The Collectibles Store Blog

A few days ago, I talked with a family friend who recently learned that his huge manufacturing company was closing his plant. He is actually luckier than most of the people working for that company. He very recently reached the magic age at which he qualifies for early retirement, so he will continue to have a steady income. Those who did not reach that milestone of the specified number of years with the company will get a small severance package and be left to search for a job in that difficult market. That caused me to think about giving gifts for special occasions to those people who are finding themselves in tough situations. I came up with a few ideas that make more sense than a piece of home decor or a new tie. Here are some of them:

A gourmet fruit basket is healthy, beautiful, delicious and always enjoyed. If you live near your gift recipient, you can find a lovely basket or other attractive container and fill it with fruit that is in season in your region of the country, obtained at a farmers market, and fill it out with a few exotic fruits picked up at your local super market. If your loved one is farther away, you can arrange for any of a large range of beautiful fruit gift baskets to be delivered to the recipient’s home. It will help them to reduce their grocery bill on their next trip to the super market.

A special meal is another way to remember a birthday or holiday. One possibility might be to take the friend or family member to a popular local restaurant. If price is no object to you, be sure to recommend a couple of the more expensive entrees on the menu, so that your guests know that they should not worry about ordering what they want. For example, you might say something like, “The crab legs are wonderful here, but, if you don’t like seafood, try the tender and tasty filet mignon.” If they live too far away for that, you can actually find delicious, gourmet, chef-prepared meals online that arrive frozen and can be heated in almost no time. (I actually keep my freezer stocked with these.)

You might also consider a tasty dessert. No person should have too many desserts, but on a birthday, anniversary or holiday, everyone deserves an opportunity to indulge a sweet tooth. Bake cookies, if that is a skill of yours, and hand deliver or have them delivered. For something a little more special consider giving them a freshly baked pie or turtle cheesecake. Whether you make it yourself or have others do the work for you doesn’t matter. It will be appreciated and definitely enjoyed either way.

You’ll notice a common feature in these suggestions. They all involve food. Someone who is going through a difficult time may not want to accept charity, but nobody can reject a genuinely special gift. If it reduces the grocery bill by a bit, so much the better.

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When the going gets tough, get playful.  I guess that not exactly the way the old cliche goes, but it makes sense to me.  We can’t ignore it; we are in a severe economic downturn, and everyone is feeling at least a little pinched.  However, people still have birthdays; and anniversaries and big and small holidays keep popping up, so how can you just ignore the best rituals in life?

As far as giving presents is concerned, I propose that the time has come to alter a few of our attitudes about what makes a gift valuable.  It’s always been true, but now the economic conditions give us an extra reason to remember that the cost of a gift isn’t what really matters.  Giving a friend or loved one a token says that you remember them and care about them.  That’s all our message of a gift means, or that is all that it needs to say.

So here is a tip for giving the frugal way:  Think jewelry!  I know that seems a bit contradictory, however I suggest Italian charm jewelry, and that definitely is frugal giving.  I’ll elaborate a bit on that.

If you have a friend who has a stainless steel Italian charm bracelet, you can add a whimsical Italian charm to her alternatives for around four dollars.  You might even have enough left from your five dollar bill to treat yourself to a small soda.

If she doesn’t have any such jewelry, you can buy her an entire Italian charm starter bracelet for well under ten dollars.  That’s about the same as two cups of the house blend Java at your local coffee shop.  That starter bracelet has the additional benefit of providing you with gift ideas for many years into the future, as you help her build her new collection.

What if your loved one is a guy?  Try an Italian charm keychain.  The keychain to get it started is only seven dollars or less, and you can add a humorous charm for a little extra cash, and your shopping is finished.  When the economic recovery comes in a few months or a few years, you can spend a little more to get an official sports related Italian charm endorsing his favorite professional basketball, football or hockey team, or even his beloved NASCAR driver..

Remember that you don’t have to give up giving or a little whimsy when times get rough.  In fact, you can turn tough times into fun times with a little thought, frugality and Italian charms.

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I’m a little embarassed to admit this, but I am a gift giving catastrophe waiting to happen.  No, I don’t stumble and break the gifts before giving.  My problem is that I have an impossible time deciding.  I’m just plain awful at coming up with original gift ideas.  I’m sure you’ve already guessed the solution to my despair: the Web.

The Internet is full of the usual and the unusual when it comes to gift suggestions.  Now I realize that everyone is out to make a buck, but that doesn’t bother me in the least.  I’d actually be willing to pay someone just to make the decision for me, so why not buy their products if they can come up with good ideas.  In my country, that’s the patriotic way to look at it!

Is there anyplace other than the online world where I might be inspired to send my mom a New York style cheesecake instead of the same boring chocolate cake I usually sent her?  Fortunately, I can stretch this one idea out for many years simply by changing the flavor of cheesecake from one birthday to the next.

My daughter, who apparently gets her creative gift giving skills from me, found a bracelet idea for her grandmother.  It worked out beautifully for her but it raised the bar to a higher standard for me.

You can find gift ideas by searching for age groups, say teenagers (with whom I most the most trouble) and children.  You can also use a search engine to find articles recommending gifts of all the gift giving occasions from Bat Mitzvahs or Easter, from anniversaries to house warmings, or even what I lovingly refer to as the “Hallmark holidays,” such as Valentine’s Day or Sweetest Day or take your terrier to work day.  You can even search by the category of the item that you want to give.  For example, you might know that you want to give a video game for a Playstation, a piece of jewelry that includes diamonds (you’ve just moved out of my price range) or even a gift for a dog.

Indeed, there are entire website pages and sites dedicated to people who give gift ideas for gift klutzes like me to steal and claim them as our own.  If you have any great gift ideas, please put them online so that I can find them or you could just send the item directly to me and I’ll forward it to my favorite recipient.  You can count on my everlasting appreciation.

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Christmas is now on the way and just for a laugh I thought it would be a cool idea to write down a few of the strangest things I have recieved over the holiday season.

Every year that goes by the gift from her seems to be more and more out there and insane, is this saying something about her mental state. My Aunt is the one who seems to enjoy handing out crazy gifts and it would seem especially to me. Of course these crazy gifts are more than welcome to the boring socks that are opened.

Some of these eco Christmas gifts have even been green gifts which I cannot say I am a personal fan of but nevertheless some of them have been really quite fun to mess around with, so without further baffling, here is the list of my favourites.

The Fighting Old Gits

The great thing about these is that whenever they are switched on you seem to get a small gathering of people each routing for one granddad over the other. Basically you get two toy granddads and once you set them down on the table or wherever they start hitting each other with canes. It was just like watching Hulk Hogan wrestle it out in twenty years time.

The awsome USB chess game

Although I do not actually play chess and never will I have this a quick go to find that the board knew exaclty when I made a wrong move which just so happened to be every single move

Bed Linen, Yes really

Yes I received eco bed linen from my mad aunt and this is the strangest of all the items received as it isn’t even a crazy gift.

Has she actually lost it now altogether? The wait for Christmas is on and I cannot wait to see what I get from her this year. After all, most people have that crazy person who loves to give out wacky gifts every year right?

How about you – let me know in the comments what your weirdest christmas presents have been.

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With the holidays right around the corner your little girl deserves the best gift ideas for her age group this season.

Jewlery making and cooking kits are ranked very high on girl’s wish lists this holiday season. They are also asking for designing games and kits for fashion, art and more. The girls are also wanting games and toys that they can interact with. Now there are even dolls that link to game syatems and let your child have a conversation with them.

For the boys on your gift list up to nine these items top their lists. Anything to do with playing the guitar or drums is a sure hit of the season. There are also new forensic investigator kits for boys to discover clues with. Build it sets that are specifically designed for the upcoming holiday season. They also are asking Santa for scooters that are electric instead of bikes this year.

For younger kids these items are top on Santa’s gift idea list this year. Learning games and computers made just for their age group. There is also ride on me trains, interactive play sets and dolls. Most ask for is the musical instruments such as an electronic sound guitar and musical play kit with tambourine, cymbals and drum.

Teenagers love anything having to do with music. Whether it be compact disc to MP3’s. You can never go wrong with any of these as long as you get the right songs and groups that are in with their crowd these days. Tarot card kits, cameras and crafting kits are also high on teenagers list of items they would like. They are also coming around to loving anything retro like old records and players too. Remote control toys and kits are a sure way to get your son’s attention during the holiday time of year as will the perfect video game and system.

College age young adults really want gift ideas they can use in their down time to relax and do in the comfort of their dorm rooms. Arts of any kind as in painting sets, sketching and sewing are great things to wrap up for them. The young adult guys like anything that has music to do with it instruments, handheld games you name it they want it. You can always add in some of their favorite style books and movies for an extra surprise.

Find out the interest your child has in movies, music and books then load up on their favorite groups, authors and trilogies. They all need to spend more time reading and if its a subject they are genuinely interested in they will want to spend the time to read, listen or watch it.

You should always give gifts out of love and let your heart rule the gift ideas you have for each special person within your life. Cost does not matter its the thought and the time you put into the gift that really matters the most. After all that is what the holidays are all about?

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