Successful Gifts for that Difficult Person on Your List

Giving has always been a compulsion for me. My family never understood this drive I've always had to give. Because of that, I've learned to use giving as a tool, as a means to an end. Now, some use giving to curry favor or to buy influence. But there's a much higher level to giving and that's the level that I strive for and what this article is actually about. It's about the encouragement and enhancement factor that helps to enrich ours and other's lives.

Most of us know of someone who just seems impossible to get a gift for. They usually fit one of two categories; 1-The impossible to please. Nothing is ever good enough, or they can get it better than anyone else.-2-The one who can get whatever they want and seems to have everything. Or their purchase power is way out of our price
range. This article is more for the ones who fit in the second category. Although, we also have some of the first category on our list and some of these suggestions also work for them.

I've learned that there are ways around the fact that I can't buy anything in their price range. I don't even bother to compete with that. Instead I've learned to shop outside their territory, to get things that they can easily afford but are unable to get because they don't have access to that particular item. Or I give them things that only I can give because it comes from my heart and they can't buy that. Here are some of the ways to get around the "I just can't get anything for them, because they have everything" syndrome and to actually hit where they live:

Gifts Of:

Encouragement:

These are the gifts with the hidden message, or hidden meaning which especially encourage because they're a private message between you and the recipient.

Over the years, some of the ones on my list have been going through different situations that have been very trying for them. For some it's been a struggle to stay alive and healthy, for some it's been staying encouraged in
a very wearing and drawn out situations.

I will look for or make items that will speak to the situation, that will be a continuous encouragement to them especially when they are alone or are surrounded by discouragement.

For example I've bought big bottles of Joy cologne at bargain prices on-line and poured it into small bottles to give away, reminding the recipients that they can have joy in their life and that they're not alone in their fight. I get cows for my husband to remind him that we're still being provided for even when it doesn't look like it. Chocolate flavored coffee does the same thing for my cousin. I also use magnets/tins/small plaques/towels etc with sayings on them.
https://www.theperfumespot.com
https://www.1stperfume.com

Unique Regional Appeal:

Everywhere I go, I'm always looking for the unusual and the unexpected, a different take on what I might expect at home. For example, a couple trips into Alaska, I brought back jams made from fruit that's only available in Alaska. I've done the same with honey or regional crafts from Hawaii. I've also brought Belgian beer and Belgian beer shirts/hats as well as Belgian chocolates that are unavailable here.
http://www.leonidas-chocolate.com/

Personally Acquired and Applied:

These items apply to the personal interest of the individual. Everywhere I go, I pick up little things that those on my list especially like or prefer. Many times there's a theme. There are three people on my list who are passionate about anything blue, two love purple, two prefer orange and another red. Several really love chocolate and candles. I've found that since I'm in different parts of the country than they are, or even in my own backyard, I'm able to get things that they can't because they're not there.

Inaccessible Collectibles:

On my list I have the collections such as: Butterflies, unusual boxes, hummingbirds, sun-catchers, angels, cows, candles, ladybugs, lace, unusual beer, hot-sauce, cows, dolls, craft items, Tinkerbell, Superman, postcards and nativity scenes. I'm always on the look-out for unusual applications on the themes, such as jewelry, postcards, calendars, chocolates, bath beads, soaps, towels. etc.

Each region in this country and the world are going to have the mass produced marketing and the individual market. Each of them will have unique takes on the different themes, for instance candles and nativities are two good examples; I've picked up flower shaped candles in and out of containers or candles in flower shaped
containers, chocolate sundaes, decorated chicken eggs, colored chickens, teeny little candles in very small decorated ceramic containers in turtle, fish or round shapes and micro mini champagne bottles.

Nativities have come in hinged boxes, egg shapes, cages or on ceramic plaques from micro-mini to huge. I also look for the regional ethnic application to the different items on my list, which adds another unexpected dimension to the gift.
https://www.worldmarket.com

Hobbies or Personal Efforts:

Our son had a passion for fishing and still has a passion for radio control cars, unusual knives, antique cars and video gaming. My foster father's passion was golfing and fine cars, whereas my husband preferred vintage cars and my father was into old railway cars and antique sailing vessels. One our partner's interests are in music and unusual remarks. If I can't buy the actual items, I look for the themes that relate to the hobbies in every variety of representation that I can find. For example: One year I gave my foster father a calendar of different
golfing greens. Another year I was able to send my partner a towel with a saying on it that fit with her experience. I also sent a towel with a diet comment on it one year to my foster-mother. Another year I sent her a cartoon of a woman shooting her scale.

Personal Time:

When I went to see my mother-in-law, when she and Dad were still in Hawaii, I knew that the biggest thing I was taking her was the time to just be with her, to talk, to shop, to even just eat with each other. The same was true of my foster mother. She loved my gifts. But even more it was the late nights and long days we spent talking and going to her favorite hinky-dinks, looking for wonderful bargains and her fixing dinner for me. For one of our partners it's a long phone conversation.

Targeted to the Individual:

I know most of the people I get gifts for and the new ones I add to my list, as I get to know them I start personalizing my list. I ask them what their favorite things are. I also observe them and add to my list as I see other things. This is something that can't be bought by the recipient. This is something that only the giver can give because it comes from the heart and it tells the receiver an important message that all the money or ability to acquire can't get for them. It tells them that the giver cares enough to know them enough to get exactly what would touch their life where it needs to be touched.

A subheading to this category would be consideration for individual needs and quirks, such as: My biological mother is allergic to scents, so I'm careful to send only unscented items. My daughter-in-law won't eat nuts, and my son won't eat dark chocolate, but will drink hot sauce if it doesn't have too much vinegar in it. So they get nut-less milk chocolate and hot hot hot sauce. Whereas one of my cousins prefers dark chocolate and her husband
would rather have peanut butter or certain types of hot-sauce. We also order a special fruitcake each year because our son loves it so much.

Personally Produced Items:

My cousin makes cards and sends them out for birthdays and anniversaries. She keeps a file of all the people we know and updates it as needed. We also send them to our soldiers and the orphanage that we help to support. She also writes poems and makes plastic canvas crafts for individuals. We do a twist on the plastic canvas. Instead of just making little individual flat items, she makes double and stitches them together with lavender in the middle, and a hanging cord. I pick up the lavender in Belgium or California.

I make paintings, quilts, pillows, purses or anything else that someone might want and give them as gifts. I also assemble small themed collections. For some, this Christmas, I filled very tiny ceramic dishes or baskets with various drilled shells and beads. Then I added a small feather, a beaded handmade ornament and for my tribal friends a concho. Then, for the tribal gifts we also put them in plastic canvas baskets that my cousin had made. I also made scented cup coasters which have cloves and allspice inside. Those who have cold winters and drink hot coffee or tea will enjoy these and will have a small bit of pleasure each time they use these.

My foster mother had such a passion for home grown tomatoes that she was thrilled if you brought tomatoes off of your vine or grew the vines in her yard. My father-in-law's passion was cantaloupe and my son's is strawberries, artichokes and asparagus. A pound of asparagus as a gift that he didn't need to share with anyone was a special treat. We also smoke salmon every year to give to our son for Christmas.

Citrus in Florida is an oxymoron. Most of us either have at least one citrus tree in our yard or know of at least one person who does. There are no six degrees of separation between us and free citrus during the winter months. I said this for a reason. Don't discount the value of a gift by the availability of the item surrounding the recipient if they have a passion for it. For example: I love grapefruit juice. We have a grapefruit tree. But I've learned that we can juice the fruit and freeze the juice for up to an entire year. So if you have grapefruit to give me, I will be delighted to receive it, because I Will use it with pleasure. I have friends who are the same way about Silver Queen corn. Even though they fill up their backyard with corn plants and freeze the corn, they will still be delighted with more. My daughter-in-law loves sunflowers, anything sunflower.

I've also made special jams/canned goods or baked special items that I knew that the individuals especially like. For example; My son has a passion for fruitcake, or for my cousin's corn casserole.

The year our son was married, I made up special photo collages of him and his wife, which spanned from their infant-hood through school to the wedding. I also made up special photo albums of their wedding. We sent these to family and close friends. As far as that goes, a nice family photo in a nice frame also makes a good gift.
In my mother-in-law's case I send her magnetized photo sleeves to put the pictures in, since she prefers to have them on her fridge.

When my son was still in school, every mission trip was a field-trip and he was required to write a report on it. Those were printed up, put in covers and sent out as gifts to family and friends. Some of his artwork also went out as gifts.

These are some suggestions. Hopefully they will help you to stir up your creativity and ability to observe. All it takes is a caring heart and some creative observation. Considering your own situation you will most likely come up with suggestions that I haven't. If you would like to share them I would encourage you to feel free to click on the "add a comment' link at the top of this article and list what you have, so that we all can benefit from it.

Sources:

https://www.theperfumespot.com

https://www.1stperfume.com

http://www.leonidas-chocolate.com/

https://www.worldmarket.com