Holidays and Happenings

When find yourself with someone on your holiday gift list who is difficult to buy for, sometimes your best bet is to go for something out of the ordinary. Gifts that work to bring about harmony and peace in the environment are sure to please. From simple gifts of candles, crystals, and CD’s that play the soothing sounds of wind, rain and babbling brooks, to salt lamps, singing bowls and Zen sand gardens, the choices are plentiful.

You can choose jewelry made of amber, an organic gemstone that is professed to draw negative energy and turn it to positive energy leading to health and well being. Most people, when they think of amber think of the honey colored or the milky white but amber can also be found in brown, red, blue, black and green. You can also buy gifts of jewelry made out of the crystals for your astrological sign. Chlorite quartz is another healing mineral said to cleanse ones aura and makes a gift that is beautiful to look at.

It’s that time of year again. Valentines Day is fast approaching and you are at a loss as to what to get for the love of your life. You have already learned the hard way that Valentines Day is NOT the time to buy her a frying pan or a vacuum cleaner, but what can you do to show her just how special you think she is? Candy? Boring! Flowers? Nah! Perfume? Not again.

What you want is something special and clever and unexpected. Take a look on line and you’ll find that there are dozens of companies out there that for a fee will be happy to help you out by naming a star after your beloved. Those fees range anywhere from twenty-five dollars up to over a hundred dollars.

Sometimes a one-time gift just isn’t what you are looking for. You want something that will keep on giving throughout the year. Enter the “Of the Month” clubs. There is an incredible assortment of “Of the Month” clubs.

One of the more widely known is the “Fruit of the Month” club. For a set fee your gift of fruit is delivered on a timetable of your choosing, once a month, every other month or 3 - 4 times a year. Each delivery is a case consisting of one or more different fruits. The fruits are sometimes exotic, sometimes seasonal, and always delicious. They average around $30.00 - $40.00 per month.

Whether it is a birthday, an anniversary or even a federal holiday, the number one thing on everyone’s mind is: what on earth am I going to give away this year? Most of us when trying to figure out our holiday gift idea first think of how much money we have, and what that money can buy. Yet a few of us out there start to see all sorts of possibilities of what we can make to give our special someone(s) that is sure to be cherished more than a store-bought item.

The first type of person looking for a crafty holiday gift idea is what I like to call the needle worker. Needle workers enjoying sewing, embroidery, or other such needle arts. Depending on the occasion, they may choose something small, such as sewing napkins and potholders or cross-stitching a magnet or a small, simple picture or a key-chain. For occasions that require a bit more, embroidering a larger picture or sewing a cherished item like a handbag or bath robe are great holiday gift ideas.