 Ultimate Guide to Holiday Gift-giving
by akari24
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Also by hidden_0_o Guess what time of the year it is… HOLIDAY TIME! That’s right, and now comes one of the most difficult choices a friendship will ever face: holiday presents. Susie and Emma hope to make this year’s present selection simpler for everyone. Our Rating System
In this article, we rate each item under two separate characteristics. First, we put the SusiEmma-o-Meter. This is our personal rating of the item – how much we like it, whether we would buy it, and of course, whether you should buy it. This rating system is based on advanced studies of the item; we research the cost-benefit while considering its quality, desirability, practicality, and general aspect. These facts are analyzed carefully, and with the help of our state-of-the-art machinery in our lab, we arrive at the deserving rating for the item. Then, we put the Price Range, or how much the item costs at the time that the article was written, using the following terms: Under 1k - Pile of Dung 1k-5k - Pocket Change 5k-25k - Money Tree Donation 25k-100k - Silver Trophy 100k+ - neobff4evr! Also, keep in mind that with the rush of buying holiday gifts, these prices might fluctuate a bit. Christmas Items
Our first category is Christmas items. This is, after all, an article on how to buy a Christmas gift! These items are also perfect if you do not know what your friend wants because they are in season. Scared Christmas Wocky Plushie
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 1 star. Price Range: Pile of dung. For its price, this item is not the greatest. I mean, plushies are cute, Wockies are cute, and Christmas is a great season. However, don't you wonder why that Wocky is scared? Maybe it is scared at how cheap and pitiable the giver is. Not a good idea. Bruce Carols
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 2 stars. Price Range: Pocket Change.
This book contains the best carols ever written by a Bruce, ever. And you know that Bruce are a species that is festive and represent Terror Mountain, the most jolly land in Neopia. So one should conclude that these are the best carols ever written by the best carol writing species ever; thus, they are the best carols ever, ever to roam Neopia. They are great for pets who enjoy music and singing, too. Christmas Paint Brush
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 3 stars. Price Range: Silver Trophy.
Christmas Paint Brushes are somewhat expensive, costing about 70,000 neopoints, but don't avoid buying it due to its cost. This paint brush will make any pet in season and they will look awesome during the month of Celebrating, though that probably means that they will not be that fashionable during the rest of the year. Gigantic Decorated Christmas Tree
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 4 stars. Price Range: Pocket Change.
This is big. This is huge. This is gigantic! Who doesn't love a Christmas tree? But this is not an average Christmas tree; it already comes decorated and will look great in any living room. But wait, the best part is its cost. It is under the same price range you pay for Bruce Carols, and you get something that is worth every penny. The only down side is that, some pets don't have a Neohome. Bummer! Holiday Gingerbread Mansion
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 5 stars. Price Range: neobff4evr. This item is perfect, but it also costs more. However, on the plus side, this item is a mansion. Do you know what that means? That the pets who do not have a Neohome can live inside it and even bring a Gigantic Decorated Christmas Tree in. Also, you do not have to worry about having an unfashionable looking house because this is edible, which means that you can start eating your house as the season passes! Card Items
On to the next category – cards! What better way is there to spread the holiday cheer than a nice card? Most cards come with a sweet, touching quote inside such as, “Have a wonderful season full of joy and laughter” or “Though it be cold outside you will always find a warm heart in me.” Even if you aren’t willing to spend a lot on a friend, cards are a cheap, great way to wish a friend a happy holidays! Gingerbread Seasons Greatings Card
Price Range: Money Tree Donation SusiEmma-o-Meter: 1 star. As pretty as this card may be, - hey, wait a second! Did I say card? The Gingerbread Seasons Greatings Card looks like a flat piece of paper to me… Anyways, while this “card” is adorable, with small gingerbread cookies on it, it is also the most expensive holiday card available. And wait, what’s this? Is that a typo?! Come on now, the last thing anyone would want as a Christmas present is a lousy card with a huge typo in the middle of its name. Merry Christmas Card
Price Range: Pocket Change SusiEmma-o-Meter: 2 stars. The Scorchio on the cover of this card is shrugging as if to say, “Eh.” I completely agree with the Scorchio on this one. The Merry Christmas Card, as its name suggests, is made to celebrate the 25th of the month of Celebrating. While it may be a good purchase for that one day a year, other cards can better represent the holidays as a whole. Also, the Merry Christmas Card is not fantastically cheap, compared to some of its alternatives, likely because it is retired. Winter Card
Price Range: Pile of Dung SusiEmma-o-Meter: 4 stars. The most basic, cheap card that there is. I highly recommend this if you are buying a card just to complete your present. Complete with a cheesy but sweet quote, the wintery scene will appeal to all. Happy Holidays Card
Price Range: Pile of Dung SusiEmma-o-Meter: 4 stars. Unlike the Scorchio from the Merry Christmas Card’s shrug, the Bruce on this Happy Holidays Card has his arms spread gleefully in the air a giant smile plastered on his beak. This card is very similar, both in price and appeal, to the Winter Card. (Plus an adorable Bruce!) Chia Holiday Greeting Card
Price Range: Money Tree Donation SusiEmma-o-Meter: 5 stars. This winter greeting card is beautiful, with a light, holiday color scheme. The text inside reads, “From one friend to another!” This card is not too expensive, but also not dirt-cheap. In my opinion, it’s the best holiday card out there! Petpets
Petpets are great gifts for any Neopet. You will be giving your pet a buddy to play with and interact. Furthermore, petpets are extremely versatile - just one stroke of a petpet paintbrush will give them a complete new look. Which also brings us to a tip: you can also provide your friends with a Christmas Petpet Paint Brush for their new petpet! Rock
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 1 star. Price Range: neobff4evr. Rocks are expensive, but we say, they are extremely overrated. These petpets are not interactive at all. And can you even distinguish between a Rock petpet and a regular rock? If you are going to give your friends this, you might as well give them a lump of coal. Abominable Snowball
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 2 stars. Price Range: Pile of Dung. These petpets can be cheap, but they are way better than... er... Rocks. Let's just say that Abominable Snowballs are affordable and great for their price. Not only is this petpet a snowman with life, more than these are great when the holiday passes to serve as petpet lab rats. Maybe it will even get zapped into a Snowbunny for the next holiday! GX-4 Oscillabot
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 3 stars. Price Range: Silver Trophy. Difference is beautiful! And GX-4 Oscillabots are not typical by any ways or means. They are not as hackneyed as Meepits and not your usual so-cute-cute-cute Babaas. Another advantages include the vast usefulness of Oscillabots, they are programmed to aid your Neopet in some simple tasks. Want more? Their maintenance is extremely cheap. Just a few oil changes here and there, and ta-da! Jinjah
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 4 stars. Price Range: Money Tree Donation. Jinjahs are simply adorable, and they fit the season and festivities. This relatively cheap gift would make any Neopet happy, but be careful, so as to avoid making Jinjah a pet's lunch, or dinner, or breakfast.... or simply a snack. Weewoo
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 5 stars. Price Range: neobff4evr. Weewoos! As writers, we admit to be slightly biased in favoring Weewoos; however, these petpets deserve all the attention they get. They could serve as an incredibly efficient and low cost way of exchanging letters and gifts between you and your friends while you can sit at the comfort of your home. The neopoints you save from the usage of stamps already pays for the cost of the Weewoo. Love Items
Everyone wants to know that they are in the hearts of their friends. Even someone without enough time or funds to buy every friend multiple gifts should go out of their way to send everyone one of the following love items!
Heart Shaped Sand Sculpture
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 1 star. Price Range: Pile of Dung. What is sand? Why, it’s sand, of course. What is sand known for? Being sandy, of course. When you walk on sand, what happens? It squishes and squirms and moves about, of course. And what is there to stop this sand from squishing and squirming and moving about within the container? Nothing, of course. I personally am not a fan of the Heart Shaped Sand Sculpture. Who wants to get sand bottled up as a token of a friendship? It’s cheap enough that anyone can buy it, but a friend might take that as a sign that you aren’t willing to spend a few hundred neopoints on them. And also, after just carrying this sand sculpture home, it is no longer beautiful, artistic waves of black and red but just a jumble. Rblack. Blred. Rednblack. Ugly. Simple Ivory Love Spoon
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 3 stars. Price Range: neobff4evr. This beautiful love spoon is hand-carved of fine ivory. It is very expensive, an unbuyable item. Everything about it is perfect – if, of course, you can handle its mind-boggling price. Heart Shaped Chocolates
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 4 stars. Price Range: Money Tree Donation. Chocolates! How stereotypically wonderful. While you may see this as an overused cliché of a gift or something that should be saved for Valentine’s Day, many think chocolates are a great gift at any time of year. After all, when does your stomach not have room for a little bit of sweetness? Heart Petit Fours
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 5 stars. Price Range: Pocket Change. A personal favorite, Heart Petit Fours are beautifully colored, bite-sized pieces of cake. These are shaped like hearts, and coated with a layer of gooey pink frosting. One of the three has a rose on top (NOTE: do not eat the rose!) Can you say, “mmm?” Bottle of Love
SusiEmma-o-Meter: 5 stars. Price Range: Pocket Change. A bottle of love has to be the #1 gift given to friends. After all, that’s what a gift essentially is: a way to bottle up your love for the person and give it to them in the form of an item or two. Now you have the perfect way to do just so! Extra Tips
TIP #1: Take advantage of the our price research.
If you are stranded by money, or if you are the kind of popular Neopian who feels a need to buy a gift to every single one of your friends, even that dude you screamed at after he skipped you in line at the NC Mall, then you may try to select many of the cheapest items and assemble them in a collection. For, even though quality is often better than quantity, this does not mean that a nice quantity of low-priced items would not look nice together.
TIP #2: Use the SusiEmma-o-Meter.
You may want to determine how many stars you will spend in a friend, rather than just price. For example, I will probably use up 3-5 stars with the guy who skipped me in line at the NC Mall. However, you may think of assigning a number of stars to spend, and if you decide to, say, spend 30 stars with your best friend, you may choose your favorite items to add up to that value
TIP #3: Be creative.
You can also be creative with the gifts that you give to your friends. Say that I, Emma, were to be giving a gift to Susie (whose nickname is Sushi). I could give her an Eye-Sha, Love Petal Plant, and Sushi Rolls, spelling out with the first letters of each item: “Eye Love Sushi,” or “I love Susie.”
TIP #4: Find what they want. Try looking at your friend’s wishlist and/or gallery for ideas as to the type of gift they want. For example, if they collect Faerie Dolls, maybe you can be the one to buy them that last Siyana Doll to complete their collection!
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