I'm amazed at how cell phones have taken off. And there's lots of great gift ideas attached to cell phones.

The world can't seem to get enough of cell phones. Technology talks, and we listen. But of course a cell phone is a fine piece of equipment, and incredibly useful too.

So what about cell phones as gifts? Well unless he's been living under a rock lately he's already got one. I mean who knows someone who doesn't have a cell phone now? So a cell phone is unlikely to cut it as a gift idea.

Now of course you could always upgrade his cell phone for him, there's new ones out every day and they get better and better all the time, and do more and more. However the newer cell phones aren't cheap, and so may be a little beyond your reach as a gift idea for your man.

How about cell phone accessories? I like cell phone accessories as a gift idea, because so many of them allow you to give him a gift that personalizes his cell phone but doesn't cost a bomb.

Take cell phone covers for example.

There's a stunning range available, including some great motifs that men would love. I've been browsing through some today (Hmmm, which one should I get?) Read more

Sometimes a gift basket just has to be a basket without food. How about a shaving gift
basket?

It sounds a little ho hum really, a shaving gift for a man. However shaving is one of the very few things that a man does EVERY day.

And if he does it every day, then a gift that improves his shaving experience could be a very good one.

Why a shaving gift basket? Well it's a little boring just buying him a shaver. Or some shaving soap. Or a brush. But if you give him a shaving gift basket that's filled with all sorts of shaving goodies to give him a complete shaving experience, then it's a gift worth giving.

Let me give you an example. Lots of men shave with an electric razor. Why? Because that's what they've always done. They probably started shaving with a razor when they started shaving, and that's all they've known.

They've got no experience of shaving with a brush, shaving soap and a razor.

And no understanding of the fun of doing it the old fashioned way.

So gift that he may appreciate every single day could be a shaving gift basket that introduces him to the delights of old fashioned slow shaving.

Make a selection shaving goodies, like a shaving gift set from Amazing Shaving, together with some shaving accessories to go with it, and he may find that he never goes back to shaving with an electric razor. Read more

Is a Christmas gift basket a great gift, or a Christmas copout?

Gift baskets, including Christmas gift baskets, are a massive part of the gifts industry, in fact probably the largest part. But is a gift basket for Christmas a good Christmas gift?

I see gift baskets as a little like gift certificates. It's the sort of thing you buy when you're stuck for an idea for - something to buy.

Now that's not to say that I don't like gift baskets because I do. It's just that, to me, a gift basket can be a bit of a copout.

There's a number of reasons for that, and there's exceptions, as you'll see.

The first reason is that a gift basket can be a little too easy. No thought required, just logon, find an interesting gift basket, buy it and job done. Now of course if you end up buying a great gift basket that your man just loves then fine, you've got a great Christmas gift. But often you don't.

I like to see some thought go into a gift, and that includes a gift basket. And there's a number of ways that you can organize a wonderful gift basket for him if you've made a little extra effort.

First is to make your own. Work out exactly what he'd like and make a gift basket for him filled with all those good things. Buy the basket and the wrapping, cook some fine food like fudge or toffee or cookies and add some gifts extra special to him, and you've got a beautiful Christmas gift basket for him. You've thought about exactly what he'll love, and provided a gift basket for him filled with all those things. A great gift.

The second way is to buy a commercial gift basket, but from a supplier which allows you to create a personalized gift basket by choosing your own gifts to add to it to make it unique.

So again you can spend some time thinking of exactly what he'd like in a gift basket and choosing the right gifts for his basket, so you've got a gift basket personalized to his own interests.

There are a number of companies that allow you to personalize a Christmas gift basket like this. You select the basket, wrapping, and exactly what goes in it. My favorite is Design It Yourself Gift Baskets, who allow you to do exactly this.

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How many people have forgotten to get their man a great Halloween gift? Lots I'll bet, we're all human after all.

If you've forgotten to get him his Halloween gift then here's a down and quick Halloween suggestion. A Halloween gift basket from one of the major players in the online gift baskets industry. Giftbaskets.com

Here's 3 great [tag-tec]Halloween gift baskets[/tag-tec] that any man with a sweet tooth would love, I would.

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Here's 5 great gift baskets for men. I'll bet you won't find many men who wouldn't want at least one of these (if not all of them!) There's lots more of course, I've previously covered chocolate gift baskets, as well as coffee. But these 5 are right up there for fine gift basket ideas.

1. A poker gift basket for a gambling man.

Here's a beauty, I'll tell you what's in it. Straight off their website:

You won't go wrong with this outrageous Texas Hold Em gift basket busting at the seams with Phil Hellmuths Texas Hold Em Rules, Tips and Strategies Book, a stunning Mahogany Poker Set including 100 Real Clay Chips, 2 Decks of Cards and 5 Dice (as seen on the Sopranos), Betty Clarks Caramel Popcorn, American Gourmet Butter Pretzels, Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip, Heart of Texas Chili Lime Peanuts, and Buffalo Bills Tortilla Chips, and Southwest Savory Snack Mix.

2. Is your man a sporting man?

Why not a sports related gift basket for him on his birthday, or Christmas, or even if he's going on a sports holiday. Here's one for the golfer, called the born to golf gift basket.

For a total golf enthusiast.

Description: Born to Golf is packed with a bag of RipStixx High Performance Golf Tees, a Practice Putting Cup, a Golf Ball Pickup cup with Practice Ball (attaches to Putter grip), a Golfers Accessory Kit (Spike Wrench, Dual Golf Brush, Divot Tool, Ball Markers), the Line M Up, Sleeve of Nike Power Distance Golf Balls (3), the Round File Professional Scorecard System, Practice Whiffle Balls, a white, full-sized, cotton Golfers Towel, a spray can of the On Mark Hit Pattern Analysis Spray and Booklet, a Golf Themed Coffee Mug (complete with a bag of Starbucks coffee!), and almostGolf Ultimate Practice Balls ( 4 Pack Yellow ).

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I've spent some time talking about making your own gift basket for your man. I think it's a fantastic, (and cheaper) way to create a personalized and effective gift basket.

Of course there are some who would prefer to be able to design a gift basket for themselves, but don't have the time or inclination to do all the work themselves.

There is an alternative. A service that allows you to create a gift basket by selecting it's contents. Then they pack and deliver the gift basket for you. It's a fine compromise between doing it all yourself and just getting out there and buying a commercial gift basket.

A service which allows you to create your own gift basket allows you some freedom in selecting both the theme and the contents of the gift basket.

There is a wide range of themes available. Step 1, just as I have described here for making your own gift baskets, is to select your theme.

Once you have done that you then choose the basket for the gift basket, then you select your gifts. You can add your own message to the basket.

On a budget? Specify your budget to make sure you don't exceed it for your purchase.

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