Gifts from the heart

Becca Jenne
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

Over the years of my life, I have received a lot of gifts. There were several Gifts over the years that said ‘I love you’ and ‘your special to me’ but most of the gifts were more of the persuasion of ‘I had to buy you something and I didn’t know what to get you’ kind of gifts. Now my parents raised me right and I appreciated and said thank you for those gifts as well as the ‘I love you’ & ‘your special to me’ gifts. But let’s be truthful, no one really like to get the ‘I had to buy you something gifts’ because they lack the personal touch that the ‘I love you’ gifts have. The ‘I love you’ gifts, are gifts that the person saw it and they know you so well that they know in their heart that you will love this gift.

Some Times it’s not possible to know the people that your buying gifts for, they are an acquaintance, or you just met them, and you really hit it off, but you still don’t know them well, and your invited to something where people give gifts. In those cases I try to go for something useful, or edible, yes this includes wine. Coffee mugs, fruit basket, baking dish, wine, or their favorite beer (if you happen to know what it is) even a potted plant (side note: if you don’t know them well, and they don’t have kids, get them something hardy like a cactus, not all people have green thumbs) candles, etc, etc, basically stick with generic gifts, not to personal, but useful. Useful gifts are always appreciated.

‘I love you’ & ‘You’re special to me’ gifts. Those take work. I spend a ton of time picking out the perfect present for each person on my present list. And because it takes so long I usually start about 6 months before the actual date it’s needed. This insures that I have enough time to find the perfect gift (so yes that means Christmas shopping starts in july) also if you start early, you can shop sales. When I start the shopping, I start with one person on the list, when I think about them, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Are they sentimental? Do they have a hobby they love? Do they have any collections? Is there something that they do that they never get tired of? My example for this is myself, I love coffee, love it! Any thing that is related to coffee is a great gift for me, wall hangings with a saying about coffee, coffee mugs, special roasts of coffee from all over the world, a t-shirt with something written on it about coffee. Honestly the possibilities are endless.

Truth be told, this is not the easiest way to buy gifts, it’s time consuming, you have to store the gift until the event, but it feels like it costs less, you might spend the same amount as usual, however, it’ll be spread out over a longer period of time, making it seem like less.

Gifts don’t have to be bought, you can make things, and give acts of service, do something unexpected for them give them a break from every day life. Here’s a big one, offer to clean up and then actually do it. I know, I know, acts of service don’t cut it when presents are expected, but this can be something that says ‘I care’ and really isn’t that what you want your friends and family to know.

So yeah I hope you find this helpful or at least interesting. I promise not all my posts will be like this :-)

Becca Jenne

Written by

I am a musician, a song writer, a coffeeholic, a florist, a home maker, a wife, and artist. now it just sounds like I'm bragging. I might be a little. :-)

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