Personalized Gifts

I  know that Christmas can be grossly commercial and "stuff"oriented.  But I love the spirit of giving,  and the warmth, love, and hospitality of this season that do seem, somehow, to triumph over the greed.

And I love thinking of gift ideas.

Through the years, I have often racked my brain for gift ideas that are particularly suited to each person. 

Here are a few:

• For a photographer-- (Which would describe many moms and dads who like to take pictures of their kids!) -- A book of portrait poses, lens cleaner, gift certificate for digital prints. I like Shutterfly for their good color correction and also for their reasonably priced photo books.  I prefer their matte prints, rather than their glossy. 

• For anyone of any age who loves art--Get one of those plastic bins at a discount store and fill it with supplies geared to their age or interests--unusual markers ( metallic, calligraphy, etc.), pastels, sketch book, "real" artist pencils, artist's eraser.  Personalize the bin with their name. 

• For families--Fill a "Game Night" box with new versions of old favorites (like Uno Roboto, Super Scrabble) or one that may be new to you (like possibly Pirateer.)

• For a preschool child--Decorate a big plastic bin and fill it with "dress up" clothes. Fun hats and feather boas are always good. Use your imagination.

• For teachers--Teachers love gift cards to restaurants, bookstores, etc, and other gifts they can "use up" such as notecards an, depending on their likes and dislikes, chocolate, coffee, etc.  Most teachers have enough mugs and Christmas ornaments already. Here is a fun gift for a preschool or elementary teacher that your child can help create. (My son and I put one of these together for a favorite preschool teacher many years ago.) Have your child draw a simple picture. Scan it, and resize it to fit at the top of a 5x7 notepad. (If your child is able to write, have him or her also write the teacher's name, or a phrase such as "Things to Do.")  Then have a copy center print it onto about 100 pages of your choice of text weight  paper (5x7 inches is a good notepad size), and then have them  bind the top with a gum binding (so that the pages tear out.) We included a gift card to a coffee shop with the notepad.

Once you start thinking about these, it's fun to come up with new ideas. It's such a blessing to see faces light up when you've given a gift that you've put together with extra effort, isn't it?