"A GIFT OF YOURSELF"

Giving experiences, rather than material goods, saves resources. You can also simply give a gift of yourself when you know the wants and needs of your gift recipient. Equally important, don't underestimate your own special skills and talents. One valuable aspect of giving a gift of yourself is that it is the perfect solution for those who "have everything."

"Gifts of Your Time"

* Make homemade bread and deliver it to someone every week for a month
* Prepare one dinner a week for a month that you deliver to a friend or relative
* Baby-sit so the parents can have a night or weekend to themselves
* Take an elderly relative or friend on a monthly brunch or lunch date
* Give free lessons to someone in a sport in which you excel
* Share your talents, such as photography, financial planing, or computing
* Volunteer as a willing worker for a day (mowing, weeding, shoveling snow, cleaning house, etc.)
* Make a photo album or video of people that the gift recipient loves
* Offer to do a chore for a month that a friend or family member dislikes

"Experiential Gifts"

* Give tickets to whale watching trips or sunset cruising
* Give a pair of weekend tickets to a ski area
* Give your frequent flyer miles
* Give a museum or art gallery membership or pass
* Give an experience (a day kayaking, horseback riding, sailing, etc.)
* Give a gift certificate for a lesson (tennis, swimming, piano, etc.)
* Give a living plant or a tree, or plant a tree in a friend's name
* Give a gift certificate for a dinner for two
* Give tickets to sporting events
* Give a gift certificate to a used book store
* Give tickets to concerts or plays
* Make a donation in someone's name to THEIR favorite cause (Literacy, Rainforests, World Hunger, etc.)