Christening Present for Nephew

anamara86

Hi all,

Was hoping for some suggestions on what would be a nice gift for my godson for his christening? Some people have mentioned opening a bank account in his name and putting money in until he's 18 - I'm wondering if that is a bit impersonal though??

Big Bag of Chips

There was a thread here the other day about exactly that.

One nice suggestion is a Tankard, that can be bought in a jewellers, engraved with his name & date of Christening if you like, and used as the christening cup to pour the water on his head during the christening.

pwurple

How about a small piece of furniture? Handmade, from irish timber by a craftsman... would his parents appreciate that kind of thing?

There are carpenters who make bespoke children's furniture, I think this one is quite nice. It's a seat for the child when they are small, for colouring or playing, and then as they get older it's a footstool or a small table.

CaraMay

Please don't buy a tankard. We got one for our lads christening and haven't opened the box since. I think a good seat would be a great present to get.

Big Bag of Chips

CaraMay wrote: »

Please don't buy a tankard. We got one for our lads christening and haven't opened the box since. I think a good seat would be a great present to get.

I used our one for all 3 christenings! And have all 3 names and dates engraved on it.

The priests even commented that it was a lovely idea, and a nice tradition.

I do like the stool too, though.

anamara86

Thanks for the suggestions. That stool is really lovely, the only problem is their house is quite small, so I'm not sure of they'd appreciate furniture, even if it was small

dockleaf

What about a prize bond- think the minimum purchase is €25 and the owner is then entered in a draw every week for the rest of their lives.

I often buy them as christening or engagement presents. Just a token, a bit like a continuous lotto ticket! Except you can always encash them if you want.

pwurple

Please don't buy them prize bonds... sorry... but I've lost those given to my own child, we've moved house three times and I don't think they would ever track us down even if we did win. It's just lost money given directly to the govt IMHO. My mum still has some given to 5 children for our christenings and communions, and they are worth about a total of a fiver now.... none of us ever won a single thing in 30 years.

Thread here on them
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=88089116

And the prizes and odd have just recently been cut again on them.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/chances-of-winning-cash-on-prize-bonds-slashed-as-rate-cut-29860577.html

Cash would be better than prize bonds.

dockleaf

pwurple wrote: »

Please don't buy them prize bonds... sorry... but I've lost those given to my own child, we've moved house three times and I don't think they would ever track us down even if we did win.

If you lose them you can apply for another cert, just a simple form to fill in or contact them and change your address. They can be encashed, transferred or re-invested anytime.

I know loads of people who have won prizes on them- granted only about €50* or thereabouts but it is nice to give a cert with someones name on it rather than a bit of cash. As I said it's just a token and a bit like a lotto ticket, except you get to keep it for your life and can pass it on after you die.

I have one that was given to me for my confirmation, and I have moved many times. You can check the number on their website to see if you have won anything even if you don't want to bother changing address etc.

And no, BTW I don't work for them!


*Here's the blurb about how much is actually won by people I don't know!:

There will be a €1 million prize in the last weekly draw of each second month, February, April, June, August, October and December. The number of weekly €100 prizes is being reduced from 500 to 250 prizes commencing January 2014.

€20,000 awarded each week, other than when the €1 Million prize is awarded.
5 €1,000 prizes.
500 €100 prizes (reducing to 250 from January 2014).
Over 8,000 €50 prizes.

D1stant

I like the idea of giving a pair of silver cufflinks (with initials engraved on) to a baby boy. He can wear them to his first interview and perhaps his wedding.

Also a tree is nice - parents can plant it in the garden and watch it grow with him. You could get the tree that matches his month of birth and hopefully, if it is a flowering or berried tree, it will be in bloom each year for his birthday. It's also a nice way of measuring him as he grows - if you buy one that's mature enough, he can carve his height into the bark as he grows.

We got our goddaughter hand and foot castings done and they turned out beautifully. We got them a voucher for Imprints in Mothercare and they made the appointment themselves - they are delighted with them.

Plek Trum

I gave a wooden Noah's ark to my nephew and another godson. The one I gave was the one on the left in the link, came in a box, I got a jeweller / trophy shop to engrave a plaque and attach it to the outside of the box. Lovely, handmade and a gift for life...

http://www.temptationgifts.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ark