10 Ways to Give a Unique Gift
Typical gifts are things like wine, a box of chocolates, and jewelry. What if you want to give something special and memorable? Such gifts don’t only have to be on certain holidays like Christmas or Mother’s Day, or on special occasions, birthdays, promotions, and graduations. You can give these gifts at any time, such as to thank someone for a job well done, accomplishing some task, achieving some success. Some other possibilities are giving a gift to thank someone for organizing an event or doing a favor for you.
The advantage of giving a special gift is they stand out, and they trigger good feelings for not only the gift but for you as the giver.
Here are some tips to how to give such a gift. And as you read each tip, you can write down your thoughts about what to give to who for what and when. In fact, you might make a spreadsheet to keep track of who you have gifted with what and the date when you gave the gift. This way you can avoid giving someone the same gift again, unless this is the kind of gift you can readily give again, such as a year’s subscription to something or tickets to an annual event.
Now here are the tips of what to give.
1) Give an experience gift, such as tickets to a class, workshop, seminar, show or event. Other experiences might be an invitation to a photo session, portrait painting, dinner, massage, or day at a spa. Or perhaps arrange for someone to come to the person’s house in costume to provide a singing message with a gift. When you give such a gift, make sure it is for something a person will like or will take the time to do, since often recipients of such gifts appreciate the thought, but then don’t go. Perhaps talk to the person to find out something they would like to do but haven’t gotten around to doing, and that can help you choose the gift.
2) Create a gratitude letter, and even frame it. In the letter, share your thoughts about how much you cherish and appreciate the person, such as how you are grateful for the way they influenced you, showed you a kindness, or cheered you up during a difficult time. Perhaps create a list of all the things you appreciate on parchment or colored paper and put these behind an embossed frame. Then, this becomes not just a list but something the person can hang on their walls to show others how much they are appreciated.
3) Give a subscription to a magazine based on the gift recipient’s interests, and look for something out of the ordinary for your gift. For instance, rather than a subscription to a familiar publication like Time, Entertainment Weekly, Fortune, or National Geographic, look for a less familiar publication, though check that they don’t already have a subscription or that they would like to know more about this topic.
4) Give a gift box or yearly subscription to one of these boxes, such as offered by various companies that create boxes based on a customer’s interests. For example, there are companies that create a box for beauty fans (Birchbox.com), plant lovers (the Sill.com), home cooks (HelloFresh.com), and people who like collecting odd items, such as bones (BoneBox.com).
5) Take the person to a fun event they will enjoy, such as a trip to an amusement park, dinner at a special restaurant, or night at the theater.
6) Arrange for portrait session with a local artist, or give a painting by the artist, made especially for the gift recipient.
7) Put together a basket of special foods, such as different types of cheeses, chocolates, and a bottle of wine, lying on a bed of colorful foam.
8) If the person has a pet, put together a box of treats for their pets, from packaged foods to pet toys. If the person has kids, put together a package of toys, or provide a subscription to a service like KiwiCo.com that sends monthly crates with of craft items for kids of different ages.
9) Give T-shirts, jackets, or other clothing items which are embossed with a special design or the person’s company logo. Or perhaps give the person a gift certificate to one of their favorite clothing or shoe stores, so they can pick out their favorite item.
10) If you have a talent as a musician or actor, gift the person with a personal recording of a song or reading created just for them. Your recording could even be an original song or poem to make it more special.
In short, there are all kinds of unique and memorable gifts you can give that the recipient will enjoy. And besides the suggestions on this list, perhaps you can think of still other gift ideas for the different people in your life.
GINI GRAHAM SCOTT, Ph.D., J.D., is a nationally known writer, consultant, speaker, and seminar leader, specializing in business and work relationships, professional and personal development, social trends, and popular culture. She has published 50 books with major publishers. She has worked with dozens of clients on memoirs, self-help, popular business books, and film scripts. Writing samples are at www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com.
She is the founder of Changemakers Publishing, featuring books on work, business, psychology, social trends, and self-help. The company has published over 150 print, e-books, and audiobooks. She has licensed several dozen books for foreign sales, including the UK, Russia, Korea, Spain, and Japan.
She has received national media exposure for her books, including appearances on Good Morning America, Oprah, and CNN. She has been the producer and host of a talk show series, Changemakers, featuring interviews on social trends.
Scott is active in a number of community and business groups, including the Lafayette, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek Chambers of Commerce. She is a graduate of the prestigious Leadership Contra Costa program. She does workshops and seminars on the topics of her books.
She is also the writer and executive producer of 10 films in distribution, release, or production. Her most recent films that have been released include Driver, The New Age of Aging, and Infidelity.
She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco Law School. She has received five MAs at Cal State University, East Bay, most recently in Communication.