Gift Ideas for Milestone Special Occasions!

Host Bee on Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

Gifts for Milestone Occasions – Children & Young Adults!

It seems to me that the most important events in life can be the toughest when it comes to choosing a gift! You want the gift to be special, memorable and perhaps lasting – and this is a challenging combination! Here are my best thoughts for milestone gift giving for children and young adults.

Gifts for Christening, Bris, or Baby Naming

These are such wonderful occasions in the life of a family! Welcome a new little person into your circle of friends with a very special keepsake.

Pippin Park Feeding Sets

For a change of pace, I really love the new baby china dish sets by Kate Spade. The Pippin Park feeding sets (blue and green for boys, pink and orange for girls) include a plate, bowl and cup and feature bright colored graphic designs that are modern and fresh! A coordinating silver plate/ enamel spoon & fork set and handled cup are also available! ($75 and $30 respectively at katespade.com.)

Gifts for First Birthday

Here are two cute ideas for a sweet little one year old!

Painted Wooden Rocker

Consider a personalized, hand painted wooden rocker from Warm Biscuit! You can create a custom rocker from a wide choice of colors and designs. ($198 at warmbiscuit.com)

Baby Birthday Set

Another option is the Baby Birthday Set from Room Service Home. This set includes an adorable, hand made felt birthday hat, ceramic party plate and bowl, and arrives gift wrapped in a ribbon trimmed, clear canister. (pink or blue, $38 at roomservicehome.com)

Gifts for First Communion

Silver Picture Frame

Milan 8 x 10 Frame

Because it is quite likely that a first communicant will receive the more traditional religious gifts from close family members, the gift that I have been bringing to First Communions is a silver frame, engraved with the child’s monogram at the top and the communion date at the bottom. An attractive and understated frame is available from Things Remembered and is called the Milan. (thingsremembered.com , $25)

For girls, I like the “interlocking monogram” for the top of the frame and “script” style for the date at the bottom.
For boys, I prefer the “circle monogram” for the top and “double line century” style for the date.

Religious Gifts for a Christening or First Communion

Brass Book Marks

Kimberly Wolcott Designs has taken brass book bars and adorned them with faux gem encrusted crosses and hand dyed silk ribbons. This would be a nice gift to give along with a bible! (Item NM0F8_H1UGN, $25)

Embellished Photo Albums

The first style is also by Kimberly Wolcott and is a hand crafted fabric photo album, trimmed with white satin ribbons, crystals, faux pearls and a silver plated cross. The album holds 160 photos and would also be perfect for a wedding. (Item NMOF8_H1UGM, $110)
A smaller version, holding 60 photos, is in pink or blue dotted fabric, embellished with a silver cross, crystals and pearls. (Item NMOF8_H1UGM, $60)

All of these four lovely gifts are available at neimanmarcus.com!

Gifts for Confirmation

For Girls – Tiffany’s Elsa Perreti Silver Cross Necklace

A perfect gift for a young girl making her Confirmation is the Elsa Perretti silver cross necklace from Tiffany and Co. The cross isn’t oversized or overly grown up. Plus, you can never to be too young to appreciate a gift in that signature blue box! (tiffany.com for $145)

For Boys – A Sterling Patron Saint Medal

Since the choosing of a name is such an important part of this occasion, a nice gift for boys is a patron saint medal. Sterling silver medals depicting many saints are available at CatholicFamilyGifts.com for $30.99.

Gifts for Bar/Bat Mitzvah

For Boys or Girls – First Israel Stock

I’ve found a very unique gift idea that seems like a great blend of faith, fun and learning! For $150, you can purchase one share of First Israel stock. It arrives framed with a personalized plaque and as an actual share holder, the gift recipient will receive an annual stock report, a vote and dividends! (oneshare.com)

For Girls – Sterling Silver Necklace

Here are two lovely necklaces that would both make attractive and meaningful gifts!

For a more traditional girl, this sterling silver necklace is bedecked with blue topaz stones and an abstract-style Star of David. This piece of jewelry is made in Israel and sold at 1-800-flowers.com, now for only $19.99. (You might like to tuck a few of these necklaces away for future gift giving, especially since this price reflects a reduction from $59.99)

For a more modern girl, this silver necklace is decorated with three circular charms which read Luck, Love and then your choice of Health, Happiness or Miracle. The words are written on the disks in English and Hebrew. This gift falls very nicely between trendy and religious! ( kosherline.com, $68.99)

A Final Thought

Milestones like these really do call for special gifts! But depending upon your relationship to the feted one, my suggestions may be too expensive or perhaps not extravagant enough! My thought in the first instance is to combine resources with friends or family members to make the more significant present a reasonable option! As for the gifts that are relatively inexpensive, it might be nice to attach one of these smaller presents to a monetary gift!

In any event, it’s wonderful to have special times to celebrate and I hope that these ideas will make your gift giving even more enjoyable!

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