This Little Light of Mine...

Gifts aren't always a celebration of happy times, but can go a long way to help people feel a little better when things are rough. When my friend was diagnosed with cancer, I wanted to find a personal gift to give her a sense of strength and hope. The solution ended up having two parts that tied together well.

Gift solution part 1: A glassybaby -- a beautiful, strong, hand-blown votive candle holder made in Washington in a small company founded by a woman who had her own battle with cancer. A percentage of the company's profits go to help cancer patients with their living expenses. But charity aside, these really are a lovely, substantial little work of art.

So...it was a good gift, but there were stories behind it. I wasn't going to be there when my friend opened the gift, but I wanted to tell her all about the glassybaby company, and why I chose the purple color, and my memories of traveling in the Northwest with her, and my hopes for her good health.

Which brings us to gift solution part 2: custom gift wrap. This was the fun, personal part of the gift. I typed up a letter explaining the stories behind the glassybaby and used it as gift wrap -- a legal-size page fit the box perfectly.

Here was my friend's response to the gift:

The UPS guy just knocked on my door, and my purple beacon of hope is now sitting between me and my monitor as I do cancer research on the internet. It couldn't have arrived at a more perfect moment. The light and hope are needed and appreciated!

Wrapping Things Up

In Japan, “tsusumi” is a philosophy wherein the wrapping is considered a part of the gift itself; both are chosen and implemented with thought, care and consideration.

This is not to dis the convenience of a colorful gift bag with tissue paper, but there's still time to put a little thought and ingenuity into your own tsutsumi for this year's holiday gifting.

Here are some ideas for creative gift-wrapping:

• Enlarge a meaningful old photo and use it as gift wrap -- extra great if the photo ties in with the gift inside somehow. I used a picture of my dad and brother in classic 70s tennis togs to wrap a funny book on fatherhood... the book was soon forgotten, but the wrapping paper was definitely memorable.
  
  
• Enlarge the gift recipient's signature or favorite doodle...trace it with glue and add glitter. Dazzling!
  
  
• If you have photo-editing software and photos of your giftee on your computer, you can have fun using creative filters and wild effects on digital photos, and use the printed output to wrap a gift.
  
  
• Old maps are big pieces of paper that make perfect gift wrap -- especially if the map somehow ties in with the gift recipient or the contents of the package.
  
  
• Go green: expired calendars, blueprints, posters, shopping bags, newspaper pages (Sports section for the sports guy!) and the Sunday comics can also find a second life as wrapping paper.
  
  
• Magazine pages with beautiful (or funny) ads can make lovely gift wrap for small packages.
  
  
• If you have little kids, you can turn a fun rainy-afternoon activity into wrapping paper production session. Tape a long roll of kraft brown or white paper on the kitchen floor and put 'em to work with finger paints, holiday-colored markers, or sponge-stamps and tempra paint. Once it's dried you'll have a nice roll of custom gift wrap (which the kids will be proud to see under the tree).
  
  
• Think outside of the box -- really! There are lots of clever ways to package your gift besides boxes: new paint cans (available at hardware stores), reusable shopping bags (colorful Chico bags are perfect), takeout containers, mailing tubes, jars... 

School Day Memories

Chances are, there is someone on your list who (a) has fond memories of school days and (b) wears tee-shirts...yes?

Here's an easy gift:

1. Visit PrepSportswear.com, find your giftee's high school (or elementary school...or college...) and customize a shirt with his/her grad year and (optional) favorite sport.

2. Get creative with giftwrap -- make an enlarged photocopy of the giftee's yearbook photo to use as wrapping paper, or wrap the box in the school's team colors.

This gift also works for kids who are still in school!

A good gift? It's in the bag.

Chico Bags are the best reusable shopping bags ever. These roomy nylon bags tuck into their own little attached pouch to make a tiny little pillow you can easily stash in your glove box or pop into your purse (I carry four, and I don't have a big purse).

They also, happily, make easy and inexpensive gifts. For about $5 apiece, colorful Chico Bags make festive stocking stuffers or gift toppers, or even can be used to wrap another gift. The company does make holiday-themed Chico Bags, but I'd advise against buying them (The whole point is that the bags are reusable -- and who wants to carry a bag decorated with snowmen to buy groceries in July?).

Chico Bags are a good giftlet or gift add-on for anyone on your list who shops and/or cares about the environment (which is, of course, everyone you know...right?). Chico Bags are also a quick and easy unisex gift for low-budget secret Santa gift exchanges or those extended family gift drawings.

Check the online store locator for retailers near you, and stock up for the holidays ahead. Chico Bags will never expire or go out of style, so if you don't give away what you buy this December, you'll always be ready for future gift-giving opportunities.

Paper or plastic? Better choice: go Chico!

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