Gift Ideas For Shoes Lovers ~ From My “Art & Sole”

Shoe-shaped chocolates and shoe-shaped cookies never go out of style. Gayle’s Chocolates makes the most exquisite high heels and men’s oxfords, and they’ll ship them right to my front door. Although a lot of fancy bakeries make shoe-shaped cookies, I really prefer the homemade kind, so get yourself some shoe-shaped cookie cutters at Karen’s Cookies (she offers several shoe shapes) and fire up the oven; I’ll put on a pot of coffee.

It almost goes without saying that birthday cards with shoe themes are the ultra-considerate gift. They show you’re thinking of me, but don’t want to clutter up my house. I love you guys! There are oodles of fabulous handmade shoe-themed cards at etsy.com, and when you shop there you’ll be supporting working artists, too.

In my mind, the best gifts are things meant to be used up, stuff like shoe-shaped soaps or paper napkins with shoes on them. Guest towels with shoes embroidered on them are great, too; they don’t take up much room, have a natural display spot, and aren’t expected to last forever.

My favorite shoe gift of all time came from my good friend Pat Jolly. A couple of years ago, Pat gave me a gift bag with shoes printed on it, filled with half a dozen smaller shoe-print gift bags. The gift designed to be re-gifted — That’s genius! And I really used them up, too, which is why there’s no photo of them here.  BTW, my ShoeStories™ note cards are the perfect “use-them-up” birthday gift. Get those and ShoeStories gicleé prints at claudialynch.com.

Shoe-shaped Christmas ornaments are a major exception to the “No shoes, please” rule. Since moving to an even smaller house than the last one, my ornament-purchasing habit has been seriously curtailed. And I do love my glass ornaments. These are a gift that keeps on giving, but not in a bad way: I can unpack them and really enjoy them for a few weeks each year, but nobody expects to see them on display every time they come over. Keep ’em coming!  Hint: Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, MI has a really fun pair of red glass high-tops that I do not yet own.

Another favorite rule-breaker is a cake server shaped like a high-heeled shoe. Believe it or not, I actually have two of these. One is stainless steel with a plain black heel, a gift from my sweet husband Jim. The other is also stainless steel, with a leopard-print heel, that Joe and Susan Gelarden gave me. That one came in its own fitted leopard print “coffin” with a hot pink faux fur lining and a clear lid, making it, I guess, a semi-open cake-sket (tee hee). I don’t believe I’ve ever used either one, but I do smile each time I see that semi-open cake-sket (okay, I’m done now) on the kitchen counter. The two I mentioned, plus several other variations, are available at Skyline Gifts.

Here’s a suggestion:  Next year, how about making me a really big chocolate cake shaped like a shoe? What the heck, just make me a plain ol’ square  cake and call it a shoe box; I’m really more interested in the cake and the chocolate than the shape of the thing. I’ll share, I promise. It’ll give me a chance to break out the shoe-shaped cake servers.

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