Very recently I was wondering that when we were in school or college, with little or no money in hand, we always used to get gifts for friends for their birthdays. It could be a simple stupid thing - a handmade greeting card or letter with a candy/ chocolate / a tiny piece of street jewellery - whatever we could afford then in a beautifully wrapped package (as pretty as our creativity permitted).
Now that we are all earning and "settled" (read married with kid/s), we whatsapp each other on birthdays and kid's birthdays, forget anniversaries but like each other's photos and posts on facebook. It's only when somebody comes from a trip abroad that gifts are expected. Phew! And there was the time when we thought, that had we had a little more money, we would gift each other the world.
To be honest, now that we are settled in our set lives, that are sometimes boring, tiring or monotonous - this is the exact time to get gifting using all our creativity. The personal touch that is lost somewhere between whatsapp, facebook or instagram, needs to be rekindled, at least on those special occasions that are birthdays and anniversaries.
The gift can be anything, if you can't get enough time to make something up. But we can go creative with the packaging, add a note or a handmade greeting card. If you want to pack something innovatively but are short of ideas - one search on google or youtube can give you many simple ones (a couple of links below).
But for the note or card, let your ideas flow free. Maybe you can print an old pic, or a picture collage (its easy these days with simple mobile apps for everything) or you can cartoonize your friend (again through an app like Momentcam or through a website - remember photofunia?) and take a printout with a caption added. You can buy a photo mug, photo magnet or even a personalized t-shirt (if you want to go really crazy).
If you are the craftsy types, whoa! You can do so much more! If you are the stitching-sewing-knitting-embroidery types - you can stitch a small coin purse or knit a sock-sweater or you can do something simple like sewing the initials on a handkerchief that you are gifting. If you like to paint, you can paint or draw and get it framed or do fabric painting on a dupatta or paint a vase. If you do not have much of a artistic inclination, choose something else that you love doing. If you plan ahead, these things will not take as much time as you think since you enjoy doing it.
Let the birthdays and anniversaries be a little more special, a little more personal, a little more colourful and fun. A surprise visit with a pretty gift in hand never hurt anybody. Bring a little more cheer into the lives of those you love and the same will come back to you :)
If you are the craftsy types, whoa! You can do so much more! If you are the stitching-sewing-knitting-embroidery types - you can stitch a small coin purse or knit a sock-sweater or you can do something simple like sewing the initials on a handkerchief that you are gifting. If you like to paint, you can paint or draw and get it framed or do fabric painting on a dupatta or paint a vase. If you do not have much of a artistic inclination, choose something else that you love doing. If you plan ahead, these things will not take as much time as you think since you enjoy doing it.Let the birthdays and anniversaries be a little more special, a little more personal, a little more colourful and fun. A surprise visit with a pretty gift in hand never hurt anybody. Bring a little more cheer into the lives of those you love and the same will come back to you :)
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