The Turquoise Belly Dancer.

With the Christmas season just winding down and my birthday 3 days away (instant wave of nausea), I’ve received a number gifts from my brilliant friends and family. While many of them have been wonderful and very appropriate for my likes and dislikes.. there may have been one or two that didn’t make the cut… we won’t mention that it was a jewelry holder resembling a belly dancer…

This brings me to what I consider a very valid topic with highly researched material. Actually, I just really like giving gifts and these are my thoughts on it all… take it or leave it.

Here they are, the top 10 tips of gift giving-

1. Give yourself more than just a few minutes to figure it out– giving a great gift that the other person will love takes a little thought, most of the time an idea does not just come out of nowhere. Do a little brainstorming, in the long run it’s worth it.
2. Don’t blind shop, you’ll end up with a mistake– if you just walk into the mall and expect an item to simply call out to you with a bright shining light pointing in the correct direction, it probably means you did not listen to point number one and therefore you will eventually just give up and grab something off the discount shelf at TJ Maxx. Mistake.
3. Find out what that person loves most in life– do not. ignore. this. point. It will do you wonders. My roommate has a dog, and she loves him as if she in fact gave him life. So, rather than buying her a scarf or a mug- I bought her a coat for her dog. Needless to say, it was a great gift because it related to something of importance to her.
4. More money does not always make it a better gift– go to a thrift store or an antique store, make something… it does not need to cost an arm and a leg to give a great gift. I know my best friends would be just as thrilled with a flannel from goodwill as they would be with clothes that cost much more from fashion stores.
5. Let the wrapping and presentation be part of the gift– I made my own bows this year. I took strips of paper from an old book and buttons and glued them into little bows that were a great addition to all of my gifts! It just took an extra few minutes and that is always appreciated! Go the extra mile, it makes it special.
6. Find a way to personalize the gift– get an old hand me down book by their favorite author and get their name engraved on it, get your gift embroidered with their initials. Think outside the box on this one. Take something simple and turn it into something a little more fabulous by adding some personalization to it.
7. Get them something they wouldn’t get themselves– I want a Teavana travel mug some tea cups and some blooming tea for my birthday. I however don’t want to get them for myself since it may cost me my electricity for a month. Luckily though, Mom was paying attention to number 10 a few weeks ago and is a step ahead of me. My Mom is rockstar.
8. Use your talents– My favorite thing I gifted this year was a little Moleskine notebook that I painted. I gave one to my friend Suzanne that I did a little fall scene on and throughout it I wrote quotes from one of her favorite authors. I enjoyed it so much because I got to spend time working on a hobby, I was able to make it special and I KNEW she would love it!
9. Give things that you are not your “average”gifts– give someone a month of housecleaning service, give someone who deserves a little pampering a gift of their next haircut, tell your friends with kids that you will watch the little monsters for a weekend so they can take a weekend trip- this has so much room for creativity.
10. Listen to what they say- This is a great help! Pick up on things they want even if there isn’t an upcoming occasion. It’s great to have those little ideas, it will help the brainstorming process in the future.

These are just my thoughts on what it takes to make gift giving a great experience on all sides. You will have fun with it and the gifts will always be well received.

Love to my guys and love to my girls.