The Gift Detective » Christmas

Last Minute Gifting

The Gift Detective — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:45:42 +0000

If you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, you still have time to get some presents! There are two sections to this post – the first section will focus on helping you buy different personal gifts for the people remaining on your list, the second section will help you if you need to give the same gift to many, with lots of ideas on how to still make them personal and really fit the recipient.

Tips for Last Minute Shopping for Getting Different Presents for Each Recipient

In order to minimize stress, I suggest making a list of the people that you still would like to get presents for, then look at each recipient and write down a few things about them that come to mind.

For instance:

Lauren – Loves hats, skinny scarves and strong coffee; has new job and new home; enjoys knitting.
Tim – Loves sports and the Patriots and Celtics in particular; enjoys Calvin and Hobbs (though has probably read them all), loves humor, beer and Titos salsa.

By generating some broad ideas in this way you are brainstorming not just about what they may want but about things they enjoy. Now you can scrutinize each list a bit more and jot down a few specific gift ideas for each person. Taking this approach will allow actually give you ideas for now and in the future. And, if you keep this list on your computer, you can add to it so that you will always have a gift idea. Now, that you have your list and have checked it twice, get to the store and buy those presents so that you can get home to wrap them!

Tips for One Size Fits Most Gifts that You Can Add Personal Touches To

What if you just don’t the time or the money to buy each person a gift at this stage in the game? There are a few one size fits most gift ideas to fall back on (and none of them are impersonal gift cards!):

Baked goods could be generic, but you can personalize this gift by making a signature treat and adding special wrapping or including a treat like a special decorated sugar cookie, maybe one that looks like an ornament with the recipient’s name or with a symbol that is meaningful to them.
Magazine or newspaper subscriptions can be a good last minute gift since there are topics for a wide variety of tastes. Make sure that you get this for someone who enjoys magazines or reading the paper and take the time to buy a current copy of the subscription you are giving them and wrap it up!
Music is beloved to many. It isn’t too hard to stop by the store and grab a few cds in the style or artist that your recipient loves. Because this is such an obvious gift, get creative with wrapping. Buy a few really inexpensive stockings and add your recipients name in glitter then, put the wrapped cd into the stocking with an assortment of inexpensive, fun items like mini-bubbles, bouncy balls, playing cards, etc.
Give something you are good at. Are you artistic? Crafty? Can you make music? If you are an artist, you could consider making mini works of art for people (a 3×5 or 4×6 canvas for instance); if you’re crafty make up some pretty but easy ornaments; if you are a musician consider recording a Christmas carol that you love and burning it onto a cd or even e-mail an mp3 version of it to those of your loved ones who are far way (since mailing them won’t get it there by Christmas).
A bottle of wine is a frequent gift and if you go this route make it more special and personalized by bot only making sure to get the type of wine your recipient loves but by also adding some special accoutrements. Add a special label to the wine, give it with wine glasses, wine charms, a bottle stopper, cheese and crackers, fine chocolate, etc. Be creative! The point is, a bottle of wine is just a bottle of wine but if you can make a bottle of wine into a personalized gift.
Give a donation to a charity that your recipient would likely support. For the eco-conscious person a donation to an organization that protects the environment, the pet lover a donation to an animal shelter, etc. This makes the gift far more personal than if you donated to a charity that you would normally support – make it about your recipients likes, not your own.

Try to steer clear of things like cheap bath sets, gift cards, lottery tickets and the like. These “gifts” scream “I waited until the last minute and had no idea what to get you.” It is honestly better to give no gift at all than to give a meaningless gift. Spend the time you would have spent getting the last minute gift writing a warm greeting card to give them instead.

Remember, you don’t have to give a gift! Giving is not a social obligation, it should come from the heart. You don’t have to give a gift to every person you know, you can give only to those close to you or just give cards and simply share the joy and spirit of the holiday season with those you love. A gift can be a telephone call to wish them a Merry Christmas, singing Christmas carols together or playing reindeer games with joy and good humor.

Whether you get a gift at all or even if you get the “wrong gift” your intentions, your love and your care are more important than what is actually wrapped under the tree. If you give with love then, regardless of what you give, it is already the perfect present.

Happy gifting!

Frugal Friday: Stocking Stuffers

The Gift Detective — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:22:43 +0000

Stocking Stuffers should obviously fit into a stocking! But what other guidelines are important?

Click to Purchase - Get Creative to Fill!

Price – Stocking Stuffers can be inexpensive or not (we all know some woman out there is going to get an engagement ring in the toe of her stocking!) but, unless it is your family’s tradition to only give stockings as presents, most items should be inexpensive but nice.

Quality over Quantity – It is far better to have a nice mixture of things that are under $20 (ideally, even under $10). A few really nice stocking stuffers beat a whole bunch of cheap items. A pretty but inexpensive pair of earrings are a quality gift. (this pair is only 20 cents!) is a quality gift. A toothbrush or a pair of tube socks seem cheap and thoughtless. Who really wants something so mundane for Christmas? (Unless it’s this one I’ve been coveting! See yesterday’s post for tips on how to successfully give practical gifts.)

Fun – Sneak in an inexpensive toy or novelty item of some sort. A mini puzzle, a top or a bouncy ball are fun yet frugal additions for both young and old – we all need to play! You can find many fun items in the novelty section (where many items are $3 and under!) at a nice toy store.

Personal – Make at least one item very personal. It doesn’t matter what the item is – it just has to really be meaningful in some way – this is where YOU get to be the detective. If you are really stumped, it could even be a card where you write about your feelings for the person or what the importance of your relationship with them.

Happy gifting!

Frugal Friday: Holiday Cards

The Gift Detective — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:04:14 +0000

Holiday cards are such an easy and inexpensive way to let the people in your life know that you love and care about them!

“Winter Sleigh Ride” by M. Gauvin, click here to purchase!

Depending on your time and budget allowances, you can make your own, buy cards and embellish them, or just buy a pack of cards and send them as is!

It is much more thoughtful to write a brief but personal sentiment in the card than to just fire off the same holiday letter to everyone on your mailing list.

A holiday card is not a substitute for keeping in touch with friends and family! A card is a thoughtful way to share the joy of the season and let someone know that you are thinking of them – it shouldn’t be the means to broadcast news of your life. One shows that you are thinking of the recipient, the other is thinking of yourself.

“Emmanuel” – follow this link to purchase this card, illustrated by Matthew Gauvin

A lot of people get stressed out by the thought of buying gifts and sending out cards and keeping up with holiday obligations. Don’t let this happen to you! Letting people know you care should be a pleasure, not a burden. It is okay to keep things simple and frugal – why don’t you spend an hour sending your loved ones a holiday card this weekend?

Remember: Your thoughtfulness and love is a gift!

If anyone would like to share a photo of the holiday cards that you made or sent out, please e-mail them to me and I will add your photos to this post. I love to see creativity and beauty!

Happy gifting!

Holiday Hustle

The Gift Detective — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:07:34 +0000

The holidays have a way of seemingly approaching at light speed instead of one day at a time like everything else. Perhaps it is because the days actually seem shorter since it gets dark earlier? But, despite the onset of darkness, we still have plenty of time to prepare for the holidays.

Make your list and check it twice! This will make preparing for the holidays so much less stressful. Be reasonable – you don’t have to spend a lot of money or buy a lot of gifts to embrace the spirit of the holidays.

Case in point, I was just speaking to someone about the upcoming holidays and she said her family often bought lots of presents but nobody really got anything they wanted or that was meaningful. Quality still reigns supreme over quantity! My boyfriend would surely rather have one pair of slippers that I knit on my knitting board than all the video games on the shelves at the store. Why? What makes something so personalized so special? He can buy his own video games but something that I made for him is unique and can’t be gotten in any store.

You don’t have to make something for it to be personalized though. You just have to make sure you put thought and love into selecting the right gift, because selecting the perfect present already makes it personal, and it will show when you give it. For example, Alex’s mom got me a shirt for Christmas last year, which I love, but when I opened another gift that was pinkd and exclaimed that it was my favorite color she worried that she had gotten the shirt in the wrong hue! She thought my favorite color was purple. Did she make a mistake? Not at all! I love a lot of colors and she leaned toward purple because my winter coat was purple. She paid attention to clues an followed them which is what allowed her to do a really good job. She may not have sussed out my favorite color but she did pick out something I really liked because she paid attention to what I already had.

What do you do if you really can’t afford presents? Don’t be ashamed to let people know that you can’t afford to get presents for them. Do make sure to give them a card or call them to make sure that they know how much you care.

Now, go get your game plan in order so that you can enjoy the holidays instead of stressing over them!

Happy gifting!

You Like It, But How Do You Give It?

The Gift Detective — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:49:35 +0000

This is a cute number but…can you give this as a present?

The answer is a resounding “Yes!” No matter if you are a man or a woman, you can successfully pull off an intimate gift if you present it well.

WOMEN: Make this part of an evening of romance. Light the candles, put on the music, meet your love at the door with the champagne glasses and bottle in hand in your new outfit. Or have some take-out at the ready and feed and pamper your Valentine. Honestly, your sweetheart will probably be more than happy with just you in the outfit but it never hurts to use your imagination and make it an extra special experience. You could feed each other strawberries that are dipped in white chocolate (same colors as your new PJs), while some red and white candles are glowing. Or, give them a present and “unwrap” yourself at exactly the same pace as he/she unwraps the present. Wrap the present with red paper and a white bow (again, matching you). Hopefully you Valentine catches on to the symmetry.

MEN: Two important basics: This gift will please her if it is a similar style to things she already wears (the last thing you want to do is make her feel like the “gift” is really a hidden message that you are disappointed with what she currently comes to bed in) and definitely make sure to get the correct size. Most importantly, give this gift with love. The whole purpose of gift giving is to make her feel special so pour on the sugar. Give her a card that she opens beforehand that says something sweet and sincere about why you chose this gift for her. Examples: “You are the only present I need so I wanted to wrap you up” or “I know you love the color red and I think you look beautiful in it so I wanted you to have one more thing to wear”

Please note: The item pictured here is merely a suggestion. There are lots of things that you and your Valentine may like more than this – the purpose of this blog is to generate ideas on how to give this type of intimate gift.