The virtues of useful Christmas gifts

Press, 6 December 1977, Page 16

The virtues of useful Christmas gifts

By

CAROL PORTER

Home & People

Useless gifts are on the way out so far as most of our Christmas budgets are concerned.

So anxious are we to spend our cash wisely that we tend these days to go for towels rather . than trinkets for Christmas giving. After all, you can five without a vase or two on the shelf, but a towel to wipe your hands on is a necessity.

This practical spending does, however, take the thrill out of opening one's parcels; so if there is a happy, and not too expensive. compromise, it’s the clever present-giver who finds it. It is worth a visit to a garden shop for gift ideas. A tub in which y.ou can plant a standard rose-bush to stand outside someone’s front door; a voucher for one of those giant .petalled clematis plants; or any of the gardening aids to make life easier for the man of the house — all these are good ideas. Rheumaticky gardeners appreciate various gadgets which avoid too much bending.

A tea towel does not sound the thrill of Christmas morning, but it is a lot more interesting when sent to a friend abroad or even a hundred miles away, if it bears a picture of your local town. It is a kind of -useful Christmas picture postcard. Even a humble pair of pillowcases can be elevated by edging them with lace and embroidering. not

merely a "His - ” and "Hers” on each, but the actual names of the recipients. All you have to do is write the names, e.g. “David” and “Joan” on a thin piece of paper, pin it to the edge of the pillowcases and stitch through it, tearing away the paper when you’ve finished. Thus, your friends not only receive their own, named, pillowcases, but the stitching is done in the handwriting of the donor!

Handkerchiefs, too, can be personalised in this way, not only as a pleasant gesture, but also to ensure that the hanky

is not lost. At today’s prices, no-one can afford to strew them around..

Children’s toys are something of a problem. The gaudy, plastic-made games and dolls may well be within the reach of your pocket; but you know, even as you pay over the cash, that the gift will barely survive Christmas Day ” without breaking apart.

It may be a better choice to pick smaller, more robustly made toys.. Tiny wooden farmyard animals, soldiers, or dolls’ house furniture are available.

These give rein to a child’s imagination. They can be played with on floors, tables or chairs, and are stacked easily away in mesh bags after use. Puzzles, too, are fun for the eight to 12-year-olds. But do not choose ones which are fiendishly difficult. After about 10 minutes concentration the child wants to have a sporting chance of doing the puzzle correctly.

Jewellery is highly popular for both boys and girls. You will back a winner if you give an identity bracelet with the child’s name engraved on it or a neck chain complete with initial. Teenage boys are enjoying wearing pendants, bracelets and rings these days. A look round the men’s department of any jewellery store is a real eye-opener. For tiny children, if your choice is a bracelet make sure it is of real silver or gold. Toddlers and pre-

gold, toddlers and preschool children, still at the tooth-cutting stage, tend to nibble at bracelets — and those made of metal of unknown origin might not be suitable tor this purpose.

For flat-dwellers, and anyone who likes adorning their walls with posters, there is a wonderful range of both picture posters and posters with “bon mots” on them.

I adore puppets — and not only for children, either. Grown-ups can derive a tremendous thrill out of “working” a doll. The ones on strings (as opposed to glove puppets)

are more exciting, and if you buy one or two, and study how they are made, it isn’t ail that difficult to make your own. Doll-faces and lots of component parts are available at handicraft shops. And if you enjoy making up dolls, wouldn’t someone else? Try a doll-making kit, for a gift.

Or a sampler kit — they’re great fun to embroider in cross-stitch. Most department stores stock quite a variety’ of “all-in-one" sewing kits at this time of year.

Boys who like modelling (and fathers who like helping them) are easy to buy for. But anything requiring glue is strictly for the 10-year-olds and over. Don’t -give anything wet, sticky or messy to smaller children if you want your carpets still to be in good shape for the New Year. Building bricks are much safer for the tinies. Little girls still enjoy doll-dressing. So the auntie who knits an outfit, and especially if she trims it with some shiny material, will be very popular with the young lady on the receiving end of such a gift. Some people adore gadgets. Little tools that slice tomatoes, chop mint, make butter balls or cook kebabs impeccably, are the delight of their heart.

A tour of the kitchen area of a department store should yield a plentiful supply of new gadgets; but it’s a good plan to rifle through the cutlery drawer of your friends before choosing. Two orange juice extractors aren’t exactly a vital necessity in any household. For teen-agers and housewives, nail varishes (and a thoughtful

giver adds a bottle of remover, as well) and matching lipsticks are lovely gifts to receive. Christmas afternoon, while the digestive juices are working, is a good time to experiment with new makeup colours.

Similarly, to make a bigger gift, orange sticks, and other nail-care accessories can be added to your beauty pack.

Men also appreciate nail-care gifts — nail clippers and file (often to be purchased in a neat leather case) are a handy present for his pocket. For the travelling man, there is a variety of useful gifts. A heavy-duty plastic suit cover, for instance, can go as hand luggage on an aeroplane and save the traveller the fag of waiting around for the aircraft to be unloaded and his suitcase delivered. A brief case is equally useful.

Individual gifts .— a spectacle chain for "Auntie” who is constantly mislaying her spectacles; a magnifying map reader glass for Dad, whose eyes aren’t as good as they were; a giant-sized shopping board for Mum, who forgets to buy the marmalade; a T-shirt with a “he-man” slogan for sportsman brother; or sand shoes with “left” and

“right” printed on them for a toddler who cannot yet sort out which foot is which — all these show your special thought for the person who is to receive your gift.

A clothes horse, a useful thing, is only good, though, if it is to go to someone who still has an open fire for it to stand before.

But clothes, in winter

weather, still need to be aired indoors. There are some hanging clothes racks that fit neatly on to central heating radiators, and air off the socks and undies rapidly and safelv

Gifts for motorists include cleaning and polishing kits, steering wheel gloves, protective mats, and chamois cloths. Buy them over the space of a few weeks, one at a time to spread the cost, and with, the aid of an old carton and a sheet of celephane. make a "selection box” of motorists’ needs. For families who are temporally parted — some living abroad, others scattered across the country — buy tapes or cassettes and record a special message, with every member of the family contributing. The reverse side of the tape can be filled with music, more messages, or a recording of some children’s school concert or special family event. Several weeks of preparation are required if the gifts are to be hand-picked and the temptation avoided to over-spend just to complete the list.

So make a list as ideas occur to you, or you see something’ advertised m a newspaper or magazine — jot down at once the present you have in mind. Someone might let slip in conversation that he or she is short of some small commodity, but unless you make a note immediately you will surely not re-

member. Yet that might have been the perfect solution to your gift problem. For, rest assured, for every person there is, with diligent searching, the ideal present.