I love thinking of unique and interesting gifts for my friends and family. There is nothing I enjoy more than seeing the look of appreciation and joy on someone's face when they open a gift they really love. However, I realize that, for many people, choosing a gift for a special occasion is met with fear and anxiety. Many people often choose inappropriate gifts because they are overwhelmed by time restrictions, price, choice, long lines, and crowded stores. As a result, people equate gift shopping with stress.
Well I'm happy to tell you there are ways to alleviate the stress associated with shopping for gifts. Gift shopping can be tons of fun if approached the right way. The keys are preparation and organization. First, make a gift recipient list. This list should include the names of all the people you expect to buy gifts for throughout the year. Occasionally, names will be added or deleted from this list. Once you have prepared this list its time to get organized. I recommend utilizing an online reminder service. My two favorite reminder services are Birthday Alarm http://www.birthdayalarm.com/ and Google Calendar http://www.google.com/calendar. Once you've registered with these services you can input birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other events into a calendar. And most importantly, both services allow you to set event reminders and choose the frequency and timing of reminders.
If you are unsure of a person's birthday, Birthday Alarm allows you to send an email to that person requesting details about their birthday. Once that person has inputted this information, it is automatically added to your calendar.
Google Calendar also has lots of great features. Not only does it help you to keep track of events and send reminders, it also allows you to create invitations for events and even supports mobile phone notification. You can also share your calendar with friends and family.
Creating a gift recipient list and setting up a reminder service are two easy ways to keep gift shopping stress free. What are some of the things you do to keep gift shopping stress free and fun? This is the perfect forum to share your suggestions.
Stay tuned for another dose of GiftRx!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
GiftRx - Dose 1 - Be Prepared and Get Organized
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One idea which I want to try to do is buy gifts throughout the year, instead of waiting for the last moment. There are times when I see something and think that it would be appreciated by a close friend or family memeber, and I always say that I'll try to remember the item when the time comes. Of course that never happens and I am left running around looking for that perfect thing. So, this year, I'll try to pick things up as I find them and I'm also going to make my own greeting cards as well to make things more personal.
ReplyDeleteDear Precious,
ReplyDeleteBuying gifts as you come across them throughout the year is a great idea. It will most certainly alleviate some of the stress associated with buying gifts for a special occasion. It also helps to pick up inexpensive, small gifts for unexpected events. How many times have you been invited to a party or housewarming that was organized at the last minute and then you find yourself running around the city looking for a token gift. Keep a couple of bottles of wine, or great smelling candles around the house so that if such an event pops up, you'll have a gift ready to take with you. You should also have these gifts pre-wrapped so you don't have to worry about gift-wrapping.
Precious, I love your idea about making personalized gift cards. Everyone appreciates personalization. For those of you who would love to make your own personalized cards here are a few resources for materials. Paper-source (http://www.paper-source.com) and Paperstyle (http://www.paperstyle.com) sell inexpensive materials to help you create greeting cards. Check out Paper-source's rubber stamp and kits & projects sections. And Paperstyle has a great scrapbooking section. Another great find that I recently came across is the Design by Number Greeting Card Kit. This kit allows you to create handpainted artwork on greeting cards. Its fun, creative and easy to do. Go to http://www.dickblick.com/zz120/20/ for more information.