My Favorite Products for Meaningful Gift-Giving

Yesterday I was talking to a mom who told me that she specifically adds “No Gifts Please” to all her sons’ birthday party invitations.  They are 9 and 7.  Invariably, she said, someone will call or text saying, “Are you sure?  Can’t I bring a little something?”  Her response is always, “No.  We have too many things.”

I am always on the lookout for meaningful gifts for this very reason.  Many people have too many things.  Gifts that are memorable, meaningful, and heartfelt are the very best kind, but they can sometimes be hard to come by.  For the last My Favorite Things post this month for #familyhistoryfriday, I want to provide some fantastic gift options for you all in one place.  You can Bookmark or Pin this post to come back to for holidays, birthdays, graduations, milestones, anniversaries, thank-yous and other special occasions!

Family-Related Gifts to Encourage Connections

As I mentioned {last week}, sometimes connections between family members happen naturally, and sometimes they need a little orchestration.  Each of these links below has many suggestions for specific age groups that involve (or are related to) the whole family, so enjoy exploring them.  The gift ideas here foster connections.

• {Gift Ideas for the Whole Family}
• {Family-Themed Gift Ideas for Kids}
• {Interactive Gift Ideas for Teenagers}
• {Family-Centered Gift Ideas for Grown-Ups}

Remember that {family stories} are a gift!  They {help kids cope}, they {help heal from grief}, and they {especially empower kids}.

Whether for a close friend or a spouse, for a birthday or anniversary, it’s especially nice to give a meaningful gift from the heart to someone special.  Most of these links have several suggestions:

• {for friends, sweethearts, and classmates}
• {Five Amazing Gift Ideas Under $35}
• {the gift of words:  “You Can’t Re-Read a Phone Call”}
• {appreciation/”reasons I love you” book (with video tutorial)}
• {Building Self-Esteem through Family Stories and Personal Messages}

I will be so bold as to say that everyone needs to be appreciated!  Having some great resources like this when a special day comes along is pretty fantastic.

Make a book like this following the directions here.

One of my favorite “special someone” gifts is a Reasons I Love You book.  I made this one (with my kids) for my husband's 40th birthday.  We wrote out 40 reasons we love him, and I included pictures of us all over the years.  It is a precious book.  (Read {this post} to find out his reaction!)

Any little thing that’s heartfelt can make a wonderful gift.  For over 20 years, I had a piece of real mistletoe hanging up at Christmastime.  (I literally hung it until it fell to pieces.)  My husband volunteered as a Boy Scout leader the year after we got married.  Hiking in the woods in California, he happened upon some mistletoe, growing right there in the wild!  He picked it, and I suppose put it in his backpack, and brought it home as a little gift for me.  Now mistletoe isn’t anything wonderful, but the fact that it has the idea of romance attached to it and went to some trouble to do it made it a sweet little gift.

The gifts in all these links I’ve provided will give you a lot of ideas to choose from as birthdays, thank yous, anniversaries, holidays, and other special occasions come along.

"We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant. You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself. You’ve got to keep watering it. You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it."  ~John Lennon

Great gift ideas for meaningful gifts for all ages.  Tweet, Pin, or Share on Facebook or LinkedIn.

This post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on February 23, 2018, by Jennifer Wise.  You can find more #familyhistoryfriday posts by clicking the hashtag below next to Labels.