When I find something that you feel the person in mind will love and enjoy receiving I get the fun then of looking forward to giving it to them and (hopefully) seeing their reaction to it.
Obviously, this plan doesn't always work out as it should! Sometimes the person in question seems totally unmoved by the item, other times you send it to them via the post (occasionally at quite a bit of expense!) and you never hear another thing about it or worst of all (because it means you have completely wasted your money and then have the dilemma about what to do with the item) you buy them something they have already got.
Still, the fun is in the looking, planning and hoping and last year I actually brought a tear to a good friends eye with the gift I gave him. It feels SO GOOD to know that you have succeeded in showing someone you love that you were thinking of them and what THEY might like when you did you Christmas shopping and happy memories of great Christmas gifts never fade - I know because I have never forgotten the CD transfers my mate Martin Smith ( he of Megabass and Jive Bunny Fame) spent time producing for me of my old recordings with him.
The money thing is always a problem but I am rather a self-centered person most of the year round (not deliberately but I get tied up in my own thoughts and feelings) and so it does me good to take stock and think of the people in my life to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.
If you really want to get into the Christmas spirit 'think of others' and you will soon find the Scrooge in you reseeding!
Vistaprint
Prezzybox
Firebox
All of these sites are highly recommended and will provide you with a plethora of unusual gifts to choose from. Prezzybox is a similar site to Firebox (they could even be linked) but I found them to be the cheaper of the two sites. Firebox is a bit pricey but if you can get an order of over £50 together they do deliver for free which is quite a good saving. They deliver REALLY fast as well so no worries there...
If on the other hand you like getting creative and personal with the gifts you give this Christmas why not try Vistaprint for personalised calendars, cards, posters, mugs, t - shirts, etc, etc. The quality of their stuff is top draw and again, if you make the most of special offers etc you can get a good deal. They are quite pricey on postage though and their economy service takes a while to arrive but if you get your skates on now and get organised you will have everything you need in plenty of time...
Another site worth exploring if you like music and would like to compile a special CD compilation for a loved one is Mixpixie...
Mixpixie
Compiling your own CD is time consuming and the finished articles are a little on the cheesy side but this said, you can grab tracks from CD's you like just the one song from or put together cracking 'Best Of's' that are not available in the shops. At 99p a track they are not cheap either and you can only have 10 tracks on each CD but you do get to record a short message to include on the disc if you'd like so its an ideal gift to send to those far away.
All in all, HAVE FUN doing your Christmas buying this year - its not as hard as you think...
No comments:
Post a Comment