Tis' the season to begin searching for an original and thoughtful gift for each of the people on your Christmas shopping list. When it comes to Christmas shopping, I've always believed you can categorize people in one of two ways. First, there are those people that love to shop. These are the people that find this time of year to be a fun and challenging mission, and they're willing to spend an undue amount of time, effort and energy to complete the task. God bless this group of saintly people. On the other hand, there are the people, like myself, that abhor the very thought of going from one store to another, trudging through throngs of people, and circling parking lots incessantly as if competing in a NASCAR event. Most of all, the frightening experience of Christmas shopping is compounded by the fact that we know in our heart of hearts that many of the gifts ultimately purchased will be left on the shelf to collect dust, worn once and then hidden in the dark recesses of a closet, or worst of all - re-gifted to someone else in the coming year. Frankly, whether you relate more to the first or second group of Christmas shoppers I just described, I'm certain you will find the rest of this article helpful, or hopefully in the very least, somewhat humorous.
We've all heard the tried and true saying, "What gift do you get the person that already has everything"? This is a conundrum that almost everyone faces at this time of year as Christmas shopping lists are being created. You see, when a person gets to the point in their life when they just don't have any real pressing needs (otherwise they'd simply buy it themselves) that's when collectibles can become fashionable. Like my mother for example. While I was growing up she began to collect sheep figurines of every size and sort imaginable. I guess it made sense, after all, our family is of Scottish ancestry, and although I've never been to Scotland personally, I'm pretty certain that more than one sheep roams the countryside. Not too mention the fact that she has such found memories of her uncles large sheep farm which she visited frequently. Yet all that aside, even though I was relatively young when the sheep collection began, I know the REAL reason my mother started collecting sheep in the first place was simply to give friends and relatives something to buy her at Christmas time. And boy did they buy her sheep! Little sheep, big sheep, furry sheep, white sheep, black sheep (I think that one was intended for me), ceramic sheep, bronze sheep, sheep that play music, sheep that don't play music, and the list goes on and on! Our house literally runneth over with sheep! Finally, after ten years or more of collecting sheep, she had to contact all the people that exchanged gifts with her and politely let them know that her days of collecting sheep WERE OVER! Suffice to say, that was a happy day for my sisters and I because by then, understandably, we were pretty sick of sheep!
So, the morale of the story is, when it comes to Christmas shopping, don't fall prey to a wolf in sheeps' clothing. Instead, find another niche gift that is a bit more practical. Food is a great example of a practical, yet thoughtful gift. Think about it, Hickory Farms may actually be the first pioneers in capitalizing on the niche of a Christmas gift basket. I could be wrong, but I've yet to meet a person that absolutely detests the chance to enjoy a nice slice of cheese and summer sausage on a cracker. Unfortunately for Hickory Farms, they've been around since dinosaurs walked the earth, and now I fear they've become a little passé. The good news is, there are an endless variety of different types of food gift baskets on the market, and they offer a much more personal touch than just giving a Gift Card. When selecting the appropriate food gift, the sky's the limit, you can choose everything from a gift box of top-end Black Angus beef to adecorative basket overflowing with decadent mouth-watering chocolates. And for the hot sauce fan on your Christmas shopping list, you'll find everything you need at www.hotsaucesfromatoz.com. You can choose a pre-assembled hot sauce or salsa gift basket, or, hand pick a variety of different sauces to custom make your own gift basket. Remember, at Christmas time a Gift Basket of food related items never makes for a "Baaaaaaad" gift.
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