Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets Blog

Posts Tagged ‘christmas gifts’

Now that the digital age is upon us, most people have become shutterbugs. It’s so much fun to click and share your photos right away. If you’ve just purchased or received a digital camera or you want to know how to get professional-looking holiday photographs this season, read on.

Family photo greeting cards make great inexpensive holiday gifts. If you’re planning on taking a holiday Christmas card photo of the kids this year, plan early. Yes, you’ll have to buy their Christmas outfits ahead of time, but it will be worth it. No later than November, have your children dress in their holiday finery. Make sure you choose a time for your photo shoot that works for small children. If it’s just before nap time, you’re not going to get the best shots. Pick a time, like after lunch, when everyone’s happy and content.

Set up an area for your shot that’s got great lighting. It may be natural light or artificial. Just make sure there are no shadows or dark places that will obscure the little one’s face. Pick some holiday props. Even if your living room looks like a hurricane came through it, clear an area of all but a chair or bench and some lovely holiday props like christmas gift boxes or holiday stuffed toys or blanket. Depending on the number of children to be photographed and their age, you’ll want to have everything set up before you call them over. Take a few test shots to see if the area you’ve prepared looks good in the frame. Use your digital camera’s playback feature to see the shots after you’ve taken them.

Now, bring over the kids. You can also take a family photo if your camera has a self timer. Just set the camera on a piece of furniture or a tripod and click and run so you can get in the photo.

Set everyone up so that all faces can be seen and there are no distractions in the frame. Even the smallest thing can ruin a great photo. Make sure all collars are in the right place, all ruffles and fringe are flat and in place. All faces clean? Then you’re ready to roll.

Shoot a photo and look at it right away. Do the colors work? Is everyone smiling? Is the photo centered? Modern photo programs like Picasa (which you can download for free) will allow you to crop and edit, so you don’t have to go crazy trying to get it absolutely perfect. But no program will fix a photo that’s fuzzy or blurred.

Take another few frames and review. Are the expressions realistic? A phony looking card is worse than none at all. If you’ve got a whole family in the frame, be sure to check each person to make sure their eyes weren’t closed. Red eye can be taken out in a photo program so don’t worry so much about that.

If you’ve got small children or pets that are supposed to be in the picture, let them rest between takes. Chances are you’ll get a better photo if you are spontaneous. So have one person place Fido or Baby in their place as you quickly get several shots in a row. You may find that an unposed, off the cuff shot is better than anything you could have set up.

Have fun with holiday photo taking this year. Use the same suggestions when taking candids around the holiday table or at parties. Check to see what’s in the background before you shoot. Make sure the lighting is right. Turn off the flash if there’s an overload of light in the photo. Center your subject. Zoom in at concerts as close as you can to your child so you can get a good shot of their face. The audience shots of the entire group are often not as personal as a close up of the individuals.

With these simple guidelines, your holiday photos will turn out professional every time.

Corporations often go to great lengths to convey the message to customers and clients that they are not nameless, faceless entities; that there are real people behind the logos and brands. This message should also extend to those who have everyday dealings with the corporation: employees, suppliers, vendors, associates, and clients can also benefit from a more personal approach. This is what makes corporate gift giving such an extraordinary opportunity. When you give the best gifts, your appreciation of the people who make your business a success are becoming more involved and engaged. Who better to trust with your corporate gifts than maple ridge farms?

Maple Ridge Farms is one of the best gift food companies in the world; founded in 1979, they have built an incredible reputation for quality and excellence. They guarantee “that every gift is one that you will be proud to give (and would be happy to receive).” Maple Ridge specializes in corporate and business gifts, so not only are their products exceptional, they handle the details – ordering, processing, and shipping – very quickly and efficiently. This allows you to choose your gift and let Maple Ridge take care of the rest with confidence.

Because Maple Ridge Farms deals exclusively in corporate and business gifts, there is a wide variety of products that will be appropriate for every occasion, from a promotion to a holiday. Some of their most popular items include:

Gift Towers. Gourmet gift towers make excellent centerpieces for office parties or gifts for employees, associates, and customers. The Ultimate Office Party Tower, for instance, features 23 wonderful gourmet treats, including: Ghirardelli Squares, honey roasted cashews, Starbucks Coffee, seasoned pretzels, English butter toffee, gourmet chocolate mints, dark chocolate almonds, five-alarm spicy peanuts, cashews au chocolate, praline pecans, chocolate covered raisins, milk chocolate almonds, chocolate mint melt-aways, peppermint bark, extra fancy jumbo cashews, pecan turtles, keylime snaps, chocolate truffles, cranberry delight, Bremmer wafers, private stock pepper cheese, beef summer sausage, and almost pecan honey corn.

These premium gifts have something for everyone to enjoy.

Gourmet Gift Baskets. These are classic gifts, and like the gourmet towers, they come with a wide variety of wonderful treats. The Deluxe Epicurean Feast, for instance, contains treats from Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Squares and popcorn on the cob to Cabernet Sauvignon cheese and Alaskan smoked salmon. These come in different containers, such as reusable tubs and woven baskets. You can choose savory treats, like the salmon and cheese, or sweet treats, like gourmet brownies and cookies.

Cheese and Sausage Gifts. These are perfect for individuals or as part of an office party. Again, a wide variety is available. The Smorgasbord, for instance, features half pound blocks of medium and mild cheddar, butcher-wrapped five ounce sticks of beef summer sausage, cashews, gourmet mints, and Bremner wafers.

Baked Goods Gifts. These are also perfect for individuals or as part of an office arrangement. The Home-Style Cookie and Brownie Basket offers a wonderful array of mouth-watering treats, such as chocolate chunk, white chocolate macadamia, apple cinnamon, snickerdoodles, double chocolate, white chocolate raspberry, chocolate pecan, and chocolate butterscotch coconut brownies. Even those without a sweet tooth can’t resist this tempting package.

Maple Ridge Farms also provides desk gifts, such as coasters and photo frames, and smoked gifts, such as spiral cut hams or applewood smoked turkeys. Any time of year, any occasion, and any recipient calls for a gift from Maple Ridge Farms. You can order their products through Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets.

Should an environmental organization accept money from a greenhouse producing, oil burning factory? Should a drug and alcohol clinic accept money from drug and alcohol manufacturers? Many nonprofit and for-profit corporations have gift acceptance policies to prevent inappropriate gifting for a variety of reasons. A corporate gift acceptance policy can ensure that everyone involved complies with guidelines and standards set by the board of directors or other governing body. Here are some tips for writing your corporate gift acceptance policy so everyone remains clear and you can accomplish your goals in an ethical way.

Gift acceptance policies most often refer to nonprofits that depend on donations and fundraising for the capital they need to operate. The Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) policy, for instance, states that they will not “accept contributions from corporations/industries and their respective corporate foundations whose core activities may be in direct conflict with the goals of the medical humanitarian work of MSF, or in any limit MSF’s ability to provide humanitarian assistance.” This policy makes it impossible, then, for MSF to accept a gift from a big pharmaceutical company, for example, who charges outrageous, usurious prices on AIDS medications for use in third world countries. This “core activity” conflicts with MSF’s goals and values.

Many organizations have very broad acceptance policies, like that of the MSF. What constitutes an activity that is in direct conflict with the organization’s goals can be murky. For instance, big tobacco is a major contributor to a variety of organizations that help people quit the habit. Their products would seem to be in direct conflict with these organizations! But purposely broad language allows the nonprofit to be flexible enough to accept this type of donation.

You can find sample gift acceptance policies online and tailor them to your specific needs. In general, though, your policy should contain:

• Your organization’s mission and purpose. It is very important to have your overarching goal always foremost in mind. What are you trying to accomplish? Will these donations and gifts make that goal possible?

• Purpose of having the policy and guidelines regarding fits. Why do you have this policy in the first place? You want to guide donors, but you also want to guide employees and those who accept the volunteer gifts. You also want the policy to serve as a means of protecting the organization from responsibility, liability, IRS sanctions, or negative publicity.

• Indication that legal counsel may be called upon. In your policy, make it clear that you will seek the advice of counsel if you are not sure of the appropriateness of a particular gift or donor.

• Your position on restricted gifts. These are donations that the donor wants earmarked for a specific purpose. Your policy can discuss whether you choose to accept restricted gifts, if you only accept them in certain circumstances, or if any gift that benefits the organization as a whole and is in keeping with its mission will be accepted.

• Types of gifts accepted. Cash is always nice, but many organizations also accept real estate, stocks, and other donations. Do you want to accept charitable annuities, lead trusts, remainder trusts? Do you want to accept residences, jewelry, artwork, cars, or bequests? Ask yourself if your organization can handle the type of donation offered. For example, you may not want to accept a home because you do not have the resources with which to convert it into cash or usable space for your needs.

Another reason to be cautious about tangible gifts, such as real estate, is that you are then liable for any hazards or damages. If, for instance, that house that was donated to you turns out to be sitting on hazardous waste, your organization is responsible for the cleanup – and you cannot sell it without disclosing it is toxic. Use caution if accepting non-cash gifts.

• Reporting requirements. In your policy, inform donors if you will be sending them 8382 Forms for tax purposes if they contribute over $500.

It is impossible to write every contingency into your gift acceptance policy; you can’t think of every single situation in which someone might donate something, but you can set up a committee to review donations and determine if specific donors fit within the established guidelines and work with your organization’s mission and purpose.

Writing a corporate gift acceptance policy can save you from making bad decisions that, on the surface, seem like generous gifts.

You can learn more about corporate gift giving from this article Business Gift-Giving Etiquette.

Fresh fruit is more than a great snack, more than just the base for countless delicious recipes. Bright, beautiful, and bursting with promise, fruit also makes a wonderful gift for even the pickiest, hard-to-shop-for people on your list. Giving fruit helps you deliver the gift of freshness and summer, no matter what time of year it is – and that is always welcome. Here are some tips for giving the gift of fruit.

What’s in season?

No fruit is in season all the time, but there is a fruit for every season. Luckily, the fruits that we tend to send as gifts most often come into season in the northern hemisphere’s winter. So, in the middle of a cold January snowstorm, you can enjoy a taste of the tropics. You can find a list of fruits and their seasons at Fruit and Veggies More Matters. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the season you want to look at.

Not only does choosing fruit in season ensure that your recipient gets the freshest, most delicious items, it helps cut the costs. Seasonal fruit is less expensive than forced, hothouse-grown fruits.

Do you want to buy a fruit gift or make your own?

Either can be a great option. Purchasing a premade gift has a few advantages though: they do this for a living! They know when and how to arrange and ship the fruit so it doesn’t arrive spoiled or bruised. They can use specially insulated shipping containers to make sure that freshness is preserved and your recipient gets a beautiful fall gift arrangement. Another option is to choose a fruit delivery service that auto-delivers each month. You can save money, and your fruit will always be fresh and delicious.

What type of arrangement do you want?

Fruit baskets are wonderful, traditional gifts, but you can also branch out and try other options. Edible fresh fruit bouquets, for instance, make stunning birthday gifts and great centerpieces. This would be perfect for a party or for virtually any occasion, from a baby shower to a retirement party. Baskets, platters, boxes, picnic baskets, and bouquets bearing fruit all make terrific gifts.

Do you want anything other than fruit?

Fruit is definitely the star, but many arrangements include other items, such as cheeses, crackers, cookies, tea, wine, chocolates, dried fruits, and nuts. You can build a fruit basket featuring any number of complementary items. This allows you to customize your gift to meet the tastes of the recipient.

What’s your price range?

How much do you want to spend on your gift? Consider both the cost of the fruit gift as well as the cost of shipping. If you can hand-deliver the gift, you may want to assemble your own basket and save money; if you have to send it across the state or across the country, choosing premade can actually be a bit easier on your budget.

You can choose a deluxe, all-inclusive fruit basket with chocolates, nuts, and other goodies, but the cost is driven up by these other gourmet items. You can expect to pay between $120 and $200 for a large gift basket. You can always stay small, though; and this may even be better for some recipients. You don’t want all that fruit to go to waste because they can’t eat it all in time! You can find smaller, though equally beautiful, arrangements for between $35 and $50.

Fruit is a wonderful gift any time of year, but it is particularly welcome when we all need a reminder of warm, sunny locales. In the cold month of February, a valentine gift basket makes the perfect pick me up. You are sure to be appreciated when you give the gift of summer!

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