Finding the perfect Christmas gift
Go out this Christmas and be creative when shopping for the perfect gift for the hard person to shop for in your life.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year filled with festive parties, gift giving, and good cheer. But there is always one person that shopping for is, frankly, a problem. This is the person who usually gives you the ‘bah-humbug’ routine or has everything they possibly could have under the sun. Usually, you are left buying this person a tie, socks, or some other silly trinket because you’ve simply run out of ideas.
Not anymore. All it takes is a little ingenuity and research and you can find this person the perfect Christmas gift every time. Instead of restoring to the usual staple gifts or going for the cheater’s way out – namely a gift card to Wal-Mart or a favorite restaurant – try to find something that this person likes but not always discuss with people.
These are the kind of gifts that will not only surprise them on Christmas morning, but will also impress them because of the thought and research you put into the gift.
Gifts for men
Here is a good example. You have a male family member – we’ll say it’s your father – who enjoys reading about historical topics. You see him all the time with a library book in his hands about this battle or that one, or this famous historical figure or inventor, and so forth. Why not begin a library of these types of books for them? Many major book store chains have these non-fiction accounts available on their shelves, sometimes marked down to a reasonable price at Christmas. Try to find out what he has read and purchase something that he hasn’t. Inscribe the inside with the date and something nice, add a beef stick and cheese if he enjoys that kind of thing – midnight reading has to have midnight munchies – and you have just found the perfect Christmas gift for the most difficult person to shop for.
Gift for women
What if the family member is female? Do they enjoy doing crafts? Let’s say for instance your sister loves to knit, but purchasing her a gift card for the local wool store seems kind of dull. Look into a weekend knitting seminar and make her a reservation instead. Make sure she is able to go on the weekend it is offered – help from another family member or coworker is useful here – and instead of spending the money on something blah spend it on the registration and lodging fee, if the lodging fee isn’t included. Many times meals, lodging, and the class are included in these events. Your sister will find your gift extremely creative and she will come away with new techniques for all those sweaters and scarves.
Try shopping online. You can go to a gift personalization site such as Personalization Mall.
With a little bit of forethought, you can find the perfect gift for that one person who is hard to shop for. Be creative, go out on a limb. You will never know if they will like your gift unless you try.
Hi, some great ideas there. My dad is crazy about reading, I might use that idea
I was thinking of getting my parents into downloading music through the iTunes store this year with their new ipods. I know it’s fairly easy to do…
Loving the site, thanks.
-Michael
November 5th, 2008 at 6:49 am
While you’re shopping online, you might listen to Christmas music on http://www.mostwonderfultimeoftheyear.com . They’re playing continuous christmas music all season online. You can make requests too!
November 8th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
This web site I shop on often called SHOP.COM also has a free music player with the latest new releases and Christmas music. It’s really cool.
For a unique Christmas gift idea, you should check out this blanket called the nuddle blanket. I just got one for my grandmother, who’s always cold. It’s super soft and has armholes so it won’t fall off. Pretty sweet and it’s 20% off right now.
good luck!
November 18th, 2008 at 12:24 am
As an avid knitter, I like the idea of a seminar–somehow I seem not to have progressed beyond the knit and purl techniques… I have another idea to add to your personal Christmas gifts list: what about a charitable donation on behalf of a loved one? Like your ideas, it doesn’t have to be expensive—only $25 buys a dozen chicks for a third-world entrepreneur looking to collect the eggs. With World Concern’s Global Gift Guide, you can donate a plowing donkey to refugees in Darfur or a goat to an entrepreneurial Kenyan boy, stock fish ponds in Southeast Asia, and send primary school textbooks and teachers to children in the poorest corners of the world. What present is more personal than the gift that keeps on giving?
-Emily
December 18th, 2008 at 8:53 pm