Comments on How to Find Unusual Gifts

Find really random, but still useful gifts. My group of friends have a tradition where whenever a birthday rolls around, the rest of us go and get a random joined present. The last things we got were an orange foot mat (in the shape of a foot) and a bright pink straw hat. You can have a great laugh, and sometimes really nifty. Search in $2 shops for the best.

We had a digital artist make our friends a keepsake of our trip to the Caribbean. She took all our favorite photos from on board the Amorazur, and put them together in a fantastic way (even taking a more attractive face off one picture, and putting it on the same woman's body in another - genius!). Our friends went ballistic; they absolutely loved the gift!

We had a digital artist make our friends a keepsake of our trip to the Caribbean. She took all our favorite photos from on board the Amorazur, and put them together in a fantastic way (even taking a more attractive face off one picture, and putting it on the same woman's body in another - genius!). Our friends went ballistic; they absolutely loved the gift!

Thrift Stores finds are amazing. Also, anything from a foreign country makes an amazing gift.

Thrift Stores finds are amazing. Also, anything from a foreign country makes an amazing gift.

We all receive them--those cute photos of your friends' children and distant relatives that come in the mail every year with holiday cards. Now, what to do with them? Don't throw them out! Purchase several inexpensive photos albums from the Dollar Store or other discount store, one for each family that sends photos every year. Place each year's photos in the album, one year per page. Discount photo albums don't have many pages, so your album will be full in just a few years. If you're crafty, you can also decorate the album page around the photo with the year of the photo and/or some other holiday images. Once the album is full, wrap it up and give it to the person who sent you all those photos over the years as a gift. Now, aren't you thoughtful!

Make your own gifts. Go to a paint-your-own pottery studio and paint a holiday platter, etc. Attend their classses. They teach you how to have fun!

I recently lost my job and my boyfriend's 55th birthday is right around the corner. Instead of using my credit card, I have made him 10 birthday coupons. With this idea, you simply write on each card (as many as you like) a favor you'll do for this person over the period of 10 weeks (or however many cards you make). For example, 1 card can say that you'll take out the trash for a month or that you'll give them a great back rub. The thing that makes this special is that the person receiving this gift can pick 1 card per week and you do that 1 favor that week. This way, the birthday or other special event can last as long as you like. In my case, it will last 10 weeks. Another inexpensive thing I am doing is I am burning him a CD with some of our favorite songs on it. That way he can have a copy of it in the car at all times to remind him of his special day and mostly of the person who gave it to him.

We all receive them--those cute photos of your friends' children and distant relatives that come in the mail every year with holiday cards. Now, what to do with them? Don't throw them out! Purchase several inexpensive photos albums from the Dollar Store or other discount store, one for each family that sends photos every year. Place each year's photos in the album, one year per page. Discount photo albums don't have many pages, so your album will be full in just a few years. If you're crafty, you can also decorate the album page around the photo with the year of the photo and/or some other holiday images. Once the album is full, wrap it up and give it to the person who sent you all those photos over the years as a gift. Now, aren't you thoughtful!

Look in your area for a Fair Trade store. There are many out there but most don't have websites, so you might have to ask around. These stores sell handmade goods from impoverished countries and the artisans recieve fair wages. Many of the stores provide gift cards so that the person who recieves the gift sees that your gift wasn't just to that person, but also to an unknown artisan far away.

A well thought-out group of smaller gifts assembled in a basket could be a great gift. An idea for your favorite long distance friend would be to purchase a nice assortment of writing paper, pens, and envelope stickers. Arrange them, individually wrapped in a nice basket that could be used for sorting and storing mail. Basket wraps are readily available and all you need to do is add a festive bow and card. The possibilities are endless. In addition, don't overlook how you wrap all of your gifts - the presentation is just as important as the gifts themselves. Select gift-wrap, ribbons, and decorations that carry through on the theme or general feeling of the gifts you have selected.

If you're not sure on what to get a baby, make a time capsule for its 21st birthhday. You can put in a newspaper, car mags, computer mags, letters from grandparents telling about their lives, etc. Anything from the year of the baby's birth.

If you see something unusual that you know your wife or your Uncle Fred would love, go ahead and buy it as a Christmas gift, even if it's April. Store it in a safe place where you won't forget about it, and it's one less gift to worry about in December.