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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I just had to put this video up. It has NOTHING to do with Christmas gifts at all, or any other gifts for that matter.

I just love it. And I needed a break, and this certainly provided it.

So if you just want to read about Christmas gifts then scroll down to the next article.

But if you’ve got a couple of moments to spare (2 minutes and 17 seconds to be exact) to sit back and smell the roses then watch and enjoy.

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Charging stations take the headaches out of charging.

I always find I have all sorts of wires and devices and chargers hanging off my workspaces, charging things like cell phones, PDA’s and so on. So a charging station for a man like me makes a fine Christmas gift.

If you’re unfamiliar with charging stations, they’re a charge it all device that allows charging of more than one electronic device at a time. Lots in fact.

A charging station takes the headaches and junk out of charging. They can also be called a power station.

I actually find at my place that most of the charging is done on the kitchen bench, just because that’s where it ends up, so a charging station would free up a whole stack of kitchen bench space, and so I’m getting one.

I think you can see the usefullness of charging stations just from looking at the photo I’ve supplied. And here’s a bit more about one of the best, quoted from the website:

“This six-way power station can charge multiple cell phones, PDAs, digital cameras, phone headsets, and MP3 players in an organized spot that only requires the use of one outlet. The charger includes six adapters that fit most portable devices, allowing an entire briefcase-full of electronic office tools to be fully powered in an average of two hours. Indicator lights keep track of which devices are currently charging and which are finished. Includes six adapters: iPod®/iPhone®, Nokia cell phones, Motorola cell phones, Palm Treo®, Sony PSP, and Samsung cell phones. Includes AC charger, DC car charger, and carrying case”

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