Present for 1 year old

ncmc

Hi all, I know there is a gift and festivities forum, but I thought I might get some expert insight here! My niece (and god-daughter) turned 1 a couple of weeks ago. I want to get her something special for her 1st birthday, but I am drawing a blank. She has tonnes of toys and clothes, so I didn't want to go down this route. I would ideally like something she could keep as she gets older. Any ideas or suggestions? My budget would be about €50. Thanks in advance.

Cat Melodeon

You could get her 2 prize bonds for that price - I get one every birthday and Christmas for my godson. He hasn't won a bob but by the time he's 21 there'll be over €1000 saved for him. If I gave him the cash he'd have it spent on sweets and games. I usually give him a present as well, so I'm not no-fun auntie Cat, I just don't spend a fortune on it.

Another nice one-off gift would be a voucher to get an imprint of the child's hands/feet done in ceramic or set in silver. There are a few places doing this, although it might be a bit more expensive than your budget (the place near me charges €70). If you do go this route, make sure you also set up the actual studio visit. I got a voucher for this when my baby was born and didn't get around to doing it until he was nearly one - I've always been sorry we didn't get it done when he was tiny. A cheaper option would be to buy one of the DIY sets (vary from €25-50) and come to the house and do it yourself with the parent's help. It's messy but good crack and creates even more of a memory than going to a studio. Take photos too so the kid can see how it was done in years to come. Mothercare and many bigger gift shops/newsagents stock the kits.

ncmc

Thanks for that suggestion Cat Malodeon! That DIY kit sounds like good fun, I will definitly look into that. That's the exact knid of thing I was looking for.

Chesty LaRue

I have already posted about a fantastic gift I got for my DS, a personalised picture in a frame - has all Daniels details, like DOB, weight, time of birth, etc...). There is also a place to put a personal message like, Love from Auntie Kate.
I absolutely love it, it looks fab in his nursery, it really is a lovely personal keepsake, I have since purchased 3 for friends (instead of the usual stuff) and they went down a treat .

I got 2 thru their Facebook page www.facebook.com/Prints4gifts, and the last one I had to ring thru as I had a query about it, great customer service.
They have various designs to choose from and are very reasonably priced at Euro 25 each. Got mine within a few days of ordering, beautifully giftwrapped. Also takes the stress out of shopping for pressies which is quite handy when you have a new baby

goosie2005

If you're thinking of personalised gift, i got the silver balloon cd for both my kids and lots of others as presents, depends of course whether they have the name you want! Really excellent, great quality, amazed as how they integrate the name into the songs. check them out on www.silverballoon.ie . my 5 yr old still loves hers and i figure will put it in her keepsake box, when she has enough of it.
Also, If you have a good quality photo of her i would also recommend www.itsyourstory.co.uk , gorgeous storybooks which integrate the child as a character into the story, excellent quality again. Another company www.starstories.ie do something similar but don't know how they compare.

Moonbeam

A necklace or a nice photo frame or a photo album.
The newbridge slver ones are gorgeous.

ncmc

goosie2005 wrote: »

If you're thinking of personalised gift, i got the silver balloon cd for both my kids and lots of others as presents, depends of course whether they have the name you want! Really excellent, great quality, amazed as how they integrate the name into the songs. check them out on www.silverballoon.ie . my 5 yr old still loves hers and i figure will put it in her keepsake box, when she has enough of it.
Also, If you have a good quality photo of her i would also recommend www.itsyourstory.co.uk , gorgeous storybooks which integrate the child as a character into the story, excellent quality again. Another company www.starstories.ie do something similar but don't know how they compare.

Those personalised books are beautiful! I think I will get her one of those as I am a big believer in getting kids reading.

That reminded me that my sister had one of those books when we were young, I was mentioned (once :mad:) in it and was always madly jealous that I didn't have one too. Maybe I'll get myself one as well to make up for 25 years of not having one .