Help! What do you give to 10-year old girls as birthday presents these days? My niece is turning 10 this Eid-ul-Adha, hence I'm running out of ideas and time. As she gets older by the years, I have to email the parents asking them what she is into. Without fail. Boys are so much easier to shop for. Toys are ageless. In fact, I bought a Transformer for my brother a couple of years ago. He's 2 years younger than moi :D
Last year, when my sisters and I found out that our brother (the dad) bought her an iPod days before her birthday, we looked at each other and said "man, nothing could ever beat that!" After searching high and low desperately for an okay gift at Toys R Us, I finally settled for a Barbie's 2 bike-scooter, not knowing whether she'd even like it. I had to ask the cashier what their return policy was like. Hey, you have to get it covered :) I sighed a huge relief when it was something that she had been wanting for a couple of years. I could throw the receipt away now ;)
So a year has come and gone, and I'm back at square one. I'll leave the expensive gifts to the parents ;) I have 5 other nieces and nephews and their birthdays fall in average once a month, in the next 5 months. That'd certainly hurt my pocket. Besides I can't give out iPod, iPad, Galaxy Tab, PSP and what not, when I myself don't own one. Right?
I have to thank a friend for suggesting the MPH gift vouchers because my niece is so into books. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Yes, my brother is that big tree. Sometimes I wish I was that tree as well. (Bak kata sorang kawan ni -- Apa yang hang merepek ni Zarin? -- lol!) I'm so bad with books. I'd like to say I'm more of a tv or movie person. I haven't read beyond the "Warmup" chapter of Karno's latest book. And I've bought it like a month or 2 ago. Ooopsss.
But I kept wondering, while a gift voucher does make good a birthday present, but on its own, it does tend to show how much effort you spend on the present. Or is it just me?
I came upon some results on pop-up cards and books while I was googling for 'presents for girls' over the weekend. I remembered that I crafted a few pop-up cards way back when. Nothing fancy really. So I decided to embark on that path again. There are some really amazing ones, but they're beyond my capability. I mean, I could try, but it may take me a longer time and it won't come out as I imagine :)
Anyways... here's a clip of my niece's birthday card.
Specials THANKS! to creativepopupcards, kurahiromi and templekate for the inspirations.
My sister, who shares the same birth day as my niece, came by the house while I was working on the card. She was like "Aishah nya tak de ke?" Like my friend put it - "baik punya hint" :D
Oklah, kasi canlah kan... here's a sneak peak
Last year, when my sisters and I found out that our brother (the dad) bought her an iPod days before her birthday, we looked at each other and said "man, nothing could ever beat that!" After searching high and low desperately for an okay gift at Toys R Us, I finally settled for a Barbie's 2 bike-scooter, not knowing whether she'd even like it. I had to ask the cashier what their return policy was like. Hey, you have to get it covered :) I sighed a huge relief when it was something that she had been wanting for a couple of years. I could throw the receipt away now ;)
So a year has come and gone, and I'm back at square one. I'll leave the expensive gifts to the parents ;) I have 5 other nieces and nephews and their birthdays fall in average once a month, in the next 5 months. That'd certainly hurt my pocket. Besides I can't give out iPod, iPad, Galaxy Tab, PSP and what not, when I myself don't own one. Right?
I have to thank a friend for suggesting the MPH gift vouchers because my niece is so into books. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Yes, my brother is that big tree. Sometimes I wish I was that tree as well. (Bak kata sorang kawan ni -- Apa yang hang merepek ni Zarin? -- lol!) I'm so bad with books. I'd like to say I'm more of a tv or movie person. I haven't read beyond the "Warmup" chapter of Karno's latest book. And I've bought it like a month or 2 ago. Ooopsss.
But I kept wondering, while a gift voucher does make good a birthday present, but on its own, it does tend to show how much effort you spend on the present. Or is it just me?
I came upon some results on pop-up cards and books while I was googling for 'presents for girls' over the weekend. I remembered that I crafted a few pop-up cards way back when. Nothing fancy really. So I decided to embark on that path again. There are some really amazing ones, but they're beyond my capability. I mean, I could try, but it may take me a longer time and it won't come out as I imagine :)
Anyways... here's a clip of my niece's birthday card.
Specials THANKS! to creativepopupcards, kurahiromi and templekate for the inspirations.
My sister, who shares the same birth day as my niece, came by the house while I was working on the card. She was like "Aishah nya tak de ke?" Like my friend put it - "baik punya hint" :D
Oklah, kasi canlah kan... here's a sneak peak
HAPPY BIRTHDAY IKA and AISHAH!
mak oiii fancy nya the pop-up card!! i thought the front of ika's was cute - a bit ransom note-ish ;) but that made it cool for me! rajin betul you zarin!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the late comment bro. Was a bit tight with the cows! Hehe. So, what did you get for your niece? My daughter just turned 11, we got her a Swatch.
ReplyDeleteSila: I like your "ransom note-ish" term. Haha... I looooove doing ransom note-ish cards. hehe... In a way, it's for hiding my hideous handwriting. i'm blaming the keyboard and 'swipe-screen' hp :)
ReplyDeleteDiket: eh, tak wajib pun tinggal komen. but thanks ;) aku belikan cupcakes utk bday dia, mph vouchers & some money. the parents exchanged the money from us siblings and topped it up and got her an ipod. so ok le :)
eh i commented bt hilang .. dank .. was saying that sometimes i cheated and give them money, so they can buy what they really want :) so what was the present??
ReplyDeletethat's so sweet to have home made pop-up card! i'd happily take book vouchers any day! swatch is also something i'll happily take any day ;)
ReplyDeletekak June: you commented in FB itself. yg psl "moolah" tu kan? i just gave her MPH gift vouchers and some cash. My bro topped up the cash collection and bought her an ipod :)
ReplyDeleteLil: thanks! yeah, I would have guessed that too :)