Now that we’re on the other side of the holidays, I have found myself wanting to share our big hits. Shopping for gifts can be tricky so I’peanut butter roll hoping these ideas can be helpful all year long for birthdays and other occasions. What I’ve got for you in this post are 10 gifts that I gave or received that were big hits. The gifts are a little all over the place but I think it’s a fun and useful round up.

You’ll also see one miss because it’s too funny not to share and a reminder of the risk we take when we get sucked in by social media ads. I have been a fan of custom photo gifts for many years. One of my favorite photo gifts to give family is a calendar. I started this 16 years ago when Sullie was a puppy and I created 12 months of cute puppy and family photos. These days, the photo calendars are pretty heavy on the Finn photos.

Most calendar making sites will let you customize the dates to add in family birthdays and significant events which is a nice personal touch too. This year I also did photo mugs and was so pleased by the size and quality of them. I’ve also done a lot of canvas prints in recent years. I typically order from MPIX and find their quality to be excellent. I am always trying to come up with creative, outside of the box ideas for my dad and I think I nailed it this year with a selection of freshly milled heirloom grains from Anson Mills. They based in South Carolina and specialize in native stone-ground organic ingredients milled from new crop heirloom grains, legumes, and oil seeds.

Y’all know my dad enjoys cooking, baking and bread making so I ordered him Carolina Gold rice, polenta, grits, bread flour, rye flour and pizza flour. If you have a foodie in your life, check out Anson Mills or other small mills. In 2021 I did an awesome holiday shopping experience with Dick’s Sporting Goods and it made me an even bigger fan of the brand than I already was. During that holiday shop, I learned about a new men’s private label athleisure brand Dick’s had just launched. Highly recommend as a lulu-esque alternative. You can shop VRST on their dedicated website, the Dick’s website or in-store.

Speaking of lululemon, I got my dad hooked on their Pacebreaker Shorts years ago and the love is still going strong. This year I got him the linerless version for something different. These shorts are awesome for working out and causal day-to-day wear. Christmas and then found something similar for my mom this year. My grandmother loves her and wears it while she’s sitting out on the balcony. I thought the pockets would give her a great place to stash her tissues.