‘Twas the Day Before Christmas

Yep, it’s almost here, and most of you probably have the day off. Unfortunately, if you are like me, you have procrastinated and you will be rushing out with the mass of procrastinators, all in the same mood, hating for waiting till the last minute and ready to get into a good retailer fight about inventory that has been off the shelves for weeks.

So here are my instant gift suggestions for the lazy procrastinators out there. (These work for any holiday like birthdays, anniversaries, etc, so keep them on hand). Enjoy.

1.    The Fake Gift.

All you need is a printer. You make up a fake gift certificate for some action (incredibly nice one) that you will do. Be creative in the writing. For instance, “You work so hard each day, sometimes you need to play, and I want to see your face gleaming, so I bought you month of house cleaning.” Of course the ‘alleged’ cleaning will take place at some point in the spring and by that time, so many other issues will come up, it will be totally forgotten by most. It works well. And worst case, if you are called on it, then you have to follow through - but it saved you a lot of time in the end. You just need to buy a nice card to put the fake certificate into.

2.    The Surprise.

This is also written in a card. You say something like…Christmas is filled with so much confusion and so many presents, some needed and some useless. I wanted something you could remember. So sometime in the near future, your gift will be a total surprise out of nowhere, you won’t see it coming, but it is the ultimate gift I could think to give you to make this season really stand out for you.

3.    The Key.

This is a little more complicated. Good if you open presents in a group. You need to buy a small box that has a key. You hide the box. You put the key in a card with a note that says something like, ‘this is the key to your present, the present is too special for everyone else to see. Eventually, you will find the secret behind the key.’

So again, you’ve bought yourself some time. At some point, you have to buy a present, get the key and of course lock it up. But you have so much time to do that and the mystery is great.

4.    The Ultimate Date.

Perfect one. You need the card. Write in it that your gift is the ideal date of the person’s choosing, can be anything, totally their call. The great thing about this is that you don’t even have to plan it and they will probably pick something less extravagant then you would, were you trying to impress.

5.    You’ve been Kidded.

This is for the ones of you with no heart (potentially). You can adopt a child from another country, get any old google image, put it in a frame with a note: I adopted Shebinaina from Ubekinestina, one of the poorest and unknown parts of Africa. Thanks to you, she will be able to eat for the next year. Heart wrenching. Easy. I do suggest you do go through with it, several organizations can help you, but at least again, you bought some time.

6.    Music Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Simply do a google search for the top love songs of all times. Download about 15 or so that aren’t too sappy. Burn ‘em on a CD and there you have it! This works with those you may also have no idea of a gift for, obscure aunt, mother-in-law, etc., you just have to know the person’s approximate age, and then go to a list of greatest hits of the years when that person was a teen, then download your music. There you have it!

So avoid the stores this last day. Or if you wanna give that one extra little something to show how thoughtful you are, the above suggestions will do it!

Enjoy. Have a Merry Christmas, or whatever Holiday you celebrate this time of year! And let me know if any of these saved you at the last minute. Would love to know I helped out my readers!