With many people feeling the effects of this drawn out recession its the best time to use morale building techniques to help your business, staff and families. Working in marketing, I thought I would write 5 top tips for using Christmas hampers to your benefit.

The first technique would be to use X-mas hampers to promote sales, this could be by offering them as a prize to encourage people to sign up to your mailing list. Alternatively by providing a hamper to a long term customer you are letting them know that you value there custom.

If you are about to promote a certain brand its worth offering Food Hampers as a prize. As an incentive you could say that when you buy an item you will immediately be placed in the prize draw for this luxury Christmas hamper.

The recession can make you be careful with rewards and offers, a luxury Christmas hamper instantly sets up a desire in people to have something nice to enjoy during the festive season. By offering people a luxury for a piece of their time or a way of keeping the dialogue open with them you can increase your sales efforts and good will at the same time.

With the festive season fast approaching its also of huge benefit offering a hamper as a staff incentive. For example for the “staff member of the year” offer a luxury Christmas hamper, to show them how much you appreciate their hard work and to let the other members of staff know that hard work is rewarded.

Finally a hamper is a great way of showing the people that you care about that you have brought them home a token of appreciation. A hamper works on so many levels that it is always a remembered element of any event. It is also nice as a business to be able to give people a real treat and also benefit at the same time.

Gifts can be a costly one or a simply a gift card with their favourite things to do. Lets look into some gift options to give for this Christmas. If your women loves music a simple CD of their favourite album or an electronic music gadget will be a choice. Some of them needs a bit costly, so a pair of earrings or a fashion necklace will be an alternative.

When it comes for a special person like your wife, it is obvious you will be spending more. A pair of beautiful pendants, diamond studded necklace, a black pearl necklace will be good choice, but you need to be careful in your choice of design selection.

If your women loves electronic gadget, get her a latest iPhone or iPod to suit their choice of colors. Electronics gifts should be trendy and latest when you are selecting it.

If you are not sure about this kind of choice, then a gift voucher for a full day spa will make a relaxing experience for your women. This will also help them to break away from their daily chores and feel relaxed.

If still in doubt as to what to buy, then simply go for a customized greeting card from her favorite store and express your thoughts through it. This would also suffice in making her happy and feel special.

The above ideas will make a best Christmas gifts for her.

A great gift might be a colorful kite … a ring, necklace, or bracelet that light up … a trampoline that lets you jump higher than ever … a set of drums … or a digital camera.

Most 12-year-olds like to learn new skills so a few months of lessons on the electric guitar or the piano might be a thrill.

In the meantime, though, let us look more closely at a few fun Christmas gifts to make your job of shopping easier.

Heelys – Heelys are athletic shoes with a wheel in the heel. Zip down the sidewalk along with your friends. You can run errands in half the time. And, if you have a paper route, your job becomes a cinch. To use Heelys, you need to wear a padded helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards.

Power Zoom Binoculars – Your favorite 12-year-old will be able to go bird watching, see the baseball game up close, and check out the sights on a car trip or on vacation. Some excellent binoculars are 10X30X60 power zoom with a ruby lens.

Inline Skates – To help that 12-year-old become a skating ace, get him or her inline trainer skates that convert to regular inline skates. Other equipment needed for inline skating include a padded helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards.

Pinball War Games – This standing game table rocks and rolls with flashing lights and dinging sounds. It has dual LCD scoring and drop pockets. This game switches from a game for two players to a game for one. Every member of the family will enjoy taking turns at this pinball game.

Name Scroll on a Painting – This unique gift will bring shouts of joy from your favorite 12-year-olds. The scroll features his or her first name and its meaning inscribed on a painting. Included is a history of the name and famous persons with that name. The painting is of flowers, a lion, a kitten, a dog, and a knight in armor. This treausred gift is ready for framing.

There we have it. These fun Christmas gifts to make a 12-year-old boy and girl happy may inspire you to think of yet more gifts. Not included here are hi-tech gadgets, a computer, software, an MP3 player, or games. We will cover those in a following article. Meanwhile – have a merry old Christmas.

One suggestion for a gift for Dad might be the traditional tools. A man can never have enough tools for projects around the house. By giving him his favorite tool, one could achieve several things. First, he gets a smile on his face. Second, your home projects might actually get done. Finally, he has a toy of his own.

Another gift idea would be electronics. These would range from MP3 Players/IPODs to GPSs and TVs. They are all great ideas. MP3 Players/IPODs can be taken everywhere and can plug into his car or treadmill. He will enjoy his music while he is either driving or running. Maybe even watch a game or movie on his IPOD. Of course the game would look even better on a brand new television. There are plenty of options between LCD, Plasma and Projection TV. Don’t forget the GPS. Men, especially Dad, will not want to ask for directions this holiday season. Save him the trouble with a new GPS system. This way everyone gets where they need to go safely and on time.

Moms are always expected to look nice for the holidays. Men are starting to take their personal hygiene seriously. There are plenty of products out there to help Dad look and feel his best. These can range from new electric shavers, to nose trimmers, to fog-free mirror in the shower, and maybe even a massage toy to help Dad relax after a long day. All these would contribute to Dad looking and feeling better during the holidays. Dad may even want his favorite cologne or hair product. Surprisingly more and more men are starting to really take an interest in how they look and smell. I am sure moms appreciate this.

Sports, many argue, are the man’s domain at home. Why not spoil Dad this holiday season with tickets to go and see his favorite team play? Another suggestion could be sports memorabilia. Does Dad have a favorite team or player? Maybe get him a poster, jersey, signed card or ball. Maybe Dad doesn’t watch sports, maybe he likes to play. This holiday, upgrade his sports equipment. He will think of you every time he plays. Or maybe Dad doesn’t play sports, but enjoys the competition of a good poker game. Give him something to play this winter like a poker set, table and a poker book. The game is so hot right now and he can invite his buddies over for a nice friendly home game.

Apparel and accessories for Dad work well as a holiday gift. Great suggestions could be a new jacket, work out clothes, sweaters, or even a nice tie! Dad should really throw away that old holey shirt and you can replace it with one from his school alma mater. Maybe he could use a nice black sweater or ski jacket to keep him warm and in style. Watches are also a nice addition to Dad’s wardrobe. They are both functional and contribute to that finished look that makes Dad look complete.

All of these suggestions of holiday gifts I am sure will put a happy face on Dad. Some you can enjoy as a family and others Dad can enjoy by himself or with his buddies. After all, holiday gifts are wonderful to receive and put to use and with these suggestions you will surely not disappoint dear ole Dad.

Birthdays are fairly easy. For a start, they don’t all arrive at once, so you have time to get your creative juices flowing.

Choosing Christmas gifts is different. You need to buy presents for everyone from the youngest niece or nephew, through to grandparents. Sometimes you may not meet these people very often and the decision isn’t made any easier by the relative lack of knowledge.

If you know the person concerned, it could be that they have been kind enough to drop some hints into your conversations with them. Providing these hints aren’t too obscure, those kind of conversations can be life savers.

But what do you do about the other people you need to buy Christmas gifts for?

You could take the easy way out by buying a gift voucher, but that doesn’t look very impressive when it’s wrapped up below the Christmas tree.

DVD sets are often a good choice. Especially if you know one or two of their favorite films or television shows. Amazon’s feature of “people who bought this also bought …” can really come in handy for choosing a present that shows you put some time and thought into it.

If you’ve got the time and creative energy to make a really personalized gift, that can work very well. Anything from a scrapbook covering the year in words and pictures through to a DVD you’ve made from photos and music. There’s a lot of software available nowadays that makes this kind of exercise a lot less daunting than it would have been even a few years ago.

Personalized presents that are ordered online can also make good gifts. You can create t-shirts, mugs, mouse mats and all kind of other presents at the click of a mouse. They’re then delivered to your doorstep a few days later, ready for you to wrap and give for Christmas.

Other personalized gifts can include naming stars, buying land on the moon and even preserving an important minute of time!

Themes – There are several options: You can use one single theme for your entire home or create a different theme for each room. How to do it? It all depends, certain families might prefer one colour that dominates all others, some a set of matching ornaments that appear all over the house.

Leave nothing untouched – How about bringing Christmas in to unusual spaces, such as the bathroom? It can be much fun to decorate unusual places. Don’t forget practical thinking – refrain from using materials such as paper or water paint in wet areas and watch for places that produce heat – I’m sure your home to be “burning with enthusiasm”.

The Christmas tree – If you opt for living trees, make sure you’re going to cut the stump with a fresh cut and put it in water immediately. You want to cut it diagonally, making the area of absorption larger. Set reminders and check the water level a couple times daily for the first week and refill if needed. If you have space in your home, it’s fun to put a tree in the smaller rooms as well. Get a mini-tree for the kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom, and get it to match with the theme of its surroundings.

Fake snow – Instant snow can be so much fun, it doesn’t melt and can produce many hours of joy.

The big snowman – Why not make a snowman right in your living room this time? You have two options – either you can use fake snow or paper, glue, a couple cheap inflatable balls and white textured paint. The rest is up to your imagination!

Lights – Instead of mimicing the presentation of a Christmas store, think about using lights with slow transitions and new colours that will accent the best features both outdoors and indoors as well. Often it’s just the matter of changing the light bulbs or use suitable coloured sheets.

Candles – Candles are an element which shouldn’t be missing from any Christmas decoration. The easiest way to make them more attractive and personal is to get blank candles of any colour and use three dimensional textured paint.

Christmas garland – Garland is one of the best tools to cover door frames, window frames and the edges of mirrors with. Don’t forget to secure the decorations with tape or something similar.

Reusing Christmas cards – You can cut out elements from Christmas cards, old or new, and put them on various items, such as curtains or tablecloth.

Bells – Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without the bells. With ribbons, you can tie them together and knot at the top. Drape the bells over a door knob, this way they’ll ring every time as someone enters or leaves. Watch out, it might get a tiny bit irritating after a while!

As always, there are no limits for your imagination! Christmas is a great excuse to entirely change the feel of your home. It will not only bring a little variation but will affect you and your family’s mindset – which can result in stronger bounding and many wonderful memories that you will never forget.

Get a basket or tub, pick up a liter of soda, some microwave popcorn and a gift card to a local video rental store and you have a movie gift basket! Any kid will love to get their very own movie card and all the “fixins” that are just for them. This is appropriate for a kid of any age.

Grab Bags

Get several small trinkets and one “main” gift. Put each one in its own decorated paper bag and put those bags into one large bag. Allow the child to choose one small bag at a time, discovering the treasures that are contained within each. This is a delightful surprise for the younger child, but older kids seem to like it too.

Gift Cards

Kids love to get gift cards. Depending on the age, you can get them a gift card to a toy store, the mall or get one of the major credit card gift cards so that they can spend it anywhere! They will feel just like a grown up when they go shopping and use their very own credit card to get the things that they want!

Art Sets

Purchase an art set of acrylic paints, brushes and paper, or try a different medium such as charcoal, pastels, water colors or oils. You can add in an instructional book and you have a gift that gives in so many ways. Children love to create and art allows them the gift of self expression.

Puzzles

Puzzles are a fun way for children to learn through doing. They learn logic without even realizing that it is a lesson because it is so much fun. Jigsaw puzzles are fun and you can get the mats that roll up so that the puzzle can be put away without being taken apart. Wood puzzles and brain teasers will keep kids entertained for hours as well.

Magazine Subscription

There are many great kids’ magazines that are available; many are published by mainstream publications such as National Geographic and Sports Illustrated. Find out what interests the kid in your life has and get them the gift that gives all year long – a subscription to their favorite magazine.

Jewelry

Jewelry is always a hit with girls. Younger girls will love bracelets and necklaces with their names in block letters. Jewelry kits are also a big hit with girls. They can make their own jewelry and wear it.

When you are shopping for the kids in your life, don’t be afraid to be creative. Have fun and steer away from the conventional. Think about the child’s personality, likes and dislikes, then run with it! If all else fails, do a movie gift basket or a hot cocoa gift basket. You can’t go wrong!

In order to answer that question, I decided to do some research and I found that there are several possible stories behind the Christmas stocking. No one is exactly sure which story, if any, is true. However, the most accepted story entails a man whose wife had passed away and left him with three daughters to take care of. He was not a rich man and he was worried that even though his daughters were kind and gentle, they would never get married because he could not afford to pay their dowries.

One day St. Nicholas, also known as Saint Nicholas of Myra, was walking through town and overheard the townspeople talking about the mans dilemma with his three daughters. St. Nicholas wanted to help but he knew that the man would never willingly accept money from him. So he waited until it was dark and went to the mans home and dropped three bags of gold down the chimney, one for each girl.

It just so happened that the girls had washed their laundry that evening and had hung their stockings by the fireplace to dry. When St. Nicholas dropped the bags of gold down the chimney they landed in the girls stockings. When the girls woke up the next morning and went to get their stockings they discovered more than enough gold to pay for each of their dowries. Each girl then got married and lived happily ever after. Once word spread of how the girls had found gold in their stockings, everyone started hanging their stockings by the fireplace in hopes that they would be as fortunate.

While we do not hang our laundered stockings or socks by the chimney to dry, most of us do honor the Christmas tradition of hanging a stocking on Christmas Eve. The biggest difference is that now our stockings are made in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and textures and they are made especially for use as Christmas stockings. Instead of putting gold in the stockings, we put special gifts in them. If we are really bad during the year, we might just get a lump of coal instead of gifts.

I am intrigued by the fact that what may be an old wives tale could create such a wonderful tradition as Christmas stockings. The story of the father and his three daughters started a tradition that is now as much a part of Christmas as Santa himself. Christmas just would not be the same without Christmas stockings.

For one thing, there’s always the difficulty of coming up with different and varied Christmas gift ideas for her. And once, after much consideration, you’ve managed to get together a Christmas shopping list, you’re nearly there – now you only have to fight your way through the crowds in the shops all making a grab for the items you want! Then there are the queues, the winter weather and goodness only knows how much traffic you’ll need to negotiate on the way home.

Luckily for everyone involved, it doesn’t have to be this way. There is an easier option that is available to you right now. If you’re looking for Christmas gifts for her, why not do your browsing and buying online?

Shopping online for Christmas gifts for her can be a lot less hassle if you purchase online, and there is no shortage of choice. You’ll find most, if not all, major retailers give you the option to shop online these days. But even more useful are the specialist gift shops like www.dotcomgiftshop.com.

These kinds of sites can be a veritable gold mine for gift ideas for her. For instance, if you’re looking for something traditional, you might find an English Rose teapot of interest. Something more off-the-wall and available online is a ceramic cake trinket box. Or if the lady that you’re buying for likes a little glamour, how about glittery butterfly tealights as a gift for her? If you’re looking for a Christmas gift for a young daughter, granddaughter, goddaughter or niece, you might be interested in a white flower and paisley patchwork pony cuddly toy, or maybe something like a ‘Scottie & Friends’ pink cuddly Scottie dog.

Of course, another advantage of buying Christmas gifts for her online is that as well as surfing for presents in your own time and in your own home, you won’t have to wander from shop to shop over-burdened by an ever-burgeoning bunch of shopping bags! All the gifts you buy online can be delivered to your door in good time to wrap them all ready for December 25th.

And all the time you save getting to and from the shops and fighting with the crowds and queues can be well spent looking, not just for more gifts for her, but gifts for him and gifts for kids too. The number of Christmas gift ideas you can find online is almost endless. Try http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk, for instance.

So what are you waiting for? Make yourself something hot, find a comfortable chair and get shopping for Christmas gifts for her online right now! Christmas shopping was never so much fun. And it was never less trouble. So get surfing and get buying!