Skip to main content

Professional gifting – looking for ideas

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.04.2007

Well, it’s a necessary part of the holidays—holiday parties at work, Christmas gifts for coworkers and other industry professionals you interact with.

What do you give them?

Naturally, it can’t be too expensive. Nor can it be too inelegant in nature. Nor too intimate.

My friend gave scented candles, which is a nice gesture—especially since she gave them to some very nice ladies—but these days, too many people are allergic to scents. With professional gifts, it’s especially difficult because you might not be close enough to the recipient to know what they’re allergic to.

Cookies/cakes/brownies/fudge? What if they don’t like chocolate or they’re allergic to gluten?

I usually fall back on gift certificates, but even that’s hard sometimes because you’re not always sure if the shop/store you’re getting the gift certificate for is a place the recipient shops at.

I mean, this is such a dilemma. What do you get your coworker? Your boss? Your client?

I am lucky because I know most of the people I am gifting to this year like both coffee and chocolate. Captain Caffeine is roasting batches for me to give to people.

My close friends are getting knitted gifts because (a) they know me and don’t mind that my gifts are inexpensive, (b) they appreciate the time invested in making them something, (c) I know them well enough that I emailed them and gave them options to choose from. Easy, and everybody’s happy.

Do you guys have ideas for professional gifting?

Comments

Hey, when someone makes me something, that has love and care written all over it. It may cost less money, but it takes more of your time and thought. You can't put values on those. I adore my scarf. And I am so excited that I'll get to type this winter without numb, cold hands! You rock, girlie! (((((((HUGS)))))))))
Danica Favorite said…
I love homemade gifts. I loved those cards you made last year. LOVED!! You're amazing!

Popular Posts

Lavender hand lotion

Captain's Log, Stardate 11.05.2009 I have to tell you, I LOVE Etsy.com ! Etsy is dedicated to providing a marketplace for people who like to make handmade products and people who appreciate them (and buy them). It has everything from handmade gifts (like my mom’s Bucilla Christmas stockings and ornaments and tree skirts and wall hangings and … well, just click here to see what she has! ) to soaps and lotions and jewelry and knitted items and hand-painted yarn and ... I could surf that website for DAYS. Anyway, lately I’ve been concerned about the lead content in my lotions, especially since I’m using them more now that it’s turned colder and drier here in California. I have to use lotion on my hands everytime after I wash them. So I went onto Etsy and searched for organic hand lotions, and bought this lavender lotion from Lue Cosmetics . What was really nice is that the owner, Jane, sent me a direct message via Etsy right after I made the purchase to ask if I’d received it yet and ...

I’m a Book of the Year winner!

Captain's Log, Stardate 09.22.2008 I won first place in the Debut Author category of the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year awards! Here are all the winners! Debut Author Sushi for One? (Camy Tang) Zondervan, editor Sue Brower Bayou Justice (Robin Miller writing as Robin Caroll) In Between (Jenny B. Jones) Contemporary Novella Finally Home in Missouri Memories anthology (Deborah Raney) Barbour Publishing, editor Susan Downs Moonlight & Mistletoe in A Big Apple Christmas anthology (Carrie Turansky) Remaking of Moe McKenna in Race to the Altar anthology (Gloria Clover) Historical Novella Love Notes in Love Letters Anthology (Mary Davis) Barbour Publishing, editor Rebecca Germany Beyond the Memories in Missouri Memories anthology (DiAnn Mills) The Spinster & The Tycoon in The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner anthology (Vickie McDonough) Lits Splitting Harriet (Tamara Leigh) Multnomah Books, editor Julee Schwarzb...

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

Sourdough Treacle Buns recipe from Lady Wynwood's Spies

If you read my Christian Regency Romantic Suspense novel, Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 2: Berserker , you will have noticed that Miss Tolberton brings humble treacle buns to eat with tea at the church. Not only that, but the treacle bun appears in a surprising way in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 3: Aggressor . I got the idea for treacle buns from looking through old cookbooks from the 1800s. Commercial dry yeast cakes for making breads were not available until 1825, which is 15 years after the date of my book, so most breads during the Regency period were made with sourdough starters. “Black treacle” is the same thing as molasses, and was mentioned in cookbooks published during the Regency period, but in those books, I couldn’t find a recipe for treacle bread or treacle buns or brown bread. This seemed a bit strange to me since brown bread (made with whole wheat and black treacle) has been around since before the Regency period, but I am guessing that it was such a common food, m...