Gift Idea #3 - Ceramics

One item I use to decorate my home every holiday is a ceramic plate, custom painted to reflect the season.  The secret to making it look good - have a plan and go prepared to the ceramic store. Don't just go and paint - unless you are truly an artist.

Give a birthday plate as a gift or a "you are special today" plate.

This is a wonderful tradition. Every birthday serve the cake on the plate. Or when one of your children do something good, serve their meal on the "you are special today" plate.  The kids love it and it is wonderful to see how much pride they feel just by having their own plate.

Kids are welcome at the ceramic shop and they love to paint. Cereal and ice cream bowls are great gifts for the grandparents that kids can give.  Parents can touch up the art afterword by using puffy paint. My daughter made ice cream bowls for all of her grandparents.  Not only did we have fun doing it together, she took pride in wrapping and presenting the gift to them herself.  So be creative and have fun.

A great place to find designs to trace on your plate is at istockphoto.com, however any stock photo website that has vector art or illustrations will do. And if you want a classy font on your piece, simply go into Microsoft Word and find a font you like.  Print it out and bring it to the ceramic shop.  The trick is, be prepared and you will give a wonderful gift you can be proud of.  

Tatata!

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Gift Idea #2 - Photo Books/Scrapbook Pages/Calendars

This was going to be gift suggestion #8 or #9 but due to Oprah's broadcast yesterday, the gift of photo books moved up the ranks.

Photo books are so easy to make, and the quality is outstanding. And with Oprah's offer, you can get one free through Snapfish.com.  (see details here, offer ends in less than 5 days.)

My suggestions was to take a digital picture of your child's favorite artwork from the year and submit your artwork to your favorite photography website, then Viola, a beautiful published book.  

You can also make, calendars, but beware! - once you make one for a family member, they will grow to expect one every year.

Lastly, for those of you who scrapbook, there is a great website that you can make pages beautifully, with less fuss, and only $7.50 a page. The website is www.howfasttheygrow.com.

The pages are beautiful and they are adding more and more designs every month.

If you are still fearful of diving into the digital world, they still sell the photo albums that you peel back the plastic sheet and stick in the photo or artwork.  This method works just as well and costs a lot less money and time.  Whatever you choose, the gift of memories is always my favorite.

Tatata!

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Gift Idea #1 - Ornaments

The holidays are coming and I would like to share some great gift ideas for you over the next 30 days.  The gifts will be unique, useful and thoughtful.  Some gifts you will have to make yourself and put your own touch to it, while other gift suggestions I offer, you simply have to wrap up and enjoy the joyful expression you will receive.

Gift Giving Idea #1 - Picture Perfect Ornaments

When you receive a baby announcement, cut the picture out and place it in a frame for the parents to hang on their Christmas Tree for the baby's first christmas.  If you didn't receive a picture, buy a baby's first Christmas Ornament.  

Aaron Brothers sells a wide array of ornaments to hang on trees or set on tables.  

Simply cut and insert. These are also great as placeholders for holiday parties.

If you have experienced a loved one pass away or would like to monogram an ornament as a gift, Pottery Barn has some heirloom ornaments that are beautiful. (pictured left)

Lastly if you keep your digital photos on a website like kodakgallery, they offer ornaments in many shapes and sizes.  I use these to remember favorite vacations, quotes, and other memories.

Ornaments are a cost effective and thoughtful gift everyone loves.  Every year, I look forward to decorating my tree with ornaments of the people who mean the most to me in my life, as well as reminisce over the memories we shared.

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