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Gift Ideas for Special People and Special Occasions

Babies, children, and teens

Gift Ideas for Special People and Special Occasions Here are a few ideas for suitable gifts for special people and special occasions.

Babies

Many adults save and treasure gifts they received when they were babies. When giving a baby gift, therefore, you might want to consider purchasing some trinket in silver or gold. Pins, mugs, rattles, or bracelets that have the recipient’s name and birth date are good ideas. Consider a one-of-a-kind drawing created around the child’s name and birth date.

Another idea is to give the parents a photograph album with pictures of the baby and space for other pictures they can add to through the years.

A gift that will be appreciated by the parents, and later on by the child, is a savings bond or a savings account with an opening balance, giving the family a suitable foundation upon which to build.

Other useful gifts are rattles, crib mobiles, a car seat, clothing, a baby blanket, or a music box.

Mind Your P’s and Q’s

Flowers are appropriate to send the morning of a party or the day after. If sending flowers to a home, make sure the recipient will be there to receive them. Women, remember that it is perfectly acceptable to send flowers to men.

Faux Pas

The trouble with gifts from gift shops is that they look like gifts from gift shops. An exception is the museum gift shop, particularly in the larger museums, where something interesting and/or classy can often be found.

Children

Books, toys, a telescope, magic tricks, simple and “parent friendly” (not messy) craft kits, computer games, and kaleidoscopes are all great gifts.

For a confirmation or bar/bat mitzvah, consider a piece of jewelry with a religious theme. Other possibilities include a subscription to a magazine like National Geographic, binoculars, an electronic dictionary, a nylon windbreaker, perhaps with the name of a favorite team on the back, roller blades, or a skateboard.

Teenagers

Teenagers always appreciate a gift of cash. Tickets to movies or a pop music concert will also be greatly appreciated. Other ideas include gift certificates to music and video stores, a camera, tickets to a sports event, sports equipment, or a portable CD player.

High School Graduation

Graduating from high school represents one of the great turning points in life, a step from school kid into adulthood.

Money, of course, and savings bonds or stock and gift certificates are always appropriate and appreciated. A watch, a leather checkbook carrier, or a weekend travel bag can signal recognition of the graduate’s newly independent status.

If applicable, you can give things to take to college: luggage, clock radio, bed linens and towels, hair dryer, popcorn popper, a hand-held electronic organizer, perhaps with a dictionary-thesaurus included. Also, gift certificates, cash, and tickets to movies or other events are always good ideas.

College Graduation

Knowing the graduate’s plans can help with your selection. If they include graduate school, a gift certificate to the college book store will help. If an office job awaits, a monogrammed leather briefcase may be appropriate. Also consider buying beer or coffee mugs, luggage, engraved stationery, or a telephone-answering machine.

Wedding Showers

Shower gifts are almost invariably things that can be used around the house, such as small appliances. Be practical. Don’t use this opportunity to pick something “she wouldn’t buy for herself.” Asking the bride’s friends what they are bringing will help you avoid duplication and gives you an idea of the price range. Bridal registries are also a possible source of gift information, although they’re used mostly for wedding gifts. Showers may take different forms. Guests may be asked to bring a gift for a specific room in the house. At one time, wedding showers were for women only. That is no longer the case.

If you decline an invitation to a shower, you don’t need to send a gift.

Weddings

The bridal registry at local stores can save you lots of time and concern. You will be confident that you are purchasing something that the happy couple wants. Shopping early gives you a wider selection when you use the registry.

Couples are registering at all kinds of stores these days, including mega-hardware stores like Home Depot, electronic stores, and record stores, as well traditional home and department stores. This variety opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

If, however, you do not want to go the registry route, you must first set a budget figure. Then consider the following categories:

• Money, in the form of checks, bonds, stocks.
• Art objects such as paintings, sculptures, or antiques.
• Silver flatware, candlesticks, salt and pepper shakers, chafing dishes, frames for wedding pictures, a box engraved with a facsimile of the wedding invitation.
• Crystal stemware, candlesticks, vases.
• Furnishings, such as card tables, coffee tables, mirrors, table lamps.

Weddings are also occasions when treasured family heirlooms are passed along to the younger generation.

More special occasions

Live and Learn

An old superstition, largely discarded now, suggests that clocks are not appropriate wedding gifts because they remind us that time runs out. If you are not familiar with family traditions or history, and you have any doubt about the appropriateness of a gift, check with the family.

Anniversaries

For the most part, you will be giving gifts only on special anniversaries, such as a silver or 25-year anniversary. Remember that the recipients are probably at a stage in their lives in which they are not interested in collecting possessions, particularly household items or knickknacks. A good strategy is to get together with a group of friends or relatives and jointly purchase a vacation trip or a big-screen television.

For very close friends or relatives, you may want to give anniversary gifts more often than every 25 years. If so, you might be interested in consulting the traditional and revised lists of gifts given for different years. The origins of the traditional list are lost in antiquity. The revised list, which is in more general use these days, was created in 1948 by the Jewelry Industry Council. The traditional list has no entries for the 16th through 19th anniversaries, so the entries for those years listed below are from the revised list.

Traditional/Revised Lists of Gifts by Anniversary

1st Paper/clocks 14th Ivory/gold jewelry 2nd Cotton/china 15th Crystal/watches 3rd Leather/crystal, glass 16th Silver hollow ware 4th Books/electrical appliances 17th Furniture 5th Wood, clocks/silverware 18th Porcelain 6th Candy, iron/wood 19th Bronze 7th Copper, bronze, brass/desk sets 20th China/platinum 8th Electrical appliances/linen, lace 25th Silver/silver 9th Pottery/leather 30th Pearl/diamond 10th Tin, aluminum/diamonds 35th Coral, jade/jade 11th Steel/fashion jewelry 40th Ruby/ruby 12th Silk, linen/colored gems, pearls 45th Sapphire/sapphire 13th Lace/textiles, furs 50th Gold/gold

Birthdays

The only firm rules that apply to birthdays are the usual ones regarding thoughtfulness and timeliness. Remember that a birthday is a magical time for a child; a little extravagance is permissible, and a lot of creativity is recommended. In the workplace, a card and/or an invitation to lunch is appropriate.

Birthday gifts involving birthstones are always welcome. The following is a list of birthstones by month:

JanuaryGarnet February Amethyst March Bloodstone or aquamarine April Diamond May Emerald June Pearl or moonstone July Ruby August Sardonyx or peridot September Sapphire October Opal or tourmaline November Topaz December Turquoise or zircon

Housewarming

Stationery with the new address, a welcome mat (the practical kind), a plant that can survive some inattention, a coffee-table book, and gift certificates to the local book store or wine merchant are all wonderful housewarming gifts.

Coming to Dinner

Don’t bring things that need immediate attention from a person who may be frantically busy in the kitchen. Cut flowers, for example, require the host or hostess to stop what he or she is doing, find a vase, and add water. Instead, try wine or an easy-care plant.

House Guests

When selecting a gift for the host and/or hostess, consider the nature of the friendship, the length of the visit, and the tastes of those being visited. If you want to bring something with you, consider a flowering plant, a wheel of Brie cheese, or an art book; or you can offer to bring along your famous chicken casserole.

Mind Your P’s and Q’s

If you are bringing wine or food to a dinner party, say something like “We thought you might enjoy this later.” This message relieves the host of the pressure of having to deal with the gift immediately, and he knows that it was not necessarily intended to be part of the meal.

Many visitors like to observe the home and, after the visit, acquire a gift that will complement both the host and the house.

For the Traveler

Gifts for the traveler should be practical and portable. For someone facing a long flight, for example, consider a compact tape player with tapes of music, poetry, or language instruction. Or you can make your own tape, mixing music with personal messages and so on. (If the occasion is a driving vacation, a tape player is probably unnecessary because most cars are equipped with them.)

Some currency of the destination country might be helpful. Other ideas include a journal in which to record the highlights of the trip, a leather passport/ticket holder, a pocket-sized plastic rain ponchos, a small travel alarm clock, and a currency converter.

Retirement

Some people approach retirement with cheerful enthusiasm. Some, particularly if circumstances have forced retirement upon them, do not want to celebrate the event. Check with the retiree’s spouse or close friends before deciding on whether to give a gift.

Some ideas: a tool kit for the handyman, a home-brew starter kit for the beer lover, sporting equipment, a backyard hammock, piano lessons, a trial membership in a health club or spa.

When the party’s over and your grateful smile flickers and dims, it is time to consider returning gifts. It might be a book you have already read, clothes that don’t fit, or something you just can’t stand to have around. Remember, however, that you can’t return things made especially for you or things that the giver might expect to find on your bookshelf or coffee table during a subsequent visit. You may be able to tell a very close friend that you will exchange a shirt for another size or color or a book for another title, but never ask the giver of a gift to exchange it for you unless you are physically unable to leave the house. Common sense in this area will bring you many happy returns.