how to gift better than anyone else
Everyone is so lazy when it comes to gifts. I know because I am the number one couch potato. I don't even do my own Christmas shopping. Every year, I attach my name to gifts my mom bought, with which I had little to no involvement.
I decided to do things differently last December. Instead of buying gifts, I made them. For my family, I designed custom tote bags using old travel photos, family photos, and personal memories. For my friends, I turned their pictures into tarot cards. It was a hit.
And as a one-hit wonder, I have appointed myself an expert in gift-giving. Here are my thoughts that absolutely nobody is asking:
1. Gifting is basically marketing.
Most of the gifts I receive during Christmas have terrible market research. What am I going to do with a rosehip facewash from Marks & Spencer if I’ve been using the Moon Juice milk cleanse for five years now?
You need to know your target audience. What do they like? What do they secretly wish they were? What stories do they tell about themselves? What stories do they wish were true? Demographics. Psychographics. Consumer behavior. The whole shebang. Use the holidays or special events to channel your inner Don Draper.
2. Don't be generic.
If you're gifting to everyone, you're gifting to no one. The amount of Uniqlo tops I get each year is concerning, especially because most of them aren't even my size (where are they now, even?) A good gift should feel impossible to regift. It should be so specific that only one person on Earth could receive it.
3. Make something.
Everyone buys things because that's what you're supposed to do. This is so Pinoy! Does the thought really count if it's something you'll never use, put in storage, or give away a few months later?
Instead of buying something, consider making something. Are you a writer? Write a poem. Are you a musician? Record them a song. Are you an artist? Draw something. And if you suck at it, they’ll still appreciate the effort. If you're learning something new, use it as an opportunity to practice your new craft.
4. Be dramatic.
This is your moment to make all the other gifts look bad. Use your imagination and think outside the box. Turn your boyfriend into a patron saint of your body and canonize him in front of his family. Turn your boss into a dictator in a board game you've made up. Turn your dad into a UFC fighter in a movie that doesn't exist... Literally, the sky is the limit! The point is to create something they didn't know they wanted. Or even better, make them the main character of a story they never got to live.
5. Give your heart and soul.
Every gift is a piece of your soul. It's an offering that you send out into the world and place in someone else's hands. Make sure they can feel you in it. We want to feel your sweat! Give with intention, give with care, and give as though you actually thought about them. Expensive gifts are overrated. We need gifts that have a heartbeat. I'd rather receive a terrible painting that took someone ten hours to make than a soulless wallet from SM Southmall that was picked out twenty minutes before the party.
Since making these, a few people have asked whether I take commissions. Occasionally, yes. Posters, portraits, tote bags, zines, and other unnecessary objects.
If someone in your life deserves their own mythology, feel free to get in touch.
