My favorite and most meaningful gift was a rack of dress up clothes my mom made me. She designed several dresses just for me and had Santa hang them up on Christmas morning. She had purchased shoes and other accessories, but the dresses were the star of the show.
In this episode, I’m sharing a few quick and simple ways to make your gifts feel personal… even if you purchased them from the store.
Category 1- a want or “the big ask”
Since this is the big gift, I figured I’d come out the gate with a big idea…. A scavenger hunt. Scavenger hunts are so fun and can be as easy or elaborate as you like.
Last Christmas I did a scavenger hunt for my husband because he wanted fancy car parts. He needed to buy them because I know nothing about cars, but I still wanted him to open something on Christmas morning. So, I created a funny sticker and wrapped up a couple of clues for him to follow.
Easy and fun! And, if you’re not much of a writer, you can create math problems, write jokes, draw pictures, or anything else to lead the person from one place to another.
Category 2- something to do
This might be the easiest one to make personal if your activity is something you can do together as a family. Make a weekly schedule for time to complete puzzles or play board games. Brainstorm a list of pictures to take on your trip or museum visit and check off each one on your trip.
Category 3- read
Like the previous category, reading is one that can easily be personalized. If you’re giving books to a kid, include a copy of your favorite book from childhood. You can also write a special message inside the cover of the book or create a special bookmark for them to use.
Category 4- need
Sometimes just knowing the specific item to give makes it personal. If you’re giving a notebook, you could have it labeled with the recipient’s name or include positive notes on random pages in the notebook.
There are also websites like Vistaprint and Canva that make it easy and affordable to personalize almost any item. Add a photo collage to a wall calendar or a special phrase on a coffee mug. Just because it’s a need doesn’t mean it needs to be boring.
Category 5- wear
Like the need category, you can easily add a monogram to shirts, hats, bags or more. You could also monogram a special date, like an anniversary, or a cute code word.
Use sites like Canva or SpreadShop to design your own t-shirt for free. If you wanted to go extra big, you could even design personalized pajamas for everyone to wear.
