We may earn money from the companies or products mentioned in this post.
This post was inspired by FTD’s Gift Differently initiative. I was sent product, however, opinions remain my own.
There’s always that one person you don’t know what to give for Christmas. They seem to have everything they need, and when asked they say they don’t need anything. It’s time to think out of the box and gift differently.
I’ll share a few of my favorite gifts from over the years that were also unique and out of the box ideas. Hopefully, you’ll find something to give last minute or add to your list for future gift giving opportunities. I’d also love to hear your unique gift ideas to add to my list.
Gifts of Experience
Maybe not so unique these days, but giving a gift of experience is something I always appreciate. I remember one year my parents bought us season passes to a local theater. Each month we got to go see a different musical performance, and often it included meeting the performers during an intermission or after the show as we looked, and sometimes bought, their CD’s. I still have my Yoon Kwon CD and the Nashville Bluegrass Band C. The experience is still fresh in my mind, despite it being close to 20 years ago. I treasured those outings with my parents. This year I’ve been considering looking into our local theater for a year of passes for our family.
Handmade Gifts
Now, handmade gifts are definitely on the rise these days. As long as you put your heart into them, and remember who you are gifting to, a handmade gift will stand the test of time. There are three specific gifts from my childhood, that while I no longer own, the memories surrounding them will always remain. The first are the wooden stilts my dad built us. I never did master the skill of stilt walking, but heading outside with my brothers and racing to see who could take more steps before falling off is another memory I will forever treasure. Then there was the year my mom built us a TeePee. You can now find these all over the interwebs, but having it handmade by my mom was something special. The last handmade gift I recall was from my oldest brother. He took the time to build me a springboard. Oh, how I loved that for the 2 days it lasted. The board wasn’t quite strong enough for the number of kids that loved jumping on it, but those 2 days were bliss.
Gifts of Memory
I love giving gifts that remind my loved ones of a memory shared. That’s why I made my mom the throwback Thursday card a few years ago. When you live far away from family I find it harder to give gifts that they want, or need. This year I called up my sister and sent her shopping for my parents. However, that wasn’t before I did a little browsing on FTD. I fell in love with the Let In the Light Rosemary Tree. This gift was one full of memories. The Rosemary reminded me of the many herbs and plants my mom grew. It’s cute little Christmas tree look reminded me of the years spent hiking through trees finding our perfect tree for the year. We never did fake growing up. It also comes with recipe cards, which brought back a myriad of memories spent in the kitchen with my mom, my siblings, my grandma, and my aunts.
