How To Create Personalized Gifts This Holiday Season

We've all heard the saying about putting all our eggs in one basket, but looking at the holiday season, it just might not be a bad idea. After all, when you put much thought into it, a personalized gift is the greatest gift of all.

Shopping for the people on your list can be a tedious and stressful task. Especially, if you don't know what you're looking for when you are already standing inside the store. We've all done it. You don't know what to get, so you tell yourself you'll walk around the store until the perfect gift finds you.

Only, we all know it doesn't happen that way.

To create a personalized gift for someone on your list, start out by creating a list of likes and dislikes of the person or in general what you know about them. Do they like to bake? Do they have a hobby? What seems to drive them or make them happy?

Two years ago, I had the name of a cousin for a family gift exchange for Christmas. I rarely saw this person, but was able to find out they liked elephants and jewelry. This person happened to be a mother of two small children. So I went out, bought a basket, the kind you might sit on the sink counter in a bathroom, and began filling it with small items to pamper her. I started with a dark colored hand towel and wash cloth, and then added a wooden beaded necklace and bracelet. I found a candle shaped like an elephant in amber colored wax, and then added vanilla scented hand lotion. It was the best gift, she told me she'd ever received. Why, because I took the time to think about her.

Who are you thinking of this holiday?

Once you have established a short list of things the person you are shopping for likes, you can choose a theme for the basis of your gift package.

Now it's time to go to the store, or several stores, depending on what you've got in mind from your theme and list. First things first though, you'll want to find a basket, container, or gift bag to fill with the items you select. Think bigger scale then a gift in a jar. Consider how it can be reused after the items are taken out by the person receiving it.

Then, based on the likes list you have created, the container you've chosen, you can select your filler items. Filler items can be small, large, perishable, or non-perishable. This could be a favorite snack, book, spa items, baking utensils, art supplies, hobby related, or body wear. The possibilities are only as limited to your budget and the person's dislikes.

If your budget is small, you can still, with a little ingenuity, put together a gift everyone will be drooling over. Thanks to places like Craigslist, EBay, and your local dollar shops, you should be able to work within your budget without squeezing your wallet down to the last penny, and still have enough money left over for a little something for yourself this year.

You may not need a basket full of eggs, unless Mother Peep is on your list this year, but you can still create personalized gifts for those you are shopping for during the holiday season. Not only will your gift be appreciated, it will be special to the recipient and thought of in years to come.