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Twelve Days of Christmas Gift Ideas

Updated on September 25, 2014

Looking for a novel idea for Christmas gift-giving?

How about a series of gifts on the theme of The Twelve Days of Christmas? I have selected some gift ideas for each day, based on the verses of the popular Christmas carol. The gifts range from silly to swanky, and everything in between.  Most of all, this is a really fun, original approach to Christmas gift giving!

photo by Matthew and used under a CC license

The Twelve Days of Christmas: the gift list

without all the repeating lines

Day one: A partridge in a pear tree

Day two: Two turtle doves

Day three: Three French hens

Day four: Four calling birds

Day five: Five golden rings

Day six: Six geese a-laying

Day seven: Seven swans a-swimming

Day eight: Eight maids a-milking

Day nine: Nine ladies dancing

Day ten: Ten lords a-leaping

Day eleven: Eleven pipers piping

Day twelve: Twelve drummers drumming

On the First day of Christmas: a Partridge ...

Partridges are small birds such as quail, which are cute AND delicious. You can go for the real thing and give a gift of gourmet partridge. Or perhaps you'd prefer to give a more cuddly version, with a singing plush partridge quail, or an ornamental partridge. Here are some ideas to get you started!

... in a Pear Tree

If you really wanted to, you could perch your partridge among the branches of a real pear tree. Or if you just want to give a nod to the pear tree, choose something smaller, like pear scented body lotion, or a pear gift basket.

On the Second day of Christmas: Two Turtle Doves

There is a wide variety of turtle dove gifts to choose from. Depending on your budget and sense of humor, you can go with the turtle dove decoys or the Swarovski turtle dove ornament. Perhaps a plush turtle dove? Or a beautiful turtle dove ornament for the tree? Here are some great turtle dove ideas for you to consider with your other Twelve Days of Christmas gifts.

SWAROVSKI Crystal Silver Turtle Doves
SWAROVSKI Crystal Silver Turtle Doves
A pair of decorative turtle doves.
 

On the Third Day of Christmas: Three French Hens

Three French Hens? Yes, here are some ideas for you. You might be wondering what French Hens taste like... (you know what's coming) Chicken, of course!

Toy chicken figurines would work for your three French hens. If you want to make them look more "French," you could draw little berets on their heads.

Want to tickle somebody's funny bone? Try three rubber chickens.

On the Fourth day of Christmas: Four Calling Birds

Well, as you can imagine, a set of four calling birds is hard to come by these days, but these items will work just as well, and they won't leave feathers and droppings all over your house!

You could get some singing plush birds, which are very chubby and cute. You could get bird call device, so you can do your own impression of a calling bird, or buy a recording of bird calls.

Channel Craft Audubon Bird Call
Channel Craft Audubon Bird Call
Get some of these bird calls and you can make your own singing flock!
 
Popular Backyard Birds Calls and Songs
Popular Backyard Birds Calls and Songs
Or play recorded some recorded bird calls.
 

On the Fifth day of Christmas: Five Gold Rings

Well, Five Gold Rings could really be a budget-buster, unless you're really going all-out to impress someone. Here are some suggestions for various spending levels. Fortunately, gold rings come in every design imaginable, from fine jewelry to funny costume pieces. You're sure to be able to find something suitable!

Free Range Goose -
Free Range Goose -
How about a real goose?
 

On the Sixth day of Christmas: Six Geese a-laying

All right, more birds... Unless you really want live geese -- and I'm guessing you don't -- we used to have geese when I was little, and they would chase and bite us. I had a friend who refused to get out of the car when her mom brought her over to play, until we chased the geese away. Geese can be scary! But I digress. There are some fine goose gifts that are guaranteed not to bite.

Not to mention the whole slew of real goose food products. From a whole roasted Christmas goose to goose liver pate or foie gras, if your gift recipient is a fan of fancy foods, you're in luck.

Lladró Elegant Swan Figurine
Lladró Elegant Swan Figurine
This little swan will fit on a shelf.
 

On the Seventh day of Christmas: Seven Swans a-swimming

There are more swan products than you'd think, so you have many to choose from. There are huge (larger than life-size) inflatable swan pool floats. Or you could go with a petite swan figurine.

For some reason, there are also plenty of kitchen-related swan products, such as pitchers, dishes, and aprons.

Swimline Giant Swan
Swimline Giant Swan
This is hilarious! What if you really inflated seven of these giant swans?! That would be awesome!
 
Watersing
Watersing
Milk Maids a-singing! That's almost like maids a-milking. This makes me laugh.
 

On the Eighth day of Christmas: Eight Maids a-milking

Now, I'm quite sure that it's illegal to buy and sell maids-a-milking. You'll have to use your imagination on this topic and go for something that is maid or milk related, or metaphorical, or just plain silly.

Another idea would be Milk-Maid Caramels.

On the Ninth day of Christmas: Nine Ladies Dancing

Keeping in mind that this is a G-rated page, here are some ideas for dancing lady gifts!

Ballet slippers, Dance Dance Revolution, Dance Central video game, or... the Rockettes! Of course, they are many more than 9 ladies dancing, but have you seen their high kicks? Amazing.

Michael Flatley - Lord of the Dance
Michael Flatley - Lord of the Dance
Get this Lord of the Dance video! Michael Flatley leaps like crazy!
 

On the Tenth day of Christmas: Ten Lords a-leaping

Oh, the hens and swans and geese were much easier to find than these Lords-a-Leaping. Don't these troublesome Lords have anything better to do? Anyway, here are some ideas!

Lord of the Rings books or movies, Lord of the Flies (not very Christmasy, but...), Lords-a-Leaping tree ornaments. But I think Michael Flatley's "Lord of the Dance" is the best!

Bagpipe, Black Rosewood, Black Cover
Bagpipe, Black Rosewood, Black Cover
Here is a lovely set of musical bag pipes.
 

On the Eleventh day of Christmas: Eleven Pipers Piping

This is going to be one rowdy gift exchange, what with all the milking and leaping and piping. Here are some Pipers Piping gift ideas!

Bagpipes. Real Bagpipes! Who hasn't wanted to try out a set of these honking pipes?

A recording of bagpipe music. This would be more affordble, and probably less annoying, than real bagpipes.

A batch of old timey corncob pipes.

LPM199-AW LPMC Mini Tunable Natural Wood Bongos
LPM199-AW LPMC Mini Tunable Natural Wood Bongos
Want to make some noise? Get these real bongo drums and bang away!
 

On the Twelfth day of Christmas: Twelve Drummers Drumming

Congratulations on making it all the way to the twelfth day of Christmas! Here are some ideas for drummers and drumming related gifts. A word of caution: never give drums to somebody else's children without permission, or you may find yourself on the receiving end of a vengeful government created killer nano-robot infection. You've been warned.

Drumline (Full Screen Edition)
Drumline (Full Screen Edition)
Or get this movie, which has at least 12 drummers drumming. And volume control.
 

Let me know about your favorite Christmas gifts and clever ideas!

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