Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here
***

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.....probably nothing because he's not the be-creative-and-plan-ahead type. As great of a husband that he is, he would never think of doing something like this for me. Lucky for him (hopefully), I like to be creative sometimes.

I will be giving him one gift every day starting tomorrow and lasting through Christmas Eve. Whatever day of Christmas it is will have that number of gifts. I also wrote cheesy thought-of-at-the-last-second clues on the packages for my own amusement. So if you talk to him, don't tell him what gifts are headed his way, although I'm sure he'll figure out most of them by the clues and wrapping anyway.

My intentions were to get everything inside a 12-pack Taco Bell box that I saved from the last time we ate a disgusting amount of tacos. I thought it was perfect - he loves Taco Bell and it's for a 12-pack. It was almost designed for me to do this project. Unfortunately, it didn't all fit, but it's still cute.

I gathered everything on the table and started wrapping.

Day 1 - December 13: 1 coupon for a free medium Dunkin Donuts beverage. I received this in the mail a month ago and managed to stash it away with the rest of the Christmas presents. I spent nothing on it, but it will surely brighten his day. I stuck it in an envelope and wrote "This first gift should perk you up for the many gifts to come."

Day 2 - December 14: 2 socks. I do all of the laundry. The sole of his foot really wants a taste of freedom or something because I am throwing out 1-4 holey socks with every load. I wrapped up this pair of socks and wrote on the outside "No more holey nights for you." In retrospect, that clue sounds dirty...or anti-Christian...or both. Oops. Pun fail.

Day 3 - December 15: 3 Hershey Bars. He loves chocolate and if he's smart, he'll tuck these slabs of heaven away so that I don't sneak one. The clue reads "My love for you is above the bar." Cheesy, but the chocolate will make up for what I lack.

Day 4 - December 16: 4 Snickers Bars. Yes, more chocolate (and that's not the last of it, either), but I found this neat Snickers tin that had the candy bars inside while I was Black Friday shopping with my sister. The clue says "Today's gift will make you snicker with delight."

Day 5 - December 17: 5 Chap Sticks. One thing my hubs always has in his pocket - chap stick. I stocked up at the grocery store when they went on sale and tucked these away. Now that winter is here, he'll be needing it more and I'll be digging through his pockets to use his chap stick because I can never find my own. We both win with today's gift...until I accidentally let one wash in the laundry and get all over his holey socks. Clue: "Pucker up, baby."

Day 6 - December 18: 6 coins (4 quarters and 2 nickels) to get a gas station coffee. You may be thinking "What?! Gas station coffee?!". Thornton's has any size coffee or cappuccino for $.99, and their cappuccinos have been our latest must-haves. They are so good and so inexpensive, and the 6 coins I'm giving him will be more than enough to cover the coffee, tax, and then a few pennies left over for the next trip to Thornton's. Clue: "Wake up with some energy for a change."

Day 7 - December 19: $7 worth of scratch off lottery tickets. Come on baby, win us $500 a week for life! The clue says "I was lucky in love to find a husband like you." Aww. Now seriously, win us some money.

Day 8 - December 20: $8 for Taco Bell lunch. I know that this is the amount he spends on his typical favorite Taco Bell adventures (because I am also the one who balances the checkbook). The clue says "Today's gift will make you run for the border." I guess that could maybe be taken the wrong way, but I think he'll get it immediately. Or he'll be scared.

Day 9 - December 21: 9 Arnold Palmer 1/2 iced tea 1/2 lemonade cans. I know he loves these and I almost never buy them at the store, but there was a good deal on them and I needed 9 of something that wouldn't break the bank. I didn't know how to wrap these so I used the rest of the socks he was going to get anyways, stuck each can inside a sock and tied them off with some yarn. Clue: "Take half and half of a minute for a break today."

Day 10 - December 22: $10 gift card to iTunes. We use these for everything - apps, music, rent movies. $10 isn't going to last long, but this is a win for me, too, because I will likely benefit from whatever he decides to purchase with it. Clue: "Sometimes I may tune you out, but you're still the music in my heart."

Day 11 - December 23: 11 Hershey Kisses. We had these leftover after making peanut butter cookies with hershey kisses in the center. I hid 11 of them in a baggie before we devoured the rest and the clue says "I save all of my kisses for you."

Day 12 - December 24: 12 snack portioned packages of Oreos, his favorite cookie ever. I splurged a little on these because it's cheaper to buy the bigger package and separate them myself, but he'll like grabbing these for his lunches. Clue: "We go together like milk and cookies."

So I'm excited to start playing Santa tomorrow, except Santa's pants are too big for me...unless I break into all of that chocolate.