Spring 2010, Issue 2
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Gifts by Google
By Jessica Springer
A personalized plate
People usually want to give something that perfectly fits the interests, personality or characteristics of the recipient. Making your gift unique on top of all of these things may feel impossible sometimes.
Anything and everything you need to know about finding the perfect unique gift can be found using a little device called Google on the slightly larger device we like to call the Internet. Typing "unique gift ideas" into this search engine can result in a plethora of helpful sites that can actually sort your results into gender, age, relationship (mother, brother, boyfriend, etc.), interests and location. Thus, a perfect gift is created.
Below are some of the unique of the unique, the gifts that you've been searching for, and the gifts you never knew you could live without.
On a site called www.clubsgalore.com, you can purchase an "of the month" gift specifically pertaining to the interests of your gift receiver. Through this company, you can buy a monthly supply of just about anything for one month, two months, or even every month for an entire year. "Of the month" gifts include chocolate, wine, cake, tea, garden, coffee and candle of the month.
Senior Niko Turko is one of many people to enroll for the "wine of the month" gift.
"I've given the "wine of the month" gift to a few people I know, and I even bought it for myself," he said. "It's exciting to be able to get something you love every single month ... especially when that something is delicious wine".
At www.designamosaic.com, you can create a complete large eight inches by 10 inches custom photo out of a mosaic of hundreds of smaller pictures that you submit to the website. The company allows you to create your photo mosaic online so that you can completely oversee the customizing and personalization of this gift. This present will be cheap and easy to make, but is definitely a unique and meaningful gift for anyone to reflect upon memories and good times shared together.
Chapman senior Daniel Barber loves it.
"I've made photo collages for a few family and friends now throughout the years, and I'm always told that it's the most thoughtful gift that they receive," he said. "People love pictures and memories, and it's a unique way to present all of your favorite pictures together."
Barber also recommended another website, www.lastlaugh.com, for a funny way to say "I care."
"I used this site to make a personalized gift that was really unexpected and funny. I bought a six-pack of beer for someone that had our faces on the label and personalized ingredients with our names," said Barber.
This website allows you to order personalized wine, beer, whiskey, rum, and even a six-pack label of your choosing. You can also personalize magazine covers to include a photo of the person of your choosing from this company.
Senior UC San Diego student Katie Heineman recommended www.yourmemorylane.com for getting something that is more on the "artsy" side.
"Yourmemorylane.com is such an awesome site because you can literally include anything into the artwork so it's really personalized for whoever you're giving it to," she said.
If you visit the site, you can purchase personalized art prints that can include any names, people, locations, images, or stories that you choose. There, you can customize every detail about this framed piece of artwork to comply with every interest, hobby, job, or family member. The gift receiver has to make each piece completely unique and meaningful to her life story.
Chapman senior Katie Takeshita was quick to urge others to visit the site www.zerotoys.com, where she had just purchased presents for her nephew's birthday.
"I love this site because it's not just selling regular toys, it's selling toys that would make anyone at any age want to play with because they're so unique and strange" Takeshita said.
The site can be used for a child, a child at heart or someone who just likes out-of-the-ordinary toys. This site has everything from illuminating and glowing objects to science experiments to flying toys that will entertain and impress almost anyone. Categorized by price, these gifts are extremely cost-effective and fun for anyone.
A place that is sure to have something for absolutely anyone is the Convenient Gadgets & Gifts Company. If you go to www.cgets.com, you will find hundreds of strange and wacky inventions that you'll wonder how you ever lived without. There's a special area just for kids, and the adult section includes such items as the "Smart Finder 4-in-1" that locates lost keys, phones, wallets, etc. with the push of a button.
Mother of one and Pasadena-resident Brooke Moore remembered her favorite gift being from this particular site.
"My daughter gave me the Smart Finder because I always lose my keys or my phone and it was making me late to everything! I thought it was very thoughtful of her to find something that was so specific to my needs," she said.
University of Southern California sophomore Rebecca Springer recommended www.personalcreations.com for finding gifts for older female family members.
"Moms and Grandmothers love decorating with weird things like plates, so I got my mom a personalized plate with the names of our entire family ... and our cats!" Springer said.
On this site, you can add photos, text and characters to just about anything, whether it be a tie with your face printed on it or a welcome mat with your family's last name. If you're wondering where to find bumper stickers and magnets with characters of each member of your family (including your dog), you need look no further. This site has everything to fit your cheesy personalization needs such as personalized mailing labels and stationary with your family's last name, engraved jewelry and charm bracelets, monogrammed bathroom hand towels, "Grandma's Little Angel's" sweatshirts with personalized characters to look like you and your siblings and the list goes on.
For anyone who's completely out of ideas, Chapman graduate Doug Riggs recommended www.uncommongoods.com as the perfect last resort.
"Uncommongoods.com is always my go-to place for the person who has everything. I doubt even someone who has everything would have anything from this site yet ... so I always surprise them with these unique gifts," said Riggs.
Uncommongoods.com has weirder things than you can even imagine. Everything on this website is too random to not be able to find something that would fit perfectly with the personality of someone you know. Let your curiosity get the best of you and at least take a look at all the things that exist that you may never have seen before.
The magic of the Internet provides countless gift opportunities. Never underestimate the power of a good keyword search when finding a gift this holiday season. And remember that if you can dream it, it probably exists out there somewhere.
Experience gifts
By Jessica Springer
Hot air balloons
1. Ride Shotgun in a Stock Car
2. Dinner Cruises
3. Golf Packages
4. Drive a Stock Car
5. Indoor Skydiving
6. Walking Food Tour
7. Fighter Pilot for a Day
8. Hot Air Balloon Rides
9. Bike Tours
10. Glider Rides
If none of these experiences interest you, there's also movie, concert, show tapings and sports tickets that you can purchase as "experience gifts" as well. Other more adventurous or unique "experience gifts" can include skydiving, shark tank swimming, private DJ lessons, private ninja lessons, couple's massages, bungee jumping, cave spelunking, helicopter tours, race car driving, wine tasting, snowmobiling, and more.
Information for all of these ideas can be found at www.cloud9living.com.
Do-it-yourself gifts
By Jessica Springer
A frame made by Rebecca Springer
"In high school, I had a friend give me some ornaments that [she] made [herself]. You just buy those clear ornaments from Michael's and buy paint. You squirt a few colors in and then swirl it around. I think my friend just wrote my name or something on the outside, but I thought it was a cute 'make it yourself' gift," said senior Lauren Ramos.
"A really cute gift my parents received from their grandkids was a calendar. Each month of the calendar had a photo of the kids. For October, it had a picture of the boys in their Halloween costumes; December had their picture with Santa Claus, etc. When I asked my sister-in-law how she made it she said she just took the pictures to Walmart and paid $12 to have them turn it into a calendar. It's a great gift to give relatives who you don't see often or who live far away," said junior Megan McCarville.
"If you go on iphoto you can customize a calendar or book and put in any pictures you want. It's fast, cheap and easy to use," said freshman Emily Esposito.
"I made a photo album online for each person in my family for a trip we all went on. I'm also publishing a book on Alaska for a trip I went on recently that is going out to each family as well," said senior Preston Chase Zeller.
"I always make personalized mix tapes for my family and friends. It doesn't cost more than $20, depending on how many songs you have to buy. I always make them for everyone in my family," said senior Sarah Foster.
Senior Ryan Fontana shared his favorite gift story: "I made my dad a Stussy mug in ceramics class when I was seven. He drank out of that mug everyday for 13 years. It was his favorite. There was an epic earthquake that hit Hawaii two years ago, and all of our dishware fell out onto the kitchen floor. He called me and said that he didn't care about the damage, but he was devastated over the loss of his favorite mug. For Christmas that year, I went to Color-Me-Mine and re-made him the same Stussy mug to the best of my memory. You should have seen the look in his eyes when he opened that present. Color-Me-Mine is a great place to go for gifts that have that personalized touch to it. People know that you put some time into their gift and that you were thinking of them while you were making it. Plus, it's pretty fun," said Fontana.
"For my 21st birthday, I received a piñata of a football referee that had been made-up to look like it was rooting for my favorite team, the 49ers. My friend filled the piñata with a bunch of mini-alcohol bottles that she had gotten from Bev-Mo. This was one of my favorite gifts because it was really creative and I knew that a lot of time and effort had been put into it to come up with the idea and personalize it to fit my interests," said junior Matt Garbutt.
"My brother and I surprised our parents with professional pictures of ourselves that we had taken," said senior Katie Takeshita, "It doesn't cost that much to get them done somewhere in the mall, and you can also make your own frame or scrapbook to go with them."
"My friend made me a memory box for the two of us. It had things in it like notes that we had written each other in class, pictures we had drawn, photographs, etc. I just got it last Christmas so it had really juvenile stuff in it and then more meaningful things as we had gotten older," said senior Alex Timberlake.
"For my grandpa, I made a booklet of '15 reasons why I love PopPop' and had each of his grandkids write I different page of it," said senior Stephanie Orth. "I've also made personalized paintings for friends and family members that adhere to their interests such as a painting of a beer pong table for my friend Jen."
"Making scarves can be easy when you get the hang of it and you can personalize them to be any color, length, or pattern that you want," said freshman Jackie Hackler.
As you can see, there are numerous creative, easy, and cost-effective ideas out there. If you still cannot come up with something, try browsing the aisles of your nearest Michael's and getting inspired. It's pretty hard not to be creative when you're surrounded by that much crafting gear. If you're still not feeling creative, a useful website to look at for gathering ideas and inspirations is www.do-it-yourself-gifts.com, which has hundreds of ways to make gifts for even the least-crafty of people.
Experience gifts
By Jessica Springer
For the person who has everything material, a good holiday gift idea is to get an "experience gift."
Do-it-yourself gifts
By Jessica Springer
For some reason, macaroni necklaces just aren't as popular or cute anymore when kids enter college and the world of purchased gift giving.
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