How do you spell “personal” with holiday gifts for girls or girls-at-heart?
Most literally, with her own name or initial written all over it, as proof positive that you gave this some thought.
Or with her sweet home Chicago as the source–an off-the-beaten path boutique, a holiday bazaar or a museum shop to which you made a special trip.
And, sometimes, even with a gift certificate, as long as there’s some did-it-yourself addition to it.
On these pages is a quick list of strategies that follow the season’s spirit, sometimes to the letter.
You can take it from here.
(Next week: Gifts for guys.)
L is for local option
Say it with Chicago style.
Holiday bazaars and museum stores in Chicago offer an abundance of gifts that she’s not likely to see coming and going.
The Art Institute of Chicago shop translates its collection to furniture and fashion, such as silk flower pins, in pink, lavender and white, to dress up her little black dress perennially. (They’re $20 to $42; check the store at 111 S. Michigan Ave. or www.artinstituteshop.org)
The Museum of Contemporary Art Store is great for offbeat but functional items for the home. (Stop by the shop at 220 E. Chicago Ave., or check www.mcachicago.org).
With most items under $100, the Woman Made Gallery’s Annual Holiday Bazaar, through Dec. 21, offers prints, jewelry, coat racks and scarves, all made by women.
Or shoppers can scurry over to the One of a Kind Show and Sale at the Merchandise Mart to check out the offerings of about 300 artisans, artists and designers. (Sunday is the last day, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $7 for seniors and students.) A Gift Idea Center offers an overview of the show floor, and there’s on-site child care.
M is for monogram
Here’s the alphabet scoop: The letters for luxury this season aren’t necessarily LV for Louis Vuitton or CC for Chanel.
Get her anything with her very own initial or name on it and you’re as golden as one of the Three Wise Men.
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Or, in some cases, silver. As in the sterling silver jumbo letter pendants through Neiman Marcus’ catalog or Web site ($85 on a leather cord, $185 on silver chain; www.neimanmarcus.com).
The variations on the theme are boundless.
Sisters Too makes fabric handbags in Palm Beach pastels with initials ($75 to $125 at Tickled Pink in Wilmette or www.sisterstooshop.com).
On Gossamer’s “Little Miss Monogram” thong underwear come in a selection of letters ($19 each at Bloomingdale’s stores or www.bloomingdales.com).
For a cheeky hostess gift, there’s even gold-monogrammed toilet paper ($16.95 for a two-roll gift box; check www.justtoiletpaper.com.)
N is for novelty
It’s like a mobile message straight from Mom, or maybe a best friend.
Mirror Me T-shirts, created by Chicago’s own Jennifer Petsu, are fashionable fitted T’s with uplifting phrases–Never Settle, Love Yourself, Trust Yourself–printed on the front, with a twist. The sayings are all printed backward so when the wearer looks at herself in the mirror, she’s giving herself a positive affirmation–or you are–in vibrant colors.
Thong panties come with a reminder to Respect Yourself. For a little more playfulness, panties come with the message Nice Butt.
And you don’t have to be a yoga practitioner this time of year to appreciate the message-in-the-madness T that simply reads “Breathe.”
O is for original
Can a gift certificate signify anything but last-ditch desperation?
A recent doubleheader of classes at the Chopping Block cooking school and store convinced two friends it could mean a lot more.
Sure, we learned the virtues of heating oil before sauteing. Sure, we tasted the fruits of our labor.
But we also mused over the fact that our guy friend’s gift cards from last Christmas, and the approaching deadline to use them, were what it took to get two pals together in an atypical setting (read: not a bar) for a few hours.
So we’re stealing his gift idea, with a twist.
Start with a gift card for a variety of Chopping Block classes (many are $50 for a 2 1/2-hour session). Add any cool tool or fine food–a dough-scraper perhaps (more useful than it sounds and $6 at the Chopping Block) or an artful bottle of extra-virgin olive oil. Bonus if you nestle both in a pan or platter she can use at home.
Then present a corresponding gift for her friend/sister/mom. Note: This may be crucial to sending the right message. It’s about bonding, not kitchen inadequacy.
Nor about laziness. (It just so happens that you get two gifts taken care of at once.)
The Chopping Block is at 1324 W. Webster Ave., and a new location just opened at 4747 N. Lincoln Ave. (This location offers expanded hands-on classes and retail area) in Chicago. Check www.thechoppingblock.net for class schedules and retail items or call 773-472-6700.
P is for personal
Any gift that plugs into an outlet smacks of “purpose,” warns Real Simple in its December issue. The seasoned gift giver balances the practical with the pampering.
High-end cosmetics, such as her own lip tints ($20 at Neiman Marcus), are like candy for grown-ups, says makeup maven Bobbi Brown.
If it’s actual candy your girl craves, Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland offers vanilla-glazed chestnuts, chocolate bars with nutmeg and more in fanciful packaging. (The confections were good enough for Jacqueline Onassis.)
Light up her senses with hot candles from Slatkin & Co., in fragrances such as black fig and absinthe ($22 to $60 at Neiman Marcus), and from Diptyque, in firewood, cypress and more, $45 at the Merz Apothecary in Marshall Field’s State Street store.
And softer-than-cashmere robes, in synthetic Kashwere ($125) at the Nordstrom Spa at 520 N. Michigan Ave., or in fleece at the Inner Self ($48) in Old Orchard mall, take the trauma out of winter wakeup calls once Santa and sleigh are on their way back north.