by Noella Noelophile®
Please note: the following article contains an affiliate link. If you click on this and make a purchase, I do receive a small commission through ShareASale.
(royalty-free image by karosieben from Pixabay
This year’s been different, in every way.
Christmas shopping is, too.
Today, I’m sitting at my computer, shopping online. So many people say, “I don’t know what to get for (name). They have everything/they don’t like anything I buy/I really don’t know them well.”
And the clock is ticking down to Christmas! Oh no! What to give them?
I remember, when I was a teenager, everyone seemed to think cologne was the go-to gift for someone my age. And conversely, I thought cologne or dusting powder would be a great gift for any senior relatives or friends.
Um–not so much.
Instead, here are several suggestions.
- What about an experience? Do you know what this person really enjoys doing as a hobby, or might like to explore? Is there something they’ve always wanted to learn?
Particularly this year?
In the interest of safety, if you are in a position to do so, you may very well be isolating at home. And there are a number of excellent online classes that come to mind.
(Royalty-free image by Kotaro-Marks from Pixabay.)
What is your local theatre company or arts collective offering, remotely? Has your intended gift recipient always wanted to take an improv class? Or are they bored and wanting to get moving safely (where a virtual dance class, by a small performing-arts company or community college, might be just the thing, and would also help support the arts, in honor of your gift recipient)?
Do they have a passion for cooking where an online gourmet class might be fun, or a hankering to make something they’ve never tried before? Arts centers, particularly nonprofits, have had a rough year of it–and are reimagining themselves as best they can.
Or, perhaps…
(Royalty- free image by Susanne Jutzeler, suju-foto from Pixabay.)
2. Giving a gift in that person’s name to a charity they support?
One of the best gifts I received at my workplace in Los Angeles, a number of years ago, came as a surprise. I’d baked cookies for co-workers, and one came up to me with a gift card.
“I didn’t know what to get you, so…”
Inside the envelope was a note that a donation had been made, in my honor, to a local food bank. What a fantastic idea! I really hadn’t expected a gift. In fact, one of my favorite memories of Christmas is my late mother’s statement,
“I don’t exchange gifts. I give gifts.”
What’s really important to your gift recipient? Education for all? Caring for animals? Protecting the planet? And to make sure your gift is going where it’s needed, nonprofit Charity Navigator is a website that can’t be beat. (No, that’s NOT my affiliate link!)
If you have someone like that whom you’d like to honor, that’s a great way to do it. And a terrific alternative to a crowded mall. I still recall the evening, a number of years ago, that we walked into a mall to try to do some last-minute shopping…
..and we could barely move. It was packed!
We got enough of being elbow-to-elbow with everyone within about fifteen minutes. We’d already said about fifteen “Excuse me”‘s in that time! And we turned to leave…
…and could barely move for everyone! We wound up almost trying to run out of that mall, to get away from the crowds!
(Royalty-free image by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay.)
Ever since, I’ve been shopping year-round–at crafts fairs. Which brings up the third, and my favorite, suggestion:
3. Go handcrafted–and go “indie”. Try Etsy, or any of the crafts fairs that normally exhibit at this time of year. Specifically, Dickens Fair, which you’ll see in my earlier post, has been offering “Dickens Fair at Home” in support of their artists, many of whom lost opportunities to display their work throughout the year. They make unique items, that are seriously fun. (And no, that’s not my affiliate link, either!
But, here comes my affiliate link.
4. Some of the gifts people seem to enjoy most? The ones that enhance their creativity.
One Christmas, a favorite preteen cousin came close to giving a squeal when she unwrapped her present. We’d given her: a jewelry making craft kit.
Let’s go for the squeal, and the joy. Especially this year. With any of the preceding suggestions, or with this one:
Pre-pandemic, one of the places where I’d often shop for creativity-boosting gifts: Blick Art Supplies, in Pasadena. They offer both craft kits and (these seem to be especially popular) “How to Draw” series books. This year, I shopped with them virtually. Here is a link to Blick Gift Ideas.
(Again, full disclosure–if you click on the link and make a purchase, I do receive a small commission.)
Browsing the link, you’ll see stocking stuffers, craft kits for kids and us “big kids”, and easels/art supplies.
(Royalty-free image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay.)
At this late date, it might be fun to order something that strikes your fancy (while staying as safe as you can!). And then, wrap up a picture of what the gift represents, with a note that it’s coming? So that there’s something else to look forward to on December 26th?
And just in case you’re in a mischievous mood, adding extra boxes or maybe some padding to the package in unusual shapes, so your recipient wonders what in the world it can possibly be? (Not that I’d ever, ahem, do that…)
Whatever you choose for the special people in your life, have a wonderful, Merry Christmas. And may any gift you give them be greeted with a joyous squeal!