"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Albert Einstein
Every once in awhile a container will inspire a gift...a beautiful basket, a box made of paper or wood, a bucket, a pot. Anything that can hold other things becomes your starting point for an exciting and creative gift...even a colorfully decorated paper bag.
When giving multiple small gifts with an overall theme a great presentation can be achieved by placing all the items in an appropriate container. Baskets are abundant at thrift stores and yard sales for pennies. Of course, look for the ones that appear new and any that are a bit dusty can be washed carefully. While baskets may be the most obvious I have listed several container gift ideas below:
Garbage Can: Office items (stapler, pencil sharpener, pens, pencils, pads etc.)....Green cleaning supplies
Hat Box: Accessories (scarf, jewelry, hat)....Beauty Supplies...Make-up...Stationary
Bucket: Automotive items (wax, buffer, polish, rags)...Green cleaning supplies
Watering Can or Clay Pot: Gardening items (tools, gloves, seeds etc.)
Bowl: Popcorn, candy, DVD, movie coupons (Movie Night)...Ingredients for a recipe with the recipe
Baking Dish: Ingredients for a recipe with the recipe...Hot Pads and kitchen towels
Plastic Storage Containers: Homemade food items
Small Cooler: Fancy beers or sodas
For my Father I often do a gift basket with fancy foods they don't ordinarily buy. Sometimes it's fancy candy and crunchy, spicy treats or it has been lamb chops, crab legs and gorgonzola cheese. He likes these gifts so much better than another golf shirt. I put it all in a basket and lay the food on a bed of shredded paper. After I shred financial information I keep some to use as packing material. But shredding colored paper scraps and magazines make a much more cheerful presentation.
If you're giving money you may want to put it in a wallet, coin purse or handbag. Or perhaps present it in a piggy bank to encourage saving a little of the monetary gift.
Last night I took a bottle of wine to a dinner party in a leopard print burlap bag and tied a Voo-Doo doll to it with a little saying about Voo-Doo and how, my dear friend, the hostess could use it to draw good things into her life. The burlap wine bag inspired the rest of the gift and I'd been waiting years to pass the doll on to the perfect person.
My sister and I are both hairdressers and somewhere I learned about a great gift for someone in the hair industry. You know the blue liquid your stylist uses to disinfect instruments, it's called Barbicide. I took a Barbicide jar and picked up a hideous Barbi doll at the thrift store, lined the jar with blue gel paper and....you know where this is going...Voila' Barbi-cide! She loved it and we all got a good laugh.
Let your imagination travel when you see an interesting container and consider what might go into it that would delight the recipient.
Albert Einstein
Every once in awhile a container will inspire a gift...a beautiful basket, a box made of paper or wood, a bucket, a pot. Anything that can hold other things becomes your starting point for an exciting and creative gift...even a colorfully decorated paper bag.
When giving multiple small gifts with an overall theme a great presentation can be achieved by placing all the items in an appropriate container. Baskets are abundant at thrift stores and yard sales for pennies. Of course, look for the ones that appear new and any that are a bit dusty can be washed carefully. While baskets may be the most obvious I have listed several container gift ideas below:
Garbage Can: Office items (stapler, pencil sharpener, pens, pencils, pads etc.)....Green cleaning supplies
Hat Box: Accessories (scarf, jewelry, hat)....Beauty Supplies...Make-up...Stationary
Bucket: Automotive items (wax, buffer, polish, rags)...Green cleaning supplies
Watering Can or Clay Pot: Gardening items (tools, gloves, seeds etc.)
Bowl: Popcorn, candy, DVD, movie coupons (Movie Night)...Ingredients for a recipe with the recipe
Baking Dish: Ingredients for a recipe with the recipe...Hot Pads and kitchen towels
Plastic Storage Containers: Homemade food items
Small Cooler: Fancy beers or sodas
For my Father I often do a gift basket with fancy foods they don't ordinarily buy. Sometimes it's fancy candy and crunchy, spicy treats or it has been lamb chops, crab legs and gorgonzola cheese. He likes these gifts so much better than another golf shirt. I put it all in a basket and lay the food on a bed of shredded paper. After I shred financial information I keep some to use as packing material. But shredding colored paper scraps and magazines make a much more cheerful presentation.
If you're giving money you may want to put it in a wallet, coin purse or handbag. Or perhaps present it in a piggy bank to encourage saving a little of the monetary gift.
Last night I took a bottle of wine to a dinner party in a leopard print burlap bag and tied a Voo-Doo doll to it with a little saying about Voo-Doo and how, my dear friend, the hostess could use it to draw good things into her life. The burlap wine bag inspired the rest of the gift and I'd been waiting years to pass the doll on to the perfect person.
My sister and I are both hairdressers and somewhere I learned about a great gift for someone in the hair industry. You know the blue liquid your stylist uses to disinfect instruments, it's called Barbicide. I took a Barbicide jar and picked up a hideous Barbi doll at the thrift store, lined the jar with blue gel paper and....you know where this is going...Voila' Barbi-cide! She loved it and we all got a good laugh.
Let your imagination travel when you see an interesting container and consider what might go into it that would delight the recipient.
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