You can always make it a more formal gift by creating an artistic box and filling it with heart shaped I.O.U.s “I owe you one romantic night by the fire place” or “I owe you one get out of the Dog House Free Pass”. Have fun, use your imagination and time will take care of the rest.

As an on-line gift store, it is not surprising to me that one of our hottest sellers is the Portapuzzle Deluxe. It is a portable jigsaw puzzle board. They are great for spending time with family and loved ones.

Portapuzzle Jigsaw Puzzle Board

But as with many families we need to use a little creativity to bring back the childhood ease of having fun. We all get so used to having to plan family get-togethers that sometimes we need to remember how easy it was when we were young. Why not go hiking, or plan a scavenger hunt.  Get neighbours together for an evening of pot luck dinner and charades.

The most fun usually involves having the kids and teens getting involved. My nineteen year old daughter and her friends love Spring Rolls, so when they were all together one day, I made them a Chinese dinner and for one of the courses I gave them the filling and the recipe for Spring Rolls and left them on their own. All I could hear was laughter and shrieks for an hour and then my husband and I sat down with them for a dinner of the craziest shaped Asian concoctions I have ever seen.  A good time was had by all and the kids really felt like they had accomplished something special.

As my company name says, www.TimeWellSpentGifts.com is more than just an online gift site. It is a resource for great “gifting” ideas. We would love to hear and share some of yours.

A bride recently asked that all of her guests wrap their presents in fabric, so that after the wedding she could make a wedding quilt for her bed.

Used Ribbon and Gift Wrap Box

In this age of re-use and re-cyle, why not save up gift wrap, ribbons, bows and even colourful junk mail pieces and reuse them. Here is an example from Boakart.com reusing wrap and household items that really make an artistic presentation.

Another way to get creative with household items is to wrap presents in old scarves or ties. With today’s fashion trend old scarves and ties are coming in handy as belts, head bands and other fashion accessories. And what about those fashion magazines girls? A great source for covering your girl friends’ presents with pictures of celebs faces and then adding your own caption like “Guess who’s wishing you were here?”

It’s all about having fun and taking the time to express your inner “artist”. At www.TimeWellSpentGifts.com we are always looking at creating memories so let us hear from you.

Beginning 7AM EST November 19th, through to November 30th, we will be celebrating the upcoming gift giving season, by offering our clients 12 days of great specials.

Each Day a group of products will be on sale at 25% off for 24 hours commencing at 7AM EST.

We will list all the products on our home page so that customers can browse through the offerings and diarize which days they want to make a purchase. Products will only show the sale price on the day that they are featured. On the days which they are not featured they will show their regular price. Currently ALL featured products show their regular price.

Each item will be available while quantities last.

Customers wishing to buy more than one item simply have to make their purchase and either contact us at brenda@timewellspentgifts.com or add a comment to their order, to let us know that they will be making other purchases on later dates. We will delay shipping until the final sale is made and provide one combined shipping rate after the final sale.

Please note that customers will not be able to buy products at the 25% discount once the 24 hour period is over.

Indoor plants are not just an inexpensive way to add colour, texture and warmth to your home, they actually are great for your indoor environment, cleaning the air by absorbing indoor air pollutants. It is the time of the year when many garden enthusiasts actually bring garden plants indoor. However, if you don’t have a green thumb, how about a plant starter kit. But not just any old plant starter kit.

At Time Well Spent Gifts we have a unique line of edible, exotic and pet friendly kits that are self-contained with quality seeds and soils. Everything from Nasturtiums to Moroccan Date Palms.  Take a look at our wide selection. They also are great housewarming gifts.

Mood Lighting

You can change the feeling and warmth of a room just by adding a little accent lighting. We came across the perfect hand-made photographic lamps at a One-Of-A-Kind Show.

Designer and photographer Sandy Middleton has created a line of elegant and practical lamps. They can be used outdoor with votives and indoor with a detachable bulb and electric cord. They come in two sizes, and several designs ranging from floral to black and white cityscapes.

Shibori Scarves

Shibori is the Japanese word for a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and tying it before dyeing. A wonderfully eclectic French Canadian designer France Arsenault has added her personal style to hand-make each and every scarf. They add a wonderful flair to any fall and winter wardrobe. She has also designed fingerless gloves and woolen cuffs that are all the rage this season.

In this modern age of computers, we don’t expect as many greeting cards on special occasions and I for one am pretty surprised and delighted when a dinner guest actually drops me an hand written thank-you note. I get more e-cards on my birthday than those sent by the old fashioned snail mail. Think about it… don’t you get more junk mail and bills than actual letters from friends and family? And, wouldn’t it be great to have at least one friendly incoming in your letter mail box these days?

The catalyst for this was More, one of my favourite magazines. In the September issue, contributor Kim Pittaway wrote a wonderful article about a woman turning fifty who wanted to mark that milestone in a unique way. She decided to write 50 letters to people who had been important in her life. I won’t give more of the story away. Suffice to say that it is worth picking up a copy of More at your local newsstand.

Anyway, my reaction was that this was perhaps one of the most personal, thoughtful gifts that anyone could give.

So I sat right down and started to compose a letter to my son in Calgary, and soon found out that there is a reason why letter writing is a lost art. I can’t write anymore, I type like a whiz, but try it if you haven’t written anything longer than a shopping list in a while. Try a paragraph. Your hand gets a cramp. There is no spell check to fall back on. There is no backspace to remove errors. I even had to use lined paper as I couldn’t keep my prose parallel on a page. (by the way I just misspelled parallel and my computer corrected it automatically). See what I mean?

But lost doesn’t have to mean irretrievably lost. So I persevered and by the end of the letter, my hand had lost the cramp, the words came more naturally and I completed two full pages with the closing “you may not be able to read all of this but as a loving son you have to appreciate the effort.”  He called to say thanks  (never does that when I email him).

So if you want to help rejuvenate a lost art and truly give a personal present, just write a letter. And a few pointers…. Buy watermarked paper with a semi-lined finish. It will add a bit of class to your effort. If you prefer to start slowly, buy some post cards. Write a personal note just to let someone know you are thinking about them. I still have the one from a friend up on my fridge.

Make your next communication, especially at this time of giving thanks, a memorable occasion…. A time well spent.

The goal is to offer unique products exhibiting high standards in design and workmanship. Some of the products we are proud to carry that have been hand made by Canadian artisans include jewelry, pepper mills, ceramic egg cups and wine corks, handbags, kids helmet covers and lamps.

We are continually looking to add new Canadian talented artisans to our site. So if you are or know of anyone who might benefit from being promoted on our gift site we would be pleased to hear from you, simply email brenda@timewellspentgifts.com

Thanks

Brenda Panjvani

Owner

Time Well Spent Gifts

Tail Wags is a great Canadian success story. Karyn Climans owner of Tail Wags has been nominated for Canada’s SavvyMom Mom Entrepreneur of the year award to be announced later in the fall. As well she and Tail Wags have made the short list for the international Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association Innovation Award to be held in September at the Las Vegas ABC Kids Expo.

Top of Form

These fantastic covers come in both adult and child sizes and are individually hand made in Canada. The attention to detail starts with the selection of high quality fleece fabrics and continues into the quality of stitching and patchwork. They add warmth in the cold, identification on the slopes or rinks, and don’t forget the conversation starter in the après ski environment. All come with an opening at the back to accommodate sports’ masks.

Recycled Glass

Recycling has never been more attractive with all of the hot new home accents that are available. These recycled flower petal glass dinner and salad plates are courtesy of Abbott Collection.

recycled glass plate

Minimalism

There is a move toward warmer hues and away from flat and shiny interiors: Minimalism is out. Susan Gutfreund, who designs for some of the most expensive apartments in the U.S and Europe, said that minimalist white and beige are being pushed out in favor of color, textures and layers. “There is a lot of wood and cork coming in and I’m using a lot of them myself,” she said.

IKEA is seeing the same move. Black and white are allowed to stay, but only if they share the room with some surprise and offbeat combinations. “In 2008, red tones take on a decidedly soft, warm feel, such as watermelon or a carrot orange. Black and white continues to be used, but with unexpected combinations of yellow, lime orange and fresh green. Fruit colors such as lime yellow, kiwi and tangerine will be very popular this fall, especially when used in the kitchen. But blue will continue to be the number one color choice for homeowners. In 2008, blue is being combined with camel and tan, pale green and yellow.

Rubberwood

Rubberwood is wood from the Pará rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), often called the rubber tree. Rubberwood has very little shrinkage making it one of the more stable construction materials. Unlike other woods that are cut down for the sole purpose of producing furniture, Rubberwood is used only after it completes its latex producing cycle and dies. This wood is therefore eco-friendly in the sense that we are now using what was going as waste. Time Well Spent Gifts is proud to introduce a line of Rubberwood salad bowls and tongs as well as serving trays in complementary colours courtesy of the Abbott Collection.

Rubberwood Salad Bowl

MIX AND MATCH

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, said she has seen a huge move towards eclecticism as the Internet and home design centers bring more awareness. She sees a big move away from “themed” rooms in which everything must comply with an overall motif, such as country kitchen or a maritime themed bedroom.

“Once there was a theme or mood. For traditionalists, that meant everything in rustic folk craft, but that is dying away. People can be traditional but you are going to see more mixes,” she said.

Eiseman sees the common sofa and carpeted floor mixed with a very modern coffee table. “You will see much less hesitancy to mix,” she said.

Susan Gutfreund is seeing the same trend, having just decorated an apartment for a young couple who wanted a Mexican designed room. She used pink and orange on Mexican themes but also displayed contrasting photography with it. The colors used in the apartment also made a bold statement — shocking pink against a chocolate floor and bright orange walls.

“It’s bright, it’s warm, it’s not beholden to just one theme. It shows confidence, even if some people are fearful,” Gutfreund said.

Bamboo

Bamboo is a grass — it’s not wood, so each time you use a bamboo, you might be saving the life of a beautiful tree. It is being used in everything from furniture, to kitchenware and now the grass is being used in bath and spa products. Courtesy of Martini Spa, RobLin Distributers

Bamboo Loofah

Old Furniture, New Shape

There are a lot of exciting new takes on furniture design for 2008, says Leatrice Eiseman. “You’ll find the old wicker chair in a much more modern look and style,” she said. She is particularly excited about a design of a bentwood chair she saw at a Milan furniture exhibit. Bentwood chairs, often found in French restaurant patios, are being restyled in high tech, polished chrome. “They took something old and put it in a modern setting. You’re going to see a lot of that in 2008,” she said.

Sources: Wikipedia; Sean Driscoll Associated Press for Life and Style AOL Canada; CGTA Retail News

In the year 1854, a Victorian guide named James Perrott placed a bottle in the wildest most inaccessible area of Dartmoor England. In it, he included his calling card so future visitors could contact him and leave their own calling cards. This small act would become the hobby that is now called “letterboxing”. The concept evolved into finding clues about the locations and then leaving stamped impressions on note pads hidden in tin containers which were concealed from all but the most investigative eyes.

Until 1998 letterboxing stayed mostly a Dartmoor tradition until the Smithsonian magazine published a small article in the US about this oddly British hobby. Many people read the article and loved this treasure hunt concept wishing it was a bit closer to their North American homes. A few readers, however, found each other through means of the relative new “Internet” and decided to take matters into their own hands by hiding letterboxes for each other in the US. Through this effort Letterboxing North America (LbNA) was born. Now there are thousands of sites in the USA, Canada and around the world.

Using clues provided on the internet they find these hidden tin or plastic boxes that contain a pad and stamp. The hunters armed with their own individually carved stamp ink pad and journal, stealthily seek out the hidden letterbox, and stamp the pad in the box to show they have been there, leaving a message as well and use the stamp from within the box to sign their own pad or “passbook” if you like. They then carefully replace the letterbox making sure they do this without being seen so that no one other than true treasure seekers or letterboxers can disturb the site. Letterboxes can be found in old tree stumps, under rock piles, behind loose building bricks, the creativity is endless.

When my sister who is a Canadian Landscape Architect and a great admirer of Frederick Olmsted (designer of New York City’s Central Park), was going to visit the “Big Apple” I gave them a bon voyage present of a personally carved stamp, ink pad, small journal and Tupperware container along with the clues for a well concealed letterbox in Central Park that I got off the internet. She and her kids had great fun following the clues through Central Park, finding the secret location, leaving their mark and a little personal message from their family in the letterbox. They then used the hidden letterbox stamp to imprint their own journal and thus began their family’s own letterboxing tradition. A simple family outing turned into a great memory and all for the cost of a few pennies.

If you are interested in learning more about letterboxing you can go to letterboxing.org, atlasquest.com or dartmoorletterboxing.org.