Holiday Gift Giving for the Less Fortunate

I am fortunate enough to live a comfortable life. Despite this I have never forgotten where I come from, and so last year for the holiday season I came up with an idea. Give gifts to those less fortunate.

I know what you’re thinking: “That’s a good idea, but I’ll have to spend more money.”

That’s not necessarily true. First of all, we all have that one person who really doesn’t need anything at all because they already have it. You can simply say to them, “Look, I can get you a gift for the holidays, but we both know you don’t need it and you might not even use it. What if I used that money to buy a couple of gifts for homeless people?”

Ugly Christmas Sweaters

This year I decided to take the plunge and jump on the Ugly Christmas Sweater bandwagon.  I realize they’ve grown far beyond the old tradition of the homely mom cottage industry and vintage-style sweaters and turned into a full-blown  holiday trend that all of the big companies are now dipping their wallets in, but I think that this is because these sweaters have a legitimate appeal.  I recently ran into this cute infographic, hosted by UglyChristmasSweater.com.

Should You Give Your Boss A Christmas Present?

This can be a tricky question, but there are a few things that you can do to figure this one out.  These are easy things and can be done in the space of a few minutes.

Company Policy

First and foremost, you should check to see if your company has a no gift giving policy in place.  Some of them do.  If your company has this type of policy then you should definitely NOT give your boss a Christmas gift.

No Policy

If your company does not have a no gifting policy in place then they may have a prescribed method for gifting.  For example: you may work in an office where names are drawn at random and that is the person to whom you give a gift.  There may also be a set price limit that gifts cannot go beyond.  In this case, if you do not draw your bosses name then you might not want to get him/her a gift but instead can get a card.

If your company does none of those things then you can get your boss a gift.  There is one other thing that you should keep in mind though.  Some religions believe in Christmas, some don’t.  If your boss is of a religion that does not do the Christmas thing, then I would advise against getting him/her a Christmas gift.  It could be offensive to your boss if you do.

If you do decide to get your boss a gift, make sure that it is tasteful and fitting to your boss.

How to Wrap a Beautiful Christmas Present

Just in case you have no idea how to wrap a gift, this article will teach you.

Materials

You will need your gift, wrapping paper, scissors, tape, ribbon or a pre-made bow, gift tag and a pen.

Get down to it

If your gift is in a box then make sure that all of the ends are taped down.  Lay the wrapping paper on a flat (preferably hard) surface with the white side facing up.  Lay the gift in the middle of the paper and measure to ensure that when you cut the paper you will have enough to cover all sides of the gift.

Cut the paper.

Fold one end of the paper up and over the gift and then hold it in place in the top center of the gift then tape it down. 

Christmas Present Ideas for the 40 Year old man who has everything

We all have that person in our lives.  You know the one.  This person has everything they could ever want or need and if they don’t have it yet they will go out and get it as soon as they realize it.  It must be nice to be like that.  For those of us who have this person on our Christmas list though, this can pose a problem.  You can spend a lot of time thinking about what to get for this person.

Ideas

There are some things out there that everyone can use at one point or another.  The best example of this is a gift card.  If the 40 yr. old man on

Welcome to Christmas Carrot

Here at Christmas Carrot we take Christmas seriously!  As our lives become busier and busier, this holiday becomes more important.  It is a time for family togetherness and a reflection of what’s truly important in life.  Of course, it is also a commercially busy time of year when companies are making the most of the increased demand for gifts.   Here at Christmas Carrot we see value in both of these realities.