Theme gifts
As I mentioned, yesterday was my nephew’s 6th birthday. What I didn’t mention though, is that he has recently discovered Star Wars and become a huge fan. Of course, this makes me very happy, as I love Star Wars and can now talk to him about it and give him Star Wars gifts.
So I called yesterday to wish him a happy birthday, and he spent a few minutes listing all the Star Wars gifts he received, making me jealous. The coolest thing was the Darth Vader Bear from Build-A-Bear.
I will be stealing this from my nephew the next time I see him.
I also saw these on the Build-A-Bear site:
WANT!
When I got off the phone with my nephew, I said “Happy Birthday!” and he said “Happy Birthday!” back to me. Ha ha.
Of course, I was thinking about how he got ALL Star Wars gifts. I think it is quite common for kids to get “theme” gifts. I know when I was a kid, I got a lot of Barbies, Polly Pockets, My Littlest Pet Shop toys, and Baby-sitters Club books. Once I discovered Star Wars in high school, I started getting Star Wars gifts.
I think it’s common for adults to get “theme” gifts as well. Once you know someone likes something, you get them gifts around that theme.
Did/do you ever receive theme gifts? If yes, do you like it? What are your themes? Are you a theme gifter?
I’ll admit, I was getting kind of burnt out on Star Wars gifts for awhile. But those bears are awesome. And I just saw these two shirts at Target yesterday that I. HAVE. TO. HAVE. (Is it too early to make a holiday wish list?)
Chewbacca shirt!
X-wing shirt!
I think my themes now are Star Wars, cats, and running. Ha! And maybe “kitchen.” Maybe.
I am a theme gifter. I usually try really hard to only get people something they would want or need, so when I find out a certain thing they like, I do tend to get them a gift from that theme. Of course, there are some people who just don’t seem to have any interests… or their interests are really expensive. Those are the people I struggle with.
Themocracy
We love theme gifts and do them all the time! For birthdays it’s common for us to do zombies. 😀 And for xmas it can be anything from gadgets, to geeky stuff, to gamer stuff, to kitchen stuff (me). Love themes! I actually prefer themes over random things because with themes you can and have to get very creative.
Those bears are too cute!! And the Chewbacca shirt is hilarious. You should totally start making your wish list. I keep adding to mine all year long 🙂
When you said theme gifts I thought you meant that when you get someone multiple gifts you try to get them all with the same theme. My mom does this a lot. For example, for my brother and sister in law’s anniversary she bought them a Broadway in Chicago gift certificate and a restaurant gift certificate so they could go out to dinner and a show.
In terms of getting gifts that reflect a person’s interests, I don’t understand why you would get someone something that didn’t reflect their interests (or their wants/needs). So, yeah, I am definitely a “theme” gifter.
Do you think Jason would wear that shirt?
Yeah, my question was confusing. One year, Steven’s family did a “theme” gift for him – a grill, skewers, grill equipment, etc.
And regarding your last paragraph… yeah. I have told you about a certain someone who keeps buying me things. *AHEM shoes, MOM*
Last year was cooking. This year will be cooking and running (I hope!)I already told my mom JUST what I wanted. Hahaha!
I got my good friend a Chewy t-shirt from the Gap outlet for her birthday last week! hehe. She also got a remote control R2D2 and a bobble head Chewy… so I would say we bought her themed items this year for her birthday (she turned 25).
I have some things that people buy for me. My brother used to ALWAYS buy me camping gear for Christmas every year. I’m not exactly sure why but it has come in handy over the years. I also like getting kitchen stuff, gear involving my favorite tv shows (but aren’t always super obvious), and running stuff. 🙂
I don’t think I have themes anymore. When I was in my teens everyone gave me butterfly stuff (then I went and tattooed a butterfly on my butt…not a good move, young self!) and then in my 20s I got a lot of bee stuff because I somehow got the nickname “queen bee”. In the past few years it was bird stuff (wow, see a commonality in these themes?!).
Butterflies, to bees to birds… do you have bird and bee tattoos too? 🙂
I want every single one of those bears! John has 2 giant plastic totes in the basement filled with all his star wars stuff from when he was a kid. X-wing fighters, the millenium falcon, at-ats…you name it.
J-E-A-L-O-U-S
I am raiding your basement!
Star Wars bears and shirts, oh my! Those are pretty cool.
LOVE the chewy shirt!
I think I am a theme gifter, hence your birthday baking present! : ) It’s nice to receive gifts from people that are geared to the things you like, enjoy or collect. I think it shows a lot of thought.
I love love love what you got me for my bday! I should make some pocket pies this weekend, after the race! 🙂 And eat them all myself. Muah ha ha.
I saw those bears at Build a bear too! They are so cute! I almost wanted to make one for myself!
I so want that Darth Vader bear. Yes, I’m 10 years old.
I think it’s so much easier to buy people theme gifts because a) it’s easier to find stuff and b) you’re not worried if they’ll like it or not.
For my brother, it’s easy: anything involving football. So it’s either a video game, a jersey, a hat. As long as it involves football, I’m golden. My mom’s harder to buy for, as are other people I know.
I think everyone has a gift theme, I know I certainly do! My themes would probably be cooking/baking stuff (cookbooks, utensils, dishware, etc.), books, things that are health/nutrition/food related, clothes, shoes.. and I can’t think of anything else. In general though, I think I’m pretty easy to shop for.
Those people with no interests kind of bother me and my dad is one of them. I mean, how in the world am I supposed to buy you a present if you don’t even know what you like?? It drives me crazy.
Yeah… I have a few people in my life like that too. It weirds me out. It makes me wonder if I just don’t know them well enough… or if they are just really not interested in anything.
Those bears are so cute!!
I finally had to put the kabash on the cat gifts. I HAVE cats, I LIKE cats, I just don’t need my entire house to revolve around cats. I received a set of cat glassware that was just too much. I’m still thinking about getting rid of it. (Want some cat glasses??? Ha. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, I think the person just latched on to the fact I have cats and went a little crazy.)
I have sort of an owl thing that’s a running joke in my family and goes back to an owl report I did in grade school. I have received some really cute owl stuff from people (jewelry, pj’s, etc).
Books and art supplies are always a popular choice as well, which I think is pretty reflective of the things I like to do!
I do have a few random cat mugs… but glasses? Ugh! I also have Star Wars mugs, of course.
The owl collection is pretty cool!
I love the bears! I don’t receive any theme gifts, but my dad has sent me a Vermont Teddy Bear every Valentine’s Day since I can remember! Each one is different. I have so many teddy bears now. I hope the baby likes teddy bears!
I don’t really know much about “Star Wars”, but those bears are awesome. I like getting and giving theme gifts, though I don’t know if I’d like it if I ALWAYS got the same thing. For example, my mom has this friend who LOVES cats, and her house is literally filled to the brim with cat kitsch. At some point, I think it gets overwhelming.
I got so overwhelmed with Star Wars things. I have 9 or so plastic boxes in my parent’s basement full of toys. But again, I wanted these… so what’s my deal?!
Has Harrison seen Star Wars (the original trilogy)? Does he think you would like it?