Those cookbooks will be practical, usable heirlooms your girls can pass down to their own daughters — what a wonderful way to show you care for them.
No kids or family members here to gift and I’ve donated so many hats and scarves (which are easiest to whip up in a hurry) that I have already tried something different this year. I walk daily on a popular bike path that parallels a busy road and thus has wire fencing along several portions. I made a dozen red/green/white Christmas star ornaments with loops, all different designs, and went out very early one day when no one was around, to hang them on the wire fencing, spaced about two feet apart. I then walked on to a local shopping center to run errands and returned along the bike path a couple of hours later.
All the ornaments were gone! My good deed for the community to brighten up their trees. Sorry I don’t have specific patterns, since I just make them up as I go, but you can Google “free crochet pattern Christmas star” and probably approximate what I did. Yes, that velvet yarn is fabulous and will be much appreciated. 🙂