Creative Solutions To The Gift Card Rut

In recent years, gift cards have become the turn-to-solution for those hard-to-buy-for names on your shopping list. Need to buy a gift for your finicky 13-year-old niece? Gift card. Participating in a "secret Santa" and don't know all the participants? Gift card. Sending a gift to a relative across the country? Gift card.

Gift cards may be a convenient way to solve gift-giving dilemmas but they don't win points for creativity or originality. This holiday season, break out of your gift card rut with our five alternatives, perfect for anyone on your holiday shopping list.

Homemade Gift Baskets
Take the time to assemble your own basket and you'll score big points for thoughtfulness. If you know enough about the person's interests, personalize the basket with appropriate gifts and tokens. Otherwise, fill the basket with things that everyone can appreciate or that you personally love. Try a DVD copy of a classic holiday movie like It's A Wonderful Life, homemade cookies, and fancy hot chocolate mix.

Subscriptions
Magazine and journal subscriptions are the gifts that keep giving, month after month. Simply knowing the person's occupation or a handful of their hobbies can help you identify a fitting choice. Check with family or friends to ensure the person isn't already a subscriber. To give the person their present, buy the current issue of the publication and tuck a card with the subscription details inside. Wrap it in nice paper and voila.

Handmade Gift Certificates
By swapping a gift card to a store with your own handmade gift certificate, you can be creative while still keeping it simple. Give a certificate redeemable for things like your babysitting or petsitting services, a girl's night out, or monthly homemade baking. For an out-of-town friend or relative, create a certificate for a weekend visit that includes hotel accommodations or staying at your place, dinner, and tickets for a show.

A Throw Blanket
Comfort is universal; a cozy blanket to curl up in on the couch is a great gift for anyone on your list. Choose solid, neutral colours like black, grey, white, or chocolate brown, and ultra-soft materials like cashmere and chenille.

Useful Gadgets
Who hasn't seen a gadget and remarked on its usefulness, but didn't purchase it? Choose a high-quality tool: avoid cheap-looking "as seen on T.V" gadgets. Try a rechargeable wine bottle opener (like this Oster model from Sears) or an electric windshield wiper (here's one also from Sears) that heats up to make snow and ice removal easier - perfect for Canadian winters.

Image from mmlolek on Flickr

Jaclyn Tersigni
		About the author:
		Jaclyn is a 20-something journalism student at Ryerson University. She traded suburbia for the big city two years ago and enjoys navigating life as a single woman in Toronto. She’s a burgeoning foodie, a borderline music snob, a news junkie, and constant explorer of the world.
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