*Collaborative post
Throughout the year, an occasion will inevitably pop up unexpectedly where you need a gift with little notice. Instead of floundering at the last minute, plan and have gifts at the ready to make your life a little easier so that you can enjoy the event instead of running around. Try one of these ideas today.
Buy Category-Specific Items
Every year there are the same categories of people to find gifts for. You want the items you give to be special and meaningful, but the hard part is that sometimes you do not know the recipients that well.
That might be the case with the education professionals in your life. If you have a warm relationship with your children’s teachers but do not associate with them outside of the realm of school, you may wonder what to get. You can never go wrong with personalized teacher gifts. There is an array of options to choose from – coasters, travel and regular mugs, pencil cases and pouches, tote marketing bags, and key chains.
Clever and personal items such as these will see daily use in all areas of their lives because they are timeless, pleasant to look at, and practical.
Make Something Special
If you have a creative side, handcrafting your gifts will lend an extra-special level of attention to the process. Knowing your recipient might enjoy a handmade scarf or cosy blanket, you can set about making one in their favourite colours. Give yourself extra time as these projects may take a while to complete.
Another fun idea is to give the gift of delicious food. Cookies are a great idea. Make a tasty batch of dough, cut out creative shapes with a cookie cutter, and then freeze. An alternative is to form the dough into a log and store it in the freezer. When you are ready to bake, cut them into rounds. Present them in a nice box or tin with a bow and recipe card.
Remember the Card
Giving a heartfelt gift is wonderful, but a card will make it extra special. This is especially important when gifting at an event such as a holiday or birthday party where there will be many attendees. You do not want your gift to be unidentified or worse – misidentified in terms of who the giftee was. To remedy that potential problem, watch this video for a tutorial on how to make cards out of items you already have on hand.
Gifts for Kids and Teens
If you have children, nieces and nephews, or friends with children, you need to have gifts on hand for them or their friends, just in case. Some great catch-all gift ideas that are genderless and suitable for a broad age range include:
- Blank comic book sketchbooks
- Coloured pencils
- A gift card to local ice cream or sweet shop
- Money (in small denominations appropriate to the recipient’s age)
- Clear lip balm
- Hat or scarf from a local athletics team
Part of having gifts ready to present is that you have more time for self-care. To further that point, when an invitation arrives or an opportunity to give a gift presents itself, you will be prepared instead of feeling unnecessarily stressed.