Black Friday is Over

Well now that Black Friday is over, Did you get everything you needed? If not here are some tips to help you next year to avoid having to go out and deal with the crowds.

1. Start EARLY, I have 2 friends that usually have their Christmas shopping done by April. Now if your like me I'm still out running around on the 24th looking for that perfect gift because I believe that their is something I have just missed.

2. Plan your shopping, you know the recipients so you should know what they like and you can attack the after Christmas sales for those perfect gifts that they will treasure. Hiding them is another problem.

3. With prior planning the after Christmas sales are also the perfect time to pick up those birthday, graduation, anniversary, wedding and other gifts you know you'll need throughout the year. This way you won't be rushing around in a big hurry and your gift selection will be better thought out and more treasured.

4. Now that said there are still great deals out there, checkout your favorite retailer online. Many of the large retailers have outstanding deals for online only. The trick here is to shop early because you have to figure shipping time to get the gift in on time. Now if your shopping for grand kids or other family you can save on shipping cost by having them shipped directly to them through another family member and getting them to wrap and put the gift under the tree.

5. Don't forget your small local retailers they often have the more unique gifts at great prices. You will get much more personalized services, support your local community, help keep money flowing through your local businesses and possibly make a good friend in your local area.

6. Hopefully these suggestions will help you with your holiday shopping and future gift giving. Happy Holidays and Happy Treasured Gift Giving.

Great Gift Baskets Making Your Own

Howdy folks just a short note today. Do you want to make your own personalized gift basket. Watch the videos on the right for great tips and advice on putting together your own gift basket. These people do it better then I can, follow their advice for beautiful gift baskets. There are a ton more on youtube to help you from start to finish.

Happy Holidays and Treasured Gift giving

Hard to Shop For Individuals

 Howdy everyone, thought I'd throw out a few Ideas here on hard to shop for people, you know that person that has everything and doesn't like anything. Well with friends like this I always go for the unique and out of the ordinary items. Now this can be as simple as a funny or goofy statue that fits their personality or hobbies to a funny card. I've got a friend that is virtually impossible to shop for I swear he does have everything. He likes to hunt and fish so with him I've had to go to making presents mostly silly off the wall items. One year I made him a folding stool for hunting, it was all pretty camouflage, with a magazine holder, a flip up toilet seat and toilet paper holder it was really pretty funny I know he's never used it but it still sits in his hunting trailer and gets good laughs and old memories a definite treasured gift. Imagination is the key here and if you can't find something for that hard to shop for person make them something. Handmade gifts make them more personal and treasured. If all else fails a gift card will do, I seriously dislike gift cards most never get used so it's money wasted and it takes no imagination. Now we carry some very unique items in our store you won't find most of these in any walmart or Kmart go check it out you don't need to buy just a nice idea starter, www.lifestyletreasures.net

Treasured Gifts for Kids

Well today's information will be fairly short because giving a child a treasured gift is relatively simple, kids love everything. My biggest concern here ( OK chuck jumps on his soap box ) is giving age appropriate gifts and not just video games or computer games. Giving kids gifts that will prop them in front of the TV and video games are not good for the children. Now that being said you can give them a game or two because you know that it will be a treasured gift to them ( at least till they master it ). What I like to lean towards are gifts they will treasure for a lifetime and what will benefit them throughout their lives. Kids need to have gifts and things that will challenge their imagination and thought process ( age specific of coarse). These can be anything from Lego's to Lincoln logs, play do, you get the drift. Has their ages increase you might want to try drafting sets, chemistry sets, a telescope with the planetary charts. Some of my favorites ( here he goes again ) Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic! I see so many young kids and young adults that can't spell worth a hoot, can't do math without a calculator ( and I'm talking basic math ) and read seriously slowly sounding out every word. These are all skills that need to be taught early and at home if you rely on the school system the kids will lose out!!! Gifts for the kids need to be able to get them active, stimulate their brains and motivate them. Some of the best gifts children can get involve active participation of the parents. Kids love their parents by nature and they love to hang out and be around them all the time so play a game with them while their young teaching them the basic skills in life - one of the three R's. Has they get older take the in the kitchen and make Christmas cookies, dinner, a pancake breakfast. Get them outside into nature get them a book on bugs ( my daughter loved this ) and let them collect bugs and butterflies. Take them to a nature trail and go for walks with them, they can learn about trees, flowers, leaves, bugs and MOST IMPORTANTLY spend quality time with mom and dad probably the MOST Treasured gift you will every give your children. Something that creates mega brain stimulation and imagination is scrap booking. You can let them do their own books about their lives, friends, and family kids have the greatest little imaginations they just have to be guided a little bit. Doing things like this will also help to stimulate our imaginations and motivate us. We as adults have a serious tendency to get into ruts and our lives become stagnant and seriously routine, so break the old routine and habits spend quality time with your kids ( turn the TV and video games Off) get out of the house, go to a park, museum, nature trail or playground. Then for the gift giving times in their lives give them a few fun gifts and also include some fun learning activities.

Treasured Gifts for Parents and Grandparents

 Got Kids? Then you have the perfect endless supply of treasured gifts. Pictures of coarse are the best gifts, if you are into scrap booking you can make a beautiful framed collage of the kids playing or better yet hanging out with the parents or grandparents. When making these items get the kids involved gifts always mean more and are more treasured if you involve the kids. Plus the added benefit to you is you can keep the kids busy and they are learning new hobbies besides TV Games! Imagination is key here and has stated in previous posts a little thought goes a long ways, planning is paramount to a stress free project. Make sure you make a complete list of all of the items necessary to finish the project. this will make it more fun for you and the kids if you are getting them involved, this will help keep their interest in the project. If you are a busy housewife, working mom or dad and time is at a premium then purchasing something may be your best option. Things like gift baskets, gift platters, a membership to their favorite spa or club, set mom up for a beautification / relaxation day, there are a lot of places that offer hairstyling, getting their nails done, a massage and more for one price (this is great for Mothers Day). You can also make these gift baskets yourself so that you can personalize them and make them more treasured. A couple of ideas here: Dad or Grandpa likes to golf, buy a small galvanized pail and fill it with his favorite golf ball, a few packages of tees, a small tube of sunscreen, a bottle of white out from an office supply store ( helps him keep his score down) :) then wrap it with some nice golf accented wrapping paper and a nice bow and there you have it. Now this works great for a person who loves to garden, bucket filled with their favorite flower seeds a small bottle of fertilizer, sunscreen a small knee pad, maybe a small hand cultivator of hand shovel. The possibilities are endless again, imagination, imagination, imagination. These are the things that make giving gifts fun and make your gift a more treasured gift for your recipient.

Tomorrows post - Gifts for the kids

One for you Ladies

 If you read my last post it was fairly general, directed at the gentlemen out there to help them figure out what you would like for birthdays, anniversaries ect. This post will hopefully help you figure out what to get that man in your life. Now I've heard this man has everything, he's so hard to shop for, I can't find any gift he would like. Now don't beat me up here but the first thing you need to do is listen. Hold on now being a man I will admit we are hard to listen to because men talk in circles :). We don't express our feelings, wants, needs and desires, so that is what makes it tough to find that perfect treasured gift for a man. Some Ideas here if you have kids, pictures of them I don't know a man who is not proud of his children and wouldn't do anything for them. Pick out a nice frame to compliment the photo for his desk, dresser or the mantle place. It will give him something to talk to his friends about, stick his chest out and beam with pride :) instant treasured gift. Shopping for a man can either be easy or difficult now if you've decided that maybe he needs some new clothes or sporting goods items try this. Clothes you definately need to pick these out because you ladies have much better taste then men!! Now if it is sporting goods items, something for his car, or some thing for his man cave, buy him a gift card, gift cards are great they can pick out what they need or want since these items can be very specific and are definately better left up to them to get. This is the same advice I give to men who come into our shop, they ask about buying thier wife or girlfriend some type of clothing I tell them NO NO don't do it figure out how much they want to spend and get them a gift card to thier favorite clothing store and let them pick out what they want. Has stated above ya'll have much better taste in clothing and things like this then us men. Our lives our so busy with the kids, both spouses working, meals, laundry ect. that we need to make gift giving easy. I will continue to make post on different aspects of this to help ya'll make quick and easy decisions on what to get for your significant other or family members.

Next post - Gifts for parents/Grand parents

Gift Giving Tips For Men

OK Before I start I don't want to offend anyone but some of these things I HAVE SEEN. That being said giving a nice thoughtful gift is not hard it just requires a little thought. I believe the biggest trick is really knowing your spouses, girlfriends, or partners likes and dislikes very well. This will make getting a gift so much easier, because come on we are men and sure has the sun rises in the east we will forget oops I mean wait till the last minute to get them something. Most women will like almost anything you get for them has long has there is some thought involved hence the disclaimer above, I knew a guy who bought his wife a new vacuum cleaner for her birthday because the old one was broken. DO NOT DO THIS!!!!! Not only will this not be appreciated but will probably get you cutoff until the beginning of the next millennium. Gifts also don't need to be expensive, there is a time and place for those but for the most part you don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to impress your partner. Personally I like to give candles, jewelery, small figurines, some home decor items like collectible items or for instance I have a friend whose wife collects anything to do with pineapples. I know a lot of people who collect elephants, items like these make gift giving easy because you should know what your partner collects. I'm not going to drag this on I think you know what I'm talking about. A few other things, always remember dates IE: birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day, special dates like your first date, the day you proposed are always great for gift giving gets you brownie points :) her favorite color, her favorite scents ( great for candles and perfume) just remember any gift can be a treasured gift it doesn't have to cost a million bucks, just be thoughtful and come from you and they will love it.

Welcome To Treasured Gifts

  I would like to introduce myself I am Charles Felix, my partner and I own Lifestyle Treasures Shoppe in Appomattox, Va. We love to help people find the perfect gift for whatever the occasion may be. We are available to help you figure out what gift would be right for you, if you have any questions or would like suggestions please feel free to ask us, we will get right back to you with our ideas. We will be putting out suggestions on ways to help you figure out what gift would be right for the occasion you may be attending. We will also provide you with with suggestions on the best way to come up with ideas for the gifts you might like to give to someone.