My family has asked me to make a Christmas list and this year it will be decidedly slanted toward carp fishing. I'm not looking to offload any big-ticket items on them, but what would be on your list? Fun stuff that you might not necessarily buy for yourself or items that you inexplicably can't have enough of even though you have more than you will ever use already.

Here are some of the things I have:
Lightweight camping chair
Size 6 hooks
Digital Scale (up to 50 lbs)
Bag of boilies

Bag of range cubes
Throwing stick
Unhooking Mat

Method leads, Spomb, bags of boilies/popups, boile drill, baiting needle, pre tied hair rig hooks, weigh sling, scale, bank sticks/alarms, comfy folding chair, jars of flavored maize.

+1 on the mat, you can get a cheap mat like this one: NGT Quickfish which is more than adequate. There are also combination mat/weigh slings out there (this is what I started with) so you can weigh your catches safely as well. A bit pricier, but worth it!
Saber Combi Mat
Gardner XL Sling Mat

A Euro style net (or at least the mesh attached to an American metal handle, paylake style) is also an excellent idea for fish care. The mesh itself is pretty cheap, and you can get a good brand for less than $20 RH Enduro mesh
Alternatively you can just get a cheap Euro net for roughly the same price. NGT Stalking Net Just make sure to learn to use it!

Granted, these are just fish care items. You can always go crazy on bait and tackle instead but I'm of the mind that if you take care of the fish, they'll take care of you. A net and combination mat/sling were the first bits of "official" carp gear I bought, was still using the old bass poles until I finally saved up enough to get a full Euro kit. If you do end up buying them, they'll last a good deal of time, especially if you buy mid to high quality and take good care of 'em.

If you're looking for bait, you can't go wrong with bread and corn. Boilies are great and will certainly get you bigger fish on average, but the price point is high and you could be waiting a bit longer for bites*. If you check out the packbait thread I made, there's a pack there that is just blender-ized bread. It packs very well and is excellent in this colder weather that's approaching. Pair that with balled up bread or corn on the hair and you're good to go!

*Note: I use boilies FAR more than I use corn, but per your qualifications corn and bread fit very nicely. My PB carp and buff both came on corn so they certainly can catch the bigguns

A GPS reading on all of TXMulti-Species fishing spots!

^^THIS^^ and a weigh sling will be on my list.

Plus #1. He catches some good ones!

Shucks...

They're definitely not the biggest but they're not too shabby for my area. Hopefully I'll get some true giants when I start really hitting big fish waters!