[kpingitquiet]

I'm sitting on Amazon trying, yet again, to figure out what the heck to get my family for Christmas. I'm so completely stuck it's not even funny. We're budget-tight and idea-poor! I've found a few things but not many and I've given them all books, movies, Aussie stuff, and photos before. Is it bad to give more of similar? There are 10 or so people to buy for, ranging in age from 17 to 80 and I'm just stuck. What would you get for overseas folks if you were extremely limited in your resources?

[~~diz~~]

Could you make up a small picture album of photo's throughout the year and send that to some of them.
You can get pics copies quite cheaply i think and a small album.

[baddmammajamma]

1) Scale back to the bare numbers (like, just your parents/grandparents/elderly relatives). If you are overseas and cash poor, there is no need to buy for your lovely 17 year old nephew back in SoCal. He'll manage.

Everyone else gets -- PICTURES of your gorgeous daughter. Order them from a U.S. site so that they are processed and shipped quickly and cheaply.

[Riotproof]

I agree with bmj.

The only other suggestion I had was fruit hampers, because it at least it will be eaten.

[minimae]

Tell me about it! I'm so over christmas shoppping for my overseas relatives! Where are your relatives? Ours are in the UK and I love this website for little present ideas:

http://notonthehighstreet.com/

[kpingitquiet]

I've scaled back to only those who are buying for us, too It's Mom, stepdad, dad, grandma, and then only those who will be waking up at my mom's house on Christmas morning.

I was thinking of doing something gesture-like for the cousins (who are basically like my siblings), then started receiving boxes from all of them of their undoubtedly well-thought-out awesome gifts. Erg! Photos would be grand except, well, BMJ you've seen my facebook LOL. They all see every moment of everything. And I gave professional family portraits last year. Sigh.

So far, I think a Write Your Memories book for my grandma. A golf movie for one relative, a sustainable living book for another. But what the heck do I get for my parents? They are decidedly unhelpful in this department.

minimae: Mine are in the US Though two will be transporting their gifts back home to France after the holidays. And every damned one of them just had a birthday in the last month or so and I got the perfect, most brilliantly thoughtful gifts for those birthdays. It sucked my brilliance dry.

Ohhh food baskets. That could work! Mom will have a houseful of people, after all. Everyone except us (insert very serious here) will be there.

[baddmammajamma]

Record messages for them -- really heartfelt messages. Get A to babble something. Ask your husband to say something (bonus points for cool accent)...then you go into a nice quiet room, and record one of those messages that will make them sob with joy that you are their daughter.

If you can't afford a really cool gift, then get one that is so sentimental that they won't notice.

[~Nodnol~]

Food baskets would be good. Could you get some Aussie touches added to them, so you are sharing Christmas with them in spirit?

I'm sorry you aren't with your family for the holidays.

[kadoodle]

I'm trying to figure out what to buy my sister, BIL and little niece in Canada. And figure it out quickly as there's not much longer before it wont get there in time.

[kpingitquiet]

Sentimentality could be the ticket, thanks BMJ!

Nodnol: It's particularly hard, this year, as they're all at my parents' house and we just saw eachother in April (first time in almost 5 years) so the homesickness is freshly re-minted. Ah well. Hmm, maybe I could find someone there who delivers things like cherries and mangoes in the middle of winter!