Bday Gift Ideas for 12 y/o Girl?

[laura]

It's one of my nieces' bdays coming up, and as I sit here and desperately try to think of something "cool" to get her - I am drawing a blank. Fortunately, or unfortunately sometimes, I am the "cool" aunt, and it's becoming a lot of pressure as I become hopelessly unaware of what is cool in the 12 year old world. So far I am thinking of maybe this:

http://a1377.g.akamai.net/7/1377/5720/20050401190047/www.sephora.com/assets/dyn/product/P101906/P101906_hero.jpg

Philosophy Birthday Party

But I usually spend ~$75. I am "estranged" from my brother and he is divorced. I do email with his ex-wife, but she hasn't responded yet to my email asking for ideas, and unfortunately even if/when she does respond, it's usually "the girls always love whatever you get them!" Because of the difficult situation with my brother, gift cards are largely out (long story).

So - any non-clothes ideas for a 12 year old girl? She loves horses and her favorite color is purple, if that helps at all.

[camberne]

The big rage around here are those "squishy pillows". I've found them at Walgreens for $10 each... they have them in different colors. My son wanted to get that for his classmate's birthday party last week (13 year old). If you did a gift bag of a lot of smaller things, that might be an idea.

[Rose]

Oooh I just got my Strawberry Shake 3 in 1 today in the mail. I think she would like that set. Do you live close enough to where you guys could go out and do something girly, like a manicure to go along with it?

[charliezangel]

I know at 12, i was all about my personal space. My room was a my castle and I decorated it so it looked like one!!! If you are willing to spend the $$, Maybe a new comforter set and some nice drapes, or a canopy to hang over her bed (you can get the ones that hang on a hook from the ceiling at wal-mrt i think. Or her own towles. I was a girlie girl and would have loved that kind of gift.

[allison]

My 12 year old cousin likes the Libby Lou place in the mall. I don't know if you have something like that near you, but girls go in and play dress up for a few hours. My cousin and neices love that place.

[HussyMcFlussy]

Laura - she'll love the Philosophy gift set and maybe some other girly stuff.

(oops I didn't see the no gift card comment)

[ssstephanie]

I like the Philosophy gift set. Very nice for a 12-year-old. And if you want to throw something in, maybe like a cool purple throw for her bedroom. There is a Bombay Company for kids, Target, Mervyns, etc. I know Gwen Stefani is very 'in' with young girls right now.

When I was 12, I was all about creating my own space with cool frames, art, etc. One gift I remember at that age which is very sentimental to me now was a music box with one of my favorite tunes: theme from Love Story.

I'm sure your niece will love you to pieces for whatever you get her. It seems like you put a lot of love and effort into making her feel special. Let us know what you decide ;)

[ssstephanie]

I just noticed you live in SF!!!!! I'm from there and live in Sacramento right now. Pretty cool! :D

[sunshineab622]

I got my neice's which are around the same age Gift cards for Target with some kind of body wash, lotions & fingernail polish

If you have a Claire's store in the mall they have lots of cutesy teenager stuff. Jewelry, hair bows, chairs, princess stuff

[laura]

Whoops, I forgot to mention that unfortunately I do not live close enough to get together with her. She lives in central Illinois, and I live here in the Bay Area. I am walking the fine line of "girly fun stuff" w/o getting her actual make up since she is only turning 12 and I don't want to cause any problems for her with her mom. Nail polish and such is fine, but I frequently get that for stocking stuffer type gifts for Xmas, so I'm just brainstorming at this point to see if anyone has any ideas I haven't used.

On gift cards, I am considering some $10 ones to stores with one central theme, like Claire's (she looooves Claire's, and that other Claire's store, Icing, I think?), etc, and maybe one to Barnes & Noble - the issue is that I can't get GCs to anyplace that could result in my brother and his current wife confiscating it and making her "save" it for school clothes / something practical. I firmly believe your bday (at any age) is all about that "stuff" you wouldn't normally buy for yourself or fun stuff you wouldn't even think of. Unfortunately my brother doesn't agree, and we've had disagreements about it in the past. It's easiest to avoid it by avoiding GCs, but the older the kids get, the more difficult it becomes. When I'm in the area (like for Xmas), I take them shopping with GCs so we can have fun, but right now that just isn't possible.

Thanks for all the great suggestions & comments - please keep them coming! :)

[Rose]

What about a magazine subscription? I guess she's to young for 17 and YM, but do they have something for the preteens?

[sublime311]

I think the gift pack you posted would be perfect! I would have loved it!!

I know gift cards are down on the list, but how about non-clothing GC's like mani/pedi's or to a hair salon??

Magazine subscription?? (Girl's Life is for 10-15 year olds)

How about a new purse and wallet?

No make-up, but what about a lip gloss set? Perfume intended for girls, maybe?

You mentioned nail polish, maybe you get get her a set along with a cool manicure tool kit?

Good luck!

[lawyerlee]

Perhaps gift cards to Sam Goodys at the mall? Almost all teens and pre-teens love music! :)

[charliezangel]

BTW, where can i find that philosophy gift pack? Thanks

[tigger8402]

When my cousin turned 12, althoguh is is kind of grown for her age, i went to claire's/target/walmart and bought lip glosses and a cosmetic bag and pedicure/manicure set, tweezers, nail clippers, basically all those things that they need as they hit "that stage". I did stay away from the make up stuff and let her mom buy her that when she was ready but she loved it. It always seems like she likes more little stuff then jsut like one big gift.

The current craze around here is pink and socks. everyone wears the socks with characters and prints and all on them.

just my $.02

[laura]

Thanks for the suggestions, all. I think I am leaning toward a hodge podge of smaller stuff, including the Philosophy set (available at Sephora or sephora.com). A magazine subscription is a good idea, maybe Teen People or something, as well as something purple for her bedroom and then some small misc, like nail polish, lipgloss, or small GC to Claire's.

My brother likes to try to make a case for me being a bad influence, so I have to keep things abnormally tame. :rolleyes:

[HussyMcFlussy]

If you are getting the Philosophy set from Sephora, maybe get her some of the Sephora Girl collection to go with it.

http://a1377.g.akamai.net/7/1377/5720/20050513180041/www.sephora.com/assets/dyn/product/P66119/P66119_hero.jpg

This was a big hit with my teenage relatives

[lawyerlee]

Thanks for the suggestions, all. I think I am leaning toward a hodge podge of smaller stuff, including the Philosophy set (available at Sephora or sephora.com). A magazine subscription is a good idea, maybe Teen People or something, as well as something purple for her bedroom and then some small misc, like nail polish, lipgloss, or small GC to Claire's.

My brother likes to try to make a case for me being a bad influence, so I have to keep things abnormally tame. :rolleyes:
You're a very good aunt. :)

[boilermaker]

If you want to be a really bad influence, you could get her a pre-paid cell phone :)

Is she allowed to go to the movies by herself yet? If so, I know my neices love movie certificates! She certainly couldn't save those for school stuff.

[mrsdrummer]

Probably a little late to the dance but depending on her maturity level, I got my niece her first real, nice, fairly expensive piece of Jewlery for christmas last year. The jewlery store by my house was haveing a huge sale and I got her a ring and her sister a pair of real diamond earrings. That might be something good.