Treating your wife to shopping, that is accompanying her throughout her spree, will just be very memorable!

Here are some ways that will ensure you of a great hopping time with her, while she gets her perfect git for the occasion:

1. Seek-out thrift shops and bazaars around your place before actually announcing to your wife that you are taking her to shopping. this will do away with you spending too much on the spree. Of course, perfect gifts need not be expensive and surely she will find a good bargain.

2. Seek-out stuff in your found shops and bazaars which will suit her taste. Remember that scarf she has on her online shopping wish-list? Try looking for something that is as close to it in quality and in look in your found shop and bazaar. It will mean a very nice a thing from you, even, it can a perfect gift aside from whatever she could find there.

3.  Take her shopping! Of course, know and remember that his is her day. Wherever she pulls you, just go and appear as excited and as jubilant you can possibly appear to be. Help her find stuff that looks great on her, help her sort out things. Simply be in the moment with her and surely you will find your share of the joy too. Of course, never forget to buy her your find.

The effort you placed in putting the whole spree together will give her the best shopping she has ever done for. Of course, the experience will not only mean her to have more stuffs to stuff on the closet, but the perfect gift of your time can mean to her the world.

This is going to be fun. The super gift we are about to discuss here will drive you down the memory lane to the destination, rather, to the source from where everything started. It has been many years since, and lots of memory got piled up; some sweet and some not so sweet. Take the opportunity presented by this special occasion to inject again the freshness of a honeymooner to your relationship.

The gift idea we are talking about is quite simple, and I warn you, do not let the deceptive simplicity of the idea cast you down. This gift will be very powerful in inducing the right emotion from the recipient. The perfect gift will not only make her day, but it will be with her for really long time.

I am talking about gifting a lovely satin bed sheet. A satin bed sheet with a custom print made from the photographs that will convey the story of the wonderful time you spent together on your romantic honeymoon. I am suggesting you to use bed sheet & the accompanying pillow covers as a medium to convey the very first chapter of your love story. Every night, the bed sheet will make you relive the moments on which time has put a thick layer.

Great for Wife or Husband

Although, this gift has been conceived with female partners (wives) in mind; this can be gifted to the male partners (husbands) as well.

This gift idea is designed for the couples who are married for at least 4-5 years. You can give this perfect gift on the day of your marriage anniversary, may be on the 5^th marriage anniversary or the later one.

Anatomy of the perfect gift

I am happy that till now I have been able to hold your attention. Without wasting any more moment, we will move forward, and learn how to make this Perfect Gift. To make this gift, you will need a plain satin bed sheet, some sweet honeymoon photographs, a little knowledge of Photoshop or any image enhancing software (click here to see a list of photo enchancing software), and the willingness to give your love a precious gift.

We start with selecting a good quality, light color bed sheet, preferably white. The second step leads us to our digital photo album. If you did not click pictures using digital camera, you can also use printed photograph; just scan each of them on at least 300 dpi, and enhance the photographs in Photoshop. If you still have the negatives of the picture then I will suggest you to get the negative scanned using a good quality negative photo scanner.

Start selecting the images you want to put on the bed sheet, but before doing that decide a theme for the bed sheet. Depending upon your personal taste, you can either choose pictures of cozy and intimate moments, or the time you two spent riding a boat, watching the beautiful sunset, walking hand in hand, screaming on a joyride etc., or you can consider using a blend of the two. I am not setting any rule here because this is your gift, and you need to put your own feeling in this perfect gift.

Arranging the selected pictures will follow the picture selection process. Use the picture that you feel was the defining moment of your relationship in the center of the bed sheet. For example, you can use a picture of your first kiss, your first day on honeymoon, your engagement or the time when you proposed her at the center.

Make a montage using this picture in the center, and arrange rest of the pictures thematically around it. You can also add scanned copies of greeting cards, love letters or the digital version of each one of them in the montage. Use a clear handwriting font to retype the love letter you sent or received through e-mails, e-cards that you sent or received, or the transcripts of sweet chats that you had. Based on your preference, you can also add some design elements to the montage. The central picture of this montage will be quite big. It should take up the whole central area. Anything in excess of 20″X24″ will do.

Once the montage is ready send it and the bed sheet you selected for printing. Be careful in selecting whom you are going to give the responsibility to do the printing work (click here to see a list of the best bed clothes printing company). The printer who specializes in creating custom printed bed sheets or cloths should only be chosen for creating this gift. If you don’t know one already then search the Internet and business directories for such printers. Finding a printer can be a bit challenging, but this will be worth the effort.

Who can Give this Perfect Gift?

A husband and also a wife can be the one who should consider giving this gift.

Other Occasion

This perfect gift can also be given on valentine day, but the valentine day should not be the one that comes immediately after the marriage. Wait for at least 2-3 years before this gift can spell its magic.

Custom magazine cover demystified

It has been many years since you have met for the first time, exchanged smiles, looked eyes into eyes, and then there was a perfect Kodak moment. The time stopped, sun dimmed, the stars glittered throwing away brilliant light, and the wind blew lovingly. It was a perfect Kodak moment. What if you could freeze the time there? What if you could make it last longer? What if you could…?

The gift idea we are going to share will make “your perfect Kodak moment “eternal. This gift is neither for her, nor for you, but this gift is perfect both of you. We are asking you to gift her a custom made magazine cover for this anniversary. She will be more than delighted to see this gift as well as the sparkle in your eyes and smile on your face.

Custom magazine cover explained

To create this custom magazine cover you will need a working knowledge of image editing software like Adobe Photoshop or Gimp (open source), and page designing software like Adobe PageMaker or Quark Express. To come up with creative lines for the cover, you will need free-flying imagination, and a deep desire to gift your wife a highly personalized creative gift.

The first step in the process of creating this personalized gift is to search for an ideal magazine cover on which you will base the layout and the design of your super gift. Create a base layout for the magazine cover by putting appropriate place-holders for the title, date, month, year, issue, volume, price, featuring attractions, titles of imaginary articles, and the cover image.

Now it’s the time to find an appropriate picture for the cover image. I will suggest you to use the portrait picture that was clicked on the day of your marriage or engagement. Use any image editing software to remove the background from the selected cover image. The image editing software will further be used to optimize the cover image for printing.

The next step is to think of a name for the magazine. Show your creativity and come up with an attractive name that should not lose its charm after a year or two “Our Wedding”, “Marital Bliss”, “Wedding Bells”, “Big Day” etc could be used.

The date, month and year of your wedding should be filled in the appropriate placeholders. Volume for this magazine cover will be ‘one’, and issue will also be ‘one’. In the placeholder for price write ‘priceless’ and besides that write ‘not for sale’. Write ‘Fifth Marriage Anniversary’ or ‘Five Blissful Years’ in the main attraction feature placeholder. Your love message for her will become names of the imaginary articles. An imaginary page number should be placed beneath each imaginary article (love message). Choose a background of your liking and give the final touch to the magazine cover.

Custom magazine creation

Getting this custom gift printed will not be difficult, nor will be framing; still, you need to be careful in choosing the printer and the photo framer. Finding a good quality printer and a photo framer will not be difficult. Enter the appropriate keywords, and any of the major search engines will fetch a huge list containing names, addresses and websites of printers as well as photo framers. Ask for the price-list and samples from each of them. Ask each of them to send you printed samples.

The size of the magazine cover should be at least 20X24 inches, if you want it to be visible from a distance.

The idea behind a complete honeymoon kit

The super gift idea I am going to discuss here may prove to be the best wedding gift your friend has received on his/her weeding. This gift will come as a blessing to a newlywed couple who is going for their honeymoon. I am asking you to make a honeymoon kit for your friend that will have every essential thing, which the couple will need during the honeymoon. I am not asking you to gift them a wardrobe or something, you can if you want to, but this is not the idea. The idea is to give them those little things that are absolute must, but which people often forget to carry when going for any vacation.

The nuts and bolts of the honeymoon kit

Take a small handbag or a small briefcase, and decorate it to make it look like a honeymoon kit that will keep the things you are going too gift in the kit. The size of the handbag or the hard-cover briefcase should be big enough to comfortably accommodate the things you are going to include in the honeymoon kit. You can also write a personalized message and sign it with your initials, on the inside of the briefcase cover.

The next step is to make a checklist of things you would take if you were going for a honeymoon. Strike out the items that your friend may not need. The things that will go into the honeymoon kit will largely depend on your friend and his or her partner’s preferences. Having said that, I must provide you with a list of essential items that any couple will need during their honeymoon, regardless of where they are going. The honeymoon kit should include the following items:

1.       Waist pouch

2.       Knapsack

3.       Name Tags

4.       Luggage Tags

5.       Do knot (not) disturb door hangers

6.       Scented Candles

7.       Some scented soap sheets

8.       Perfume for both of them

9.       Male and female contraceptives

10.   A handbook about what to do on honeymoon and what to expect

11.   Blank Diary to pen down thoughts and experiences

12.   Postcards

13.   Some good music

14.   Memory card readers to transfer music

15.   Blank Media (DVDs or CDs) to save pictures and video clips.

16.   Over the counter medicines for common cold, headaches, light fever, eye drop, dysentery etc.

17.   Two straw hats

18.   Chocolates

19.   Some props , and

20.   A bottle of good wine

As the list suggest, you can purchase almost everything from the market. When you are going to shop for “the handbook about what to do on honeymoon and what to expect” you should be careful because this handbook will work as a guide for the couple, and if they like it, they might take a leaf or two out of the book and do the thing suggested in the handbook.

The lovey-dovey wedding idea

The super gift idea that I am sharing here will make the marriage of your son/daughter/friend not only personal but very, very memorable. I am asking you to personalize his or her wedding by distributing bride’s as well as groom’s favorite candies and cookies among the guests attending the marriage, along with a note stating the sweet, little story behind the candies and cookies distribution. If you want, you can also get one childhood photo of the bride as well as of the groom printed on the cover-side of the note.

This activity will not only involve everyone present at the party, but it will also make the marriage a memorable super event. How many marriages do you know of that uses such innovative technique to personalize the wedding? The point is: do this and the bride and the groom will be taken over by the true joyful emotion at the sight of their guests indulging in the secret fantasy of bride and groom’s childhood.

The wedding planner

Creating this custom gift is fairly simple, and can be done with a very little effort. You should be extremely cautious while collecting information about the candies and cookies he or she as well as his or her would-be better half liked when they were kids as you would not like to disclose your plans beforehand.

Once you got the information you were seeking, the next step is to procure the cookies and candies in sufficient quantity. To get the idea about how many cookies and candies you are going to need, you have to find the following:

• The number of guests who will be present at the wedding.
• How many candies and cookies will you be giving to each guest?

After getting the numbers right, it is time to write the story behind the candies and cookies distribution. You should use calligraphy or handwriting font to write the story. Write the story using a flowery language, and keep the story short. The size of the note should not be more than 5 X 4 inches. You can also use decorative borders, if you wish to adorn the note.

You will need a page designing and lay out making software like Quark Express, or Adobe Indesign to design the note. You can also use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe illustrator, or Corel Draw for this purpose.

On the cover-side of the note, put one picture each of the bride and the groom clicked when they were kids or may be toddler. If you want to add a headline or a caption to the image, feel free to do that. You will need   Adobe Photoshop or Gimp (open source) to optimize the images for the note.

The wedding gift

How are you planning to distribute it? C’mon, don’t tell me that you just planning to hand the candies, cookies and note over to your guests! Kidding, right? Jokes apart, packaging and the delivery of the super gift is as important as the gift itself.

For packaging, you can use a small box made of pristine white or elegant black leather. On top-face of the box, get the name of the bride and the groom engraved along with the salutation for the receiver. Use thin, golden or silver font for the purpose. Put the candies and cookies in the box, keep the note on top of them, and hand the box over to every guest before the ritual starts.

Finding a box manufacturer will not be very difficult. Search the Internet for the companies that specialize in gift wrapping, or you can also contact companies that make small boxes for watches. Ask for their quotes, and go with the one who offers the most competitive price.

NOTE: For convenience’s sake, and to keep the article legible, I have used the pronoun “He, himself, and his” at place where I wanted to use “He or she, himself/herself, and his/her”. You can give this gift to your daughter as well on her marriage.

The first step idea

Marriage is your son or daughter’s first step in the new life where he will meet new people, new happiness, new opportunities, new thrill, new compromises, new challenges, etc. This is the best time to tell him about how to shoulder new responsibility, and to stay as cheerful and smiling as he has ever been. And to make him understand this, what could be a better way than telling him about the success he himself had at various junctures in life! Gift him an account of all the first steps he took in his life in the form of a beautifully constructed The First Step Journal.

The first step explained

To do the technical work required for this personalized gift, you will need a page designing software like Adobe Indesign, or Quark Express to design the pages of The First Step Journal, and you will need any image editing software like Adobe Photoshop or Gimp (open source) to do the photo retouching and enhancement work.

For the content of this super gift,  you will need a recollection of every first step that your son took: the day when your kid came to this world; the first day when he crawled; the day when he took his first step; the day when he first spoke; the day when he called you dad/mom; his first birthday; his first day at school; the day when he won a cup/medal in sports; the day when he became an adult; his first vacation with family; his first day in college; the day when he graduated; his first day in office etc.

Along with this, you will also need a collection of photographs of your son taken at different junctures of his life. You can include the picture you clicked on different occasions: when he was born; on his first birthday; when he took his first step; on his first family vacation; on his graduation day, etc. In short, I am asking you to collect the pictures of all the “first step” occasions of your son’s life. If you do not have pictures of every occasion then you can replace it with a picture clicked on a nearby date or in the same month or maybe in the same year.

Select the pictures and occasions you want to include in the first step journal, and begin working on it. Start with creating a layout for the journal pages because this will give you a tentative idea about the size of the image to use, and how many words will comfortably fit in the layout alongside the image. After finalizing the layout, begin with writing “the first step” pages. Use a language that mimic a combination of greetings-card style and motivational writing. This step should be followed by optimizing the image for the journal.

Put everything in the layout and recheck everything, and the journal is ready for printing, but before going for printing, let’s have a word about the quality of paper, quality of cover page and the binding. I will suggest you to use high-quality matt finished photo papers for the journal pages, and will also suggest you to get it laminated once the printing is done. For cover, you can use a velvety paper, or slightly thin, glossy card-board paper. Just write the words like “The First Step Journal – your journey so far…. On the Occasion, when you are about to Begin Your Life’s Most Important Journey. With Best Wishes from Your Mom and Dad.”

The work is complete, now search for a good quality printer and get the journal printed.  There are good quality web-based printers available that do remarkable job. I will recommend digital printing for the purpose.

The custom blanket Idea

When we marry, we have many things to take care of. We are starting a new family, so we need to buy a number of small and big things for daily uses. Hence, I am suggesting here a custom gift that not only will protect them, keep the newly-wed couple warm, and create a cozy environment for them in the favorite corner of their room, but it will also strike one important thing out from the couple’s to-buy list. This way you will help the newly-wed couple in starting a new life. A blanket with a personalized message woven in the corner is the gift I am suggesting you to give to your friend, friend’s son/ daughter or, family friend’s son/daughter on his or her wedding. It will help them in starting a new life, and this super gift will last many years that essentially means you will not be forgotten for years to come.

Personalizing the blanket

The process of creating a personalized blanket starts with writing the personal message you want to put at the corner of the blanket. Write a small message wishing the couple happy married life and sign the message with your name’s initials. Keep the initials at the corner and use a very small font to write them. Make the initials almost invisible. Do not make the initials visible from distance. How many people do you know who will like to use any gift that has the name (s) of the giver prominently visible from a distance?

While crafting the personal message, always remember, the custom gift you are giving will be used for many years, so an attempt should be made to make the message timeless. The meaning of the message should not lose relevance after a passage of time.

Once the message is ready, it’s time to shop for the blanket. The size, design and the quality of the blanket depends upon your taste and budget. If you want your personalized gift to be of some practical value for the recipient, buy the blanket that suits the recipient taste. You do not need to go very far stretching your budget. You can do this within your budget as well. All you need to do is some research.

The next step in the creation of this super gift is printing or weaving and stitching of the personal message at the corner of the blanket. As you guessed, I am suggesting here two options: either you can get the message woven by a professional embroidery maker at the corner of the blanket, or you can get it printed on a 4X4 inches leather piece, or velvet cloth, etc.

The look and feel of the output will depend upon the quality of the embroidery maker for the former alternative and the quality of printing company for the latter option. Finding neither a good quality embroidery maker will be difficult, nor will finding a good reliable company to make a squarish label be nerve-wracking.

Do not forget to ask question. Ask as many questions as you want to ask while purchasing blanket or shopping for a professional or a company to get the message part created and affixed to the blanket. Get a nice wrap for the super gift and a broad smile for your lips before entering the marriage party.

Do the Unexpected

Childhood is the best part of any man’s life. We realize this when we are way out of our childhoods. No gift can be better for an elderly couple than giving him and her opportunity to relive their childhood. The super event I am asking you to plan will present your parents with this kind of opportunity. I am asking you to call all the childhood friends of your mother and father, and arrange a party for them.

Making your parents relive their childhood is the central idea behind the super gift we are going to discuss here.

Preparation for the big night

This will be a surprise party, and by that I mean, your parents should not be aware of the people on the guest list. You can safely tell them about the party you are arranging for them. There are two benefits of this action: one, your parents will not make any other plan, and two, your parents will get ready for the big occasion.

Party planning

Start with making a guest list. This guest list is going to be unlike any other guest list that you ever had for any other party. Only those people who have a relation with your parents’ childhood should be included in this guest list. The idea is to invite as many childhood friends of your parents as you can, and make them relive their childhood. They will always be thankful for this sweet gift, and will always remember this night. The possibility is high that they even rejoin ties with many of the invitees with whom your parents’ ties got snapped due to various reasons.

To prepare one such list, you will need to take leads from your parents. Ask them, and even ask their siblings, their neighbors, or you may sneak through their address book to get information about their friends. Once you have the contact list, start dialing each number, and ask them to join this party. Make clear who all are inviting, and how this could be a memorable event for every participant. Do not forget to request each of them not to tell your parents about your plan.

Walk that extra mile, but make sure, your parents’ friend agrees to attend to the party. Arrange for their commutation, if you can. Seeing their age, you should make all the preparation to make their journey less exerting, and tell them how far you are planning to go to bring them to the super event.

The next step is to create the ambience. The first step in that direction is to talk to your parents’ close friends, and ask them about the kind of environments they used to create in their parties, also ask for your parents’ favorite activities; kind of games, or fun activities they were doing as kids. Mimic them. You can also ask your parents about these things indirectly without disclosing your intention.

Once the plan for the ambience is in place, it’s time to think about food. You should remember that given the age, the guests might have some health-related issues, prepare food accordingly. Ask your parents or their friends about their favorite candies, cookies, or biscuits; include them in the menu as well. The cake should be the one they drooled over when they were kids. If they liked two different cakes then get two different cakes for the occasion. Music should also be from the same era. The party, in its entirety, should be a time machine that will take all the guests back in time to their childhoods.

Time to execute

Once every planning is done, starting making arrangements, stealthily. Get video recorders installed at various places to record this memorable party as well. I am asking you to install video recorders and not to use it because I want to suggest that no one other than their childhood friends should be present in the party, not even you. You should also leave the room once the cake is cut, and your share of cake is given to you. Get out of the venue and let them enjoy!

Pack up time

Once the party is over, collect the video footages from the recorders. Make a good disc from the footage with a good jacket, and dispatch it to everyone on the guest list with a thank you for participate note. This will love it!

Word of Caution: You need to make a balance. The people and the things you arrange for the party, from friends to music to food to ambience to candies, should reflect the childhood memory of both your parents. None of the two should feel that something is missing from their past.