Blogmas – Wishing Wednesday

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It’s another Wishing Wednesday post for Blogmas and today is all about gifts for family.

When I give gifts to people I like to give things that are meaningful and thoughtful rather than some present you can get on a 3 for 2 offer in the supermarket, especially when it comes to giving gifts to family members.

I sit down and write a list of people who I would like to buy for and then think about things that they like to do, hobbies they may have or things that interest them which seems to work really well regardless of the age of the person you are buying for.

Google can be a great help in finding options, for example, if a family member really enjoys gardening then I search for “Gifts for gardeners” or “Gardening gifts” to see what is available before heading to the shops.  I find that this approach can give you lots of ideas especially if the interests are something you have no clue about.

One of my favourite things to do is to create a hamper or gift basket of similarly themed items, I’ll take the example of gardening… I would buy some seeds, both vegetable and flower seeds, some gardening gloves, a gardening trowel, a garden-themed mug and maybe a notebook with an outdoors print (like leaves) for those all-important growers notes and package it all up in a seed tray or rubber trug.  My Mum and Dad go away a lot and the other year I put together a wash bag of goodies for my Mum to take away with her or that she could use at home during a pamper session, I put lots of travel-sized products in there (shampoo, conditioner, shower gels, deodorant) and added other things like a face mask, hand cream, body lotion and perfume for her.

Another thing you can do is speak to other family members and all chip in to get one gift or gifts along a similar theme.  My Dad loves to paint so one year I bought him a watercolour travel paint set and my brother bought him some new paintbrushes in a canvas roll.

With the littles in the family, I like to buy them something creative or that will help them learn.  I bought them watches last year that were designed for kids and helped them to learn how to tell the time, I decorated some wooden pencil cases with gems and their names on them which they could use for their favourite pencils.

I’d really love to tell you what I have got for my family this year but I don’t want to spoil their surprises!

What are you getting for your families this year?  I’d love to know so leave me a comment!

Blogmas – Wishing Wednesday

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Today is the 4th day of Advent and also the fourth day of Blogmas!  Today is “Wishing Wednesday” where I share some thoughts and ideas about gifts.  Today’s Wishing Wednesday is all about that pesky, awkward gift – The Secret Santa gift.

Secret Santa happens a lot in workplaces across the land and is basically a concept where each person participating buys a gift of a certain value, wraps it and then on “Secret Santa Day” (which should, in my opinion, be an official day!) the presents are all gathered together and then distributed randomly to each participant.  There are other variations of Secret Santa where you can draw a name out of a hat, or all gifts are numbered and a raffle type draw takes place.

Buying a gift for Secret Santa can come with a lot of pressure, for one there is usually a fixed amount (in most places I have worked it is usually between £5 and £10) but other things, such as not knowing who you are buying for, buying a gender-neutral gift, getting something that isn’t offensive or that could upset someone and choosing a gift that is value for money can all make getting the perfect gift a daunting task, especially as your manager might be the recipient!

Here are a few suggestions

  • Stationery is always welcomed, especially a nice pen and diary.
  • Hats and gloves
  • Car accessories – I once got gifted a heated ice scraper which was so useful
  • Giftcards
  • Wine or other drinks
  • Household items such as candles, ornaments or picture frames
  • Desk toys
  • Games
  • Family-friendly DVD
  • Cinema pass
  • Cooking related items (I’ve seen some really nice spices sets, tea and coffee caddies, hot chocolate and mug sets…)

Do you take part in Secret Santa’s?  what sort of things have you given or received?  I’d love to know about your best and worst Secret Santa gifts so let me know in the comments!

My Christmas Wish List

This Christmas my list mostly consists of craft things and bits for the house with a couple of clothing and jewellery items thrown in!

I’ve recently gotten into candle making so I have a few things that I would like for that, they include…

For the house

Clothes and Accessories

Jewellery

Tools

What’s on your Wish List?