Christmas in July - Top 10 Christmas Gift Ideas

This is the fourth post in my Christmas in July series. If you missed any posts, you can see them all by clicking here.

Are you in the Christmas-in-July spirit yet? I am writing this on a warm summer's day while sitting near the ocean, but Christmas is definitely on my mind! We've talked about scrapbooking pages about Christmas past and making a variety of traditional cards and digital cards...I think we need to chat about Christmas presents now!

We all want to give Christmas gifts that are personal and meaningful - not just another tie for dad and bubble bath for mom! Many of the gift ideas I'll share with you below are are items you can make yourself, or can personalize for the special people on your gift list. And although we are talking about Christmas, these make lovely and thoughtful gifts for other occasions, too.

Here are ten of my favorite scrapbooking-related presents to give:

1) Calendars. Hey, we all need a calendar right? Why not give a beautiful keepsake calendar instead of a run-of-the-mill calendar? There are lots of calendars to choose from at the Digital Center (so many in fact that I am going to dedicate a separate post to Calendars in a couple of days!)

2) Family Recipe Book. This is such a lovely gift - it will surely become a family treasure! Imagine a recipe book featuring all the family favorites or heritage recipes so they can be preserved and passed on to future generations - now that's a meaningful gift! Use the coordinated Nancy O'Dell Recipe Quick Album to whip it up quickly and easily, or go digital and make multiple copies for all the members of the family! You can read more about how to create a family recipe treasury here.

3) Year in Review Album. If grandparents and/or extended family members live far away, it's wonderful to be able to send them a little album with all the highlights of the year. Use an 8x8 scrapbook kit like the Nancy O'Dell Love Kit and Coverset and you'll be able to whip up an album that's sure to be treasured.

Are you a digi-scrapper? An 8x8 Storybook will do the trick, and the bonus is you'll be able to create those time-saving multiple copies!

4) Personalized Storybooks for the Kids. It's great to see a child open a book and realize that they are the main character! You can easily create a Hardcover Storybook for a special child using Storybook Creator 4.0 software - add the illustrations (photos) and the story (journaling) and upload it to the CM Digital Center to have printed. The result is a beautful, archival keepsake book that will have the special child in your life feeling like a star! Other possibilities include creating a lovely personalized prayerbook (boy and girl versions available):



or a Children's Devotional book:


or a book of Hope:



You can get all these books as pre-designed pages, and they are available for FREE by clicking here! Simply download and save the files you like to your Storybook Creator 4.0 Content section. When you create a new project, select the package and then insert your photos and text! So simple, but with such great results!

5) Useful Personalized Photo Items. The CM Digital Center can help you create some of the best photo gifts in the industry today! How about a fun write-on Photo Panel:



a lovely Family Heirloom Wall Print:

 or Personalized Mugs, Tee-shirts or Mouse pads? Any of these items will be welcomes and appreciated because they are both beautiful AND useful!

6) Friendship Album. Tell a special friend how much she means to you in a small but mighty keepsake album. All you need is a few photos, adhesive and a journaling pen and you'll have a personalized, meaningful gift in about an hour!

There are variations on the Simply Said books for parents, grandparents and even teachers! You can see all the varieties of Simply Said books here.

7) Home Decor. I have several Everyday Displays hung throughout my home and I change the display on them seasonally. For the gal on your gift list that loves to decorate, this is the perfect gift! Choose from a variety of finishes - from weathered and countrified to sleek and modern!

Although you can use any scrapbook papers and embellishments to display on the board, I love to give the Welcome to Our Home Display Accents kit which is reversible, so the Domestic Diva can change up the display whenever she likes!

And for smaller spaces, the Nancy O'Dell Mini Magnetic Everyday Display Board is the perfect gift!

Check out all the display boards and kits here.

8) Starter Kit of Scrapbook Supplies. If you know someone who is just starting a memory-keeping hobby, why not give them the essentials and get them started off right? My top picks for a newbie would be:

Tape Runner of course! You can't too far in this hobby without something to stick those photos and paper down, and this easy to refill model is one of the best!

A Tool Kit that includes Scissors, Multi-Purpose Tool, Reverse Grip Tweezers, Embossing Tool and Mat:

7-Inch Photo Trimmer to crop pictures:

Black Dual Tip Pen for journaling. A basic that will write for a long time.

These tools will take the new scrapbooker far! If you like, throw in a gift certificate so they can choose an album and paper that will suit the projects they will be working on. and they will be ready to start a new and rewarding hobby!

9) Quick and Easy Photo Album. Do you have friends who say "I don't scrapbook", but have tonnes of photos sitting around in envelopes? Maybe they just recently went on a vacation-of-a-lifetime, got married or had a baby and they want to do SOMETHING with all the photos? A PicFolio Album and Photo Accents is the perfect gift to help them preserve and share their photos without all the cutting and pasting of "scrapbooking"! They can simply slide their photos into the album pockets then use the photo accents to add a bit of color and flair to each page. Pre-lined journaling boxes mean that all they have to do is write down some of the facts or stories behind the event and they are done! There are many albums and photo accents to choose from...there's bound to be the perfect combination for your non-scrapbooking friend!

10) Tote Bag (& Scrapbook Supplies). Got a special crop buddy? Help her get organized for your next crop or retreat with a new bag. The Daisy Project Tote is large enough to carry an album, papers and tools, and sturdy enough to hold 15 pounds! 

She will love it and will want to use it as her everyday tote too! Add in a new tool or paper pack she's had her eye on and she will be all set to scrap!

11) Even though this was technically a Top 10 list, I had to include this fabulous item as a bonus idea!

This lovely hardbound book Secret Ingredients by Nancy O'Dell is such a great resource when it comes to creating personal and meaningful gifts. It includes some of the ideas I've given you here, and so many more! Pick it up now and have enough inspiration (and instructions!) to create all the gifts you plan on giving this Christmas!

I hope you are inspired to start planning and creating the personalized, meaningful gifts you want to give! If you start now, all you'll have to do come December is wrap them up!

PS...the 25% Off the Top 25 Sale is on until July 25th. Make sure to take advantage of great savings on the best-selling CM products! You can still take advantage of the sale by ordering directly on my website. Your items will ship directly to your home - how convenient!