Gift ideas for Weddings and Anniversaries

I just celebrated my 49th Wedding Anniversary and over the years I have had trouble deciding what would be an appropriate gift. 

It is easy if you follow tradition, you are supposed to buy certain gifts for each anniversary, but honestly, I really did not want a gift made of paper for on my first anniversary, something made of wood for my fifth or how about a tin box for my tenth? So what to do? Well, the idea of personalized gifts is one way to go and it is easier today than ever to do this. 

A wedding anniversary gift should be something that can be treasured, something romantic, something totally unique that your loved one will adore. 

For many of us, we have problems when it comes to coming up with a unique wedding anniversary gift ideas. Here are a couple of things you need to know: 

For many of us, it is the "thought that counts", so although your love may want a new designer jacket or an expensive piece of jewelry, you are not getting the bang for your buck! 

There are two key ingredients when it comes to creating a gift that will be treasured forever. The first is your wedding picture; the second is a heart-shaped gift to put it on. 

It sounds really simple, doesn't it? Well, it is; there is nothing more romantic than giving your woman a heart-shaped gift with a picture of your wedding day on it. Better still, it won't break the bank either! 

The development of the personalized photo gifts industry has made it very easy for absolutely anyone to create their own unique gifts. There are hundreds of products to choose from and with an endless amount of pictures, designs and text available to put on them, you have an infinite number of options. Your only limitation is your own imagination! 

Let's get back to some gifts ideas 

As I already mentioned, what you need to be looking for is a heart-shaped gift you can personalize with pictures of your own wedding. Two of the most popular items are: 

HeartShaped Watches 

There are obviously many heart shaped watches to choose from, but what you are looking for is a heart-shaped watch you can personalize. This cuts down your options a little but still leaves you with a good choice. 

You may want to consider a heart-shaped Italian Charm Watch. The reason I suggest this is you can also personalize the charms that make up the wristband, a really cool idea. 

Most Italian Charm Watches have a wristband made up of sixteen 9mm ItalianCharms. To create a really unique gift you may want to consider putting a different wedding picture on each of the sixteen charms that make up the wristband. If you do this you can pretty much guarantee she will absolutely love it! 

HeartShaped Key Chains 

Heart shaped key chains make a very popular gift, but make sure if you are going to give your loved one a personalized key chain that it is good quality; avoid plastic at all costs. ChromeKey Chains are certainly worth considering as they look really sharp, especially when they are customized with your own pictures. 

Other items you may want to consider include heart-shaped jigsaws, heart-shaped magnets, heart-shaped dog tags, heart-shaped ornaments and heart-shaped mouse pads. 

A heart-shaped jigsaw with your wedding picture on it can be very romantic when you are leaning over the puzzle together, giggling and revisiting some very special memories. 

Most people would be happy to put a heart shaped wedding picture magnet on their fridge for everyone to see, while heart-shaped ornaments and mouse pads also make most unusual gifts they are sure to appreciate. 

Then there's the heart shaped dog tags; a novel idea is to create dog tags for him and for her, they make cute romantic gifts for any loving couple. 

Conclusion 

Wedding anniversary gifts are a symbol of a love that grows stronger with each year that passes. Personalized anniversary gifts can help put the fire back in any romance and best of all, you don't need to re-mortgage the house to pay for them! 

Why don't you spoil your special someone with a very special and unique personalized gift today?

Guidelines for successful personalized gift giving

First and foremost, always be sure to choose a suitable base product. It doesn't matter how good your personalization is if the underlying product is something the person doesn't need or want it will not do the job!

Secondly, once you have identified a suitable product, be sure to personalize it with the appropriate designs, designs that are meaningful to the intended recipient.

Get these two things right and your family and friends will soon give you the reputation of being a great gift giver!

Some of the more popular customizable gifts ideas that you may want to consider include:

For the home and office

Bar mats, blankets, bookmarks, calendars, clocks, coasters, door mats, letter openers, memo pads, mouse pads, mugs, ornaments, photo cubes, pillowcases, placemats, porcelain plates, rubber stamps, shower curtains and towels.

Personal accessories

Belt buckles, camera cases, cosmetics bags, flip flops, lighters, hip flasks, key rings, luggage tags, money clips, photo bags, umbrellas, wallets, watches and jewelry.

Other popular customizable gifts include badges, canvas prints, clothing, tablet computer cases, golf accessories, magnets, mobile phone cases, photo books, playing cards, posters and stickers.

While I have mentioned quite a few customizable gifts ideas here, remember, there are thousands of others out there, so you should always be able to find exactly what you are looking for.

To conclude

When you identify the exact gift you are looking for, all you have to do is make your own design using your own photos, logos, designs and text, place your design on your product of choice, and low and behold, you will have the perfect gift for just about anyone, regardless of age, gender or the occasion.

Teddy Bears as Gifts

Valentine's Day is only a week away and some men may have not yet decided what gift to get for their Valentine. May I suggest a Teddy bear. Teddy bears are a very popular gift-giving item. You just can’t seem to go wrong with a teddy bear.  With so many different types of teddy bears to choose from, there is something everyone likes, boys, girls, babies and adults love them. 

You can get a teddy bear for someone just to show them that you love them. This is probably one of the biggest reasons teddy bears sell so well on Valentine’s day. They are big, soft, cuddly and ready for a hug.  No matter what it seems like the person giving the bear away gets one too. 

Children love teddy bears too, it doesn’t matter if they get the same bear twice, they’ll just say they’ve got twins.  Many children look at a teddy bear as a security item; they know that the teddy bear won’t let anyone hurt them during the night. When you give a child teddy bear as a gift, you are giving them the ability to sleep through the night. The child just knows it means you love them.

Teddy bears make for great gift ideas or bribes when you are trying to get your child potty trained. Tell your child that once he/she has learned how to use the potty chair they can go to the store to get themselves their very own teddy. Be careful though, they may want to make their very own bear. 

If you are planning on hosting a party, teddy bears are a great baggie gift. Go to your local dollar store and pick up a couple. You may even want to try making wax dipped teddy bears as a prize for one or two games. Whatever the event is, teddy bears are great to pass out. 

Making Christmas Gift Baskets

It doesn't matter how many people you have on your Christmas list to buy presents for, but chances are that you'll almost always have someone on your list that you just don't know what to buy for them. Many people run into this kind of trouble when buying Christmas gifts, but an option that's always readily available is to either make a Christmas gift basket of your own or to buy a pre-packaged one. There are all sorts of things that go into making Christmas gift baskets, but here are some good pieces of advice and suggestions to use before going all out to afford the nicest Christmas gift basket possible!

Do It Cheaper!

Even though you may not want to come across as a cheapskate, making your own Christmas gift basket is considerably less expensive than buying one at a retail store or even a specialty shop or business. The reason that it's usually a whole lot cheaper is because you are actually paying for all of the products to be pre-packaged and usually gift-wrapped in a nice Christmas basket. Even though retail Christmas gift baskets can be a great thing for some people, there are plenty of others who would simply rather create their own not only because it's the less expensive option, but also because it will come across as a whole lot more personal!

Think About the Receiver!

The first thing that you'll want to do before even starting to prepare a Christmas gift basket is to think about the person you are buying and making it for. Making a list of all the things that he or she loves is important because you don't simply want to throw a few things together in the hopes that the receiver will like it. After you have thought about what you are going to buy the person, though, the first step is to actually select the Gift basket and decorate the outside of it. Even though decorating the outside of a gift basket doesn't seem like it would take a lot of work, consider the fact that you may end up with a plain brown basket to fill. This is not a downside entirely, however, because you can always fill the bottom of the Christmas gift basket with garland, hang a few small Christmas tree ornaments on the outside of the basket weaves, or do something else to spruce up the look of the gift basket itself!

Buy the Gifts!

After you've made sure that the outside and inside of the Christmas gift basket is decorated well then you are absolutely ready to buy Christmas gifts to put inside the basket. Even though this is an important aspect to the gift basket idea, one shouldn't spend too much time pondering what to include. Gathering a good variety of gifts is always good to do: perhaps a couple of DVD movies, music CDs, as well as various other small accessories are great to put in a gift basket.

All of these things will definitely help you make your special Christmas gift basket. Remember that a lot of people actually choose to go into business for themselves specializing in Christmas or holiday gift baskets, so making one for your family and friends is all the more important!

Alternatives To Gift Baskets

When searching for the perfect gift for one of your family members or even one of your friends there is usually a whole lot of pressure to buy the right thing simply because you don't want to disappoint anyone. There are times when you just don't know what to buy, and everyone has those experiences as well. Some people choose to take their time when buying gifts while others like to get it done as quickly as possible. One route that many people take when they find that buying gifts is too difficult is to purchase gift baskets for their friends and families. Gift baskets can be good gifts for multiple reasons; one of them being that the recipient will receive a whole plethora of smaller gifts instead of one. 

However, some people may consider gift baskets to be some of the most impersonal gifts they could ever get (even less so than cash!) just because it shows that the person who's buying it doesn't really know him or her at all. Of course, this doesn't go for gift baskets that have a theme running through them, like sports memorabilia and the like. But simply because gift baskets can be seen as impersonal means that if you aren't sure what to get for your close friends or family then maybe it's time to finally ask them what they've always wanted. Until you know that piece of information, though, here are some ideas to check out that can be used as alternatives to gift baskets:

Board Games

Unless you know the person really well and know that he or she doesn't like the thought of board games, buying a board game usually always is something that plenty of people enjoy. Whether it's buying a relatively older game with a new twist, such as a new version of Monopoly, or buying one of the latest games on the market that is also fun, such as Mad Gab, there are plenty of choices in retail stores that you'll have to make. Nevertheless, though, hopefully you can see how board games can be used as alternative gifts to gift baskets!

Gift Cards

Even though gift cards are essentially a trade of cash, buying gift cards for your friends and family can be a unique thing to do. Of course this requires knowing exactly where the recipient likes to shop, but these are the perfect alternative to a gift basket. Instead of putting your money into one large basket that may contain a bunch of things that your friends and family dislike, placing all of the money that you'd be spending on the individual on a store gift card is a great idea! Of course, you may just want to include a little bit more money on the gift card than you would have actually spent, but buying a gift cards is a great present for someone whom you don't know what to buy.

Of course, there are plenty of other perfect gifts that are great ideas and alternatives to gift baskets. Oftentimes gift baskets come in big, bulky packages anyway so buying something that is less cumbersome is a good idea!

Gift ideas for Boomers and others on your list

I have a couple of online stores that focus on personalization of gifts; as we move into the holiday season, I look around at what is being offered as other ideas for giving to seniors. From the site As Time Goes By, here are links to four websites with lists of gifts; there seem to be some excellent ideas. 

Gifts for Grandparents 

Geripal 

A Place for Mom 

Aging Wisely 

See more at: As Time Goes By

You could also view my fully customizable gifts directory here or here or you could read my Personalized gift blog to get some ideas on how to personalize your gifts

Gift Ideas For New Graduates

For those that follow my musings you know that I am a person who found it difficult to make the transition from work to retirement. Yesterday was my last day on the Board of Directors of SHARE Family and Community Services after six years my term ended. I enjoyed my work on the board and am sad to see it ending. So to keep myself busy and to go back to my roots in retailing and marketing, I just opened two Photo Gift Stores online. 

The first is called Magical Gift Ideas, and the second is called  Hummingbird and Butterfly Gifts, each store has an option to allow people to create their own gifts, so from time to time I will create articles that help people make the perfect gift or they could go to either Magical Gift Ideas or Hummingbird and Butterfly Gifts and look at what we can do for them.

Graduating from school, whether it be high school or college, is a major accomplishment. Friends and family often wish to help graduating students celebrate this important milestone. Graduation gifts, both big and small, are a time-honored tradition and a great way to help commemorate the student's achievements. The best gift ideas for graduates become an important part of the student's life for years to come. Here are some ideas or you can check out either  Hummingbirds and Butterfly Gift Shop or  Magical Gifts for more ideas.

A New Laptop

Few gifts are as useful as a new laptop. A personal computer is a necessity in this hyper-connected modern world. High school graduates might fall behind in their future academic pursuits without their own computer. Laptops are great because they offer portability and performance. A laptop can help the student take notes during lectures, or work on schoolwork at the library or in a coffee shop. Having a new laptop to work on will help the graduate to stay motivated in their future studies. Even if the student isn't going on to college, a new computer is a great gift. Without a computer, the graduate will have trouble keeping up with modern society.

A Special Trip

A graduation trip will build lifelong memories and help open the graduate's eyes to the wider world. European tours are a popular option, granting students the chance to see the culture of the Old World first-hand. Another popular destination is Cancun, Mexico, where graduates can experience a taste of tropical paradise before diving back into work or school. Short-term student exchanges are also an excellent idea. Living in a foreign country is an experience most students have never had. Whatever the destination, the graduate will remember his graduation trip for the rest of his life.

A New Smartphone or a Watch Phone

Smartphones are status symbols in addition to essential tools. A new cutting-edge phone will give the new graduate a sleek new tool she can use to impress her new peers. If the graduate is moving to a new city, a smartphone can help her learn to navigate her new environment. Smartphones are great for finding reviews of unfamiliar products or businesses on the fly. Even if the student already has a smartphone, the new watch phone technology is evolving so fast that there's probably a better and more powerful model on the market.

Personalized Photo Album

A photo album filled with treasured memories is one of the best gift ideas for new graduates. A photo album can commemorate the student's life and accomplishments, highlighting favorite moments and forgotten friends. Many printing businesses will help customers put together a customized album with personalized messages and hand-selected photos. Many craft stores also sell supplies to help creative gift givers make their own album to give to the new graduate.

Personalized Jewelry

A special piece of jewelry will become a treasured personal item for the new graduate. Rings, necklaces and bracelets are popular options. Many jewelers are more than happy to prepare personalized jewelry. Popular customization options include the student's graduation date, a short message with special meaning for the graduate, or the name of the gift giver. This custom jewelry can become an essential piece of the graduate's styl

Frugal Christmas: Gift Giving Strategies

Posted by  Miranda Marquit in the  Coupon Shoebox

One of the most difficult parts of the holiday season is all the extra spending that seems to happen. Buying Christmas gifts for everyone on your list can start to add up. The good news, though, is that things don’t have to get out of hand. After all, the amount you spend on a gift isn’t a true reflection of your love. You can have a frugal holiday season and still give thoughtful gifts. Here are some gift-giving strategies for the frugal minded.


One of the best ways to help everyone save money on Christmas gifts is to have a gift exchange. You draw someone else’s name out of a hat, and get that person a gift. You can put a dollar limit on it as well, depending on what is affordable to most family members. This can be an especially helpful idea for large families, or those who exchange gifts with extended family members.


One tenet of frugal living is to make things yourself. This can include Christmas gifts. My husband’s sister is quite artistic, and painted a large sand dollar with a cool picture of a dragon for me. It’s an awesome gift that I enjoy every day. Other homemade gifts can include baked goods, a memory book, and craft items. Write a note to go with the gift to add an even more personal touch.


My mother’s brother’s family always gave us a family gift for Christmas, and we sent them one. This is a way to save, since you can buy a gift meant for everyone, rather than buying individual gifts. A board game that the family can play together is one great idea. You can also create a gift basket for the whole family. Movie night baskets are fairly inexpensive to put together, as are gift baskets with assorted cookies. This principle also works for couples.


Gift cards are generally a bad idea, since many people don’t like giving low dollar amounts, such as $5. This can mean buying several gift cards worth more than you would like. However, you can get a larger denomination gift card for a couple or family. Another thing you can do is use sites like CityDeals.com and Gift Card Granny to purchase discount gift cards. You can find $25 gift cards for between $10 and $20. It’s a great way to give a great gift while retaining your frugality.


It is fairly easy to stuff a stocking with frugality. You can visit dollar stores for great stocking stuffers, and even look at the clearance sections of major retailers. Stores like WalMart and Target often have small clearance items for $2 or less. You can use these as great stocking stuffers.

In the end, it’s possible to plan a frugal Christmas and stick to a gift budget. You may need to think ahead, and consider some alternative strategies, but there is no reason why you can’t give thoughtful and appreciated gifts and while maintaining a frugal lifestyle.

Holiday gifts

Holiday gifts are a huge expense every year. No one wants to feel like Scrooge, though, even when our gift budgets are tight. What can we do to spread holiday cheer without spreading ourselves too thin?

Rather than throwing precious money at anonymous retailers, consider making gifts yourself. In a world that’s pre-made and mass-manufactured, handmade gifts have even greater charm and significance. There are many thoughtful gifts you can make right in your own kitchen, costing just a little money, inspiration and creativity.

A gift from the kitchen is a particularly thoughtful gift for those who may not have the time – or inclination – to cook, bake or create for themselves. Many years ago, I received – as a gift – a book called, “Gifts of Good Taste,” by Anne Young. It contains recipes (and creative and attractive representational ideas) for gifts you can create in your own kitchen, running the gamut of sweet to savory flavors.

My favorite recipe from the book is for Keeping Cake. I like to present it to friends because it incorporates seasonal flavors (cranberry, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves…), makes a tasty, wholesome breakfast or snack and keeps well past the holidays (thus its name).

3 cups cranberries (rinsed and divided)
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon grated orange peel
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
¾ cup sour cream
½ cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large saucepan, combine 1 ½ cups cranberries, sugar and orange peel. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until berries pops and mixture thickens (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat. Chop remaining cranberries and add to the cranberry mixture; cool.

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs with sour cream. Stir egg mixture into dry mixture. Stir in butter, cranberry mixture and pecans. Pour batter into two greased and floured 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaf pans and bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cakes in the pans 10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on wire racks. Wrap cakes in aluminum foil and allow to age 1 week. The flavor will continue to improve over several weeks. The cakes will keep for up to 3 months in a cool, dry place.

Yield: 2 cakes

To help get your creative gift-giving juices flowing, the book also includes recipes for homemade:

Cheese spread
Pancake / baking mixes
Candies and Fudge
Muffins
Cookies
Mulled wine
Flavored popcorn
Spiced nuts
Seasoned oils and vinegars
Marinated vegetable blends
Flavored butters and spreads
Jellies
Dog treats

The best gifts appeal to the recipient’s senses: In addition to edible gifts, many people make lovely and fragrant homemade candles and soaps from the kitchen. A particularly lovely idea is a growing gift. Plant herbs in an appropriate container, like a coffee cup or soup bowl as a gift of flavor.

Perhaps these ideas will inspire you to create your own gifts from the kitchen. If you have a “gift” for creating something wonderful in your kitchen, you can create your own homemade gifts. Your talents and creativity are a gift you can – and should – share at the holidays and all year around. It’s the most affordable – and ultimately the most thoughtful – way to give gifts.

What gifts could you cook up in your kitchen?

Meaningful Gifts

On this Thanksgiving, as I was thinking of family I thought about the  five gifts of love that we can give to our friends and families that can make a huge difference in their lives.

THE GIFT OF CARING AND COMPASSION

We all yearn to feel cared for, yet many of us withhold caring and compassion for others. A profound gift we can give to our loved ones is to listen with our heart, to understand and accept rather than to judge, and to stay open to learning rather than to protect against being hurt.

Think about the last time someone actually listened to you and gave you understanding and acceptance. The feeling of being understood and accepted with caring and compassion is one of the best feelings in the world. Instead of focusing on getting this from others, why not focus on giving it to others? You might be surprised at how wonderful you feel in giving this gift to your family.

THE GIFT OF COURAGE

One of the best gifts we can give our loved ones is our own courage. This means being having the courage to stand in our truth, to be honest about what we want and don’t want, what we will do and won’t do, what is and what is not acceptable to us. It means having the courage to take good care of ourselves, even if others don’t like it. It means not succumbing to our controlling behaviors that come from fear: anger, withdrawal, compliance, resistance, but instead being honest and above-board about ourselves. It means being willing to face conflict rather than give ourselves up to avoid it.

When we have the courage to face conflict and tell the truth, we not only provide our family with a role model for courage, but we provide opportunities for our loved ones to step up to the plate in the face of our truth and learn to be courageous too.

THE GIFT OF SERVICE

We are on this planet to learn to love ourselves and each other, and to help each other. One of the best gifts we can give our family is to role model this by doing service. Helping others fills the heart and soul in ways that nothing else can. If children do not see their parents doing service and helping others, they may never learn the great joy and fulfillment that comes from giving. One of the best gifts we can give to our family is to provide ways of doing service.

THE GIFT OF CREATIVITY

All of us are born with various ways of expressing our creativity. Expressing creativity is a profound way of connecting with Spirit, since expressed creativity is a direct expression of Spirit. Providing your family with many ways of expressing their creativity is a great gift. Creativity can be expressed in so many ways – cooking, crafts, building things, music, art, movement, telling stories, writing, humor, photography and video – the possibilities are endless! Creative family projects are especially wonderful in creating family closeness.

THE GIFT OF LIGHTNESS OF BEING

Lightness of being – fun, joy, laughter, playfulness – is a great gift to give to others. Lightness of being is infectious – our laughter and playfulness can help others take life less seriously and “lighten up.”

Lightness of being is one the results of all the other gifts – of caring, courage, service and creativity. When we give these gifts, we feel a wonderful lightness within, the lightness that is the result of fully giving from the heart. Our own lightness of being can bring lightness into our whole family. Children love it when their parents are playful, fun loving and joyful. Laughing together as a family is one of the most precious experiences in life.

We need to focus of giving these gifts each day, not just special occasions. These gifts are far more important than any material thing we can buy for someone. In fact, we might not be so focused on material gifts if we frequently give the gift of love – of caring, compassion, courage, service, creativity, and lightness of being.