The significance of Christmas cannot be found in the glossy pages of mail order catalogs, or the feverish excitement of TV commercials. Nope, my greatest pleasure on Christmas morning will never come from knowing the price tag of my gifts, or that they are the hottest thing. I prefer  that my relatives of friends were bothered enough to buy or make a gift for me that is truly meaningful, and not just a pretty box to place under an already over-loaded tree.

A homemade gingerbread man from my neighbor, even though she may have unintentionally replaced the sugar with salt again, is all the sweeter because of the love poured into each one. Christmas without my neighbor’s gingerbread man just wouldn’t be Christmas. The gifts that I desire most are the ones that took time, not just money and a mail order catalog to get to this year’s chartbuster delivered at my doorstep. I like to know that my dear friends have though about me and that I’m worth more than just another checkmark on their shopping list.

Think about it for a moment.  Think back over the time to the best gifts you have given or received. Why was that present so special? Was it the price, or the brand name, or the fact that it was on everybody’s wish list that year? Probably not.

I request to give gifts with love this year and not value it from the tag. I understand that not everyone has the skills or has tools or materials available to make something themselves. Spending time on a present does not necessary mean working a few months on a quilt either. When you buy a present for your loved ones, take time to think about the present and the person who will receive it. Buy something more personal than the latest game computer or newest iPod.

The saying “it’s the thought that counts” never applied more than it does when you take the time to add that personal touch to any gift. Personalized Christmas gifts are more meaningful than the figure in the checkbook. Even if bought from the convenience of your own home, through the Internet.

It’s the thought that counts!

If you belong to the rare group of people who gets their Christmas shopping done early on every year, you most likely receive a great deal of unpleasant glance from others around the festive season. This is particularly true if routinely let others know that you have already done all of your Christmas shopping. The reason for all the mean looks is that the best part of the public does not get their Christmas shopping and still have to go through the stress of overcrowded shopping malls and unavailable items. The fact that malls and shopping centers are so over-crowded in the last few days before Christmas proves that so many people wait until the last opportunities to buy something.

If you are part of that vast majority of people who spend every year last minute Christmas shopping and hate yourself for it each and every year, here are some tips to get your Christmas shopping done and over with quickly this year.

A first suggestion to get your Christmas shopping done is doing a great deal of Christmas shopping for the next year in the first few days after Christmas. This may sound weird and is only an option of it is financially possible for you. On the other hand, if you do this every year, you will actually save quite some money, since many shops are holding sales in these days. All the shops still carry typical Christmas gift items and you are probably very much in the Christmas spirit. Also, you usually have the best gift ideas right after the gift giving of this year.

A second idea for completing your Christmas shopping in time is to shop online. This is the best option if you are shopping for Christmas gifts for faraway relatives. Most online retailers will wrap your gift in an elegant box and send it directly to the recipient. Now you won’t have to wrap it up by yourself and stand in the line at the post office.

A third plan to get your Christmas shopping done early is spreading it over the whole year. Whenever you have to go out to buy a birthday gift for someone, buy two gifts for this person. One of the gifts is for the birthday and you store the other one for Christmas. This strategy does work best if you have a very solid group of people that you buy gifts for, like family members. You might still need to do some last minute shopping for a new colleague or any other distant friend.

Of course, there are people who love last minute Chrismas shopping. Some of them might see it as
a challenge. Other shoppers intentionally wait until the last minute to do their Christmas shopping because they like the excitement of the crowds. It gives them a sense of energy and get right into the Christmas spirit. However, joining the crowds for the atmosphere, while in your head you know that all shopping is done and wrapped at home already, or on the way by post to distant relatives, might be more relaxed.

Buying Christmas gifts is for many an easy task as we are spoilt with options in abundance. Children are by far the easiest to find something for. Practically all kids love toys and every year there is a wide selection of new toys coming to the market. Unfortunately, Christmas shopping is not always that easy when it comes to finding the perfect present for a person that seems to have everything already.

A personalized Christmas gift is an excellent idea for almost anyone, since you can be sure that he or she doesn’t have it yet. The first step of finding the right gift is to think about your friend or relative. What kinds of hobbies or activities do they like? Are they a fisherman, golfer, or tennis player? Do they enjoy music or books? Do they love movies? See if you can come up with a Christmas gift related to their interests.

Christmas gifts should show some feeling and importance to the person that you are buying it Don’t just choose a commercial best-seller gift. To make your gift stand out from the rest and make an impression, you can personalize the gifts. Personalized gifts are an exceptional way to show your respect and can be used for showing your appreciation to outstanding employees, or your thanks to special clients in the corporate world. A personalized gift shows that it is not just one of many in stock that you are handing out to all your friends or business contacts, but that you have bought it for that unique person with a reason. It shows you care.

When you think about personalizing your gifts, it is normally best to have it done by a professional. Personalizing a gift at home can turn into a disaster and your gift might have a used or damaged look if you do not do it professionally. Let’s say that you buy some jewelry for a beloved one and you want it to be engraved with initials or a message. Imagine what it would look like if you tried to do that by yourself. You would definitely need a professional to do that job for you.

The internet will give you access to any kind of personalized gift, from monogrammed baby blankets to personalized picture frames, and from engraved golf clubs to personalized Christmas ornaments.

We can hardly imagine a Christmas without gifts. Christmas is a unique celebration of merry making and gift-giving. The custom of giving presents in this time of the year owes its origin to the Magi. The magi, as you know, were wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger.  They came from the east of Jerusalem to greet the Babe in the manger with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Although the Magi are associated more with the Feast of Epiphany on January 6, they can be considered as the initiators of the gift-giving ritual following the birth of Jesus. In America giving presents at Christmas was not a custom until not long ago. It arrived with the introduction of St. Nicholas by the early Dutch settlers. Giving presents at New Year was a more common practice, especially amid the English and French settlers. But the joint German and Dutch influences in time resulted in all gift-giving to be done at Christmas.

The first advertising for Christmas presents originates from the early 1800s, around 1804. By the 1820s ads began to spring up more and more, and by the 1840s Christmas gifts were an fundamental part American Society. What had once been the undemanding practice of giving small gifts exploded into the consumer driven holiday we now know.

Many people are annoyed that Christmas today is all about presents, and state that is was not like when they were a kids. In reality people have been saying that for over 150 years already. In a story from the 1850s we learn that people said at that time already that it was not like when they were kids and that people were wasting a lot of money in the holiday season. And it is correct that the commercialization of Christmas happened in that period.

However, it can also be said that the gifts are getting bigger, more expensive and more extravagant in time. It is getting harder and harder to find a ‘special’ Christmas gift, especially when you have to find that one special gift among the heaps of commercial rubbish sold everywhere.