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Every year, whether it's Christmas or a birthday, some of us find ourselves scrambling to think up of a thoughtful gift to give (or for the creative ones, make) to our significant other. Whether they're parents, relatives, or a good friend, you definitely want your gift to be the one that they'll treasure. 

What are some of the best or most thoughtful gifts you've given out? And to who? What about cool ideas for future gift giving events?

(Anything goes, post whatever crazy ideas you have!)

Background: my wife & I have had an ongoing RP for about 20 years. Every year she comes up with epic gifts themed around the game.

- thank you notes to me from her characters for things like "the chance to be a hero," or "love worth fighting for."

- homebrew "magic the gathering" theme decks for the various factions. 

- a hand-written, illustrated journal that was a plot hook for a side adventure.

Oh? That sounds really interesting! I never really got into RP'ing and trading cards as a child, moving around too much to really keep in contact with anyone willing to play with me. ^^ That's amazingly creative though!

She says if we ever get divorced, I have to agree to live next door so we can keep RPing.

Always wanted to get into D&D and other RP's such as that, but there's not really a group around my area that wants to play ^ Lotta college students hang out and play together over the weekends though, near a local coffee shop. Thought it'd always be cool to join with them.

Dammit, all my library has is books.

My library has a shelf of D&D books.  They're really old and taped together, and the shelf they're on is kinda hidden in the back corner. 

My library seems to think that all the nerds around here are appeased by the fact that they own half of the first seasons of bleach, Batman Hong Kong, that one book that has the collection of comics that the movie was based on, and then a bunch of the simplified kiddie versions of batman, Fantastic Four, and Superman.

They are not. Not in the least.

"Ebooks" ^.^

Though I definitely prefer paper books, it's definitely been easy on my back, with all of our textbooks being digital and all.

I've got a bookshelf full of old and worn books from my childhood. Wish I took better care of my books back than though, my four book series of Eragon looks like it went to hell and back. xD

In my library, you have a choice between reading books 1, 2, 4, and 9 of bleach, or 10-12, 15, 18-21, and 45 of Naruto.

?Or you could read Batman Hong Kong over for the 30th time because that's the only quality book they seem to have, other than the catwoman book, but catwoman is like that one Aerosmith song with the emotional violins in the background: Whatever quality it might have the work's reputation is that it has a fandom only of softies and masturbators, and since in real life you often don't have enough time to convince people that you're the exception before they judge you and leave, you have to pretend that you're only doing it order to find yet more things to hate about it because you're writing a rant for speech class.

My taped together D&D books are still in taped together cardboard boxes from my last move (which was about ten years ago).

I have a plan for the future, don't know who I'll give it to, but it'll be great when I do:

The Shitty Brown Box Adventure!

A shitty brown box full of rulebooks and guides I've written for an RP/D&D adventure, with a story hook where the fantasy characters venture into the modern world in search for the ultimate metal. (It turns out the person who told them where the ultimate metal was actually misinterpreted their request and sent them to a Black Sabbath and/or AC/DC and/or Guns'n'Roses concert.)

It wil have a sequel (In the Sassy Black Box Adventure) where WWII/Superhero characters are sent to the Medieval Fantasy era in search for the meaning of life. (It turns out the world's greatest philosopher gave up years ago and devoted his time to growing a massive Marijuana forest instead.)

What I'm planning on doing is making a whirligig and then sending it to my sister, hopefully arriving around christmas.

Oh cool! I'm not much of a "arts and crafts" guy, so I'mma settle for something simple or bought.

Maybe a jar full of inspirational quotes and reasons why "My mother is the best". That seems like the easiest idea at the moment. 

Well, when I was a kid, I learned how to make Eggs Benedict for my mom, since it was her favorite breakfast ... and I've made her chocolate covered strawberries on several occasions. I tend to hunt down wish-lists on amazon or steam for friends. I got my little sister a book on 'how to get published as a young writer' last year for Christmas ... and an art set for her to do story illustrations because she wants to be a writer. (A professional one, I mean.)

I commissioned a Noel plushie from a talented friend for my Blazblue-obsessed spouse ... I had a local guy make a John Wayne themed clock for my stepdad ... I gave a scorpion-in-amber necklace to a buddy of mine for the symbolism and because it looked cool. I also bought him an assassin's creed themed hoodie. 

I dunno what I'll get in the future. xD

What does an amber scorpion represent, exaclty?

It's not really about the amber. The scorpion is a sign of healing and protection. ("Warding off evil," I suppose. I wasn't being superstitious, it was more of a 'I've got your back' type of message.) It also alludes to a transition in one's life. My friend had just gone through a lot of shit and I was subtly suggesting that, even though it felt like an ending, it was also a new beginning.

He was having trouble relying on other people at the time, even though he admitted to needing it, so there was actually ANOTHER meaning I intended by it, because allegedly, scorpions--due to their nature--pose some philosophical questions:

"Am I afraid of vulnerability? Am trying too hard to control my life?"

(You may have figured out by now that I put way too much thought into gifts.)

I'd invite you to my party ^ You give great gifts!

I give great gifts if I know the person really well and I have adequate time to plan. All I could think to give to my grandparents is a chocolate gift basket, because ... they like sweets. I also gave them a bottle of chocolate wine one year. They have everything and they're my stepdad's parents. I just don't know them that well. :| They don't really know me either. One shirt they gave me was so off, I felt like I was wearing a tent. The down feather coat they gave me was great, though. Warmest thing I've ever worn and it just looked really cool. I love getting gift-cards from them, too.

I just read a science article about this:

People giving gifts pride themselves on giving things that reflect knowledge of the recipient.

People receiving gifts preferred gift cards.

xD I prefer gift cards because people very rarely know me well enough to get me something I'd actually like or use. *sigh* I do get people gift cards at times, too, though--if I can find some I know they'll use. My sisters got Itunes gift cards from me one year. (My parents got me Starbucks. I literally never go to Starbucks. xD)

What are your thoughts between giving a person a gift card as a present, and just straight up giving them cash? 

Depends on the person. Some people would think a gift card is thoughtful because at least you know where they like to shop and you're giving them some freedom to choose whatever they like from there (within reason...) but it's technically not as useful as cash, so some people would prefer cash. On the other hand, there are quite a few people who find gift cards too impersonal and feel that getting one means you don't care about personalizing gifts or their interests. *shrug*

Now that I have the equipment to do so, I like to cut out personalized signs and/or nameplates out of sheet steel to give as gifts.  I just design something that suits the recipients and their personalities.  I guess when the novelty has worn off, they won't think it is as great as they do now.

And yes, I would prefer gift cards, myself.

Sounds cool.

Oh, it is ... it is.  I actually like watching the machine cutting out shapes at over two hundred inches per minute.  That's what I get out of it.  And the recipient (whether a paying customer or family/friend) gets something either decorative or useful.  It's a win - win.

I think I'm going to give my older brother my entire collection of console games.

My family is building a PC, soon, which will completely replace all of them.

I remember the first PC I built.  I searched until I had the best of everything - state of the art, and then carefully put it all together over the course of a week.  It was gonna be sweet!  Swelling with pride, I turned it on.  It was the fastest thing I'd ever seen, and it could do everything!  It had ram to burn, more HD than I could possibly use in a lifetime, a graphics card with more memory than any game needed, and dual CD burners.  In less than a month, however, the first pentium came out and blew my sorry excuse for a computer (which was no better than a toaster in comparison) out of the water.  About four grand down the toilet...  :(

I spent all my savings on a second-hand motorcycle and had it (with the help of some older friends) imported overseas for a former friend's birthday.