Are you one of those people that leaves everything until the last minute? If you are then you’re probably just like me – hopeless at any form of organisation. It’s not that I mean to be, I always plan to turn up on time and I always plan to be prepared…but life gets in the way sometimes and very often things just don’t go to plan! Yes, it is a flaw that I’m working on but there are things out there to help us Slow Joes pick up the pace!
Gifting companies realised a long time ago that more often than we like to admit, we forget very important occasions and need last minute fixes that aren’t just a ‘trip to the local supermarket to grab whatever you can find’. I’ve been stuck in that situation far too many times and after I exhausted all our garage garden centres and local convenience stores for those really predictable flowers and chocolates, I came to the conclusion that I needed to seriously up my game. So thus began the quest for special gifts for those special people who really deserved more of my attention!
However, what I actually found was a whole world of lovely personalised gifts, that have a quick turn around – it was like it was designed with me in mind! Anyway, for all you last minute buyers, here are a couple of customised gift ideas that will ensure you don’t end up in the dog house…
Engraved Jewellery
This was definitely my favourite find! Hold Upon Heart create quality fingerprint jewellery that you can have engraved with yours or your loved one’s finger, hand or footprints on! Usually they create Foundry Cast jewellery that can take a couple of weeks to design and complete, but lo and behold this family-run business has answered my prayers with a delivery service for personalised engraved jewellery that takes only 7 days – bingo. The engraved jewellery option is lighter and takes less time to make than the Foundry Cast, though they are still made with the same love and precision, and put onto silver necklaces, bracelets, charms, key rings and cufflinks. The ideal gift for a loved one or close family member – you can even have your pet’s pawprints engraved onto them!
Homemade Gifts
Ok, so if you’re thrifty you could definitely give DIY present-making a go. Unfortunately I am not much of a creative genius, but there are hundreds of wonderful ideas on the net – I found the best ones on Pinterest! One of the gifts I thought was completely adorable was (a little bit cheesy but very sweet) a book made out of a deck of playing cards and on the back of every card was a reason why you loved that person, or a memory. There’s 52 cards in a deck so on the front it was labelled ’52 reasons why I love you’, you could also do ’52 times you made me laugh’ or tailor it appropriately to the person you’re gifting! Using ring binders, a hole punch, a pack of cards and a sharpie pen, you could easily whip this up in an hour or two! And it’ll make such an impact.
Night In Hamper Basket
Another DIYer, this gift is great for saying ‘congratulations!’ or ‘I’m sorry’… you know, one those nice gestures you can create within the hour. Grab a box or basket and fill it with treats for your loved one – one the ideas I saw online was a ‘night in hamper’; complete with a choice of new DVDs, the person’s favourite sweet treats and a bottle of bubbly – it’s a lovely personalised gift that’ll cost pennies.
Name a Star
If you want something special for a partner or perhaps even a youngster, the name a star gift is perfect for last minute panics! The registration can either be sent in the post which takes around 4 days or they can email you the paperwork to print and gift yourself! You get to register your name or a loved one’s name (for life) to either a single star, a binary star or a whole constellation that is visible from the UK. Imagine gazing up into the night sky and seeing the ‘Samuel’ star or the ‘Catherine’ constellation…