More thoughts on presents

I did admit that there are lots of gift-giving occasions coming up for us right now, so I guess I'm a bit focused on it. Here are a few other ideas. Use a cute reusable tote instead of a gift bag - they're often cheaper - I like the ones at Pier 1 - and they are good for the environment & can result in savings for the gift recipient. For out-of-town gifts, consider shipping as you shop. If you're ordering online, see if it's reasonable to hve them gift wrap it & deliver it directly rather than shipping it twice. For difficult people to buy for, think about ideas that can take you through more than one gift - a series of books the person might like might take care of several gift ideas over time. Go in on gifts with family members, so you can take turns shopping & wrapping, plus possibly gift a more exciting gift by pooling resources. Give gifts that promote your values. One of my favorites is to give games - it encourages people to interact and laugh together. Or, for younger people, I like arts and craft supplies; some cool friends tend to give indoor park passes, which is great for MN winters! Share your passions, too. Give a gift that has meaning to you - if you loved a particulr book, giving that to someone who reads might provide an opportunity to talk about it, and you know it was good! If you had a favorite past-time in college, like a game (I have a theme, you know), consider that as a graduation gift. I also like to give bookmarks and grocery store gift cards for graduations - how many books are college students in the middle of?! And how many times to they settle for Ramen noodles? I've also given USB drives, as they will probably have a lot of papers taking up disc space . . .