Pass It On

It's coming upon the gift giving season. Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations and weddings loom and each beg for the perfectly selected gift.

In an age when it’s hip to re-use and recycle, re-gifting is also making a comeback, although not in the traditional “get rid of something you don’t want” sense. Today’s version of re-gifting consists of sharing or passing along something that’s meaningful to you. I'm especially happy to see this tradition return, as many of the decorative items in my home have been given to me as gifts or have been passed along from someone who knows I have a passion for decor. I would always rather have something that carries a story than something brand new.

While it takes no less time to choose, the perfectly selected re-gift can be more memorable and meaningful than something newly purchased. For instance:

• A bottle of wine from your cellar
• A piece of a collection that’s meaningful to you. When I got married, my mother-in-law’s sister gave me a beautiful gift: she added to the collection of teacups my mother had given to me over the years with a cup and saucer from her collection of flow blue china.
• A book that you’ve enjoyed. Write a passage in the front of the book about what you enjoyed, and pass it along to someone you think will like it.
• A plant or tree that you’ve nurtured. When my daughter Katie was born, a friend gave me a tiny Christmas cactus that was an offshoot of a plant she received when her last baby was born. Now I’m about to pass along an offshoot to one of my friends who just had a baby.
• Something someone’s admired. I once admired a friend’s enamel butterfly pin, and on my next birthday, she gave it to me as a gift.
• A stack of magazines on a topic of interest. A stack of vintage National Geographics is a perfect gift for a 10 year old boy.
• A Christmas ornament from your collection.
• A collection of letters and photos.
• Something from your family. My husband wears a lapis Polk family crest ring that will someday be passed onto our son, and I wear his grandmother’s diamond ring that will someday be passed onto one of our daughters.
• Something that feeds someone’s interest or talent. If you have an old manual typewriter, pass it on to someone who shows a talent for writing.

Practice with the upcoming gift giving season, then you'll be a pro when Christmas arrives.

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