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Saturday February 04, 2012
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#58 Title:
The Big O: Clutter-Free Gifts
Special Guest: Monica Ricci
Organizing Expert, Motivational Speaker, Radio Show Host, Author and Founder of Catalyst Organizing Solutions, LLC.
Description:
In this episode of The Big O: Organization, Monica, Vicky and Jen discuss seven categories of gifts that have meaning for both the giver and the getter. Clutter-Free Gifts is wrapped with ideas to make gift giving more memorable and meaningful all year around, with no dusting required!
Duration: 1:10:23
Index
00:39 Introduction: Clutter-Free Gift Giving
12:24 Financial / Charitable
16:18 Consumables
26:33 Gifts of Service
31:04 Gifts of Experience
36:11 Memberships
38:41 Education
42:34 Technology
47:35 Thrify Gift Giving
1:07:23 Closing Comments
1:09:10 Closing Track
Click here to see other episodes in The Big O: Organization Series.
Related Podcasts: Simple Holidays 101, 102, 103, and Holidays
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About Monica Ricci
Monica Ricci is a speaker and the author of Organize Your Office In No Time, a busy person's reference for taking control and being more effective, productive and successful at work. Monica is Past President of the Georgia Chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers, and was named one of the nation's "Organizing Elite" by Forbes Magazine.
She has been an expert guest on both radio and television, including the nationally syndicated Clark Howard Radio Show. Monica is also a regular expert organizer on the popular Home and Garden Television show, MISSION: Organization.
Monica's articles have appeared in such diverse publications as Airtran Airways, Arrivals Magazine, Men's Edge Magazine and Advisor Today Magazine. Some of Monica's clients include Earthlink, Longhorn, Paramount Pictures, The US Court of Appeals, GE Capital, Special Olympics Georgia, and Kennesaw State University.
She also teaches national teleclasses and as a speaker, she presents seminars, workshops and motivational keynotes on time management, procrastination, getting organized and living a powerful, simpler life.
Recently Monica teamed up with Beazer Homes to design homes where storage spaces make sense, living spaces feel great and life can be simple.
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Websites with Gift Ideas
Crazy Gift Ideas (Submitted by Shoeboxed) They sifted through the long list of stores that we buy from so that they could bring you some of the craziest, most creative and weirdest stores on the web.
Handmade Gifts (Submitted by Laura) Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade. Their mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Their vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice: Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.
Cindy's Porch (Submitted by Julia) Are you ready to discover the treasures that are available in your home, your neighborhood, and within your family that cost absolutely nothing? This is where we learn to "DO instead of BUY". Where we "SHOP at home FIRST" and discover that "procrastination" can be our best friend when it comes to BUYing more stuff. Cindy provides a printable gift buying log, ideas for holiday stocking stuffers, thrifty gift ideas for kids, meaningful gift ideas for grandparents and more.
Tree Hugger Ideas Go green with these creative gift giving ideas from TreeHugger. There are 180+ gift ideas making it a perfect reference while shopping for everyone on your gift list. In addition, they’ve added organizations to support and useful tips for making your holidays more efficient. Check out their gift guides for 2005 and 2006 too!
Unique Gifts Loads of unique ideas for all occassions. They cover everyone on your list, from the golfer to the cook! Don’t miss the themes on the left menu bar: corporate, birthday, wedding, digital, outdoor and more. Their gift FAQ’s are awesome!
Your "presence" will always mean more than your "presents" |
42 Ways To Trim Your Holiday Wasteline
(Scroll down toward bottom of the use-less-stuff page and click on this title to read tips!)
Americans throw away 25% more trash during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period than any other time of year. The extra waste amounts to 25 million tons of garbage, or about 1 million extra tons per week. So, to help trim the trash while trimming the tree, here is a checklist of simple things you can do to reduce waste while you eat, drink, and make merry this holiday season. |
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Monica's Website
• Check out her blog
• Buy Organize Your Office in No Time • Articles about organizing
• Contact Catalyst Organizing Solutions
• Sign up to receive free monthly organizing tips
V&J's Favorite Gifts
• Adoption. Give the gift of "animal adoption" from your local zoo or aquarium. Each year we would receive a different animal, and I always looked forward to seeing which one we got! Then we would visit him (or her). It is very cool to know that the money helped the care taking of our local zoo. - Jen
• Give the gift of a personal assistant! CEO’s have them, why can't Moms? Parent Life coach, Natalee Ziebro from Why Just Survive, will help you with your chores. Choose one of the following services or request something customized to fit your needs: Custom Menu Planning Service, Time Management Service, Greeting Card / Gift Service. Then, of course, there is the gift of parent coaching sessions. (Talk about being pampered!) Click here for details.
• One of my favorite online shopping sites is Lillian Vernon where you can find loads of personalized gifts especially for kids. You can’t find this stuff in the stores! - Vicky
• Have you heard of the Amazon Kindle? Imagine instant access to more than 90,000 books, blogs, newspapers and magazines - anytime, anywhere. This brand spankin' new wireless reading device is only available through Amazon. Click here for a product description including a video demo. This is the future of book reading and it’s absolutely amazing!
• Think back to things you have gifted in the past and buy “refills”: garden flag for that flag pole, tarts for that candle burner, part two of that book or movie, a rice cookbook for that rice cooker, pez for that pez dispenser, refill pages for that Lite Brite . . . you get the message.
• Cards-By-Katie Notecards make very practical gifts. Her creations are simple but colorful. Each note card and invitation is made by hand, carefully and creatively, and no two are alike. Katie can also be your source for party invitations and thank you cards!
• Old magazine advertisements make unique gifts for just about anyone no matter what their interest - cooking, sports, toys, travel, movies - you name it! Find them in any antique store or on ebay often at a very low price and have it framed as an extra nice touch. Old TV Guides are my favorite! - Vicky
• Books and music make the perfect gift. Click here for our picks!
Sample holiday cards: Cards-by-Katie.com
Click here to read our blog entry about oddball gifts for that hard-to-buy person! |
Memorable Gifts
We shared several of our listener’s comments on the show about gifts that have been the most meaningful to them. Here are a few extra ideas that we didn’t get to.
• "My best gift-giving ideas are odd ball things that I clip out from magazines all year long, for example, an edible card for dogs. One memorable birthday gift I received was a 2 for $1 bag of candy orange slices from a girl at work. She knew I always love them. And corn pads - I complained all year long about my foot so I got them in my sock at Christmas."
• "My daughter and I have so much fun during the holidays making special gifts for people (cookies, notecards, candles and soap). Even my husband helps out with the candle making. Another favorite gift to give is books, as a teacher I am all about encouraging a love of books."
• "We have passed around a re-gifting of a silly gift in our family. It was something someone didn't want initially and it gets passed around with the stipulation that you must display and keep it for 30 days before passing it on to some other surprised "I don't want it either" family member."
• "Now that I have grandchildren, I really enjoy receiving gifts that they have made especially for me, seeing the gleam in their eyes and the smiles on their faces. It reminds me of the gifts that my children made when they were small."
• "I look forward every year to the photo CD/video that my children put together of our family get togethers celebrations throughout the year. It is a very treasured gift. Not getting gifts is not a big deal either. I would rather see a meaningful gift like the CD or give to other families that aren't as fortunate as we are. I like to think of Christmas as the birth of Christ rather than the media/commercialism that we are bombarded with."
• "The best gift I got in the last couple of years was a really good pair of Ugg slippers. Very warm, VERY comfy and they meet all my criteria for the perfect slipper – must be slip-on, have the shearling lining, and have a sole so I can run out to the car while wearing them. All that being said, in my personal opinion, Arbonne products make the perfect gift for any holiday!"
• "Gifts that are homemade are always a hit! When Ella was born my cousin created a silk floral arrangement. She put the flowers in a ceramic vase that was given to her when she was born. And inside the flowers she tucked a small porcelain baby bootie that our great grandmother (Rose - Ella's namesake) had made years ago. I also love getting gifts that are things passed down in the family . . . my hubby has a bunch of ties that were my grandfathers . . . hideous things, but special because they were Bop's. And when my son was born my aunt gave him a ring that was his grandfather George's ring (namesake again). Gotta love naming your kids after family members."
• "One of my special gifts is shadow box displaying my Mom's WWII medals. Another favorite is a picture puzzle of my daughter in kindergarden that she framed for me."
Helpful Hint
Need to wrap a very large gift? Buy a large, paper,
holiday tablecloth and use it to wrap your gift.
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Gifts of LOVE
Give a gift of time, kindness and togetherness. Think about what your dear one LOVES and gift it in the form of a special note card or certificate. Take turns presenting your gift one by one, as many will provoke conversation and laughter. Provide a deadline for the "cash in" so the giftee will be sure to claim it!
Some examples:
• a lunch out together
• I'll do 3 chores of your choice!
• a date to play your favorite board game
• a Saturday fishing excursion
• an afternoon picnic
• an I.O.U. for one week's worth of dinner dishes
• an extra-long massage
• participate in a food or clothing drive together
• a trip to the ice cream parlor
• build a _________ together and I'll provide the materials
• a family membership to the museum or zoo
• volunteer ___ number of hours at an animal shelter, nursing home, etc. together
• free pass out of _________ (a chore)
• a weekly home-cooked meal for a month
• a vow to assist in a "yucky" job of choice (i.e., painting a room)
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