One of the most coming-of-age birthdays for a young woman is her sweet sixteen. America's fascination with this celebration is significant; you may remember watching it play out on MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen. 

The show documents a very privileged version of the sixteenth birthday with gifts ranging from diamond encrusted watches to very expensive sports cars. While the docu-drama is entertaining to watch, these sweet sixteen gifts are not only unnecessary, they are way over-the-top. 

As far as other gift lists, you'll see a lot of ideas that are novel but lack either practicality or sentiment. Is your daughter really going to wear that shirt that says "Sweet 16 Princess" on it? This collection of thoughtful sweet sixteen gift ideas will help you find a gift that can genuinely enhance your teen's life. 

Promise Ring

Some might think to give your daughter a promise ring is too overbearing. However, a promise ring can mean more than the promise to save yourself until marriage. It could also be a promise to go to college or do well in school. It could be a promise to always cherish family. Maybe it's a promise to never drink and drive. Make a promise ring something special for your family. 

Most promise rings look like bands that have an eternity design of some type. There are no rules, though. Get a ring that you know your teen will want to wear every day, preferably in silver or gold. 

Memory Scrap Book

For this sweet sixteen gift idea to be extremely sentimental, you could start it from the day your daughter was born. Collect photos, mementos, and tokens from important phases of her childhood. Sixteen is a great age to pass off these memories from the younger years. This gift could be in the form of a memory book, photo album or even a video. 

Don't limit yourself to just photos. You could collect a book of messages from all her teachers over the years, encouraging her at such a pinnacle time.