Unique Holiday Gift Ideas for the Patriot in Your Life

Thanksgiving, Christmas and everything in between is our favorite time of the year! Whether you need a gift for the patriot at heart, a history lover, or just someone who gets a kick out of unique gifts, we’ve got you covered– from your grandparents to your kids! You may recognize a few of these from our weekly Friday Favorites posts over on Instagram. We included some of our most popular ones in this list. Without further delay, here is our 2018 The American Moms Holiday Gift List…

 

Gift Ideas for Men & Women

• Family Trees from Branches Art: These are the most beautiful family trees we have ever seen. If you want to give one of your relatives something they’ll cherish and hang on their walls for the rest of their lives, this is it. You choose if you want a 4 generation or 5 generation tree and submit your names and the wonderfully kind people at Branches Art do the rest. We talk a lot about the importance of history– our own personal family history is just as important! Isn’t this the loveliest way to feel connected to your past?

• Hilary Week’s Live All In Monthly Music Toolkit: This is one of the most creative ideas we’ve come across in a while. If you know a music-lover (or even someone who needs reminders to slow down a little and enjoy life), this gift idea couldn’t be more unique and gives all year long. Are you familiar with Hilary Week’s music? If so, you know how beautiful her voice is! This monthly toolkit subscription gives you access to one of Hilary Week’s newly released songs for that month, along with a whole bunch of goodies! The idea behind Live All In is to push us to live more purposeful lives. The music is a reminder for us to stop, reflect and focus on the themes in the songs that will lead you toward living more deliberately. As well as a new song every month, the subscription also includes sheet music, artwork, printables, worksheets to help you dig deeper into the lyrics and what they mean for your life, and even the instrumental track. You can use coupon code ANDREA15 (must be all caps) to get 15% off. These beautiful songs you’ll get each month are not available on CD– just to those lucky people who are part of the Live All in membership. If you want to give a meaningful gift to someone that’ll last all year, this is it! 
• Understanding Politics and Government: We can’t tell you how many times we hear people tell us, “I want to know more about politics, I just don’t know where to start!” If you know a person like this (or are one yourself), this book is the key! It breaks everything down about how politics works and what goes into it in the most simplified and entertaining manner possible.
  
• Statesmen Ties – The makers behind these ties wanted to make a tie with a statement, and that just so happens to be their motto: A tie that means something. Just about every state and country flag has been stylishly fashioned into a tie. They’re classy, well made, and if your dad, brother, grandfather, or friend has a state or country that means a whole lot to him, get him one of these ties. We may have bought our own dad a few of these.
• State Quarter Rings & Necklaces – We first told you about these rings earlier this summer, but they continue to be one of our favorite unique gifts. There are some strong believers that you can’t go wrong with jewelry as a gift, but jewelry with a story or deep connection is even better. Is that special person in your life super proud of their roots? Get them one of these beautiful silver rings made out of a quarter from the state of your choosing! Yes, that’s right. A ring made from a state quarter. They’re totally handmade, so no two are alike. For an extra cost, you can even purchase the punch out of the quarter and have it made into a necklace! Talk about a unique and beautiful gift idea.
• Smithsonian Magazine Subscription: This magazine is filled with the most fascinating articles about our world’s history and unique news. If you know someone who has a thing for knowing the history and facts behind just about everything, a subscription to this magazine is the perfect gift for them that will keep on giving all year long.
• Lifetime Pass or Annual Pass to National Parks: This gift is for the well-traveled parent or grandparent. If you know someone who travels the country and frequently visits National Parks, this is a fantastic gift! A pass gets you into more than 2,000 federal sites. It covers all entrance fees and day use recreation fees. It also provides discounts on some expanded amenity recreation fees. If your loved one is 62 years or older, snag them ones of these Senior Passes. If you happen to travel with them, there are benefits for you too! Traveling companions can also enter for FREE! Those senior passes admit the pass owner and their passengers (up to three adults, and all children under 16) in at no extra charge. Pretty cool, right? The passes costs $80 and you can sign up for one here.
• Official White House ornament and Congressional ornament: Every year both the White House and Congress introduce a new Christmas tree ornament. They go all the way back to the early 1980s and you can still buy the ornaments from years past. Brittany has one from each year her children were born, the year she was married, and a few in between. Every single one is a gorgeous keepsake and includes the history behind the design. This year’s Congressional ornament features marble taken from the east steps of the Capitol during the mid 90s renovation. So it literally gives you a little piece of the Capitol. Plus, it’s finished in 24k gold. Each ornament is beautiful!
  
• Eric Dowdle personalized paintings: You’ve probably seen Eric Dowdle’s puzzles. But did you know those same puzzle cityscapes come in painting versions and that you can PERSONALIZE? Seriously. Brittany had one personalized for her husband last year for Christmas and it was her favorite gift she ever gave him. Simply choose the city that means the most to you and send in a photo of your loved one(s) and the Dowdle team will paint them into the painting (an extra fee applies).  You can even have the version with you in it made into a puzzle too. Really, you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s just plain cool.
• We’ve got a myriad of books we’ve recommended as part of our Friday Favorite series on Instagram. We can’t be bothered with books that make us fall asleep, so trust us that these books are all winners. If you’ve got a book worm in your life who loves history (or you wish they did), you can’t go wrong with any of these recommendations.

 

Hilary Week’s Live All In Monthly Music Toolkit

Understanding Politics and Government

Family Trees from Branches Art

Statesmen Ties

State Quarter Rings & Necklaces

Smithsonian Magazine Subscription

Lifetime Pass or Annual Pass to National Parks

Official White House ornament and Congressional ornament

Eric Dowdle personalized paintings

 

Gift Ideas for Kids

• The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes: This Newbery  Honor book discusses a life lesson about standing up for what’s right– a lesson that will stick with your kids (and you) for the rest of their lives. The story focuses on a Polish girl, Wanda, in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same worn dress every day even though Wanda claims she has a hundred dresses at home in her closet. 
• Historical Sticker Books: These books are beautiful and filled with fun historical facts. Learn about what influenced the fashion of various eras while dressing “dolls” with the beautiful and unique clothing and accessories from their time. Separate books cover everything from the turn of the 20th century, WWI, WWII, to the wild and crazy 1960s.
• United States Wooden Blocks: Made by the same company as the popular U.S. Presidents blocks that sold out, the Uncle Goose company has the coolest block sets! These blocks are filled with fun facts, like the state image, capital, motto, bird, flower, and tree.
• Women Who Dared Blocks: If you’re looking for an inspirational idea for a girl on your list, this block set will do the trick. The 32 blocks each feature a woman who made significant contributions to advancement of women’s rights.
• White House play set: You read that right. A White House PLAY set. This set includes a fold out White House, complete with an upstairs and downstairs featuring real rooms in the White House. Your child can pick their favorite president because it comes with all 44 of them in figure fashion! It also includes flash cards to learn about each one. What a fun way to bring history to life!
• Thomas Jefferson Secret Decoder: Do you have a child obsessed with secret agents, spies or decoded messages? If so, this gift will tickle their fancy. Designed by Thomas Jefferson himself while serving as George Washington’s Secretary of State, this wheel cypher helped code messages so that foreign agents couldn’t read them. It features wooden wheel pieces threaded onto an iron spindle. This way words could be scrambled and unscrambled and keep early America’s secrets–and now your little spy’s–safe!
• Architecture Lego Sets: Brittany’s kids (ages 3-9) are all obsessed with Legos. The trucks and towns and whatnot are great, but what about building something from history? How about the White House, the U.S. Capitol , or even the Lincoln Memorial? Teach your kids about these great American monuments while they build and it will make the finished masterpiece (and they truly are masterpieces) actually mean something!
• Supertoob USA play set: You’ve probably seen Supertoob sets all over the place from Target to Hobby Lobby to random museum gift shops. They’ve got dinosaurs, farm animals, sharks and even fairies. But did you know they also have a USA figures set? It features some of the key monuments and symbols that make our country great, like the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, the Lincoln Memorial, the Liberty Bell and even the Hoover Dam (seriously). Dinosaurs and fairies are great and all, but wouldn’t it be great if more parents whipped out the USA figures set from their bags for their kids to play with from time to time?

 

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Historical Sticker Books

United States Wooden Blocks

Women Who Dared Blocks

White House play set

Thomas Jefferson Secret Decoder

Architecture Lego Sets

Supertoob USA play set

 

If you have any other unique gift ideas, please leave them in the comments below. We’d love to hear what unique gifts you’ve found this year!