By Jenny Jiménez on December 10, 2018

Good Morning!  Here goes another week.  We’re down to two and a half weeks or more precise 15 days.  I know YIKES, right?  That’s not a lot of time at all.  Are you stressed yet?  You might be if you haven’t planned your gift giving yet.  If you haven’t checked out my last post and printed your shopping list then no worries because you can print your FREE copy of the Christmas Shopping List here.  

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RELAX and take a deep breath.  I’m here to help.  We’ll get through this together. 🙂

This is the perfect time of year to see if you were listening the last 11 months.  Contrary to what most people think, a good gift isn’t dependent on the amount of money you spend but on the effort and thought put into the gift.  The flower centerpiece by the JOY sign in the image above was given to me by a dear friend two years ago.  She knew that even though I suffer from terrible allergies, I love fresh flowers (I know, I know).  This gift was accompanied by a box of chocolate covered strawberries.  Again she listened and knew that I have a severe sweet tooth.  To top it off, she and her husband were kind enough to gift my children and I a large box so we could all share without fighting over them, LOL. 😉  I so appreciated these gifts because that tells me that she listened to me and really put thought into my gift.

In 2009, I printed out  a beautiful picture of my children along with the year on photo paper that I was then able to iron on to t-shirts for the grandparents and great grandparents that year.  I also printed out calendars for them using the same photo.  They loved the gifts so much that the following year they were expecting them again.  Unfortunately I realized that a bit too late BUT the t-shirts and calendars for the grandparents did make a comeback year three.  Funny enough I had other relatives upset because they wanted the gifts also but I told them it was strictly for grandparents.  That year it actually turned out better because I had a whole year to plan for it so I was able to get the perfect photo of my kids during a snowball fight… it was just too cute!

Consider these few ideas when deciding what to gift someone…

BAKED GOODS:  As mentioned in my previous post, baked goods make fantastic gifts.  You can also tackle several people at once with that one.  Plus I love the idea of getting your children or even the whole family involved.  Those are the little moments that actually are a gift in themselves.  As a mom to teens who as everyone knows like to do their own thing, they always jump at bonding moments like these.  Trust me, take advantage of it and just enjoy the moment.  

OUTREACH:  Another simple gift may just be an outreach.  Perhaps you know someone who’s lost someone or goes through difficult times during the holidays.  Maybe this is a good time to give them a call and perhaps treat them to breakfast or lunch.  Let them know you are thinking about them and they are on your mind.  It doesn’t have to be expensive.  I’m sure they’ll be more impressed with your company.

HOST A GATHERING:  I love gatherings with friends and loved ones, especially pot lucks.  I mean who doesn’t enjoy the fellowship of good friends along with food.  We all love to eat (well at least I do).  I’ve gone to several events like this over the years.  Some of my favorites were the themed ones.  A salad theme is a good one because the host can provide the various lettuce and several toppings then allow each guests to bring a topping or dressing for the salad.  Another one is a dessert party.  Bring your award winning family recipes to this one 😉 .

DON’T GIFT JUST TO GIFT:  I know this one sounds odd but what I mean is that if you buy someone a gift without thinking it through first, you may just have thrown your money away.  YUP, you heard that right, you threw your money away.  While the recipient may accept the gift, it’s a good chance that they’ll never use your gift or put it to good use.  Avoid this buy thinking it through first. 

What can I say, I love lists, ha!

Don’t go broke trying to outdo someone else’s gift or showing off.  Trust me when I tell you that often the least expensive gifts are the ones that they remember.  I still have family and friends bring up some of what I call my creative gifts.  AND if you think about it, these gifts are actually ‘worth’ more.  Perhaps not monetarily but in effort and time.  Remember your time does have value so use it wisely and gift people what you know they’d love, not necessarily what you’d love. 

I know this post was short but I didn’t feel the need to drag it out with a ton of ‘fluff’.  Yeah you know what I mean.  If you’re anything like me, I like to get to the point.  Something useful you can use today.  Now grab a large notebook and start brainstorming BUT before you do that, don’t forget to print out your FREE copy of my Christmas Shopping list.  

Next week I’ll give a few ideas on what to buy for children, both young and well… teens, lol. 

 

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Blessings!

Jenny

The post Thoughtful Giving appeared first on Tenacious Jenny Jiménez.