Throughout the year, there are numerous occasions when a gift is needed. Naturally, when we think of buying gifts, Christmas and Birthdays come first to mind. But there are numerous other times too, such as weddings and anniversaries, a new baby, a graduation, or a retirement.
There are always the standard gifts of clothing and toys, tools and sports equipment needed or wanted by the person you are gifting. But for someone difficult to buy gifts for, or for that special someone, a unique gift that exactly fits the personality of that person will be remembered forever.
How to Find the Gift that is Perfect and Unique
To come up with that unique gift idea, all you have to do is listen to, or observe, your children, relatives, and friends you are shopping for. Perhaps they have a favorite sports team and would love a T-Shirt or hat with their team's logo. Maybe they collect certain things and would enjoy an addition to their collection.
But to be truly unique, I've found that a word or phrase often becomes associated with people, or seem to suit someone's personality to a 'T', and these can make for very unique gifts.
A Few Fun Examples From My Past
Many years ago a luncheon was given for my youngest son and his fiancee where the future in-laws came together to meet one another. The couple had often been heard to say to each other “I'm doing the best I can.” One of my favorite books featured an English Manor House known as 'Quantum' because the Latin inscription carved into the Lintel over the front door read “Quantum in me fuit”. Roughly translated, the phrase reads “I did the best I could”. I thought it was the perfect phrase to have put on a pair of T-Shirts for the couple.
One recent Christmas I came up with the perfect gift for my oldest son. He and I regularly played cards on Wednesday evenings. His favorite phrase to tease me when he was on a winning streak was that his 'Mojo' was working for him. So, at the Mall, I bought a T-shirt and had a shop put decals on it of a hand of cards and the word “Mojo”. My son absolutely loved it and would often wear it on 'cards' night.
One year I bought a pink sweatshirt for my mom and had the names of her 7 grandchildren printed all over it. Another uniquely individual gift no one else had thought to get.
Gift for the Boss
One of my favorite unique gifts had to do with what the office got the boss one Christmas. I was in charge of the shopping, so ended up getting a collection of coffee mugs with unique sayings. You see, we worked for the Director of twenty-seven Pathology Labs in a hospital. He often had numerous meetings throughout the day for one lab or another. He was also a big coffee drinker and frequently filled a cup before going off to a meeting. Just as frequently, he would 'forget' his coffee mug after the meeting, with people often returning said cups to his office. To help in identifying which cups were his, we got him mugs with sayings that were unique to his personality. My all-time favorite, since he was also the County Medical Examiner, read “Don't take life too seriously, it's not permanent”. :)
Summary
So, listen to the people you want to find a unique gift for and you'll discover exactly the right one.
*This article is brought to you by Wednesday Elf. A unique gift for me would be this 'Elf' Mug. LOL.
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*Unique Gifts Ideas – review written by Wednesday Elf
Pat Austin, you have hit the nail on the head with your suggestions to "listen" to those people around you for hints and clues as to what they really would like. Many times when asked people will say things like, " I don't need anything" and then in casual conversation will say things like I really like ..... That's when you need your ears on high alert. I love the coffee mug idea, like your boss, I'm always losing my mug somewhere! Thanks for this lovely review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Olivia. I love coming up with ideas from 'casual conversations'. Makes for truly unique gifts that really fit the person you are gifting. :)
DeleteWhat great ideas! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary Beth.
DeleteElf, I agree that listening for “clues” is the best way to come up with a truly personal gift that has meaning to the recipient. I love the examples you shared!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret. I've found it to be a great deal of fun to find a really personal gift the recipient loves.
DeleteI believe in my Elf!!! I also depend on my Elf and I love your logical approach to finding the right gift. It would be nice if we all listened. Seems like I am often just trying to finish buying gifts for the gift list instead of the individual. 2024 resolution: listen more closely to what individuals want! Thank you for the excellent reminder and advice. Even phrases they recipient commonly uses would make an excellent mug or t-shirt gift. Most Excellent :)
ReplyDeleteI've had a lot of fun personalizing gifts for certain people over the years, Mouse. Personal phrases turn out to be really fun on T-shirts and mugs. And I love seeing the reaction I get. :) Thanks for your visit.
DeletePS: I couldn't resist that 'Elf' cup. It seemed to 'fit' my article perfectly. LOL.
Loving the Elf mug - I hadn't thought of getting my griend one that says Elf - her cat is named Elfie - would have been cute! ReviewThis has a lot of excellent personal reviews written by real people who use the products they review
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the Elf mug, Barbara. Thanks for visiting my review.
DeleteThank you for sharing these Brilliant suggests for gifts and I love that you advised to really listen to loved ones. A personalised gift means such a lot. Also I Love the Elf Mug :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Raintree Annie. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
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