Christmas Gift Ideas … RYG Style!

Looking for last minute gift ideas for your ground redeeming friend or family member this Christmas? If so, we’ve come up with a few suggestions to help you out.* Hopefully these ideas will work…but if not, maybe they’ll at least get you thinking a bit. Regardless, you better get to it…because times-a-tickin’!

(By the way, feel free to look at another year’s list if you can’t find something you like here.)

GROW Gifts | grow something beautiful

Felco One-Hand Pruners: I keep a pair of these handy just outside my back door. I’ll either grab them as I go outside knowing that I’ll find something that needs to be pruned…or they’re easy to get to if I see an errant branch while playing outside with my girls. And if these aren’t what you’re looking for or they don’t fit your budget, check out these other options I mentioned in a previous post.

 

Mad Grip Gloves: Right next to my pruners, I have a pair of Mad Grip gloves…again for easy access. A buddy of mine gave them to me before we ran the Tough Mudder together…and I’ve found that they are some of the toughest and most comfortable gloves I’ve ever worn…really capable of protecting my hands doing anything out in my yard.

 

Fiskars Garden Refuse Bag: So after I don my gloves and use my pruners, I need somewhere to put all my cuttings. If they’re small enough, I typically throw them in the plant beds. If they’re edible, I give them to my chickens. But if neither of these things are going for me, I throw them in the pop-up garden refuse bag that my mother-dearest-in-law gave me for Christmas a few years back. I keep it handy behind one of my Tea Olives near my hose.

 

PLAY Gifts | fun starts at home

Platform Swing: Right after I hung our tire swing, a friend of mine showed me their platform swing. And right away I was jealous. Sure, I love our tire swing; but the riding experience of this swing is really incredible. Whether you want to gently rock back and forth gazing at the sky above…or really raise your heart rate, this swing will let you do either more comfortably.

 

Slackline: We don’t have one of these yet, but Britt and I have talked about putting a slackline set among our 3 oak trees in our front yard. We’re always looking for non-traditional play elements to add to our outdoor spaces…and not only is this one easily moved around, it also builds great core strength.

 

Portable Fitness Set: Now PLAYing outside isn’t just for kids…and working out doesn’t always have to be inside…in some stanky, stagnant workout room. So if you’re like me and you like working out and being outside, combine the two and get this fitness set that comes with a fancy carrying bag.

 

 

HARVEST Gifts | feed your body and soul

Kitchen Garden Cookbook: Back in August, Britt did a post on her favorite new cookbook – Kitchen Garden Cookbook – Celebrating the Homegrown and Handmade by Jeanne Kelley. It’s the perfect gift for your resident gardener or resident chef. And the pictures are so beautiful, it could serve as a coffee table book too.

 

Boot Scraper: If you go in and out of your garden a lot, odds are your boots will get dirty. And if you’re like me you don’t want to take the time to pull them off every time you go in and out of the door (much to Britt’s chagrin!). So for Christmas one year she gave me a boot scraper like this one. I can’t say that I use it as much as it should…looking at our carpets would tell you that, but I do use it more often than not. Sure I do.

 

Pressure Cooker: Every year it seems Britt adds something to her cooking preparation mix. Two years ago it was grinding her own wheat…and last year it was a pressure cooker. She’s found that it makes cooking fresh veggies (and really anything else) so much easier and faster…and the rest of us find things so much tastier. But note…they’re not cheap.

 

GATHER Gifts | let’s get together

 

Extendable Campfire Sticks: Growing up in Florida we had plenty of natural marshmallow sticks to choose from…palm fronds. They were just long enough and were green…so they wouldn’t burn. But when Britt bought these telescoping marshmallow skewers…not only did they work really well…but they were just really cool to use. And doubled as collapsible swords…just make sure there’s no marshmallow goop on the end!

Drink Tub: Nothing says let’s hang out and chill for a while more than a big’ole galvanized tub full of ice and frosty beverages. Really…what else do you need?

 

 

RAISE Gifts | expand your family

Egg Skelter: I don’t have one of these yet, but it’s on my list…a red egg skelter. And besides, I just like the name…skellllter. I look forward to dropping our girls’ rent into one of these one day and being able to keep them out on the counter without fearing that they’ll fall to the floor.

 

Waterproof Dog Bed: We don’t have a dog, but if we did I’d want to make sure that they’re comfortable inside or out. That’s why I’d buy them a waterproof dog bed like this one. And since it’s so durable, it would be great to take camping for your furry friend.

 

Compost Pale: Ever since having our seven lovely ladies no food scrap has gone wasted. Seriously, we scrape every bit of our left-overs into this steel compost pale that sits on our counter. Then once a day I’ll carry it down to the coop to give our girls a treat. And like Pavlov’s dog, if they’re out free-ranging all I have to do is bang the handle against the pale a couple of times and they all come running.

 

BLEND Gifts | bring life inside

Rattan Chargers: Fortunately for us, Britt and I have the same decorating tastes…we love bringing textures, colors, and materials that you’d normally find outside indoors. So when we were on our honeymoon it wasn’t difficult for us to find something we both liked to commemorate our first week of marital bliss…rattan chargers like these.

 

 

Driftwood Candle Holder: Last summer we did a post on how to make a driftwood candle holder. But if you don’t have any driftwood handy, but want a cool centerpiece for a table, try this one. It’s technically not driftwood…it’s a teak root…but it’s close enough.

 

Time to Plant Coffee Table Book: One of the best ways to bring the outside in and encourage folks to get outside more is to have a coffee table book that has beautiful pictures of the outdoors. One of my favorites is A Time to Plant: Southern-Style Garden Living by James T. Farmer III. Check it out.

 

So there you have it. I hope that these last minute gift ideas help. And if you’re not done shopping yet…you better get a move-on!

Now don’t get the picture that I’m some amazing gift-giver. I’m really not. But Britt is…she does all our Christmas shopping…well, all but the gifts from me to her. It’s the least I could do…quite literally…the very least! (Thanks Britt!)

Take care all and Merry Christmas,

 

 

* Note: In case you’re wondering, none of these brands/companies paid me to include their products in this gift list. They are simply products that I have or would like to have. That’s it. However, in full disclosure, RYG may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases when links take you to Amazon.com. Learn more…