Enjoy the Holidays, Keep Your Cool

We've all been there. Along with holiday parties, plays, recitals, and more, we barely have time to shop for gifts for our loved ones. Usually, people end up waiting two or three days before Christmas, to do their last minute shopping. This year, beat the rush and the stress with these ideas:

1. Shop online. If you do this early, all of your items will arrive in plenty of time for you to wrap them and put them under the tree. In fact, some websites will even wrap gifts for you, so you don't have to. To get good deals and even browse (because we all know someone who's hard to shop for and you have to spend a lot of time giving thought to their gift choice,) websites like Amazon and eBay are perfect virtual stops. Amazon is good for people who like to save on shipping, because if you spend a certain amount of money, you get free shipping. Also for Christmas, Amazon has free 2-day shipping on your items. As for eBay, my main tip is buying huge lots of little items and trinkets, and breaking them down into gift baskets or bags. I have a lot of girl friends, so I bought 2 lots of makeup, a lot of Bon Bons nail polishes, and a lot of Bath and Body Works lotions and body sprays, for baskets.

2. Along the lines of gift baskets and bags, if you like to put creativity into your gifts, do it yourself. If you have a friend or loved one who loves coffee, do something like purchase a basket and decorate it to your heart's content. Then, fill it with those miniature bags of coffee that you can purchase at any grocery store, as well as powdered creamers. Adding packages of biscotti or cookies adds a nice touch. If you're not too keen on making lots of baskets, put together a meal or dessert kit. Find a simple soup, chili, cookie, or brownie recipe and purchase glass jars. Measure out the dry ingredients for these items, and put them in the jars. Write out or print off prerparation instructions on festive paper, and attatch it to the jar. Ideas like these show you put a lot of thought, care, and creativity into your gifts.

3. Gift cards, which can also be purchased online. Again, for the picky gift recipient (or for the clueless buyer.) Even though a little less personal, gift cards give the gift recipient the option of buying whatever he or she wants. You can get gift cards or certificates just about anywhere. Restaurants, shopping malls, and retail stores of every calibur have just about all adopted the gift card craze. Sometimes, locally, you can find places that offer half-priced gift cards. Locally, in Lynchburg, Virginia, WSET offers local half-off certificates. Put these small gift cards or certificates inside a decorative holiday card, and you have yourself an instant hit.

4. For those who don't like to give materialistic gifts, a donation to an organization or cause in someone's name, is a charitable way to say "Happy Holidays" and "I care" in one swoop. If you'd rather the recipient choose the organization or cause to donate to, a Just Give gift card allows the recipient to log onto the Just Give website, and donate the money on their gift card, to their organization or cause of choice.

5. Lastly, for the younger crowd, or for those of you older people who use Facebook, if you have acquaintances that you'd still like to send an inexpensive gift to say "Happy Holidays" to, you can visit their page, and click the "give a gift" link, and send them a virtual gift, which only costs 100 gift credits (the equivalent to $1 USD.) You can add a message and post it to their wall. Along the same lines, sending an e-card from websites like American Greetings, is a quick and in expensive way to say you are thinking of that person during the holiday season.

As you can see, the holiday season can be enjoyed without having to worry about getting into crowds, and fighting over the last remaining items two days before Christmas. Happy gift hunting!