a radical + relaxing Christmas weekend mushed between a crazy last week and a crazier this week (I started gutting our bathroom yesterday, more to come on that, or on twitter if you follow me there). No big surprise here, most everyone we know gifts us tools and home goodies at any appropriate holiday (and we like buying those kinds of gifts for others too). Just wanted to take a quick day and share with you some of our most prized new holy holiday possessions (and share some of the most coveted items we bought and gifted to others).

Starting with a big item: I got what I asked for, and I asked for cleaning supplies like a woman should. Specifically, I’ve had my eye on a steam cleaner to help sanitize all of the hardwoods in the house; when it comes to cleaning the floors on my hands and knees with Murphy Oil Soap, I only muster the energy every few months. To all my friends who sit on the floors, I probably shouldn’t mention that publicly. I never found Swiffer cloths or products like that to be as good or thorough as expected, but hopefully with the easy-to-use and maneuver HAAN MULTI model that Pete bought me, this house will be the cleanest its ever been. Eat off the floors, friends.

Bonus: Not only for hardwoods, it’s perfect for vinyl, tile, etc., and the model came with an attachment to steam clean carpets and has a built-in handheld unit. Score. But can I use it to steam clean my clothes too?

Side note: I was in the middle of gutting the bathroom yesterday when I decided to snap this product shot, taking advantage of some natural daylight. I’m telling you that so you understand why I look like I’m wearing negative make-up and haven’t slept in 10 days. But the fleece jacket is new. For Christmas. From Pete. Cozy + magenta.

Both Pete and I found ourselves opening lots of tools from our respective families. They’re equally awesome, but I’m most excited to try the Bosch digital multi-detector from Mom and Dad. Word on the street (on the box) says it can find anything from studs behind drywall to quarters stuck in 4-ft. of cement. Also, must try out the Bionic Wrench (because it’s bionic and I’ve never seen anything like it). And the Weldbond, because we over here appreciate (and test) strong glues.

Also new to the toolbox, this handy ruler from a DIY Network gift bag. Coolest ruler ever, or coolest ruler ever? Can’t stop playing with it.

If I could have predicted one thing year, it would not have been that I’d successfully transform my father into Fishs Eddy’s #1 fan (when I wrote about them here). “I’ve spent hundreds of dollars ordering goodies from them online,” he noted on Christmas Eve night when we exchanged gifts. I have yet to see any of his hundreds of dollars of purchases, but the Charley Harper + Todd Oldham plowls were a very surprising gift. Yeah, plowls. They’re kind of a combo plate + bowl, even though they’re normal plates to most of you people. I’ll call them whatever I want if for no other reason than that their edges are a bit higher than other plates in my assorted dinnerware collection, and I think that’ll make them fab for pasta. They’re utterly awesome in person (and I noticed the collection was on sale at Fishs Eddy, check it, maybe still is).

Ironically, I was drawn to/bought myself my first plowl at Anthropologie on Christmas Eve-day at an awesome extra 50% off clearance. And an actual bowl. Total purchase = $5.68, yeehah!

Another side note: We hoped to see bazillions of crazy shoppers on Christmas Eve at the mall, but no such luck. It was a dead zone, and we didn’t even have to elbow people for salsa samples in Le Gourmet Chef. Where was everyone?

While we’re talking about kitchen-y stuff, Pete and I both picked up knives for each other as gifts this year. Not uber-pricy ones, but the colorful ones that can always be found on the shelf at Marshall’s. Mine for him is intended for cutting sandwiches. His for me is designed for tomatoes. Excitement ensued, mostly because there’s not much that beats the sharpness of a brand new knife.

More home stuff: Dad bought us a great wool blanket (he knows I keep this house like a refrigerator), Pete bought more dish towels (cute stripeys), and my friend’s mom surprised me with a polka-dotted sweater (sure to be seen in future bloggy photos, because I’ll probably be wearing it every other day). Also, everyone pointed out that they bought what they did because they knew how much I liked golds, greens, whites, and ivories based on what my house paint colors actually are, so… right on.

We gave some fun home gifts to our family and friends too. Too many to mention all of them, but some of our favorites were these:

A set of 4 Cynthia Rowley dessert plates (every one was different and I wish I had bought two sets… to keep one for myself):

A new serving bowl with fantastic clean lines (for my mom + dad, from Marshall’s, but looks like it’s from a more happenin’ store like CB2, also wish I bought one for myself. That sentiment, you’ll find, is an on-going theme. I’m so generous.):

I picked up a pretty vase for my mom in my travels last month; the picture doesn’t do it justice (the full-size image didn’t focus well), but the whole unit consists of four beaker glass bulbs joined in a row (you can kind of see the tunnels that connect the bulbs, water could flow right on through from end-to-end. Perfect for springtime buds and assorted little bouquets (she’s quite the gardener), it’ll be lovely on the kitchen windowsill above the sink.

And last but not least, I bought my sister a print from the etsy shop SarahGiannobile. The ornate detailing in the print combined with the clean-lined RIBBA frame (one of the goodies I brought back from our recent IKEA trip) made me almost keep it for myself. That’s a custom mat in there too, Annie, appreciate. Hopefully someday she’ll have her own little home and I can go over there and enjoy staring at it as much as I enjoyed staring at it while it sat unwrapped in my living room (or, I might stare at it so hard that it finds its way back into my car, oops).

What’d you get? What’d you buy? What’d you get for yourself and for someone else because you couldn’t stand the pressure?