Oprah’s Favorite Things
Posted
November 27, 2008 at
6:43 pm by
Hillary
Oprah’s annual over-the-top freebie extravaganza, better known as Oprah’s Favorite Things, got dialed down several notches this year, focusing instead on gifts you can make/purchase for very little cash.
Can you imagine finding out you were going to be in that audience, dreaming about what cool items you were going to score and then learning Oprah’s Favorite Things went on a serious spending freeze? I’d be thinking, “Damn! I was expecting all this loot and bling and instead I got a book and a few Christmas songs. Bah humbug.” Oprah said that with the economy in the tank, it wasn’t appropriate to feature big-ticket items this year.
Anyway, so the show went on to talk about homemade gifts. One mom participated in a sports equipment swap with friends. Another made hot chocolate mix and put it in a triangular bag so it looked like a snowman. A woman took treasure boxes and filled them with memorabilia from her kids’ childhoods, which were well-received.
And then there was Oprah’s gratitude box, where you give guests a note card and they write something nice about the host/hostess. All the cards get placed in the gratitude box so the recipient can read them. That seemed a little self-indulgent to me, but I’m not the Please-Validate-Me type.
Then Cristina Ferrare came on and did some cooking. She made this mustard and soy sauce marinade for the turkey. I tried her marinade a while ago when she was on cooking chicken. Didn’t like it then (way too much mustard) so I took a pass. The pumpkin chiffon pie looked good.
If you were out shopping and missed it, you didn’t miss much.
It did get me thinking about perhaps trying my hand at some homemade gifts for the kids’ teachers, bus drivers, etc. What are your plans? Any creative, low-cost, easy ideas? I’m no Martha Stewart so I’m all about simple.
Tags: Christmas on the cheap, Cristina Ferrare, homemade gifts, Oprah, Oprah's Favorite Things |
16 Responses to “Oprah’s Favorite Things”
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1. mully
November 28, 2008 @ 1:44 pm
*GAG* at Oprah. I havent liked her for a long time.
She probably had to put a freeze on her spending this year to recover from all the money she spent on Obama’s campaign.
(written somewhat tongue in cheek)
2. CarolAnn
November 28, 2008 @ 7:29 pm
LOL Mully I totally agree she makes me ill.
3. Hillary
November 30, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
Oprah has become a bit self-righteous, eh? She has definitely changed over the years, and not all that change is good.
4. mully
November 30, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
I agree with you Hillary…she definitely has become self righteous and she uses her show to pontificate on whatever subject SHE feels strongly about. Which, I admit, is her right since it IS her show.
Its also MY right to not have to endure her show.
5. momof3_ipmod
November 30, 2008 @ 1:42 pm
I don’t like Oprah, don’t watch Oprah. So I can’t comment on her show or past freebies but I can say that homemade gifts are something that my kids love to make and give. Over the past years I have taken them to craft studios like ceramic shops and let them make ornaments and special keepsakes. IMO those are the gifts that grandparents and parents will treasure forever not like a new watch or kitchen gadget that will be used for a year or two and then thrown out. They can go back and look at the little handprint or painting and remember the times when the kids were so little and sweet.
For our neighbors and bus drivers we make cookies and put them on pretty plates that they get to keep. You can get some of these pretty plates at the $1 store. The kids have a fun time baking and it’s cheap. Another good idea for kids is to wrap gifts (that are from them) deco side in (white side out) and let them color the paper to make it ‘pretty’. It keeps them busy for a long time too!
We even make our own Christmas shirts for the kids to wear Christmas day. I get some white t-shirts from Wal-Mart, paint their right hands in brown paint and then put their hands on the t-shirt and make a reindeer out of it (fingers are the antlers, the middle of the hand we paint on eyes and the bottom of the hand we paint a little red nose with sparkles). Then I put their names down the right sleeve and the year on the other. Over the years then they can go back and see how their hands have grown.
These are just a couple of my ideas. But as far as Oprah goes, I agree with you all…GAG! What about instead of doing a show on giving out freebies she takes all those things and donates them to kids whose parents can’t afford to buy them gifts or to a shelter!? My sister is on the board for Santa’s Helpers and I think it’s wonderful. She loves seeing the kids’ faces on Christmas morning when “Santa” comes to bring them their gifts in person and the parents are so grateful!
6. Beth
December 1, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
I saw parts of this show, including the bit where she actually read a portion of one of the letters that was written to her. On TV. To her audience. She read a letter to her talking about her awesomeness. Did not love that bit. I don’t really understand how she could rationalize that that was acceptable.
7. Allison G_MOD
December 1, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
My friends and I leared how to make photo coaters this year, and so we bought a box of 100 tiles at Home Depot for $14, fetlt pads for the bottoms, and a bottle of Modge Podge, and went to town last week making them. A set of 4 costs roughly 2 bucks to make, and they’re so personal. I’m going to make a set for my Father-in-law with hunting pictures of Dh and his brother when they were kids/teens.
We also made sets of glass marbles with photos behind them, with magnets glued to the back. Again, cheap and easy.
I also made a gift for my mother this year. The craft store had a square glass block, with a hole cut in the bottom. You spray the block with matte spray and let it dry, rub on some vinyl letter/words, shove a string of Christmas lights in the block through the hole, and finish it all off with a big bow and flowers. Super easy to make.
I like Oprah, but I’m no Oprah-robot. I don’t need her to tell me to reign in the spending and give gifts from the heart.
8. Svetlana
December 12, 2008 @ 11:14 am
If you do not like Oprah, just change the program. She had done a lots of great things unlike some “ratghteous” christians who just “bla bla bla”, and her ideas about gifts are just ideas, you can take those or not. But she is a real person and people love her for that
9. LOVE OPRAH
May 18, 2009 @ 9:43 am
SHUT UP!! OPRAH RULES U ALL DROOL! SHE RULES DID U KNOW BEFORE WHEN SHE WAS LITTLE SHE WAS POOR!!!! ANYWAY BE QUIET BE QUIET OPRAH RULES OPRAH RULES OPRAH RULES!
10. Patty
May 18, 2009 @ 10:01 am
Well, I have a slightly different “slant” on Oprah. I know somebody work for General Motors in Detroit. Those cars “Oprah” gave to everybody on the season opener a couple years ago? Well folks, GM GAVE those cars to Oprah. Oprah didn’t spend one penny on those cars, but she managed to take all the credit for it.
Now, remember when the Gosselins first appeared on Oprah? Remember how excited Kate was when she said, “OH, I’m so excited. Oprah is so kind and helps so many people?” Well, all the Gosselin kids got that day was a Build-A-Bear kit. Granted, Kate is a shrew and they have everything (except love and happiness) that money can buy. Kate was PISSED! That’s why I was a bit surprised that the Gosselins reappeared on the show several weeks ago. Kate went EXPECTING to receive something big and it didn’t happen. That’s a whole other story.
My point is…Oprah doesn’t help just anybody. She takes care of “her” people, if you know what I mean. And the whole thing with the GM cars was a farce. GM gave her those cars. She didn’t pay for them.
As for last year’s “Favorite Things” episode, I feel it was more than unfair to do that to people. Hey, I think it’s great that she cut back because of the times we were facing then. BUT, these people buy tickets to that show, thinking they are going to walk out of there with boatloads of $$$$ gifts. She should have announced to everybody way in advance that this year’s show was going to be a little different. I commend her for NOT doing all the $$$$ stuff, but she should have told people it would be different that year.
11. Patty
May 18, 2009 @ 10:11 am
If Oprah was so gung-ho about building a school for somebody, why didn’t (doesn’t) she spend her $$$$ on the kids IN THIS COUNTRY who need a better education?
OH, don’t get me started. We have enough people on welfare, uneducated, who should be helped here first. She could spend her $$$$ on those people first.
Don’t get me wrong…I think it’s great that she did that for the children in Africa, but there are tons of people in this country who need help, too. Maybe if we had better schools, better education, helped people to get off welfare, get educated, get a job maybe it wouldn’t be the way it is today.
I’m all for helping people make something of themselves, but YOU HAVE TO HELP YOURSELF FIRST. Welfare makes it too easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride. I have a friend who lives in an apartment complex that is Section 8. Her neighbors have lived there for 20+ years, never work, party all the time, they all have cars, they drink, smoke. Again, I think it’s great that the government can provide for these people. BUT, when they are able-bodied and can work a 40-hour week, but just stay home, do nothing, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and party all the time, and only pay $20/month to live in an apartment that others pay $800+ for is wrong. What about the senior citizens who are on a fixed income? At this particualr place, they pay $200-$300/month. That’s a big chunk out of some people’s social security check. They can’t go out and work at age 85+. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?????????????
12. mully
May 18, 2009 @ 11:47 am
Ummmm…..I think we got the message, now why dont you run away and play with all the other little kiddies?
13. Indian Oprah Fan
June 16, 2009 @ 12:46 am
Well it is a fact that Oprah gives expensive gifts to people. But it has never been about money or who spends the money. It has always been a way, in which she tries to create a special moment in the lifes of people who have asked for her help. She is a famous personality and she using this to the benefit of people, by getting someone to sponsor or support others, Because the name “OPRAH” gets attached to the problem or the thought, People all of a sudden are willing to help and willing to give things. Same is with GM, they got a little publicity out of it. Does she choose to not interfere or use her influence, the problems these people have, will always stay unsolved. Someone mentioned about she only helps “HER PEOPLE”…. well she helps everyone who approaches her, if people are racist in their approach it is not her fault. Having experienced so much in her own life. She only tries to share her happiness with people around her. A lady who specifically details the number of bananas or apples she wants in her green room, to make sure nothing is wasted, is definitely not a person to be wasting money. During the recession crush, there were people depressed watching oprah looking for a ray of hope. Think of them how would they feel looking at oprah laughing and luxuriously spending a fortune on gifts while they are hunting for a job and worried about their mortgage payment for the month. She again was only trying to be a part of them telling them, even if they don’t have money, life can still smile at them. She was being thoughtful to all of America and not just the part who can still afford to get a ticket for her show.
14. Patty
June 16, 2009 @ 10:55 am
She IS spending a fortune on gifts. I AM looking for a job and worried about my mortgage payment. I’ve been unemployed for 3 years! I wish she would throw a little my way, but I’m not one of her “people” if you know what I mean.
15. Indian Oprah Fan
June 17, 2009 @ 6:54 am
so how many letters or mails have you written to oprah about your troubles in last 3 years.
16. Indian Oprah Fan
June 17, 2009 @ 6:59 am
the debut was only to justify oprah deciding to spend less in the recession year, it was not to point out or hit on anyones personal life. Again I prayer for your difficulties to get a shoulder and god’s attention. Have faith he has a plan for everyone. 3 years is a long duration, you must have seen the worst and you are the one bearing it, I cant experience your pain and suffering. But i have hope that I can give you. Dear patty have faith, there is a ray of light waiting to shine on you