Creative Holiday Gift Ideas for the man Who Has Everything!

Tired of giving the same old-same old? Embarrassed to give out those impersonal group store gift certificates because you're stumped and don't know what to buy for the someone who has everything? Well, here are some spectacular, ideas for unique gifts; some unusual, some personal; something for everybody on your list!

Group two, three or more items (mix and match) and place in an spirited basket or unusual box to gift your gifts, face the box with colorful cellophane and topping it all off with a fancy ribbon and bow.

HOT DOG FLAVORED

Purely Personal

- Scented candles, handcrafted soaps, bubble bath and a big fluffy bath towel.

- Fancy hair ties, hair clips, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner for the juvenile girl

- A movie night basket with a video of Dvd of a movie you know they don't have, a box of microwave popcorn, candy and a movie guide book

- An spirited book or magazine (and a gift subscription), a tiny booklight, a cute mug and packets of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows, or a small bag of flavored gourmand coffee

- A cozy robe - one pocket containing envelopes of hot chocolate and the other, a small bag of mini-marshmallows.

- A spa day with a pair of comfy slippers and a big fluffy towel or robe

- A set of fancy beeswax candles and a brass candle snuffer

- A towel wrap, terry-cloth slippers, shower soap, shaving lotion and a fancy hair comb (or a extra moustache comb for the moustached man!)

- A hot/cold pack (see how to make - www.whimsies-online.com/hotcoldpack.htm) with a box of soothing herbal teas and a whimsical mug

- Buy a collection of medium to large seashells and fill some of the shells with melted red wax and a few drops of cinnamon candle scent; and the rest of the shells with melted green wax and a few drops of pine candle scent; adding a short wick before the wax sets and you have an assortment of bath candles all ready for the holidays.

Holiday Bath Salts

2-1/3 cups of epsom salts

1/2 cup of sea salt

5 drops of peppermint scent

3 drops of red food coloring

Pour half of the first three ingredients into a bowl. Pour the other half of the ingredients into someone else bowl, adding the red food coloring only to the second bowl. Using a tall, clear bottle, layer contents of each bowl until all ingredients are used up (think red and white stripes). Close the bottle and tie with a festive ribbon and a merge of small candy canes.

- The Gift of Time: coupons for one night of baby-sitting, car washing, gardening, cleaning out the garage, walking the dog, re- arranging a closet, etc.

Hobbies and Sports Gifts

- Tickets to their beloved game and a sweatshirt or t-shirt imprinted with their beloved team logo

- Art supplies that they use often - sketch pads, paint in often- used colors, charcoal pencils, etc.

- Scrapbooking supplies, storehouse boxes to keep supplies in, rubber stamp set, embossing powder and heat gun

- Computer supplies: Cdrw's, blank Cd cases, a furry Pet Virus novelty or a Virus Survival Kit just for fun (www.petvirus.com)

- For the aspiring writer (or student): folders, pencil case, binders and lined paper, fancy colorful pens, notebooks, personalized notes, a good thesaurus and dictionary, an agenda or diary, colorful post-it notes and a personalized Cd coaster to hold their beloved mug of coffee (see how to make one - http://www.whimsies-online.com/cdcoasters.htm)

- For the young artist of craftsperson: a craft box with handle; colorful paper squares, set of scissors with distinct fancy blades, glue, felt in an assortment of colors, wiggly eyes, lengths of colorful wool, colored pipe cleaners

- For the someone who love to bake: a set of cookie cutters in letter and number shapes, a pair of colorful oven mitts, a cute timer, a set of fancy cake tins, mixing bowls, cookbook on baking

- For the Bbq chef: Bbq apron, mitts, a set of large salt and pepper shakers, a Bbq brush, a Bbq recipe book

- A large spirited piece of pottery, kitchen utensils, a cookbook, a set of cute salt and pepper shakers, apron and potholder set

- A fancy flower pot with gardening tools, plant ties, organery gloves, a plant care guide and a kneeling pad.

Fancy Food Gifts

- Chocolate-dipped Spoons: buy heavy clear plastic spoons and dip them in melted chocolate, either all dark or all milk chocolate or let cool and re-dip in melted white chocolate but only halfway up the spoon bowl. Sprinkle with abit of cinnamon before the white chocolate dries for a variation. Let dry on wax paper. Wrap individually in colorful cellophane and tie with a curly ribbon. Add a merge of chocolate-coated spoons in a fancy mug along with packets of gourmand coffee.

You can also add abit of extract or liqueur or even cherry juice to flavor the chocolate before dipping.

For someone else inequity on the chocolate-covered spoons, sprinkle the spoons with finely-crushed candy canes and let dry.

Drizzle melted white chocolate onto your dark chocolate-dipped spoons or drizzle dark chocolate onto your white chocolate-dipped spoons for a distinct look.

- Here's a distinct twist to your beloved chocolate chip cookie recipe. Make up a batch, let cool and then dip them halfway into melted chocolate. For a variation, add a sprinkle of coconut or candy sprinkles before the chocolate coating dries.

- Here's a way to use up those diminutive plastic coffee creamer packaging you've been saving. Check out this yummy recipe: Coffee Creamer Cherry Chocolates - http://www.whimsies-online.com/cherries.htm

- morning meal Treat Basket: pour a box of pancake mix into a clean glass jar. Add the lid, cover the top of the jar with a quadrilateral of pretty scrap fabric and tie on a colorful ribbon or raffia. Type the recipe from the pancake box and print it out onto cardstock to hole-punch and add to ribbon before tying the finishing bow.

Add small zip-lock bags of the following: chocolate chips, dried fruit along with raisins, walnuts, almonds, pecans, coconut. One or more of these added to the pancake mix makes a unique treat! contain a bottle of pancake syrup and the gift is complete.

- Muffin Magic: add your beloved muffin recipe to a 1 or 2-quart mason jar or clear, fancy container. Decorate the jar with a quadrilateral scrap of fabric and tie with a ribbon or raffia. Add your recipe to a printed card (make sure you adjust your recipe if you've cut the ingredients by half to fit the jar!). contain a muffin tin, a wooden spoon tied with a pretty bow, a bag of fancy paper muffin cups and a colorful oven mitt or two.

- Pasta Perfect: an assortment of clear glass jars filled with fancy pastas, a wooden spoon tied with a festive ribbon, a shaker of mixed Italian spices and someone else of grated parmesan or romano cheese

- Your Fortune: mix up a batch of Chinese fortune cookies (see recipe at www.whimsies-online.com/weddinggallery.htm) that you add your own printed fortunes or silly sayings to (think Confucious Say!). Place them in a colorful tin from the dollar store.

- Caffeine-fix: a set of small tins filled with an assortment of extra hot cocoa mixes and/or flavored coffee using the following recipes. Generate tags for each to recap each mix and the directions. (All cocoa recipes: add 1/3 cup of mix to 6 oz. hot water. All coffee recipes: add 1 heaping teaspoon, or more, to 6 oz. Of hot water)

Basic Hot Cocoa Mix

1-1/4 cup dry milk

3/4 cup powdered coffee creamer

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 cup sugar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mexican Cocoa

Add 1 tablespoon of cinnamon to above mixture and a cinnamon stick to the tin when you tie on the recipe card.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cocoa-Malt

1/2 cup malted milk mix

1 cup instant cocoa mix

1/3 cup powdered coffee creamer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very Berry Cocoa

Mix one box of unsweetened Koolaide in a berry flavor to 3 cups of instant cocoa mix

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coffee 'n Spice

1 cup instant coffee

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice or apple pie spice mix

1 cup sugar

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mocha Magic

1 cup instant coffee

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup powdered coffee creamer

1/4 cup dry milk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toffee Coffee

Mix equal amounts of brown sugar, instant coffee and powdered coffee creamer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personalized Gifts

- An arrangement of family photos in a large frame - use nice gift wrap or other fancy paper as a background, or a collage of handcrafted papers from your art store.

- Any item personalized with the person's name: a t-shirt with an spirited illustrated along with their name; a personalized coffee mug; a photograph of their beloved hobby or occupation in cartoon form with their name; a silly caricature made from their photo; a personalized Bbq apron.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You'll find a unique assortment of personalized cartoon pictures for any hobby, occupation or opening and fun computer novelties along with the Pet Computer Virus at:

http://www.whimsies-online.com. Be sure to pick up your free gift just for stopping by!

Creative Holiday Gift Ideas for the man Who Has Everything!

HOT DOG FLAVORED

Creative Bridal Shower Themes

One of the jobs of a bridesmaid is to help throw a bridal shower for the bride. Depending on your personality, this can either be a very fun task, or a very daunting one. If you are not accustomed to entertaining, you may not know where to begin.

A great way to give a party a distinctive style is to pick a theme. The theme is some idea or design element that you choose to help bring the whole event together. It is fine to be eclectic, but you do not want to host a bridal shower that seems to have no direction or unified look. The theme will give you ideas about the invitations, decorations, food, music, games, and maybe even the gift.

WATER AND CHOCOLATE STARFISH

There are some themes that are very traditional for bridal showers. One popular idea is a kitchen based shower. It dates back to the time when it was expected that every wife would be a homemaker. In considering this type of old-fashioned theme today, it is important to know the bride well. If she is a real "foodie", then no doubt some gifts from the gourmet cooking shop would thrill her. However, if the bride is very career-oriented and has no interest in cooking, she might be insulted by a kitchen themes bridal shower.

These days it is more common to pick the theme based on the bride's interests or her personal style. For instance, I once co-hosted a bridal shower for a very dear friend who loved cherries (she even had a tattoo of a cherry on her shoulder). We chose invitations with a cherry pattern on them, had dishes of chocolate covered cherries, and for the favors, I handmade soap with a cherry design. Of course, not everything at the shower was based on cherries; we served many of her favorite foods, and chose flowers in her favorite color combination, purple and orange. Remember to use your theme as a starting point, but not to take it over the top.

You can also use the bride's wedding as an idea for the bridal shower. For example, if she is having a destination wedding, then why not throw a beach themed shower? It would be a great warm-up to the main event. You could send invitations with seashells or starfish on them, fill hurricane lanterns with shells and white candles for decorations, and ask all of the guests to bring a beach themed gift. The bridesmaids might even chip in together on a special present, such as a piece of handmade jewelry for the bride to wear at her wedding. For a destination wedding, a casual piece of wedding jewelry handmade with organic looking keshi pearls would be a great idea.

Another source of ideas for a bridal shower could be the bride's background. Let's say that the bride is a Southern belle who has relocated to New York City. She would be touched to have a shower that featured her favorite Southern things. You could serve regional foods and decorate with magnolias floating in water.

The most important thing to remember when choosing a theme for a bridal shower is that it should look like the bride. This is not the occasion to inject the taste of the hosts. Ask yourself, "would the bride love this?", and if the answer is yes, you will know that you have found the perfect theme.

Creative Bridal Shower Themes

WATER AND CHOCOLATE STARFISH