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Help! I need Secret Santa gift ideas....

11:57

It seems that Christmas has come around rather quickly, yet again! Office parties are starting to get underway and many places have Secret Santa swaps. If you know your gift recipient it can be a little easier to buy for them. If you don't it could be a bit of an issue.
Justine has just that issue: "We have our Secret Santa swap coming up soon and I have to buy a gift for the new girl who is 17. I don't know her very well as she has only just started working with us, so I would love to hear some ideas of what I can get."

More often than not each Secret Santa swap usually gives a budget for such gifts. Around $10 - $20 is the usual limit, but some are more like $5 - $10. Bearing that we don't know what the limit is I will cover a few options that will range in price.

My suggestions for getting a great gift for your recipient includes observation. Do they like jewellery, if so, gold, silver... Maybe they have a funky sense of style and don't wear the traditional earrings, bracelets or necklaces. 

What colours do they tend to wear (apart from their uniform, if they wear one). Do they like scarves and hats?

Do they like chocolate or gourmet foods like cheese?

How do they arrive at work? Do they ride a bike? Travel by train or car? Walk? Are there some useful items that might make the trip more bearable?

Actually listen to them when they are talking about home. Do they live at home with their parents or do they have their own place?

Now I am not suggesting that you stalk your recipient, but starting to get to know them and their likes is important in trying to ascertain an appropriate gift.

For example, how embarrasing would it be if you bought a chocolate bouquet and then found out after they were lactose intolerant?

So, what do I suggest for Justine? For starters you could consider some organic hand made soap (check out Aroma Beauty). Or perhaps a small gift basket of local cheeses, biscuits and fruit. For the chocoholics then a Chocolate Bouquet or some Chocolate Bark. Then you could consider perfume or some fashion accessories.

Of course you can play it safe with a gift card to the movies or their favourite music shop, but where is the fun in that?



10th year anniversary gift ideas

14:43


Well a mighty big congratulations on your 10th year anniversary. That’s a decade of togetherness!


So how do you celebrate such a momentous occasion? According to tradition with tin or aluminum. For him I found the coolest aluminum shoes… Check out Zazzle where your man could be one hip dude in these!

Or if he is into cycling then a new aluminum frame bike could be just the gift for him. Team his new bike up with a helmet, shoes or a new pair of sunnies for a great anniversary gift.

Similarly tin really doesn’t hold a lot of appeal for me as far as an anniversary gift idea goes. I mean, 10 years and all you get is tin? Well, let’s think about this a little more…


Using the name tin and thinking a little more laterally I could suggest a trip to Tin Can Bay in Queensland. Especially if you love fishing. Even for the weekend a stay at one of the B&Bs would be lovely just to get away from it all.

Moving on to the modern approach is diamond jewelry. Now we are talking! I probably don’t need to suggest where you might be able to get some lovely ideas... any jewelry shop assistant will be more than happy to help. But gentlemen, if you really and I mean seriously want to impress – try Tiffany’s.

Remember, this is the lovely lass that has spent the last 10 years sharing your life with you. Make it really special!


Ladies, if you are looking for something special for hubby, take a look at this ring. Now it does say that it is a wedding ring, but he doesn’t have to know that!

If you are considering a trip to celebrate, might I suggest Kununurra in Western Australia where the stunning Argyle diamond mine is based. Then you can pick out your own diamond and have it set. This will prove to be one memorable experience!

Flower of choice for 10 years is the Sweet Pea. These are really pretty little flowers and your local florist may or may not have them in store. If you are organised and are well ahead of time, you could source some seeds and plant them to flower in time for your anniversary. Or you could skip the planting and whisk your beloved away to Sweet Pea Cottage in the Blue Mountains!

Yes, it is true that for this anniversary I have made not one or two, but three suggestions for getaways. And why not? It is a decade that you have spent together so go and make the most of it!

Good luck and enjoy!

giving

World Kindness Day

15:40


Ok, so today I was going to post the 10th year anniversary gift ideas... well I am going to postpone that particular post to another day (so come back to visit). The reason for this postponement?

Today is Friday the 13th. Woohoo. But did you also know that it is World Kindness Day?

Now, this is a topic I feel very strongly about, because in all honesty I believe we need more kindness in our everyday lives. I am really lucky that within my business I get to share the kindness with other people in the form of delivering gifts. I love to see the genuine look of surprise and happiness when people get something they weren't expecting.

So here is my question to you: "Why do we have to wait for a special occasion to show kindness?"

My simple answer is that we don't! We can do kindness everyday and it doesn't have to be expensive gift giving either.


To celebrate today I baked 2 dozen muffins to take to my son's school. I also printed out 2 dozen suggestions of things the kids could do to show kindness.


The suggestions included:
*Walk your dog or someone else's
*Pay a compliment
*Talk to your neighbour
*Include someone into your conversation
*Lend a hand
*Do something nice for someone else

Now, I don't know if the kids took too much notice of the little notes that I handed out with each muffin, even with the teacher asking them to take the time to look at them and READ what they say.

I do know this - 18 out of 20 kids said thank you without being prompted and 3 came up to me after the bell had rung and told me that they were really good muffins. Funnily enough only 1 of the notes I wrote said "Pay a compliment".

At the end of the day if they remember for 1 moment that Stefan's Mum came to school and gave us a muffin for no reason, then I am happy. Hopefully they will share the kindness.


Do a random act of kindness, it will make you feel soooo good....

gift advice

How to transform a photo into a gift

06:12

This gift quandary comes from Rebecca who asks: "How can I transform an old photo into a creative birthday gift?"

There are quite a few companies that are offering a printing service on to different mediums including Officeworks and Harvey Norman. Regular camera shops and even some chemists are also places to think about when wanting to transform a simple pic into something very special.


Nowadays you can print your image onto mugs, keyrings, coasters, jigsaw puzzles and enlarge them to feature onto canvases. So how about a cushion?

For around $50 you can have your very own personalised cushion cover! Check out Imaage Photo Giftworks' online shop who can print them for you and send them to you direct - very clever!

What about if you have an old photo that is not digital? This can be remedied by scanning the picture to your computer and saving it as a JPEG file. As long as the resolution of the image is high you should be able to get away with it.

If in doubt contact your local photo centre (as mentioned above) and seek their advice.

Good luck!

anniversary gift

9th year annversary gift ideas

16:45

The years seem to be flying by as we delve into anniversaries each week – we are already up to the 9th year!

So, let’s take a look at the traditional theme for the 9th year anniversary, which is pottery or willow. Again, this year takes on a strange combination, although some might argue that they are both related to nature – what with pottery clay being a type of soil and willow a type of tree.

But, we need to start thinking a little more creatively if we want to avoid giving your nearest and dearest a tree or some soil, so here we go!

Remember one of the greatest ever movie scenes with the lovely Patrick Swayze (may he rest in peace) and Demi Moore in Ghost? Talk about making pottery sexy! Is there a local art council or artist who offers pottery classes?

There are a couple of options here. Firstly you could take the class yourself and make a masterpiece to give to your beloved, or perhaps they would like the class for themselves.

If this is something that would tickle both your fancies then do a class together! You may just discover a wonderful passion for something new….

Last week we also had pottery in the traditional theme, so check out the post for some other ideas relating to ceramics.

Oddly enough, the 3rd anniversary also has Leather as a traditional theme, where here it is a modern alternative. You can take a look back at the post here for some ideas.

For the travelling woman, a leather jewellery roll might be a really useful, but attractive gift. These are very handy for business trips or holidays where you can have a small, compact place to safely store her precious items. Lisa Marinucci has a stunning black leather and pink suede little roll that is perfect!

Hollyhock is the flower alternative for this year’s anniversary. Admittedly I didn’t know much about this flower (although I thought they might have been poisonous), so researching them was educational! I found out that you can purchase seeds through a mail order nursery and that they can grow up to 3 metres!

They are also self-seeding, prefer full sun and well draining soil. If you are organised enough you could purchase some seeds and get planting, but might I suggest a lovely get away instead?

Hollyhock Cottage in Richmond Tasmania is beautiful and has some spring specials on right now! Complete with spa bath (for two), this cottage is set in beautiful south east Tasmania just 20 minutes from Hobart.

There are some fabulous cheap flights available from most capital cities to Hobart, so why not check them out and take a break?

Good luck!


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