The Gift of Three Made Easy

It's go time, folks! We are in the thick of the holiday giving season and I'd love to make your gift giving a bit easier by sharing some tips to make your "gift of three" stand out among the crowd! The foundation of the "gift of three" strategy is to choose a central gift that will be the main focus of the gift and two smaller items that will pull the theme together. Remember...you are giving an experience. When you choose three items, the gift will "speak" that experience with little explanation necessary. Make sense? Good! And the good news is that your central gift does not have to be expensive! For example, the following gift ideas can often be found in the clearance section:

• Bargain Books
• Clearance Kitchen Items
• Gourmet Treats
• Close-out Toys and Games (They make wonderful family gifts!)
• Music and Movies
• Open box specials on home decor or glassware (Just take it out of the box and arrange in a basket with your other two items.)

Let's talk about open boxed items for a minute. Just because the box is a bit dinged up doesn't mean that you can't give it as a gift. Last year I found a beautiful (and cheap!) set of brandy snifters made by Waterford on the clearance rack for $7--no, I am not forgetting a zero. I took the snifters out of the box and made a gift basket that also included box of gourmet chocolates and bottle of Grand Marnier. This basket would normally retail for over $250, but I paid under $50 for the whole thing. Cheapskate gift? I think not...What do you think?