Overnight my children have graduated from young tots to feisty tweens and teens. With their aging, going step-by-step into various gift brackets, we finally arrived at the teen stage. Having outgrown toys, tweens and teens are now into their pseudo-adult type gifting. This holiday season I needed a true list from my daughter as to what the top gifts for girls would be for teen and tween ages. The results were enlightening.
Needless to say I should have packed away all my Caboodles, scrunchies, my checkered Vans and teal Chuck Taylors, coupled with my neon colored clothing, scrunchies, bell bottoms and overalls. 30 years later and my youth is that of my daughter, apparently they are called VSCO girls – albeit sometimes an insult, other times not – we just thought we were trendy when we coveted these must-haves the teens of today desire. Might I suggest to my daughter to pack away all these items for her daughter in an airtight time capsule. They would make perfect gifts for girls in the next 30 years. I digress.
Her list was comprised of the aforementioned and a few functional and tech savvy gifts, here is what we found are the top gifts for girls that are teen and tween ages. Best part, all of these gifts are plenty affordable, won’t break your budget or the bank and you’ll be winning at this parenting gig.
1. Unique Fragrances with Demeter
Remember when CK One was all the rage? A perfume and cologne in one that was totally unisex but smelled completely different on everyone? Yeah me too. While I refuse to wear the scent as a grown woman, I do find myself reminiscing of my youth when the fragrance hits the olfactory senses.
So this year, why not step up the fragrance game for any young woman with Demeter’s Fragrance Library. Moms, you all know Demeter and their signature scents, the bottle is unmistakable and so are their scents. I remember rushing out to purchase Grass after it first debuted in the late 90s.
Today, our daughters can enjoy the wide variety of signature scents of Baby Powder, Pure Soap, Kitten Fur, Sunshine, Gin & Tonic, Clean Skin, Wet Garden, Salt Air, Lavender, Jasmine, Mandarin Orange and Myrrh. In Demeter’s Signature Foolproof Blending Sampler, they can create a scent all their own that is unique to their own personality. Just in time for the holidays is the Winter Wonders Roll On Perfume Oil Blending Pack with the rich scents of Mulled Cider, Purple Iris, Musk#7, Egg Nog, Blue Spruce, Whiskey Tobacco, where these scents can be layered on the skin to create a fragrance and scent all their own. Use Demeter’s recipe blends or create your own! Find the scents online at the Demeter site, Amazon, or your local store – use the store finder to see where you can purchase locally.
2. Cellphone & Service with Tello
Unfortunately the rule in our house is 8th or 13, you must be in 8th grade or the age of 13 to have a cellphone. Anything prior is a violation of TOS for most social media, and with kids these days, they are ALL OVER social media. However, if you feel the need to give your kid a cell phone this year for Christmas but cannot afford the latest iPhone 11 with the monthly fees, we have another option!
Say hello to Tello! For as little as $10 per month, your teen or tween can be gifted a new phone and phone plan that is budget friendly, offers unlimited talk and text, data, upgrade or downgrade anytime, and no long term contracts so you can cancel at anytime. Coast-to-coast coverage using the Sprint Network. No more lost or dropped calls, loading issues or slow speeds.
Worried that you have never heard of Tello, maybe you’re asking “who is Tello?” or “who owns Tello?” We are glad you asked because their mother company (ahem, Sprint) has been in telecom since 2002. Tello has been servicing as a provider for the last three years and are a leader in being the most flexible carrier in the US. We wished we knew about them when our oldest teen got his first phone as it died a slow watery death when he jumped into a pool with it in his pocket, lost the second one at school, only to be given a third to have the second miraculously show up. Add in all the hassle of managing locking down the phone and what not, we were thrilled to hear of Tello’s no hassle options!
3. Reusable Straws & Water bottles
Apparently you are a nobody if you don’t own a hydroflask. I had no effing clue what exactly a “hydroflask” was until I sought the knowledge from Google. Gone are the days of single use plastics with straws and water bottles, welcome the world of stainless steel straws and fancy named water bottles. If only daughter had been more aware that I have been using reusable water bottles for over a decade. Basically her whole life. Again, I digress. Yet, I love the new found enthusiasm of youth with their desire to rid our planet of plastics that simply are not recyclable because they saw an IG story of a sea turtle.
With that, I could not be more on board with the reusable straws and water bottles. I have a 40 ounce bottle I lug with me everywhere, despite not fitting into any traditional cup holder. My sweet daughter also likes to flavor her water with essential oils too, so we opted for the more “dropped often” version of a stainless steel water bottle from Simple Modern as opposed to glass. This still accommodates her desire to be stylish and functional. Plus the stainless steel straws come in a variety of either straight or bent and have a easy store canvas pouch. I stole one out of the lot to use with my Yeti for beach days and to keep those pesky Love Bugs out during nasty summer months.
4. Vans, Birkenstock’s, Overalls – Oh My
A little part of me died inside when I saw my daughter’s wish list for Christmas. The top of her list was a “pair of checkered Vans,” “Birkenstock’s,” “overalls, ripped jeans, jeans with cute patches,” and of course all of her remaining requests. Her titled list indicated in bold and underline, “NOTHING KIDDIE.” Got it!
Living in a digital world and even a major metropolitan area offers the luxury of finding these requests easily. A simple trip to the actual mall, the nostalgic relic of my youth reeking of the 90s, Annie’s Pretzels and Orange Julius meant I could find everything she desired. So I darted into Children’s Place to find half of her apparel requests. Jeans with “cute” patches, jeans with rips, and – the jackpot – overalls! Little Miss has been asking for overalls for a while now but I struggle with paying over $20 for a pair of pants she may wear once. Luckily they were on sale and under $20! Score.
Next stop was my favorite of the era: PacSun. Formerly living on the west coast you always felt on the forefront of fashion trends and PacSun was it for the grunge, skater, chill, original VSCO girl fashion of the 90s. Scoping out her footwear, I knew I had better go the old fashioned route and visit, dare I say, the outlet mall for more bang for my buck. There I could round up everything on her list and then some while still maintaining my budget.
If the teen or tween girl in your gifting arena isn’t a fan of the Vans, Birkenstock’s or overalls, alternatives are always available. Scrunchies are all the rage once again where you can purchase over five dozen for less than two Starbucks lattes. Lip balm is always a hit as a stocking stuffer or even mascara, can’t go wrong with the simplest form of makeup for teen and tween girls.
5. Stardust LED lighting
As if these kids did not have enough distractions, now they want to add LED lighting to the mixture? Actually, I think the idea is brilliant and a fun way to add a nightlight or flare to a teen room without being too over the top, expensive or distracting. The perfect gift for girls, boys, tweens and teens, these LED rope lights are functional, fun, satisfy your children’s desires and keep you on track with your budget. Spend less than $50 and you have got yourself a room makeover for your teen where they can transform their room with their varying moods.
These tape or rope lights come in varying lengths, we found a 32′ length LED tape light with 44 different LED colors that your teen can control with a remote. Tape lights mean easy installation to install under your teen or tweens bed, along the wall, in the closet, or parents, get funky and install in your kitchen for some cool effects and really wow your kids with your edginess. While we didn’t purchase the name brand Stardust, we did find some fabulous lights on Amazon that were more affordable, had great reviews, excellent warranties and coverage in the event of failure.
Whether you are gift giving for your daughter or someone else’s daughter, these were some of the most requested, top gifts for girls, teens & tween ages. You are sure to be “Gucci” in their book with one of these top gift requests. Long gone are the days of socks and underwear and matching PJs. Shopping for any female can seem like a daunting task, whether she’s 14 or well into her 40s and beyond, sometimes the most simple gift is the best gift this holiday season.
