Last minute Christmas shopping: It doesn’t have to be stressful

Last Minute Christmas Shopping : Don't worry, we say

Last Minute Christmas Shopping: We all do it

It’s the classic tale: we think we have so much time until Christmas rolls around, only to realize we don’t….and thus begins the panic.  Perhaps we can’t get enough time off work to shop, everything we want is sold out, we have too many friends (what a terrible problem to have!), or we just can’t face the horror of the shopping mall war zone during the holiday rush.

It doesn’t have to be painful.

I’m not here to tell you not to procrastinate, since we all know we’re going to do it regardless.  What I CAN tell you to do is to find a gift idea that makes last minute Christmas shopping kind of….fun, and quite a breeze.

Last minute Christmas shopping:  Get lunch with a friend instead!First of all, there is the super fun and easy way out.
Since YOU feel stressed about last minute holiday shopping, it goes to follow that OTHER people feel the same way.  Talk with your friends and family early and feel people out—if you find that your best friend also hates last minute Christmas shopping, create an agreement together that neither of you will buy each other gifts, and instead you’ll go out on the town together, or get your nails done, or some other sort of treat.  This also avoids the problem of getting someone something that they will never use—this way, you both get to enjoy an experience (oh, the memories!) and you know your money is well spent!

Last minute christmas shopping:  Fair Ivy is one option!If that doesn’t work, there is always the ACTUAL last-minute gifts
Obviously I always tout Fair Ivy as a great last minute gift, because who doesn’t like receiving multiple surprise gifts every month?  They’re handmade and they all already come hand-wrapped.  We even have a little gift notice you can print out to let the recipient know the surprise gifts are on their way—so you can literally buy a subscription on Christmas morning and they can start getting excited about the future surprise gifts they’ll be receiving.

Ok, promo time over.  Beyond actually BUYING something, here are 4 lovely last minute gift ideas that we fully endorse:

  1. Make a lovely dinner for someone.  Or invite a bunch of people and knock them all off your gifting list at once!  If you can’t do this before Christmas, why not handmake a really cute coupon that they can redeem at any time (perhaps with a week’s notice)?
  2. Buy two tickets to go see a band you know they like, that is upcoming a few weeks or months after Christmas. Memories can’t be beat!
  3. We don’t usually like recommending gift cards because they don’t feel very personal.  However, we do like travel gift cards! Most airlines or train operators sell these, and you could even make a cute little handmade card with recommendations for where they could go.
  4. Our favorite gift this year: With so many of our photo memories stored digitally nowadays, we start to appreciate the tactile once again.  Take the time to print out a photograph of a cherished memory you share with a loved one, frame it, and hand-write a note about what the shared memory means to you.  We know your loved one will cherish it as well.

We hope this post will help dispel some last minute Christmas shopping blues.  As always, feel free to contact us to help you with gift ideas—we specialize in finding handmade gifts that fit your recipient to a tee.