We all have treasured items in our house. These are the things that we would take with us if we had to evacuate our house during an emergency. I was trying to think what exactly I would need to take with me in case this ever happened. Of course I would take things like birth certificates. However, a lot of things that I’ve worked for such as CDs & clothes would be left behind because I’d be able to replace those.

One thing that I would remember is a picture calendar we have of my nephews. It’s one of the best presents that I’ve ever seen. We look forward to a new month when it’s time to turn the calendar & we have a new picture to look at. This is the perfect gift for grandparents, or that hard to buy for person on your Christmas list. I was so pleased to see that Vistaprint was offering a print calendar, or photo calendar that you can customize. I’ve used Vistaprint before for my business cards & was very happy with their service. You can pick from several great templates & then just add your photos in to make a fabulous 2008 calendar. These start as low as $17.99. This is a true treasure, a great home accessory & a fantastic gift.

Technorati : gift+ideas, gifts, gifts+under+$30, vistaprint

I’ve heard on Oprah several times that she likes to keep fresh fruit in the house. It’s really the perfect centerpiece. Fruit adds a pop of color, plus it is useful & can be eaten as a snack. Besides the fact that there aren’t a lot of things that Oprah suggests that I can actually integrate into my everyday life, so when I find something, I hold onto it. I always say, if it’s good enough for Oprah, it’s good enough for me.

Sometimes, when I go to the grocery store, the selection of fruit just looks horrible. So I went & looked at The Fruit Companywhich specializes in fruit baskets. They were even featured in Oprah’s O Magazine. They have a great selection of fruit, (there’s even a monthly fruit club). Plus, they have gourmet chocolates & even fruit cheesecakes with mouth watering flavors like carmel apple. If you haven’t had Rainer cherries yet, you haven’t lived. I love the color of Rainer cherries & the taste is out of this world. They make great gifts, or just save yourself a trip to the grocery store.

I was surprised at how inexpensive the fruit is, especially since it comes with a 100% guarantee. The Fruit Company will replace or exchange your gift, or offer you a full refund if you aren’t satisfied with your purchase for any reason. The grocery store can’t say that.

Now, "Gilmore Girls" may not seem like the obvious inspiration for a Father’s Day present.  However, the show has a heavy emphasis on music.  I especially love how Zach made Luke a compilation CD as a thank you.  He put on music that Luke liked, as well as music that was inspired by the music that Luke liked. 

I think this is a great Father’s Day present.  First off, it’s practically free.  It’s an unusual idea.  It shows your creativity & is a useful present.  If you use free internet radio like pandora you can make a station based around a certain song that your Dad likes.  It will recommend similar songs.  Then you can just track down the music on your favorite place to download mp3’s & have the CD liner be a mini father’s day card.  See? The "Gilmore Girls" really do  have the answer for everything.

Tags: gilmore girls, free, father’s day, father’s day gifts, music, crafts, gifts under $30

I was looking for more ideas for Father’s day & came across an HGTV article about Masculine Floral Bouquets. I couldn’t decide whether to mock or praise this, so I just decided to do both.

The Mocking:

First off, these flower arrangements are just ugly. I don’ t know of any father/husband/son who is going to be glad to have a bowl full of sod when all their other friends are getting a new grill or recliner for Father’s Day. Maybe I’m being stereotypical about the idea, but these ideas are stereotypical, such as just arranging a bouquet in the colors of their favorite sports team.

Praise

Dad’s are all different, yet we seem to give them the same gifts, it would be nice to have something that thought & work was put into to that was customized to their personality.

What do you think of the idea?

Tags: father’s-day, gifts, decorating, flower arranging, hgtv