Buying unique Christmas gifts is much harder than it seems. Unfortunately this realization usually dawns on you a couple of weeks out from Christmas and with the hordes of last minute Christmas shoppers surrounding you, you scamper around trying desperately trying to find something in the dying hours of pre-Christmas shopping season.
As any shopper will tell you, shopping can be a lot of fun, but at times it can darn hard work. At other times it can be nigh impossible. When you shop for yourself it is not such a problem. You know yourself, know what you like and dislike, but when it comes to shopping for other people, the cliche expression “nightmare before Christmas” can seem resoundingly accurate.
If you’re fortunate enough to have spent some time planning in advance then and have prepared a Christmas list, then you’ll know who’s on your list and maybe one or two idea about the items on their Christmas wishlists and may even be able to get your Christmas gifts ready before the Christmas rush starts to really get into full swing.
In the run-up to the big Christmas shop, it is a good idea to listen for casual hints that your friends or family may be dropping. These hints are often subtle suggestions of what they desire and if you learn to read between the lines, you can often turn these into realistic Christmas gift ideas that can help guide you when it finally comes time to hit the stores.
Even if you did manage to make a plan this Christmas, even the best laid plans of mice and men come unstuck sometimes and chances are there will be someone on your list who is just a touch difficult to buy for (socks, slippers and pyjamas do a roaring trade in the Christmas season). Have you ever been confronted with the dilema of what to get the person who already has it all? Or the person who has no obvious hobbies or interests? When someone on your Christmas list is tricky to buy for, some great Christmas gifts ideas are gifts that they can consume, for example food or drink gifts. For example a bottle of good wine, a bottle of assorted barbeque sauces or a bottle of gourmet Jellies or Jams.
Alternatively you could buy them a ticket to an event like horse riding, a movie ticket, or get them a gift card at a shop. You could get really creative here and even offer some of your time or a favor, say a couple of hours gardening on the weekend.
Christmas is supposed to be a time to remember how much we care about the people we hold dear to us and what better way to say this than Christmas gifts with a personal touch. are a great way to show them you made an effort for them specifically.
Probably the easiest way to make your Christmas gifts more personal is to choose a product that can be personalised, such as mugs, calendars, diaries and other such products. This type of gift allowes you to have their name permanently printed or engraved on the said gift, which shows you at least put a little effort into selecting a unique Christmas gift. The one downside in buying Personalised Christmas gifts is that you often have to order the printing or engraving well ahead of time as these personalized gift shops tend to be booked out in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
A second option is the seek novelty Christmas gifts that you know they’ll just love. To do this, you have to really understand what the person appreciates or it could easily backfire. Unusual and unique Christmas gifts are fine, just ensure the recipient will really be charmed by what you buy them.
When thinking about gift ideas for Christmas that is a bit more creative than the box of socks and you’ve resolved to get them a gift that will literally knock their socks off, but if you just go out and randomly start looking around the store, you’re already off to a bad start.
Like we have said before. Make a list, then go through your list and take into account their personality. For example your Uncle Fred is in his 60s and is a manager at an industrial plant. He’s held the same job for twenty years. He’s a pretty “hands on” sort of guy and loves nothing better than to get stuck into the various projects around the house… a definite “do it yourself” kinda guy. Uncle Fred is a down to earth sort of guy who is warm and quick to smile, has plenty of friends and enjoys watching football.
So what could we buy Fred then?
A personalized NFL Jersey can be appreciated, but be damn sure you get the right team. If Fred is an avid fan he might have one already, but as far as unique Christmas gift ideas go, it sure beats brown stripy socks!
Like many outgoing men Uncle Fred loves drinking beer. You might be surprised to hear it, but beer making kits tend to be popular among men who drink beer, with a beer making kit, he’ll be able to drink from his own brew during the football games that he enjoyes watching every week.
Fred loves to get his hands dirty around the house, so a DIY Home Improvement DVD might be something that Fred would appreciate. He’ll at least realize that you tried to get him something he’d enjoy and it may even be something he finds particularly useful.
Lets look at another example. Your friend Kathy is in her 20′s, she works as a receptionist for a large company. Kathy is a homebody, with a pet dog that she just loves to spoil. She doesn’t speak of any spare time hobbies, but loves hosting dinner parties among her small group of friends. Kathy does not care much for fashion, but surrounds herself with exquisite and interesting things.
Now what could you possibly buy Kathy?
A Quesadilla Maker – Kathy loves to cook nice food for her parties, with a Quesadilla Maker, she could experiment with all manner of home made quesadillas that Mexicans would be proud of and in a flash too. Could be right up her street?
Kathy loves surrounding herself with curious things, a different and unusual Christmas gift idea is a Natural Crystal Salt lamp. The lamp is made from real Himalayan mountain salt crystal. The artifact manufactures ions that cleanse the surrounding air, making it practical as well as a fantastic conversation piece.
Kathy’s pet dog does not like to be left alone when Kathy has to leave to work or run erands. DVD for Dogs is designed to relax dogs while you are away. It might be the ideal thing for Kathy and would show that you actually took some notice of her personality and lifestyle.
The key to finding creative novelty gifts for Christmas that different from the usual uncreative last minute Christmas splurge is to slow down for a moment and think about the personality of the person and what they like to do. This will make coming up with special Christmas gift ideas that they’ll actually appreciate a whole lot easier.
Finally, if you are seeking to absolutely assure that you are delivering the people on your Christmas list truely original Christmas gift ideas and you have some craft skills there is always the option of homemade Christmas gift ideas that you create yourself, but bear in mind, you may have to be highly skilled or talented to create a unique homemade Christmas gift.
With home made Christmas gifts, you are limited only by your skills and imagination. But here are some examples of great home made gifts that should always serve as ideas for unusual gifts for Christmas for the novelty factor alone. They are easy to make too!
Peppermint candles: Take a large unscented candle to use as the pillar tjem glue candies to the candles using a hot glue gun. Voila! Peppermint candles to go.
Warm up baskets or Christmas hampers make very popular Christmas gifts. I mean who can resist a basket of nice food?
Some popular items to include in your Christmas basket are home made marshmallows, chocolates, and you could of course add a bottle of (non-homemade) wine or alcoholic beverage. Decorate with a nice piece of shredded tisse paper and you’re good to go. The entire basket can be covered with a shrink wrap.
Chocolate coated spoons: These are plastic spoons dipped in melted chocolate then optionally decorated by sprinkling melted white chocolate on them or rolling them in crushed candies. Very nice!
Kniting a fuzzy warm scarf fo a reipient can be a great Christmas gift that should last near a life time. This is a great gift for babies or young children, but you may have to be careful giving one of these to teenagers of grown ups if you’re even a bit unsure about their clothing preferences. While your intentions are good, people tend to have very specific personal preferences when it comes to items of clothing.
So this wraps up a rather long article on how to purchase unique Christmas gifts for your friends and for those who you love. Chances are if you have read this far then you are serious about buying something that is unique and appreciated by the recipients of your gifts. Just remember to practice looking pleasantly surprised on Christmas day when unwrapping your second pair of pyjama, despite having put so much effort into choosing everyone else’s gifts. Remember and remind yourself. Christmas is a time of giving, not receiving!