With the holidays behind us, I thought I’d share what I got each of my family members for Christmas. I’ll admit, I was a bit of a last minute shopper, and was quite limited in my creativity, but, nonetheless, I think I have a very solid method to gift giving down. A recipe, if you will. And today, I’d like to share that recipe with you, alongside why I got each person the gift I did.
The Recipe 📝📚
For one gift, you will need:
| Recipe | Prep time: 1 Hour; Cook time: 0 Hours |
|---|---|
| 1 | Book |
| 1 | Card |
| 5 | Glitter pens |
| 1 | Ribbon |
| 1 | Faux Flower Bouquet (small) |
| 1 | Colored Tissue Paper |
| 1 | Glitter Dust (optional) |
As you can see, and as you’ve probably read about (or experienced), I’m a big believer that you can never go wrong with a good book, a card, and some cute effort-ful packaging.
- Step 1: To make the cutest gift, it really helps out starting with a book, because given their usual rectangular shape, they make for very easy wrapping. Seriously, it’s almost impossible to mess this up!
- Step 2: You take your book and place a cute hand written card on top. Using glitter pens for the card is non negotiable. If you like, you may also sprinkle some glitter on the book and card at this stage. As the recipe box explains, this step is optional, but highly encouraged.
- Step 3: Afterwards, you pick a cute colored tissue paper and start wrapping. It’s best to be intentional with the color you choose and to opt for something that will match your ribbon and faux flowers (see Step 4).
- Step 4: You pick a matching ribbon and tie it into a cute plump bow, and in the end you finish it off with a small faux-flower bouquet. And voila, you have yourself a lovely gift! 💝
For mine, I went with the following color combos: blue tissue paper and red ribbon for dad (something very patriotic about red and blue, so I thought it was fitting); shades of green tissue paper and green ribbon for Jon (green was the next most masculine color I could think of; can you still say masculine color in 2021?); and bright pink tissue paper and lilac ribbon for mom (felt very girly! Again, can I say that?). Luckily, the lilac flower bundles matched perfectly with all! Who knew lilac was so versatile? 💁♀️
The Gifts 🎁📚
I got my mom a copy of Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Albert Liebermann and Hector Garcia. I got her this in particular, because like me, she is a big fan of creating beautiful environments and adding that extra touch of love and care with whatever she does! Perhaps, that’s just something that lovely mothers do! As a side joke, my mom and I also frequently joke about how Albanians in some regards are also very much like Japanese – in that they really like cleanliness in the house, respect the elderly and are adamant about not using your shoes indoors. So, I thought this book would be very fitting for her! I actually listened to the full audiobook of this myself, and enjoyed all of the insights. Future blog post, for sure!
For my dad, I got a copy of Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty. I first heard about the book from one of my favorite YouTubers at the moment, Ali Abdaal. Like anybody on the internet, I didn’t think much about it, until I became exposed to the book a second time, through – don’t judge me – Logan Paul’s podcast. In one particular episode, Logan and his crew complain that Jay Shetty had won YouTube’s best podcast award. Curious, I looked into Jay Shetty, and my mind was blown. Jay Shetty trained to be a monk, and has integrated a lot of monk philosophies in his day to day, to live a happier and more mindful life. I thought I would love the book for myself, and, being very similar to my dad, I thought he would like it just as much! Once he’s done reading it (and once I’m done with my dreaded 10,000 year-long experience of reading War and Peace), I will definitely borrow it myself and will make a blog post on it too!
For my brother Jon, I initially wanted to get Show Your Work by Austin Kleon (again, recommended to me by my favorite YouTuber). That one is about how, no matter how small you think your impact is, it’s always worth to start doing something where you show your work. Say, you want to start a blog, but you’re not sure that you have anything to add. Well, the book argues, that you definitely do! Unfortunately for me, turns out it cannot be found in Kosovo book stores. After trying a few, I came across a cute coffee-table style book on Marvel’s Greatest Comics. One of my favorite memories growing up with Jon, was pretending we were both Spiderman (and going to watch Tobey McGuire’s Spiderman in the cinema on repeat). I hope he likes it!
What did I get? Well, I got the best family in the world! 😀 Cheesy, I know, but it is the holidays after all, and who doesn’t like cheese.
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What did you get your loved ones for the holidays? Do you have a gift giving recipe that never fails you either? Let me know!
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