Seeking Gift Ideas for Sister's 40Th Birthday

Hi R.. I think one of the best gifts you could get from a close sister or friend is time together. I would take her out for a manicure/pedicrure and dinner or a massage, dinner movie, shopping. ANything that you normally would not buy yourself. But doing something and spending the day together to me is the best gift I could ever get,

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What about creating a photo book of your favorite pictures of you two? Shutterfly.com has some really neat book ideas and the small books will hold around 100 pictures.

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Hi R.-

I am with a designer handbag company from California that is brand new to the Chicago area. The bags are beautiful and they are very unique and would make an excellent gift. All of the accessories and bags come in collections and the luggage will be out in just a few short weeks.

www.gigihillbags.com/tonivanschoyck

Hopefully this might help. I was also thinking about a broadway show in the theater district such as jersey boys or the blue man group? You could do show and lunch or dinner.

Good luck in your search!
T.

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Hi R.! Not sure if your sis is a wine drinker, but checkout goosecross.com. One of our favorite vineyards out of Napa Valley, they do all kinds of etched bottles. You can get one especially etched for your sister, with her name, birthday - anything you want. They have stock etch designs but you can also customize. We have done these for wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, Father's Day...and I got one for my husband's 40th bday last year. They are always a huge hit, and even after you've drunk the wine, you can keep the bottle as a special momento - put a candle in it or something.

Check it out! Have fun!!

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I gave kids toys to my siblings when they turned 40. A playdough can, a box of cracker jack cause the prizes are fun, a key chain game so when they are stopped in traffic they can still have fun, post it notes so they would be able to write things down when they lost their memory, etc. I just found random stuff and wrote a little note on each relating it to being old and wishing they were young.

When my sister turned 40 I looked up other things online that were 40 years old and put them in a basket. Some of the things I found were toys and foods that are still made now. She loved it.

What about a girls weekend somewhere. That is something I have always wanted to do, but have not yet.

I have 2 sisters. im 48 one is 50 other is 52. I recently got them and myself a charm necklace its a clear circle and it opens up its held together with magnet and i got each their intial charm a birthstone charm and a personal charm mine has a flower because i flower garden one sisters is a tracter they farm and other is a motercycle cause that one her and hubby ride cycle together. I told my sisters i got them its a sister thing they thought they were neat. also you might try an outing. one of my sisters birthday comes around covered bridge festival now every year for her birthday us sisters go out for breakfast and go to the covered bridge for her birthday. they time spent together is fan and memorable.

Hi R.. :) I am not sure how much time or energy you have. However, for one friend's 40th, I bought a basket and filled it with things that had "40" in the title. For example, there was a nice bottle of red wine with 40 in the title (or even one from 1969), Rolling Stones 40 Licks CD, UB40 Red Red Wine CD, U2 War album has a song "40" and so does Dave Matthews Band, retro candies from the time she was born, 1969 Historic Highlights (popular songs, president, costs of grocery items, etc) (link to one book: http://www.amazon.com/1969-Time-Passages-Yearbook-Commemo...
1969 Time Passages Yearbook - Commemorative 40th Birthday or Anniversary Gift)

Have fun! :)

When my sister turned 40 I bought 40 gifts (a few nice things and many little things that I got from places like the dollar store). Some were serious, some were funny. I wrapped each one separately then put them all in one big box. She was living out of town at the time, so I mailed it to her (actually I Fed Ex'd it b/c I wanted to be sure it would arrive on her exact birthday). Obviously if your sister lives nearby you wouldn't need to mail it, although it may be fun since it's always fun to have a package show up at your door.

In addition to the other great suggestions (and sorry if I missed some and these were already suggested)....

- have friends and family each write something about your sister and put together in a book (could be combined with the scrapbook/photo books ideas).

- same concept, but video tape people and put together

- similary concept, video of photos with background music of songs that speak to your relationship with your sister or about her (be sure to include "This one's for the girls"

- host a surprise party for her.

Whatever you do it will mean the world to her because it will be obvious that it came with love. Enjoy your sister's 40th -- it's not so bad (from this 40+ women's perspective).

A day at the spa,or some sort of salon/spa package.
If you can go with her, even better! : )

Hi R.,

There have been some great suggestions. I wanted to add another. I love the idea of time together and thought why not do a special trip together. It doesn't have to be expensive or long, just a weekend away and with the online sources you can get a hotel room pretty cheap, maybe even just do downtown Chicago overnight. But if you could afford to do a play and dinner that would be so much fun! I did like the spa idea, too but boy that could get expensive. If you both have kids it'd be a great idea to get away for a weekend, have a nice break together. My sis & I never get that time away together it'd be such a treat for us! Time together is such a precious gift!

Have fun!
D.

Hi mom I gave my sister the best gift one year and it did not cost alot. Our mother past away many yours ago and we got a lot of her things, well I got all the pictures my mother every had, so I made her a photo album of her life and it was the best thing I could have gave her and to this day she still have it. Have fun good luck

Perhaps a locket? You could also choose 1 or 2 speical photos to put in it.

Good Luck!

B.

I made a scrapbook for my sister's 40th, since I'm the picture person in the family. When my 40th came around the following year, my sister, mom and sister-in-law pooled their photos and made one for me. We included notes from each family member in addition to pictures. Even though it was the same gift, each scrapbook is unique. We were both thrilled with our gifts!

For my 40th I got a tee shirt that said that 40 was nothing but 4 perfect 10's and it had the addition problem. It was a really unique shirt and it was hand made with that fabric paint. Then maybe a gift card to one of her favorite stores.

If she lives close to you there is nothing better than a girls night out. That means the whole night. You rent a room in a very nice hotel, go out to a nice dinner, maybe get a message. They next day you go window shopping and just spend time together. i know many moms would say how can you just go away for a day. Well sometimes you need a break and when it comes to a sister, you need time together without the kids and husbands.
Another idea would be just visiting a day spa. there is a very nice one in Rockford. Again it is time together. I only have sisters and it is great when we can get together.

S.

Hi R. Give her a gift card that way she buy what she wants. Get her one for Macy's, Carson,ect.

What about a day out? You could do lunch and movies together and/or go for a mani and a pedi. If you want to get her something, you could get an engraved frame and put a photo of the 2 of you in it.

I had a friend take me out and I really enjoyed it. Of course I was pregnant, so my entertainment options were kind of limited.

I'm sure whatever you do, she will love it!

M.

When a good friend of mine turned 50, her husband had a surprise party for her. My gift was a poem I wrote (mind you, I am not a poet, and it took awhile to compose), but it captured memories of how we met, and special times while we were neighbors. We no longer live close to each other, and the poem was my way of capturing some of the memories. I typed it up and printed it on lavendar paper (my favorite color:-). It was tucked carefully folded and tucked inside my card. She liked it so much that she framed it.

I think a scrap book of your life together as sisters would be really nice. You can put fun captions around the pictures & remind her of all the fun things you guys did while growing up.

Hi R.,
One gift i have given to my mom, my sisters and one of my best friends is a custom stamped necklace. These have brought tears to thier eyes! I do make these, and sell them on ebay. You can do a 2 band necklace have one band say "sisters best friends" and the other with your names. All items are sterling silver and very high quality.. Here is the info: I am on ebay. www.ebay.com
my store is called: custom bracelets and treasures
You will find these under hand stamped necklaces.
You can always email me if you need any other info.
Good luck!

A fun thing to do is buy 40 birthday cards. Often you can get them in bulk from Card Factory Outlet or sometimes at Walgreens. Put stamps on the envelopes and print out your sisters address on 40 slips of paper. Then hand out the cards to friends/coworkers- they don't necessarily need to know your sister (I even handed out some to my local grocer). Have the people sign the card and address the envelopes. Then mail all 40 in time to get there on her birthday. She will receive 40 cards all with different handwriting on the outside!

You could also include a scratch off lottery ticket in each envelope. Or just give her 40 scratch off ticket.