I’m debating giving my niece a crystal mug glass for Christmas. Is this a good idea?

Q. Need your advice on whether I should give this set of eight miniature crystal mug glasses to my niece for Christmas. My aunt has a lot of crystal glassware and she loves and uses it. I was at her house a couple of weeks ago for tea and while we were having tea, we chatted about Christmas presents and how it is so difficult to give the right gift to some people. I mentioned I was having a tough time trying to decide what to give my niece who likes clothes and jewelry but the expensive stuff which I can’t afford to buy for her. She likes to entertain and cook, and is really into the fancy cake and cookie decorating lately. We had some of her decorated cookies for tea that day — so cute and yummy. Naturally, I looked at a lot of the crystal she has in her cases because I believe it is so beautiful and she has a lot of different styles.

While I was doing that, my aunt suggested I give my niece some crystal of some kind which she could use when entertaining. She said she would take me to a really nice antique store the next day and help me look. We did that and had a lot of fun looking at everything. We came to this booth which had a lot of crystal in it. She pointed out these cute little crystal mug glasses to me and suggested they would be a “perfect” gift for my niece and said they would be perfect for a cocktail party. I felt too stupid to ask “how,” but I bought them because they are very beautiful and unique. I bought eight of them. They are a little over 4 inches tall and about two inches in diameter across the top. So my question to you is how would these be used for a cocktail party or whatever?

A. Oh how gorgeous these are! I love crystal myself and I can tell you these would be perfect for a small cocktail party or for a tea of eight adult guests or eight children. This is how they could be used for each:

Cocktail party

• Punch — just the right size for a taste of good cheer Christmas punch.
• Eggnog — again just the right amount of holiday cheer.
• A bloody Mary with a stalk of celery.
• Champagne.
• A Mimosa (orange juice and champagne).
• White or red wine.
• Individual trifles — or individual pudding samples (a small fancy plastic spoon stuck in the top).
• Individual jello shots or jello made with Mandarin oranges or fruit cocktail (same type of small fancy plastic spoon).
• A type of Ambrosia with a round sugar pirouette stuck in the top (and a small type of fancy plastic spoon).
• Fresh sliced strawberries with cream on top (and a small type of fancy plastic spoon).
• Watermelon or pineapple chunks cut so that about 12 chunks would fit into the glass (a small fancy plastic fork stuck in the top).
• Approximately 1 inch of blue cheese dip or onion dip in the bottom of the glass with approximately three or four celery stalks about 5 inches tall so they can easily be removed from the glass with the fingers and eaten.
• A variety of peanuts and nuts (a small fancy plastic spoon stuck into the top).
• Chicken salad or tuna salad with a thin cracker stuck in the top (a small fancy fork also stuck into the top).
• Warm (but not real hot) cheesy mashed potatoes (a small fancy plastic fork stuck into the top).

Tea for eight adults

They could be used for the first course and then washed and used for the third course as well.

• Any of the above except perhaps the peanuts and nuts; plus an ice cream sundae of any type such as vanilla with chocolate sauce or strawberries over vanilla or strawberry ice cream; mint ice cream with a chocolate stick in the top.

Tea for eight children

They could also be used for the first course and then washed and used for the third course as well. I think children will especially like anything in these little glass mugs and the small fancy plastic forks and spoons.

• Non-alcoholic punch; jello with Mandarin Oranges; pudding of any type with a small thin cookie stuck in the top, sliced strawberries; fruit cocktail; chicken salad or tuna salad; Ambrosia with a vanilla wafer; M&M’s; jelly beans, Sour Patch jelly beans, or warm mashed potatoes; the ice cream options for sure.

Bottom line

I think they would make a lovely Christmas gift for your niece.

This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 7:00 AM.