Great International Christmas Gift Ideas

Creative thinking is one of the best ways of ensuring your gifts are truly appreciated and treasured by the recipient. Even if you can’t seem to come up with a completely original idea, adding an international flair to a popular gift item is equally effective.

Holiday Themed Gifts

Has the person you’re purchasing a gift for recently returned from a holiday, or has he or she got a big trip planned in the near future? There’s great scope to give travel themed gifts that will either remind the recipient of the great time they had abroad, or make them look forward to their upcoming holiday even more.

For someone planning a holiday, guidebooks are an excellent gift as are essentials such as sun hats for hot destinations, or mittens and other woolens for those heading to chillier climates.

For those who’ve recently returned home, food items or other souvenir-style items are good choices. Or you could buy a gift voucher for a restaurant serving the cuisine of the country they visited.

Cultural Gifts

Is there a particular culture your friend is interested in or even fascinated by? Perhaps he or she studied a language at school, or spent time studying abroad? Invest in a gift that is somehow connected with those memories or that interest.

Books are quite an obvious choice. For example, if the person likes all things French, you may wish to give a French cookbook. Or if the person is a fan of all things Greek, you could give a book on mythology. Another idea that works particularly well if the person is in the midst of renovating their home, is to give a book on design.

Is your friend a fashionista? Buy a piece of clothing by a local designer or from a store. For example, Malene Birger is a Danish designer whose pieces are readily available in the UK, and COS is a Swedish clothing shop.

Gourmet Gifts

One of the easiest ways of ensuring a truly international gift is by giving food and beverages. In the run up to Christmas, many shops have a tendency to broaden their selection by stocking up on produce from around the world. It’s not only gourmets who’ll appreciate receiving these goodies. Most people enjoy the opportunity to spice up their life by trying out some new flavours.

You could either assemble a range of exotic items from different countries around the world, or pick one country to focus your selection on. Likewise, foods could either be Christmas themed or non-seasonal.

International goods worth including are Moroccan tajine spice mixes, Turkish sweets or baklava, Greek olive tapenades, dried Chinese mushrooms, Japanese rice candy or botan, Jamaican jerk, Australian Tim Tam biscuits, Brazilian acai berries, German rye bread, Estonian white chocolate with blueberries, and more.

British Christmas hampers could include items such as chutneys, scones, malt loaf, oatcakes, Christmas pudding, crisps, boiled sweets, specialty tea, fudge and more.

American food hampers could include popular items like pop tarts, marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, Lucky Charms cereal, maple syrup, cookies, and cake mixes.

Twenty-First Birthday Ideas Gifts versus Experiences, which provides more happiness

If given an option between receiving a gift or an experience for a birthday present to make us happier, which should we choose?

According to a Cornell University 2010 study, spending money on experiences makes people happier than spending money on possessions. Their reasoning happens because when it comes to purchasing tangible goods, individuals usually doubt their decisions and worry over missed deals. Meanwhile in the case of an experience, theyre very subjective, causing them to be positive experiences and there’s no other basis of comparison so there exists less negative feelings over missed deals.

Aside from the study, the primary reason experiences can be better than gifts are because individuals adapt to the tangible gifts. Initially, we like them because theyre shiny and brand new. But as individuals and also as creatures of habit, we adjust. As the novelty of the gift goes away, so does the exhilaration. The attributes that were once novel, now end up being the benchmark. Next thing we all know, thoughts start coming up concerning the attributes that we wish it would have. Sure enough, the gift gets replaced with something shinier and brand spankingly newer.

After having an experience, however, the event remains within our brains. Generally, these experiences involve bonding with others and having an astounding time with these people. But it doesnt stop there. The feelings continue even following the experience. When remembering the event and retelling to friends and family, it allow us to simultaneously relive the happy moments. Also, the more the tale is retold, the stronger the memories become. With impressive experiences, there is always something thrilled to talk about with your friend or family member. “Hey, remember the time when we.” And the best of all? When we least expect to see it, objects, words or friends around us will bring about these happy memories and immediately light up our moods.

If youre still on the fence, one critical note to keep in mind is: You get to be the sum of your experiences, not the sum of your possessions. If you can, strive for a 21st birthday idea experience to generate long lasting happy moments!

Paper Wedding Anniversary Gifts

Paper Wedding Anniversary Gifts

For your first wedding anniversary, paper is the material of choice for gifts to signify the first year of your marriage. This is due to newlyweds concentrating their efforts on saving money and scraping by in the early stages of their marriage. Paper can be quite a difficult item to use for a gift but if you use a little creativity and read on I am sure you will find some great ideas to surprise your partner on your first Wedding Anniversary.

Gifts to make for the Occasion

Not much says more to your partner than a gift that you have taken your time to plan out and then create. This is more prevalent in the early stages of your marriage and can only go on to cement the foundations of your marriage further. Below are a few ideas that may come in useful to you at this special time;

1, Put together a CD – I know first hand how effective a love CD can be once presented to your partner. You can use songs from your Wedding, In particular your first dance song and songs that you have shared together through your first year of marriage.

2, Memory photo album – This is a great gift choice to make. You can include photos of your first year together as well as photos from the Wedding, Honey moon or any holidays you have been on together to name but a few ideas.

3, Write a Poem – If you are feeling creative enough then this is a great paper anniversary gift. You can also put down onto paper all those emotions and feelings that you have for your newlywed partner.

4, Origami – If you are really creative and time is plentiful then you could make your partner something out of paper using the Japanese tradition of Origami which simply translates to paper folding. You could make her a cat if that is what she loves or him a football if he is a fan. The list is endless.

There are a number of different options available to you as you can see to make a gift for your paper anniversary. This is a brilliant way to show thoughtfulness and creativity and is also perfect if you are on a tight budget. These gift ideas also go hand in hand with purchased gifts which are covered below.

Gifts to buy for the Occasion

There are limitless gift available to purchase for your paper wedding anniversary. Below lists a few of the best gift ideas to purchase that are available;

1, Personalised Gifts – If you are going to purchase a gift then there is nothing more special than getting one that is personalised. You can get an assortment of items from personalised calendars to alternative paper gifts such as personalised paperweights. Your own unique personalisation makes this the most exclusive gift you can buy.

2, Event Tickets -This is a fantastic option for a paper anniversary gift. There are a number of event tickets available and even vouchers for experience days. What makes this so special is the very fact that the tickets are made of paper which is in keeping with the paper theme.

3, Decorate – Another great gift idea in particular, if you are looking for something unique, is to go out and purchase wallpaper and show off your creativity and thoughtfulness by redecorating. You could try using colours and themes that mean something to both of you.

Baby Gifts

Here at Baby’s Perfect Gift, we think that Baby Gifts are very special. A gift for a new baby isn’t just a gift for the baby, but also a gift for the parents. We have a unique selection of baby gifts as well as gifts for the baby’s brothers or sisters. Our sibling gifts are grouped by age to simplify your selection.

Perhaps when you think of throwing a baby shower for a friend your mind automatically turns to making a list of the supplies you will need. Cups, forks, baby shower paper plates, and napkins probably top your list, as food and refreshments are a big part of throwing a great baby shower. While you will need baby shower paper plates in several sizes to accommodate serving finger foods, lunch and/or cake, there are many fun non food uses for baby shower paper plates.

The Baby Shower Paper Plate Game

Perhaps you have heard of the ribbon game that is played at bridal showers. In that particular game, guests keep track of how many ribbons the bride to be rips or breaks while opening her presents. Legend has it that the number of broken ribbons will equal the number of children the bride to be will one day have. The Baby Shower Paper Plate Game is similar. In this game, guests also keep track of how many ribbons are broken as gifts are opened. This can then represent the number of children that mother to be is carrying or it can represent how many hours that she will be in labor. As a twist, take the bows off of each package and use them to decorate one of the baby shower paper plates. Use a long ribbon to make a chin strap and award the mother with this makeshift bonnet as a souvenir of the game. Make sure to take a picture of her in her lovely hat.

Another great way to play a baby shower paper plate game is to discreetly mark the bottom of a few baby shower paper plates. You can use a felt pen, marker, sticker, or even a stamp. Then randomly place the marked paper plates back into the pile of plates. As guests help themselves to refreshments or cake, ask them to look for the mark you made on the bottom of their baby shower paper plates. All the guests with marked plates win a door prize.

Decorating With Baby Shower Paper Plates

A fun and inexpensive way to decorate for a shower is using baby shower paper plates. The plates already fit the theme of your shower, so they are a perfect fit with the balloons, streamers and banners you use to make the room festive. You can tape them up to the walls in pretty patterns or use them to hold streamers in place along the corners of your room. For more details

Business Meetings – Practical Gift Ideas To Sway Clients

The main focus of most business meetings with customers, is to present ideas or discuss some important issues regarding the company. They are set-up to establish working relationships and to help in the growth and success of a business. Therefore, meetings and presentations should be carried out in a way that is professional and aimed at impressing the clients. The distribution of corporate gifts during a meeting is a great way to help obtain this goal.

Corporate gifts at meetings can promote a company in a positive light and show the clients how highly they are regarded. Gaining any type of advantage in business is vital for any company’s prosperity and must be taken whenever possible. That is why business meetings are the perfect arena. It provides personal interaction with a company and its customers.

There any many types of business gifts one can choose. Many will go with a specific promotional gift that has their company logo on it. This is perfectly fine and will go a long way in making a lasting impression on your clients, but do not forget to use your own creative thinking when deciding the gifts. Thinking outside the box or even making the gifts personal will also achieve a lasting impression; maybe even a better one.

Making the gifts apart of the meeting is a good strategy. For example, having padfolio folders available with the company logo embedded on the front. Allowing the client to take notes when ever it is needed. Company logo pens will always come in handy, as well as calculators, business organizers or even a briefcase for the client. In case they need to take any relevant documents with them when they leave. Any one of these gifts or a combination of them, should make a positive and lasting impression on the client.

Depending on the meeting and the client, you can try to make the gifts more personal. But in order to do that you will have to know the client you are meeting. If you do not know anything personal about the client, make a quick call to discover what the client’s hobbies are or what they like to do outside of work. Making a gift personal will show the client that they are not just a regular customer, but someone special, someone you want to build a strong and successful working relationship with. A client that receives a personal corporate gift will tend to remember a company in a positive manner.

One thing you should try to avoid when giving out corporate gifts at meetings, is low quality gifts. Low quality gifts, does not mean cheap. Every company will have a budget for corporate gifts. Sometimes that budget means you will not be able to afford expensive gifts. That is perfectly fine, as long as the gifts are of good quality. This means they should at least have some level of usefulness and durability. Low quality gifts can disrupt your meetings and even harm the reputation of a company. Choosing corporate gifts wisely for a corporate meeting will help make sure clients leave impressed and with lasting positive memories about the company.