It's a challenge we face every year -- what to do about gifts for the holidays. Our loved ones and friends need some TLC, but how best to show it? Creativity and innovation expert Gregg Fraley put together some fun and thoughtful tips and ideas for everyone on your gift list, items that are great for even the thinnest of budgets and more meaningful, too.
Buckinghamshire, England (PRWEB) November 19, 2007 -- It's a challenge we face every year -- what to do about gifts for the holidays. Our loved ones need some TLC, but how best to show it? Creativity and innovation expert Gregg Fraley put together some fun and thoughtful ideas for everyone on your gift list, items that are great for even the thinnest of budgets and more meaningful, too.
Fraley said, "It's daunting; it's complex; and it is often something we find hard to be inventive about. Panic, procrastination, and, yes, fear get in the way of creative thinking. You don't have to buy something awful just to cross someone off your list; there is no heart or creativity in that."
He adds, "First, get out of panic mode and start thinking creatively by writing down some facts and feelings you have about each person. Keep a little notebook for your creative gift project. Jam ideas at every odd moment of the day, look to those facts and feelings for in. If you stay after your personal brainstorming for a few days, you'll get breakthrough ideas. Finally, take action now on those ideas and you'll get through the season without last minute hysteria."
Following, in no particular order, are creative ideas for this year's holiday gifting challenge, for more detail on each idea, visit www. Gregg's blog.
1. Write Something Personal in Handmade Card. Why not make a card a very personal and meaningful gift? Don't just sign your name, write a real note. If you have time, make a card yourself.
2. Create a Cool Package of Themed Stuff. Combine several small gifts into a cool package designed around a person's interests. Take the time to find out what your gifted has a passion for.
3. Give Art Supplies. An under-rated place to shop for holiday gifts is a good art supply store. Who couldn't use a nice fancy pen? For kids, there are a lot of new fangled art supplies like Crayola's Model Magic, a great sculpting media.
4. Decorate & Give a Personalized Christmas Tree. Many people don't have time to put up a tree. Find a way to create one for a gift or make it an event! Finding special ornaments makes it even more memorable.
5. Create a Quilt for a Sick Child. Sewonderful Quilts will provide you with free fabric (very beautiful sample material otherwise destined for the landfill) and instructions.
6. Give Time. Many of our best friends and family pine for our company. Why not gift a juicy chunk of time, an afternoon, or a whole day? Wrap up a small box with a clock inside and enclose a note suggesting a day and do something you both like.
7. Write a List of Acknowledgements. List 10 things you love about somebody. It's hard to go wrong when you say out loud what you almost never do, but honestly feel.
8. Share Your Favorite Recipes: Put together a small fave recipe compilation for a personal gift. The more love you put into it, the more it will be appreciated.
9. Share an Audio Book, Movie, Song or a Favorite TV Show. On the low budget end, you could record a song on your computer, using a free audio package like Audacity and email an MPG file.
10. Give Fairly. There are several websites out there with unique Fair Trade gifts from craftsman all around the world. See also these sites: Orenoque and Our Voices Together.
11. Give Your Heritage. For the older folks reading this maybe this is the time to pass along that ring your great grandmother wore to a younger generation, or that hand-carved butcher block your grandfather made himself.
12. Hand Write a Miniature Book. Buy a blank notebook and fill it with whimsical thoughts you are having around the holidays, or thoughts you have about the friendship or love you have with someone.
13. Gift an Historic Tree, a nursery that has trees that are offspring of Apple trees that Johnny Appleseed planted, Oaks from Elvis's Graceland, etc. A tree is a gift that keeps giving for generations, providing shade, fresh air, and beauty.
Author Gregg Fraley works as an innovation expert and new product development consultant to Fortune 500 companies and does keynote speeches and workshops on creative thinking, innovation, problem-solving, and new-product development. Fraley is author of Jack's Notebook, a fast-paced, inspirational story that reveals the principles of a proven process for deliberate creative thinking - CPS (Creative Problem Solving). He is also a partner in The Innovise Guys, a creativity and innovation podcast with a humorous edge. The Innovise Guys are blending classic problem solving methods with comedy improvisational tools. Fraley is currently working in Great Britain as an Artist in Residence, but resides permanently in Three Oaks, Michigan.
More of Gregg Fraley's musings can be found on his website and blog.
Media contact: Beth Peterson, (847) 931-9375.
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