December is
a wonderful month, not only are some
of the biggest sales around but you also give/receive lots of presents. *COUGH*
excuse to blow up all the money on your bank account *COUGH*. This may sound a
bit strange but I am a huge giver, I love, absolutely love giving people
presents – which sounds absurd when all last month I spent all my money on
myself.
I occasionally
get compliments for the presents I give people but I will admit I find it
extremely difficult to buy presents for; someone I’ve known for less than a
year or if I haven’t spent enough time with you - which is why I could be the
worst ‘Secret Santa’ out there. Likewise, if I know you relatively well I will
do my absolute best to get you something you like; using the knowledge I have
of you.
In no
particular order - just in the order they all came to me at (apart from the
first one):
Number 1. The first and foremost thing, which
I think is crucial, is to LISTEN. No lie. If you actually listen to the person
you’re trying to buy something for you’d quite easily be able to buy them
something because sometimes they hint at it. I think this is why sometimes it can
be difficult to buy something for someone you only ever text because when are
you ever going to be able to notice the small things they do or like.
Number 2. Know what makes your receiver
happy. This can be anything – but the one thing you can be sure of is that they
love it. For example – I recently started working and one of my colleagues made
it blatantly obvious that she will do anything for chocolate. My sister on the
other hand loves to read or a friend of mine has an obsession with her
celebrity crush. Honestly, if I didn’t spend enough time with you, I wouldn’t
know this.
Number 3. Find something that your receiver
will use on a daily basis and genuinely needs. For a friend’s birthday, I knew
for a fact that her mascara was running out and she can’t open the front door
with some on her face, so I bought her more mascara. My mum really really
really like to keep her feet at top notch condition, its so random but it’s
such a simple thing.
Number 4. TIME. If you’re not going to spend
time pondering about the present then why by them something…so negative but so
true. If you buy someone a useless present that you’re not entirely sure
they’ll like…just know, that it’s probably going to collect dust somewhere in
the cupboard. You don’t need to spend days on end thinking but just a couple of
minutes actually thinking about the person might randomly spring an idea into
your head.
Number 5. Know the product you’re buying them.
When I do buy someone something really random that I’m not sure they’ll like, I
actually add a note to it and write what it can be used for or how to use it or
the advantages of it…almost like promoting the product itself. This is how I
avoid my present from collecting dust.
Number 6. Traditional gifts. Socks. Scarves.
Gloves. Candles. As it is winter it’s such a useful gift to buy someone. When I
think my present is lacking, I literally throw a pair of cute warm socks in
there, to add a bit of ‘warmth’. I have actually bought someone just a pair of
socks for Christmas before it’s such an inexpensive idea and isn’t too much of
a burden on the person who doesn’t want you to spend too much.
Number 7. Family & Friends. Secret Santa
is the bane of my existence, the purpose is to buy a gift for a random person,
and this goes against my morals. If the person I’ve got has completely thrown
me off the edge then I would first find out who their closest friend is and
then ask them. It’s the easy way out but when tight on time you really have no
other choice.
Number 8. Just ask. If you genuinely don’t know
what to buy then the only thing you can do is ask the person. If it’s Secret
Santa then play mind games and somehow get them to tell you what they want but
if not then just ask them because some people will actually tell you. For the
ones who say ‘surprise me’, punch them, I’m kidding don’t do that just refer
back to number 6 or follow Number 5.
Nothing
else is coming to me, at this time of year many shops actually have novelty
gifts scattered around but if you want to buy something really random a great
website would be http://www.notonthehighstreet.com,
or you could just ask me and I’d gladly help to the best of my abilities.
Thank you
for reading & Merry Christmas.
p.s. you can wrap your present in anything as long as the presentation's fine because it's whats on the inside that matters ;).
NEXT POST: Christmas Events 101
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