Another gift thread - sibling who just moved out

[mbcdefg]

Since it's slow, want to suggest some gifts for my brother? He's 25 and just moved out of my mom's house (he dormed/rented an apartment in college but he moved back home afterward, so it's not truly his first time on his own). He's renting a house with a few other guys. He's a college sports coach and he does some bartending as well.

He requested touchscreen gloves and some specific soaps, which I'm getting him. My mom is getting the down comforter he asked for ... know of a good place to snag a plain, MM duvet cover?

I will probably get a laundry basket and fill it with some little household items or maybe a supermarket gift card so that he doesn't have to spend his own money on them. My mom says she's doing something similar, including K-cups for his Keurig, so I'm trying to think of more obscure items that someone in a new home might not have right away. Preferably things I can grab at Target, Costco, Amazon.com, or a supermarket.

Any ideas? So far I've got a stain stick for the laundry, assorted spices (any good gift sets out there, aside from Penzey's?), bar rags/dish towels, snacks and liquor. Anything else?

[jerseyjaybird]

For pantry basics, TJ Maxx?

Things I've seemed to need to buy every time I've moved: clothes hangers, trash cans, shower curtain, laundry detergent, thermometer, Advil, Pepto-Bismol, Theraflu, hyrdogen peroxide, bandaids

Will they be responsible for any snow removal this winter? If so, a decent snow shovel?

[Deleted]

For the duvet cover - I look for a lot of that stuff on overtsock.com - their reviews tend to be very accurate, so check those for details on quality, softness, etc.

For your bro, is he into cooking at all? Some basic household gadgets can be really useful (think - your favorite household tools, like silicone oven mitts & cast iron skillet.) Yay bro that moved out, how exciting for him!!!

[magdala]

A basic cookbook like Joy of Cooking or Better Homes & Gardens
One of those how to clean anything reference books

[pumpkin]

I'd check Overstock and Costco for duvets.
In addition to the items others have suggested how about some cleaning products and toilet paper? Maybe even some basic tools such as a couple screwdrivers and hammer

[sjh722]

Dec 1, 2014 13:20:03 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

I'd check Overstock and Costco for duvets.
In addition to the items others have suggested how about some cleaning products and toilet paper? Maybe even some basic tools such as a couple screwdrivers and hammer

H got me a small screwdriver in my stocking one year - it's a shorter one, and in the lid are all the different heads you might need (Philips, straight, and others I don't know). I keep it in my kitchen drawer and use it frequently, even though we have pretty much every power tool known to man 25 feet away in the garage.

Motrin, Tylenol...my sister lives alone, and she had a bad stomach bug a couple of months ago. She said she was in misery wishing for some emergency saltines and 7-up. (That's kind of specific, but we were laughing and my mom told her to stock some in her kitchen.)

Cooking/baking basics, like oven mitts, basic spices, maybe grill mixes/marinades. My brother and sister both like it when I make them homemade pizza dough and freeze it. 

Also, pizza stones are handy and you can pick them up inexpensively this time of year. 

[raangoli]

Light bulbs. Or a lamp or two. It seems stupid, but men don't seem to think about the obvious things. Or batteries for various appliances or just to add to an emergency kit. Which actually might be a good idea on it's own - an emergency kit type thing for winter storms, power outages, etc.

I'd also check Ikea for the duvet cover. They have really plain ones that are probably like $30 (or maybe even less depending on size I think).

[Deleted]

YES TO THE SMALL SCREWDRIVER IDEA!

I have one similar to this and use it all the time.
www.amazon.com/Klein-32500-Screwdriver-Driver-Cushion/dp/B0015SBILG/

It has a bunch of different heads stored in the handle. EXCELLENT IDEA.

[mbcdefg]

Great ideas. Thanks!

I know he already has a BJ's membership (warehouse store similar to Costco) so I'll have to find out how set he is on toiletries and warehouse-type stuff.

I also don't know if he's cooking or if one of his roommates does it for everyone. I know he CAN cook. I thought the spice set would be funny because we always joke about growing up with a mom who hated any kind of flavoring that wasn't salt and pepper.

The screwdriver idea is a good one. I was already planning to get MH a screwdriver since he said that he didn't have the proper one to take apart our coffeemaker (I think it's a "security screwdriver" or something like that?) ... if @shoegal's multi-purpose screwdriver can accommodate that task, then maybe I'll order two and give one to MH and one to my brother.