Birthday Gift Ideas? - Walnut,CA

I loved the Lillian Vernon catalog. They have lots of cute things you can personalize, like towels; and kids love things with their names on them. They also have cute little roller suitcases so she can pack her pj's for a sleepover with her favorite aunt :)

Anything art related is usually a hit! For a bunch of my daughter's friends, I bought several canvasses in varying sizes, brushes and acrylic paints. There are about a bazillion kits of painting, beads, stepping stones, gems for clothing, etc. Have fun, and maybe it can be something that you do together!

Hi there E.,
My neice went to a place called American Girl at the grove for a Bday party of only 4 girls. She really liked it. It seemed like a special sweet thing to do.
;)
Brenda Echo Park
a auntie too

Hi E.,
I am part of the commissions program for a company www.iseeme.com that sells beautiful and professionally bound personalized children's books. My personal favorite is "The World According To <insert child's name>" where the child answers questions about themselves, and creates drawings (the kit tells the child what the theme of the page is). The information & drawings are submitted to the company (on line or by mail - postage included in the kit) and then they print the child's very own book. My 5 year old LOVED doing this. Both of my girls also have "My Very Own Fairy Tale" where fairies bring letters of the child's name one by one. The illustrations are gorgeous. They also have "My Very Own Name" and others to choose from.

If you or anyone decides to order anything, please be sure to use my FREE SHIPPING code fsd12725 which lets them know I referred you and also gives you FREE standard US shipping on your entire order! No expiration. Hope this helps and I know you will love the books if you decide to get one for your niece (and she will too!).

I just saw that the company is doing a promotion through 10/18 where the author will sign any books ordered through this date! They also list a temporary free shipping code (also good thru 10/18), however please use my free shipping code fsd12725 which has no expiration date. :)

All the ideas given so far are awesome! I will be keeping some of these in mind for future use myself:).

I was going to suggest that you make a scrapbook for her 6th birthday with a bunch of Disney pages...maybe you can do a few pages themed for each part of the park. Then she can take pictures of herself and family or whatever she wants to of each part of the park and then together you can finish up the scrapbook by adding momentos and pictures that she gathered at the park.

Another suggestion...Disney Bucks for her to spend at the park or any of the Disney stores.

I also second giving her gifts that will invest in her future. My husbands Uncle set up a small investment account for my hubby when he was in college and throughout his life has given my hubby/us awesome investment and savings ideas. This "investment" sparked a lifelong interest of saving money in my hubby :). Since kids always get a TON of "stuff" for presents, we asked all of our close family and friends to either setup savigns or investment accounts for the kids and deposit money into them in lieu of large presents or to buy them EE Educational Bonds and then just give them a small gift for them to enjoy now. It helps to cut down on the clutter in my house and will help my kids with their education costs in the future.

Since they aren't doing a birthday celebration for her, maybe you can take her out on a birthday date, just the two of you. Lunch and movies or something like that. Or take her to get her nails painted or to one of those tea and sandwich places for some fun dress up.

Sounds like she is a special girl in more ways than one! She is definitely lucky to have a considerate auntie like you. Children, are all about the memory of good experiences - not necessarily a best "material" gift. So since she is into little mermaid, you could give her a "date coupon" to go with you to the beach to find shells or to an aquarium and if you want to give a tangible gift with it, then I suggest a beginning reader book about the sea and some related things she could use on her adventure with you. The best thing to her would be a special birthday-initiated date for just her and her auntie(ice cream is a bonus!). I'm sure you'll think of something good.

This is the perfect age for a "little lady" kit -
a mermaid purse, filled with things like : small sized travel perfume, a comb/brush, necklace, bracelet, wallet w/gift card inside, old keys that you don't know what they go to anymore, etc.. (you can even "pass down" things to her, like - "this is aunt E.'s favorite perfume" or "this is an old wallet of mine that always brought me luck and i want you to have it now")

or how about a subscription to "High 5" - it's the "Highlights" Magazine for kids her age and it's FILLED with all kinds of neat games, articles, pictures, etc..

Hi E.,

My daughter just turned seven. Her favorite gift was a bright pink cozy throw blanket, robe and slipper socks. We have actually given robes and throws as birthday gifts to her friends and they have always been favorites.

You can add to it with slippers and jammies, a stuffed animal or movie.

Good luck. I am sure you will find what you are lookig for. Also if she is going to Disneyland you can get her a gift card. The Disney store sells them there. My kids love having their own gift card because then they can pretty much get what they want.

C.

There is a collection of fairy tales for just her age that is great a really beautiful edition also. It is called Once Upon a Time Treasury of Fairy Tales. It is put out by publications international and has all the classics but cleaned up a bit plus a few rarer ones. You can find some really good unique gift ideas at a website called Leaps and Bounds also.

What a great aunt you are! Since she is becoming such a "big girl," how about the both of you get all dressed up and go out for a fancy tea? Huntington Gardens has a gorgeous tea in their rose garden, or there are lots of frilly tea houses around town, too. Then you can give her a tea-related gift (dress w/ teapots on it, her own nice tea set, fancy tea hat, etc.) to go along with it.

Good luck!

My sister-in-law got my daughter an American Girl along with some accessories... which were a desk for the doll and a white board for my daughter to use (that was also part of the theme from the doll). Their stuff can be expensive. Or one other time she got her a Disney duffle bag (a big one for sleepovers) it was Tinker Bell with a matching blanket and pajamas... she had her name embroidered on the duffle and the blanket... it was so cute. Not the usual gift. Or you could even make the American Girl thing a day outing for you and her and then she can pick the doll she likes. They have a store in southern California.

Hello, Do you live near Santee? There is a great store there called Bears, Buddies and Toys (or something like that). It is located in the Santee Target shopping center near Game Stop. It has the cutest, lifelike dolls and other special gifts (games, clothes, jewelry, etc.). I love it and can't go in just on a whim. I get crazy there for my grandchildren.
K. K.

Take her to lunch, maybe rainforest cafe and for a manicure and pedicure little girls and big girls just love that. Maybe even get her hair done.
She will remember that for a long time. Take some fun pictures and scrapbook them for her and you. J.

I think it depends on the childs interests but my friends daughter loved it when I bought her a butterfly garden. The kids get to watch them grow from catepillars onto butterflies in a special house. You order them online. I bought hers at fat brain toys. They also sell ladybug gardens and other types of animals that you can watch grow....

Hi, E.....
I have not read the responses yet, so forgive me if I am repeating someone else's suggestion. My daughter just turned 6, and we did a spa day. She and I went to a day spa and had manicures, pedicures and mini facials, followed by a trip to the ice cream shop. It took a good part of the day, and I have to tell you, she felt like a princess!!! She couldn't wait for her birthday party and school to show off her nails and toes! :) (she may have felt like a princess, but it made me feel like a fairy god mother)... Good luck and have fun!

L.

How about a "Girls Day Out?" I take my nieces for lunch followed by a manicure and a little shopping. It has become a tradition and my now 16-year old niece says it is her favorite birthday gift.

E.,
Since you like to scrapbook, you can make her a little book about you. Or maybe even about you and her! Some of her favorite things, your favorite things, the things you like that are the same. Add pics of you, her and you both together. Do a cute 6X6 or 8X8, it doesn't have to be fancy, just lets her know that you think she is pretty terrific!

~~D.

How about a scrapbook where she can put pictures from her Disneyland Birthday trip?

Hello E.,
That's very sweet of you. I'm sure you two are very special to each other. How about making her a scrapbook, with the two of you as the theme? My daughter also have a special aunt (not her only aunt, but the only one in the States), I'm sure if she had one from her aunt, she would cherish it forever.

How about taking her for a girls afternoon, compleate with getting her nails painted or maybe a cool hair do. Rainbow kids in Yorba Linda will style her hair with twists and beads then they stray glitter stray as a final touch. They do a great job! Have fun, I too only have boys and love to do special girl things with my niece.
S.

How about Build a Bear? http://www.buildabear.com/ Then some lunch / dinner after.

Buy her a share of Disney stock and start teaching her about saving money and investing. This sounds very dry for a 6-yr-old, I know. Throw in a girlie Disney trinket for the here-and-now fun factor but meanwhile explain to her that the stock means she owns a tiny percent of The Magic Kingdom and that if she saves it for a long time it will bring her great treasures. Because of this miserable economy and several financial setbacks my family has suffered in the past year I have been doing a lot of reading on personal finance and I view money in an entirely different light now. I am wishing that somebody had given me a financial education when I was a child (not a teen, not an adult but as a school kid) and lit a fire under me about saving and investing at a young age. Your niece may not need much now but I'll bet when she's ready for college or her first house she will be grateful for every extra dollar she has. You could buy her one share per year, have the dividends reinvested and it can grow into a nice pile of money for her. Have fun with this.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with etsy.com, but they have great things on there that are very well made and can be personalized! Here are a couple links:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32533817&...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32490882&...

Hey, E.. I just got my neice a "My First Workout" set. It's totally different and off the wall and unique, plus it's good for them and she has a blast with it. There are weights, a step, a video, some bands and leg/wrist warmers/headband. It's pink and really girlie. Lots of fun. I got mine at a local sporting goods store, but I know you can also get them online.

Another good idea would be a diary or even a scrapbook set for her party or for school.

Have fun!

Hi E.,

For my nieces' birthdays I would take them out for a special "girls' day" treat. We would go and get our nails done, go to the Salon (wash and dry), and then lunch. They (I have 3 nieces) loved getting pampered and getting to pick their polish colors out and have people fuss over them. I would have someone take our pictures at the different places and then we would put them with descriptions into their special scrapbooks.

Have fun!

Just what everyone else said, she'd love a mani/pedi and get her hair done. So much fun. If you live near Poway, they have a beauty college where they do little girls' hair for a great price, and also Chloe's Carousel in Poway is a great place for little girls to get their hair done.

What about an activity at Disney like a princess makeover? 6 is the perfect age for something like that.

We have a place called Paint a Piece that has lots of fun ceramic stuff for kids and adults to make. My oldest Sister invited all of the nieces and nephews to make things for their xmas gift. We had a really great time. I'm sure there is a place near you that offers gift cards or if not you can make your own certificate for a day with her favorite aunt to make some cool things together. That's something she'll keep and remember the time she spent with you. Way to go on being a cool aunt!

Check out kids craft kits in your local craft store. I go to Jo-ann's and I always find the neatest craft kits there. Also Homegoods stores have a children's section loaded with unique toys and things- like wooden trucks and really pretty growth charts- stuff that usually costs a fortune in specialty stores or you usually can only find in catalogues or online. Good luck!

what about a personalized book? ISEEME has great products. There's another book that you can put a picture in. I think it's called Flatter Me? Good luck.

How about a scrapbook started by you of special moments the two of you have shared and make it something you can work on together. Or make it up to her 6 years with added room for the two of you to work on together? My daughter just turned 6 and that was one of her favorite gifts, a scrapbook started by one of her little friends with pictures of things they have done together. Just an idea.

try going to www.etsy.com
They have TONS of great products made by artisans.
LOVELY stuff.

Or, you could get her something with her birthstone on it.... like a pendant or something, to wear on special occasions.

Or, a locket. My daughter is 6 years old now, and she loves the locket I got her. It is very dear to her.
And you could inscribe it with the date on it, for sentimental celebration and for her to remember, when she is much older.

Or, a photo pillow, with a photo of you AND her on it.
You can get it from www.kodakgallery.com

Just some quick ideas off the top of my head.

All the best,
Susan

How about a gift certificate to Color Me Mine? Perhaps it can be one part of a whole day of fun for the two of you to spend together... painting at Color Me Mine followed by lunch. I'm sure she would love the one-on-one time with her Auntie!

I will suggest having "tea time" with her. You don't have to go out to a fancy tea house, if money is an issue. My daughter is 14 now and we still remember the times we would have tea parties and pretence we were "fancy". Send her an invitation inviting her to your house for tea time and to come dressed like a princess. You can set the stage with pretty flowers, linen, etc. You can buy her her own tea set, if you'd like. Serve some lil sandwiches, bisquits, etc., but everthing petite. (BTW, my daughter liked her tea like the British - with milk.) These tea parties give you an opportunity to talk, laugh, and bond. And hopefully, more tea times together. She might even invite you next! Good Luck!