With temperatures finally dropping and the first snow of the season out of the way, that means Christmas is right around the corner.
Since there is only a little over a month left, it’s about time to start thinking about what you want to gift your loved ones for the holiday that will make them feel as special as they are to you. There are several different paths that you can take when choosing the perfect gift idea, but the two main routes it falls to are whether the gift should be store-bought or homemade.
If you choose the store-bought route, then there are basically two ways you can go about it.
The first is to get something that you know that the person needs or has asked for previously. Evan Lemons, a Business Management major, says he prefers to receive store-bought gifts because he asks for things that he knows he needs.
To give a few gift ideas, items that most college students need are clothes, shoes, blankets, school supplies, or maybe even a basket filled with their favorite foods. It can be helpful if you buy something that you know the person needs because it also saves that person the money it would have taken to get the item themselves, which as a college student can be really valuable.
It can also be the quickest and easiest gift to get for someone.
“I like store-bought gifts because it can be practical things that I need … and it doesn’t put extra effort on their part,” Meghan Dodd, a Natural Resources Management major, says.
Store-bought gifts can be just as meaningful as homemade, though, especially when the gift is well-thought-out.
Buying something that you know has some kind of special meaning or memories tied to it for the person is the second way you could go with a store-bought gift. Abby Arredondo, a Technical Theatre major, says that someone once bought her a close replica of her grandmother’s necklace, which had been a highly treasured possession of hers that she had lost.
Another option that you can do, especially if you don’t want to shop at corporations, is you can either shop at local businesses or hire someone to make the gift for you. Dawson Gremmels, a Finance, Economics and Marketing major, says that he likes to go through independent users to get his gifts made because he does not want to be too commercialized.
On the other hand, a homemade gift can sometimes mean more than store-bought to a person because it is more personalized. Joshua Townsend, a Mechanical Engineering major, says he prefers homemade gifts because it really shows that the person spent a lot of time on the gift, which means a great deal to him.
There are several different gift ideas that you can make yourself that your loved one would appreciate.
A popular option is making matching necklaces or bracelets for the two of you that will remind the other person of you when you are apart. Other ideas to consider are making a scrapbook or creating a coupon book with coupons for the person to redeem that makes you have to do a specific task, either for or with them.
Kierston Nixon, an Interdisciplinary Studies major, says that one of her favorite gifts she has received is a diamond art painting of the family dog that her mom made for her.
In the end though, whether the gift is store-bought or homemade, it is the thought put into the gift and the meaning behind it that matters the most.
“It’s more about if the person has been listening enough to know what I’d like than where the gift comes from,” Callie Stone, a Mass Media and Strategic Communication major, says.
