Useful as a closet accessory?

It's time to find my mom a birthday present again. This is never easy. She's in the middle of Swedish death cleaning, so knick-knacks and crap are unwanted, but I want to tell her we are thinking of her.

For Mother's Day, I got her the book The Gown, which Runcarla recommended. Mom liked it so much she passed it on to a friend once she was done with it. Thank you, Carla!

Now I'm thinking of getting her something Astrid enjoys. These hooks are designed for keys, but that isn't something my parents need (I tried that a couple years ago for Dad--she declined). When I was growing up, she kept a framed mirror on her dresser, with a small collection of perfume in pretty bottles and the like. She had jewelry storage, but necklaces and bracelets (she doesn't have pierced ears) often landed on that mirror for a day or two before she got around to putting them away. As far as I know, she still has that set up there. BUT they spend their winters in another house. I'm thinking she could hang these hooks in her huge walk-in closet, above the drawers where she has underthings & jewelry & stuff. They could be for jewelry on its way to being put away, and/or for scarves, and could remind her of us (That's Berlin's Brandenburg Gate with the Quadriga on top). There's usually a bunch of stuff on top of those drawers, "on its way" somewhere. These wouldn't hold all of it, but could keep the small stuff from being lost in the crowd.

What do you think? Could these hooks be useful in that way?

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6 years ago

Astrid

Veteran

I just gave it a try and it works well for necklaces, bracelets or rings. No earrings, because I only wear studs and no hoops. It doesn't work for scarves either, it's much to small for that. The hooks are made for key rings after all.

I like that you want to gift something useful instead of some kind of knickknack. I've tried to pare down my things in a responsible way over the last few years and I hate it if people buy me stuff with their hard earned money that I don't need and never would have bought myself.

Stagiaire Fash

Thank you for that demonstration! It looks like it really does work. She wears earrings extremely rarely, and a scarf is also very rare for her, especially in Florida. So I think it’s a go!

When I was just starting college, my mom broke into tears over my Christmas gift to her and said something like “finally, someone really thought about me and what I need!” I’ve never gotten quite that reaction again (thank goodness, because how awkward for anyone whose present she’d already opened) but I really try to think about the recipients’ likes and needs.

Anonymous

I would think a hanging jewelry holder would be better, especially for those non-pierced earrings. I have more than one and divided my jewel.ry by season to rotate it. The little pockets with clear fronts makes things easy to find. Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/BFOX-Ha.....#038;psc=1

Joy, that could probably store most of her collection. I think she's basically fine with what she's got for her "real" storage. But thanks.

anne

I think it is a great idea and have something similar in my walk in!

Anne, that is such a cute little houselet! Thanks for posting.

I'm glad you found your gift and I'm also intrigued by the framed mirror idea even though I don't have perfume bottles or wear jewelry often enough that it would need a landing zone.

I had similar in my closet too. If she's actively decluttering though, it may be an idea to have a backup like tickets for something she'd like or other experiences.

Suntiger, I wish I could come up with good “experience” ideas for them!

Tours or food/wine tastings or services they could use?

The thing is, they can afford service workers (they have a cleaner, gardener, pool guy, house sitter, and know who to call for lanai repair and to change the lightbulbs in their cathedral ceiling) and the tours and tastings they want to do. Being in their 80s and Dad’s slipping mental abilities are the source of their limits. So I’d have to be able to find a new thing in their area, or at least one they hadn’t heard of yet, that they could do and is in my budget. That’s hard to do. He has a trainer, she gets her nails done & isn’t interested in yoga (besides, I think they have it at the club) and quit her water aerobics class after we had gotten her all conceivable gear for it. It is so hard to come up with things!

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