1. Name Tags – Instead of using name tags, use the front cover from leftover Christmas or other holidays. Just cut along the crease and glue or tape the card to the top of your wrapped package. Most designs have some unprinted space to allow you to write the name of the recipient and a short note.
2. Decoration – Instead of using ribbons and bows, make the decoration part of the gift. Tie a bunch of cinnamon stick on top with ribbon. Tie your package with satin or velvet ribbon and let the ends of the ribbon flow down the package. Add a silk flower inserted in the knot of the bow. If your recipient likes to cook, tie wooden kitchen utensils in the bow. Your ribbon or wrapping paper could be replaced with a decorative kitchen towel.
3. Festive boxes – For small items, buy small Chinese take out cartons, the ones that have a folded top and metal handle. Decorate the outside with brightly colored stickers of hearts, flower, or Christmas themes. Write the recipients name on the top flaps.
4. Original Wrapping Paper – At the craft store, buy sponges that have been cut into shapes of flowers, sailboats, etc. Dip them in paint and press them onto plain white wrapping paper or Kraft colored paper. Your decoration can fit the gift or the recipients taste.
5. Trimmings – Instead of using bows on every package, buy ornaments or small toys when they are on sale. Use these items that best fit your recipient’s hobby or lifestyle and tie or glue them onto your package.
6. Name Sacks – Sew up some red, blue, yellow, and green velvet squares into sacks. Turn down the top edge, sew in place to allow a small opening for a drawstring. Write the recipients name on the bag with glue and sprinkle the glue with glitter. Fill the sacks with candy or small toys. Use more string to wrap around the package and through the drawstring to secure the sacks.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Men Have Their Favorites, Too

When it comes to gifts, men have their favorites, too. But if it were your task to choose one gift for the boss, you’d be stumped for ideas. You’d want something he would be eternally grateful for, something that would earn remarks like: “Oh great! This is just the very thing I needed!” Well, your golf gifts or pocket watch accessories could elicit this response.

But men are not sentimental or mawkish when it comes to gifts. As long as they can use it, the gift is perfect. But for all you know, men have their favorite gifts such as:

• power tools;
• DIY kits;
• a relaxing massage at the spa complete with a hot bath;
• superb home cooked meals;
• a ticket to the ballgames;
• video games;
• something he can show off.

The moment a motorhead gets a tool set, you can expect him to start tinkering with his motorcycle. Or, if a voracious reader gets the book he likes, he’ll be leafing through it in no time. Gifts like watches, pocket watch accessories, wallets, and label makers are valued by men who love gizmos and fashionable knickknacks. As always, the gifts should be carefully selected to cater to personality and interests.

What Not to Give Men

Just watching the males in the family can clue you in to the gifts they love to hate. If you’ve been giving your brother the same pair of socks for Christmas or his birthday, expect the gifts piling up somewhere. Perhaps you’ve also seen those unused bottles of scents and unused T-shirts because these were either too small or too large.

Don’t give men gift certificates if they’re the type who forget where they placed their reading glasses or haven’t the time to shop; the gift certificates may be forgotten or misplaced.

Don’t give a man a poem, scrap books, pink sweaters, and tickets to piano recitals unless he likes the stuff. You might also think that just because you love Britney Spears he’ll go crazy over Spear’s latest CD. His taste will differ from yours, so be careful when deciding on a gourmet basket.

Gifts to Pamper the Man You Love

For the man you love, it is easier to drum up gift ideas. You know his fashion sense, his sports, his favorite TV shows, and movies. To appeal to his fashion sense, give him a pocket watch and pocket watch accessories and those stunning personalized cufflinks. For the love of his game, you can always give a poker set, golf accessories, or that NFL barware.

Gifts that show you care about their health and well-being are blockbusters when it comes to gifts for men. A heart exercise video for the physically inactive can start him on a healthier lifestyle. These are just subtle reminders that he has to take care of himself, too.

Gifts for your man will always vary according to his shifting interests. Give him what he needs to look and feel better and to keep himself occupied. He’ll love everything you give him, fro pocket watch accessories to cool leather gadgets.

My husband always asks me what I want for Christmas, I
tell him to surprise me but he insists that I give him ideas
(he says he’s not good at surprises). Then he gets me
something that I asked for…no surprises. How can I get
him to surprise me, with something I would like?

Answer:

Well, as a husband myself, I can tell you, nothing is more nerve-racking than trying to find the perfect gift for your spouse. Yep, I said perfect gift. Why? Because when it comes to a spouse gift, there are no exceptions. No “so-so” gift. No “ok” gift. Surprises screw up our math on that one. We surprise you with a blouse. You hate it. You wear it anyway. We think we did good. So we get you another one for your birthday. 4 gifts later we find out it wasn’t even close to what you wanted. EEK.

As guys, we don’t want to mess, up, period. We feel a lot better just getting you something you want. To make it more like a surprise, maybe you should drop hints all year. LOUD ones (we’re kinda dense). By the time the holidays roll around, he should have a list of at least 20 things he knows you want (if he’s paying attention). Which one will you get? That’s a surprise.

Question:

My husband always gets me practical gifts like pots and
pans, new towels, and gift certificates for the gas station.
These are great to have, but I’de also like to get something
romantic or sentimental from him. What should I do?

Answer:

Like I always say, it’s simple. TALK TO HIM. Tell him that while you like the practical, it kinda takes away from the magic of the holidays. Tell him kindly that these are gifts he can give him Mom or his best friend. You’d like to get gifts than mean something to you. Simple as that.
If you love to cook or you run out of gas a lot, he’s thinking about you. He just needs a little tweaking.

If he’s just a practical kind of guy who buys practical things, maybe you can reach a compromise. For example – if you collect dolls, maybe he’ll get you a glass case for your favorite one. If you love to read, maybe a sterling silver bookmark engraved with a message from him. Or even better — if he’s practical and handy, ask him to make you something, and how much it would mean to you if he did.

Question:

Each year I tell my husband what I want for Christmas, I
even post a little note on the fridge, or a picture of it
that I cut out of a catalogue. And each year he goes and
gets me something else. He says he wants to surprise me.
So how can I let him know what I want, but make him think
he’s getting me a surprise?

Answer:

Well, you’ve got a rare one. So, don’t beat him up too much. Because if you change him, two Christmases from now you’ll complain that he never surprises you. Part of the joy of giving is picking something for someone on your own — for a guy, this is kinda like a game or a test to see how well he knows you. Are his surprise gifts bad, or are you just mad that you’re not getting what you want? Think about that. If you’re making too big a deal of your hints, he might feel like all the spontaneity is gone. So dial back on your hints a little — it gives him a better game to play. Another option is to compromise –one gift that you want, one surprise gift from him. That way, you’re both happy.

Question:

I’ve been dating this guy since late November. We will
be spending part of Christmas together and I really think I
should give him a gift. But I don’t want to make him
uncomfortable, especially if he doesn’t get me something.
How should I handle this?

Answer:

OK. This one is easy. Since at best you would have been dating a month when Christmas comes along, you’re not on the hook for much more than a CD or similarly priced item under $20. Many would argue that a card is fine, with a little personal note. No novelty boxer shorts, personal stuff, or anything with hearts or the word “love” just yet. If you feel weird giving him an actual gift so soon, do something else — take him out for dinner, or cook him one yourself. Something special, without being to relationship-py. This way, even if he didn’t get you anything, he won’t feel like a jerk.

It’s never easy finding gifts for the man who has everything, since the man who has everything has, well, everything. You know the type, professional job, nice car, good family, a few hobbies; probably an all-around good fellow, but not very easy to buy gifts for.

The biggest problem is that if he really wants something he’ll probably just go out and buy it himself. Therefore, anything he really wants he probably already has, and just about everything that he doesn’t have he probably doesn’t want very badly. This puts you, the gift-giver, in a pretty sticky situation.

“Well, I have to get him something,” you rationalize. You walk into a store, maybe even The Sharper Image where they seem to have all sorts of gifts for the man who has everything; personalized golf tees, fighting robots, glow in the dark keyboards.

Of course, he doesn’t tell you this when you give him the gift. He’s gracious and thanks you profusely before shoving the keychain into a drawer and hoping that you don’t mention that he never uses it.

So what are you supposed to do?

Well, since the man who has everything hasn’t had a chance to buy anything he hasn’t seen yet, try to find something that is along his tastes, but is particularly difficult to find.

For example, if you’re on a trip to a wine region, and you know that he likes Chardonnay, pick up a few bottles from a small winery that he probably hasn’t heard of before.

If he’s a football fan, pick up a piece of vintage memorabilia on Ebay that he wouldn’t be able to find otherwise. Don’t take the easy route of just grabbing some useless gift in the store that is labeled “for the man who has everything,” since it’s usually something neither you nor he would want.

If you put some thought into the gift, it’s likely that he?ll appreciate it more, even if it’s less expensive that the super keychain or monogrammed golf tees. Pay attention to what he likes and what he can’t find, and your gift for the man who has everything is sure to be a hit.

The next time you are giving a gift, consider presenting it in a creative or
meaningful way. I will give a few examples of things I have done which I hope
will spur your own creative juices to flow and come up with ideas on your
own. Of course I am flattered when my ideas are mimicked, however, I know
that I am not the sole romantic person on earth. My aim is to bring out the
romantic that is inside each of you.

On one Saturday morning while my wife was sleeping in late I ran a string all
through the house, beginning at the location where I hid her gift. The string
went through cabinets, under seat cushions, in the bathtub, behind the sofa
and throughout all the rooms in the house. Had I been thinking ahead, I would
have attached small gifts all along the string as a teaser for the big
present at the end. After I ran the string through our home, I brought the
other end of the string to my wife in bed and explained that I had bought a
present for her and it was at the other end. I had never seen her get out of
bed so quickly on a Saturday morning.

Another way in which I like to give presents to my wife is by having her find
them. I will write about 7 or so clues which lead from one written clue to
the next until the final clue leads to the hidden gift. Sometimes I will even
write the clues in form of poetry. He is an example:

With your ear you’ll hear

Not the ocean or the sea

But the next clue telling you

Where the treasure trove will be.

The next clue was inside a conch shell).

If you want to go all out on the “treasure hunt” theme, you can give your
spouse a tape in the “Mission Impossible” style giving them their assignment
to locate the missing gift. Depending on the time you have and equipment
available, you can even include videotaped clues which definitely would add
to the overall excitement of the quest.

Once I created a treasure hunt though town which ended in a park where she
had to walk certain paces to find where her “treasure” lay. This time it was
a picnic that I prepared in advance and asked a friend to lay out for us
while we were finding our way there.

There are dozens and dozens of ways in which you can transform the
presentation of even an ordinary gift into a truly romantic occasion. Don’t
just put a lot of thought into the gift, put equal thought into how you will
give it.

Listen When they “Oooh and Ahhhh”

Anytime you are shopping or window shopping with this person pay attention to the things they take notice of…”wow, I’ve love to have one of those”, “mmmmm, these candles smell delicious”, or “That is a beautiful picture”. When your sweetheart comments on something he/she likes, take notice of what it is, where it is, and if it comes in a variety of shapes, sizes or scents, casually ask which they prefer. Stock these little hints in your memory or write them down so you will have them when needed. This is the most thoughtful way to give a gift, it shows that you were listening, that you pay attention and that you care.

Get to Really Know the Person

I think it’s safe to say that almost everyone has a passion of some sort. Find out what your partner’s passions are. Is he a Star Trek junky, does she love romance novels, does he collect beer mugs, is he a coffee lover? Knowing about the person you are buying for gives you somewhere to start. You can’t go wrong in buying a book lover a new book (just try to get something new so they haven’t already read it), or putting together an assortment of coffee for the coffee lover. It is also wise to find out what their favorite things are: color, chocolates, movies, CDs, scents, authors, etc. Knowing this comes in handy when gift shopping because you can get them something related to one of their favorites. A copy of their favorite movie, candles in their favorite scent, a book by their favorite author.

I leave you with this final thought: There is a big difference between giving someone a box of chocolates because “everyone likes chocolates”, and giving someone a box of specialty chocolates because you know they go nuts over that kind.

We’re entering the busiest diamond buying season of the year, so it’s more important now than ever to know what to look for when hitting the stores this season.

Here’s a list of five quick tips that can help you get a better diamond for less. These tips hold true whether you’re shopping for yourself, a friend, or even if you’re weighing in on the ring decision of someone popping the big question.

1. Know what’s important to you. Keep in mind bigger is not always better – 92% of people would rather have a diamond that sparkles than a larger duller diamond! Purchasing a .95 carat ring instead of a 1 carat ring can save someone nearly $1,000!
2. Do your research and learn about different diamond grading systems before going into the jewelry store. You might know that the 4Cs stand for color, cut, clarity and carat weight. But they only measure the rarity of a diamond, and do not tell how well a diamond will sparkle. Many stores use an additional grading system that measures a diamond’s brilliance. An example of this type grading system can be found at www.diamondlightperformance.com.
3. Don’t base your decision on the way the diamond looks in the store case. Jewelry stores are designed to be extremely well lit – any diamond can shine and sparkle in this artificial setting. But what will a diamond look like in everyday situations?
4. When you’re buying a diamond, ask to see a copy of the report on the diamond’s light performance. Don’t be fooled when you’re shopping. Just because a diamond is considered rare, does not mean that it is brilliant.
5. Make sure you are buying a quality diamond from a reputable jeweler with independent beauty certification. There are many different retail outlets for buying a diamond. Anyone can offer a low price on a dull diamond, so shop at a store you know and trust. This will most likely place you in the store of a national chain, but there are some local reliable family run jewelry stores too.

Overall, look for the beauty of the diamond, not the rarity or color, clarity and etc. Shop by the light performance, you can ensure that you’ll go home with a beautiful, perfect diamond.