Make Gift Buying Easier This Year!

Gift Giving Strategy for the Holiday Season

 

It’s that time of year when we start to think about holiday gift giving. Gift giving can be fun for some and a hassle for others; the holidays always prompts a conversation around this topic. Everyone volunteers ideas for how their family tries to shorten their list. I have friends who pick numbers out of a hat to buy for selected members of their family. This is a way of reducing expenses and also limits the number of people they need to buy for. While this concept sounds great and works for a lot of people, I personally didn’t like the experiment when my family tried it. For me, I felt like some people were “cheated” of a gift that made them smile. Instead, we decided to establish a gifting budget per person which works - more or less. So, if the “gift-giving raffle” is your thing and it works for you, great! But, for those of you who are like me and my mom and you “need” to gift for all those on your list, I thought I might share a gift-giving strategy to make it easier on you. 

For many, just glancing at their Holiday list can cause them stress and anxiety, so after establishing a budget, try the following tips to help simplify the process: 

 

 

Make a list of gift recipients  - those people you need or want to buy a gift for. Don’t forget your Hairdresser, Doorman, Teachers, Nurses, Caregivers, your UPS driver, Aunts, Uncles, Bosses, Your Employees, Secret Santa, Grab Bags and of course your immediate family and anyone else you want to thank. Also, I buy 2-3 extra Hostess gifts for any parties or special events you might attend.  

 

 

Organize the list by age group because they have different needs and desires depending upon where they are in life:

 

1. Babies & Toddlers 
2. Children
3. Teens
4. Young Adults
5. Singles
6. Couples
7. Older Seniors
8. Pets
9. Other - This is generic grouping for grab bags, hostess gifts, secret santa’s - recipients you may not know well or at all.

Come up with a “theme” gift idea that you can apply to each of the groups, see some of the ideas below to get you thinking about a theme for your crew. Gifts can be totally different and personalized within the theme. For example, “American Pride theme” - Patrick prefers baseball hats so I’ll get him an American Flag hat with a Flag Golf Headcover, Sarah likes apparel, so she will get a Kiel James Patrick “Old Glory Sweater”, Matt needs a new wallet, so he’ll get a Smather’s Wallet with Flag on it and Grandma Colleen will get a new American Flag for her house. The point is that these themes help you to narrow the scope of what you are looking to buy for each person on your list. In this case I was looking for things that are All American, so can zero in on specific items right away. Alternatively you can just buy everyone the same Patriotic item, for example, a Smathers and Branson Flag Key Fob and you are done.

 

Here’s some other themes to get your creativity flowing:

• Favorite New England Destination - pick a place that your family loves.  For example, my family loves Narragansett and Block Island. Buy them things like anchors, prints, T-shirts, rocks glasses and flasks from Rhode Island - anything that reminds you of your favorite place, where the gifts become memories

• Get Out And Explore - A travel enthusiasts dream - Yankee magazine book, a blanket or throw for a picnic, water bottles to refill for exploring, museums, historical locales, ski lift tickets, see the ice sculptures, ice fishing, hockey, beautiful scenic points - day tripping supplies, maps and more

• Take Care of Yourself - Spa supplies, Healthy Eating - cookbooks, meal kits, a game that encourages physical activity

• Get Social - Tickets to movies, plays, concerts, gift cards to get into a museum, go out to eat - anything that encourages people to get out of the house and interact with others

• Relax -All natural  hand, cuticle and lip balms, body lotions, all natural sponges and exfoliating scrubs, hair care products, bath salts, massage products, hand and footcare, toasty slippers and throws

• Sustainable Living/Encourage Environmentally Friendly Living - Gardening, Vegetarian cookbooks, Coconut Bowls, Natural items like real wood cutting boards, wooden flatware, dishtowels, ZWraps coated in Bee’s wax (alternative to plastic wrap), all natural soaps

• Seafood Lovers Unite - Oyster Shuckers, Fish Platters, Seafood Cookbooks, things with Fish and Lobsters on them, Clambake tools or kits, things that have anchors on them

• Get Cozy This Winter - Give Sweaters, Hats, Mittens, Gloves, Blankets, Throws

• American Pride - Give gifts that are red, white and blue, things with flags, express your American Pride!

• Not A Creative Bone In My Body Theme - Everyone gets a small gift card to their favorite place plus a wallet, crossbody bag or purse (Piper and Dune even has them for toddlers and kids!) - Guess what?  That’s creative!

• Key to My Heart - Key chains for everyone… we have a great collection of keychains from Inspiration to leather fobs at Piper and Dune or a change purse or wallet with a key ring on it… think about your audience and how you can keep it simple for yourself while still personalizing the gift.

• Sports - Get everyone something from their favorite sports team or for their favorite Sport. For example, Patrick loves lacrosse, Sarah is a Nationals fan, Paul loves the Yankees and Darrell loves the Giants, Uncle Kevin loves the Patriots, Mandy is a Tennis player, Robin is a runner... This makes your shopping trip so much easier.  You can even narrow it down even further and say everyone gets a sports hat or key fob according to the ideas generated above.  

Regardless of how you decide to build your list, I hope you smile often throughout the season.

Save 10% when you shop at Piper and Dune this holiday season when you use code SAVE10-BLOG, Expires 11/26/19

Happy Holidays,

Christine Curtis

Piper and Dune … Explore What Excites You!