Although the Christmas season is all about giving, many people often find themselves completely stressed out about the prospect of Christmas shopping. For these individuals, one of the most stressful shopping situations involves Christmas shopping for gifts to contribute to grab bags. Sure it may be easy to purchase a great gift for your sister or your best friend but purchasing a gift for a complete stranger is considerably more difficult. Consider an office Christmas grab bag where each participant is asked to bring in a gift of an approximate dollar value. Each participant then takes turns choosing a gift from the grab bag. This can be a difficult situation because the participants likely have a variety of different interests and you may not even know all of the participants. However, there are a few strategies for making selecting a Christmas gift for this occasion fairly simple.
One of the easiest ways to ease the stress of this Christmas shopping dilemma is to purchase a Christmas gift you would be happy to receive. This is not as simple as it sounds because you also have to ensure the gift you choose is something which will appeal to others. You may have a specific interest such as knitting and may be thrilled with the prospect of receiving knitting needles but it is not reasonable to expect that everyone else would be happy with this Christmas gift. When Christmas shopping for a grab bag, it is important to choose items you like but that are also practical and universally liked. This will help to ensure the item you select will be enjoyed and cherished by the grab bag participant who selects the item you purchased. Useful household gadgets are often very good ideas for this type of situation.
Another way to deal with the stress of Christmas shopping for grab bag presents is to carefully consider the participants who will be selecting a Christmas gift from the grab bag. If you know most of the other people, you probably also have a good idea about the types of gifts they will like. For example, if you work in an office where most of the employees are Green Bay Packer fans, it might be a good idea to purchase an item such as a Green Bay Packers sweatshirt. Although the entire office may not be Packers fans you are putting the odds in your favor by selecting a gift which will appeal to the majority of the participants who are selecting a Christmas gift from the grab bag. Even if the person who selects the item does not enjoy the gift, they may be able to trade with another participant who will be very excited to receive the gift in question.
Finally when Christmas shopping for a grab bag gift, you should consider purchasing a gift card or gift certificate as a gift. This gift will likely appeal to all of the participants in the Christmas gift grab bag and will help to ensure the lucky participant who selects your gift will be able to use the gift card to purchase something they really want or need.
Still others who are Christmas shopping for a grab bag gift might consider purchasing a joke gift and including a gift receipt along with the item so the participant can exchange the item for something they would prefer. For example you might want to purchase a CD or DVD to contribute to the grab bag but selecting a CD or DVD which will be appreciated by all the participants and which the participants do not already own can be difficult. However, it might be fun to purchase a CD from an artist most people would be embarrassed to own or a DVD for a cheesy movie and include the gift receipt so the recipient can return the embarrassing CD or DVD for a CD or DVD they really like. All of the participants will get a laugh out of seeing the embarrassing gift and the participant gets to return the gift so everyone wins in this situation.
Gift cards and gift certificates Re: Christmas Shopping For Grab Bags
Gift cards and gift certificates were ALL the rage a couple of years ago, and they made / make a lot of sense, but I think they've fallen off some because the profit on them wasn't enough for some greedy retailers who had them losing value over time or placed other restrictions that people didn't get because no one looked at the fine print.
I've never been big on gift cards but I do like to give gift cards redeemable at restaurants because "I" love to eat so much! In general I think gift cards are kind of unimaginative, even for strangers.
A gift certificate from Restaurant.com is always something to consider. If you sign up and wait you can sometimes get them as much as 70 percent off. You can purchase a $25.00 certificate (you pay less with the discount) and then the person that receives it can go to the website and purchase
coupon(s) from places they want to go. You can wrap it with menus from various local restaurants that they can choose from on the list.
Another gift certificate I like to get is from my local gas station. Everyone loves to be able to save at the pump. Wrap it up with a can of defroster for the window or a nice scraper with a heater attached.
A gift certificate from Restaurant.com is always something to consider. If you sign up and wait you can sometimes get them as much as 70 percent off. You can purchase a $25.00 certificate (you pay less with the discount) and then the person that receives it can go to the website and purchase
coupon(s) from places they want to go. You can wrap it with menus from various local restaurants that they can choose from on the list.
..... Another gift certificate I like to get is from my local gas station. Everyone loves to be able to save at the pump. Wrap it up with a can of defroster for the window or a nice scraper with a heater attached.
I use these for teenage and young adult kids and did quite a few for spiffs at work with gas prices so high. Now it's cool because they go even further.
The restaurant ideas are great! Great values, and as far as I know everyone likes to eat!
I've never been big on gift cards but I do like to give gift cards redeemable at restaurants because "I" love to eat so much! In general I think gift cards are kind of unimaginative, even for strangers.
I feel the same way. Certificates from restaurants can be an enjoyable experience for the person getting the gift and they will most likely bring along someone with them to the restaurant. An activity is more fun than just a gift card from any old store.
Certificates for the movie theater work well.
I've done gift certs from a local meat market, so the person can get their choice of meat items. This is always nice because meat is expensive.
Every year my dad will ask for nuts for Christmas. I don't want to just give him ordinary ones from the store, so I try to find different recipes for nuts. I've done bbq nuts, and some sweet spiced nuts made with cinnamon and so on. Very easy to make and the house ends up smelling good.
Here's where I run into a problem. On my husband's side we all bring a gift to exchange, but you never know who is getting what. It's hard to find that one size fits all gift. The family lives in different places, so a store or restaurant certificate can become a challenge if that person can't use it where they live. Most of us enjoy getting a certificate for Best Buy or Barnes & Noble, but my MIL doesn't even know what that is. Afterall she is 80 something and doesn't get out much.
Last year it seemed like little thought went into half of the gifts people brought to exchange. The gift I ended up getting was an Expresso maker. I don't even like coffee and neither does my husband or others in the family. I think I ended up trading it for something else, I got lucky. We are allowed to make one trade of a gift when our turn comes up.
If anyone has ideas for a one size fits all gift no matter where you live or no matter your age, I'm looking for ideas. Another thing I have to keep in mind is a few of the family have to travel quite a distance and nothing that big will work.
Then if you get something you can't use, there's always the option of regifting..
I'd like to see an exchange service that will accept items for exchange from anywhere and issue a gift card for the item (useable anywhere), minus a service charge. Kind of like a "fence" for legal items
The wife crochets afghans or sews "lap blankets" every year. A few years ago she did these roughly 36 by 72 inch blankets that folded into themselves, into a little over a 1 foot x 1 foot square so you ended up with a pillow when you weren't using it. Who can't use a little comfort and warmth?
Christmas gift-buying season is upon us once again, and this year you don't want to wait until the last minute and buy something thoughtless say ! just for the sake. Let say something something unique and thoughtful. You want your Christmas gift to show someone you really care about them. Something special.
Every year I try my best to figure out 'just the right gift' that fits each person I am buying something for. Grab bags of course creates confusion each year as to how to buy something that will fit a range of ages, styles, etc.
We use to do grab bags and I loved the challenge of them. But as I am shopping around this year I am beginning to think the way to go for those that still do grab bags is a nice gift certificate to an activity such as a movie, bowling, etc. or a dinner out. (depends on the amount you are suppose to pay for the gift).
With a movie gift certificate you can always wrap it with a tin of popcorn for fun. A bowling certificate with a coupon off for a pizza they can go to afterwards, or a cute bowling hand towel and so on.
People are so worried about paying for bills with the high cost of food, and gas, and jobs are harder to hold on to that 'fun' is getting lower and lower on the list of things to do.
Just another thought, an Entertainment Guide is always a good thought as there is coupons for everyone to use from fine dining to dry cleaning. I know I would love to get a book or two for Christmas.
Another idea I thought of for a gift, how about tickets for the Bristol Renaissance Faire? The tickets are only $10 until January 2nd. After that the price goes up to $15.95. I've always had fun at different renaissance fairs I've been to.
When I was at Target, I found some nice items in the food section that could be make up a gift basket. Everyone likes to eat, so you can't really go wrong there.
If you are looking for inexpensive baskets, I always see lots of those at thrift stores or garage sales. Cheaper than buying from a store.
Other gift ideas could be a gift cert from a theater such as the Riverside Theater where the person can pick a show of their choice. How about tickets for one of the museums? Certainly more meaning that just a store gift card. At least the person can enjoy some kind of activity.
More ideas for gift baskets. I bought a bunch of items for grilling. Sauces, marinades, dry rubs, skewers, and basting brush. I'm going to put these all in a basket. Most items were in the range of $1.70-$2.50.
Another idea for a basket could be ice cream toppings. Buy different sauces, nuts, and toppings. Maybe make your own crushed cookies and candies, then put them in nice jars.
How about a movie night basket? Buy popcorn, candy and other snacks. Add a gift certificate for a movie rental place or add coupons. Maybe you can add the snack items to a DVD that you purchased as a gift.
The other day I got a mini Christmas sweater in the mail and took it over to show my neighbor.. her dog thought I brought it for him and tried to take it!
My other neighbor bought Christmas stockings for her cats..
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Christmas Shopping For Grab Bags
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