wishlist items, gifts for your parents, and quality stocking stuffers
lots of fun finds!
Today we bring you our final few themed gift guides! We’ve got great gifts for your parents, super special items you might want to add to your own wishlist, and stocking stuffers (for both kids and adults!) that have staying power.
Parents can be hard to shop for — my mom has told me countless times, “I don’t need a thing!” And while that may be true, I still want to gift them something special! So I aim to gift my mom (and dad, though I put a lot of those ideas on our guide for the guys!) gifts that are both special and useful, like my favorite EVOO; a photo frame with always-up-to-date pictures of their grandsons; cute, comfy shoes; and a calendar that doubles as a piece of art. Here are all of my tried-and-true parent gifts!
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: Good quality olive oil makes an amazing present for any hard-to-shop-for parent or in-law! I ship a holiday gift box of Kosterina to my parents and in-laws every holiday season — it comes festively packaged and ready for them to use. Consumable gifts are the ultimate gift, especially for anyone who has enough stuff, and Kosterina olive oil is the ultimate consumable gift, IMO! So tasty, nutritious, and beautifully bottled. They have a ton of other gift set options, too!
My sister and I bought an Aura digital picture frame for mom’s birthday this year and she loves it! We regularly upload pics of all our boys, so they always have up-to-date photos of their grandsons on display. There’s no photo limit, other family members can link up and add pics too, and this is my favorite part: you can pre-load it with a photo or video that they’ll immediately see when they hook it up to WiFi — it’d be so sweet to take a video of your family all saying, “Merry Christmas, we love you!” You can pre-load it with other pics, too, but I especially love the greeting idea for holiday gifting. For a limited time you can use the code CAROLINE for $45 off their best-selling Carver Mat frame1 (it’s my fave style!) — it should automatically apply when you click here.
Order one of these gorgeous bay leaf garlands and/or wreaths to arrive the first week of December! These are from the family farm of a What To Cooker!
For the parent who really, truly only enjoys practical, no-fuss gifts, I have to pass along a rec for the best supplement/medicine organizer out there. My mom raves about it — it has really helped her stay on track with all her daily doses!
My friend Kelsey Nixon’s recipe binder is gorgeous, well organized, and perfect for storing print versions of recipes, if your mom/dad loves to cook but hates following recipes from a device. It comes with a couple of Kelsey’s recipes, plus a lot of empty sleeves. Fill them with some of your favorite What To Cook recipes, hand-written versions of dishes you cook by heart, magazine rip-outs, and maybe even those butter-stained family recipe cards your mom keeps in a kitchen drawer!
I’ve purchased Rothy’s clogs for both of my parents — can confirm, they wear them constantly. I like the butternut and spice herringbone.
A puzzle tribute to the best ingredient on the table: Butter! This would be such a fun puzzle to do together as a fam over the holidays.
Raleigh, North Carolina, artist Inslee Fariss releases a new desk calendar filled with watercolor art every year and it’s always so beautiful — it makes any desk colorful and happy! It’s a great gift to give as an annual tradition.
And finally… a gift guide that you can forward to people who are shopping for YOU! Many of these are items I have, love, and talk about to anyone who will listen — others exist only on my dream wishlist for Santa. All of them are beyond special!
One of my most frequently asked questions this time of year is a recommendation for an affordable Dutch oven. I own something from just about every cast iron brand out there and I always share Lodge as my favorite affordable, incredibly high-quality brand. If you don’t own a Dutch oven yet, now’s your time! The even heat distribution means that food cooks perfectly every time, and you can go from stovetop to oven without switching pans. And with a wide variety of colors available, there’s a color that matches every aesthetic. The Lodge Essential Enamel Dutch oven is an heirloom piece that you’ll pass down to your kids someday. PS, I recommend the 7.5 quart!
Alex Mill’s monogrammed canvas totes are unicorn bags. The hand-painted monogram is so cool and makes it feel so special and customized, the straps are an ideal length and actually stay put on your shoulder, the pocket is perfectly sized and positioned, and the roomy, structured body holds a ton, but also somehow keeps things orderly (versus some big bags in which you’re constantly losing and looking for things!). The Perfect Weekday Tote is ideal for day-to-day — Molly uses it daily as her purse/computer bag/diaper bag — and I love my Perfect Weekend Tote for weekends, yes, but mostly for day-to-day lugging around my four kids’ stuff! It’s a 10/10 bag, anyone would love it!
I met a girl at a coffee shop who was wearing one of these personality jackets painted with memories from her life. It was a wedding present from her dad! It was the coolest item of clothing I’ve ever seen. This is a BIG gift, but I loved it so much that I wanted to share it here so we can all put it on our really-special-someday wishlists.
A sleek espresso machine that actually matches your kitchen aesthetic. I’ve wanted an espresso machine FOREVER and finally got this one and am thrilled with how easy it is for an espresso-making newbie to use! PS, if the average latte costs $7, it only takes 82 uses for this baby to pay for itself. Just sayin’.
I turned 35 and suddenly started dreaming about DIAMONDS!! I can’t stop thinking about this slightly more edgy version of a classic tennis necklace. I’ve never gotten a gift this big, but a girl can dream! I also really love BaubleBar’s gold-plated CV tennis necklace!
How special would this pair of timeless diamond huggies (use code CAROLINE10 for 10% off!) or this pair of gorgeous CZ drop earrings be?
One final shiny-thing obsession: Gabe Bratton Hall’s beautiful heirloom jewelry. Each piece she makes is so unique — I can’t link to just one. You’ve gotta just browse her available pieces!
In a world of neutrals, stand out in this granny-chic floral cardigan with the most flattering crop. I dare you to ask Santa for the matching hat, too. Maximalism, baby.
I LOVE Carolina Irving & Daughters ceramics. I recently updated my tableware with this set, but they have so many beautiful ones.
A Pippen House duvet system — a duvet that zips onto the insert! Truly revolutionary, gorgeous, crisp cotton duvets.
If your house is anything like my house, the kids’ stockings are always overflowing on Christmas morning, while the parents’ stockings look sad by comparison. This year, I highly recommend stuffing your own stocking — or having your partner do it for you! I like to use it as an opportunity to stock up on small but mighty accessories and household goods.
Macmillan Audio is sponsoring our stocking stuffer guide!! Stuff your ears with a perfect audiobook while you stuff your stockings! I’m currently listening to Charlotte McConaghy’s Wild Dark Shore — Reese’s Book Club Pick for November. For my fellow romantasy lovers, Rebecca Ross, who wrote Divine Rivals, just released a new adult novel called Wild Reverence that is going to be my Thanksgiving week listen! And I’ve already downloaded Christmas People by Iva-Marie Palmer, which has been described as a Hallmark movie inside a Hallmark movie — sign me up.
Bag charms!! They’re so cute and fun. I have this olive bag charm.
I use this reading light every single night! My kids asked for them, too, and they use them nightly as well, even my 5-year-old who can’t read yet.
According to Amazon, I’ve purchased these perfect hair ties four times. I’m hooked! No lines on your hair, perfect hold — just wonderful!
The best zero-sugar, not-insane-amounts-of-sodium electrolytes.
According to the Gen Z, allowing your ankles to show is cringe. Avoid being cringe with my fave pair of ribbed socks.
I think that stockings should be stuffed with normal everyday items, but slightly elevated — like Cocofloss, the best floss ever!
I highly recommend sticking this deodorant that smells like cologne in your fella’s stocking.
If you still don’t own a meat thermometer, put one in your own stocking!
Last but not least, high-quality lil toys that’ll hold up — and hold your kids’ attention! Stick these in their stockings, or gift them as another holiday present. For more kid-present ideas, read through the comments left on Tuesday’s email. Lots of good ideas!
A clicker counter may seem like a niche gift, but I’m telling you — my kids are obsessed. It gives them a job and makes so many things into a game: counting cars that drive by, dogs on a walk, how many times their little brother can jump, how many times they can run around the couch. When their friends come over they love this thing, too!
Don’t underestimate the power of colored tape.
My boys absolutely love making little creatures of Air Dough. Would be cute to stuff their stockings full of these!
Oliver Jeffers go fish. The images are from Oliver Jeffers’ book Stuck, and they’re so cute — plus it’s extra fun to play when your kid is too young to identify numbers. Instead of asking “Got any sevens?” you get to say, “Got any trees with all the crazy stuff stuck in it?” which absolutely delights them.
Let them be your sous chef with these kid-friendly kitchen knives. With supervision, they can safely help you chop.
Did anyone else love Mad Libs on road trips growing up? Especially if you’re traveling over the holidays, these bring lots of fun.
Doesn’t get more classic than a metal slinky!
I found these crazy amazing wind-up toys at a toy store in the Berkshires (Tom’s Toys, for any locals!) and they are absolutely incredible! They do flips and tricks and feel like magic!
Wash-away hair chalk for some color any day of the week.
StickiKubes are great for travel or bringing to a restaurant. They stay sticky forever and come in a container with a little strainer so you can easily wash them off if they get dirty.
That’s it for our themed guides!! Here are all the others for easy access:
Tomorrow we’ll wrap things up with a grab-bag of ideas for the hardest-to-shop-for people on a few What To Cookers’ lists! Let us know of any other stocking traditions you have — or if there’s an item on your wishlist you want to share with the world (manifestation is a thing, right!?).
Need dinner inspiration tonight? Our recipe index has you covered.
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Can you share the red sweater you are wearing in the photo? Love it! On the hunt for the perfect red sweater.
My parents asked for a Coravin this year! It’s my favorite gift from last year and they are obsessed, too, and want one of their own.
In the super practical realm we bought them a heavy duty paper shredder almost a decade ago and they said they think of me all the time when they use it - they are trying to get things in order so my sister and I don’t find ourselves with endless boxes of old paperwork and a good shredder was top of their wishlist.