Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 5, 1994 TAG: 9412300043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Toss in a little imagination, and you can give the best holiday gift - a memorable one.
One that could only have come from you.
With a spark of ingenuity, even getting a gift certificate for Christmas doesn't have to be like getting raisins on Halloween.
Collect all your siblings' driver's licenses and have T-shirts made with each one's photo. Promise your gal pal a shopping excursion in which the shoes are on you and so is the lunch.
You can even sneak some education under the tree by giving a child a book about wildlife and his very own live whale.
And remember, a gift they'll never forget doesn't have to be a sports car or a 4-carat diamond tennis bracelet.
Many of these gifts will run you between $25 and $40 but will bring on a smile each time your someone special glances at it.
Best of all, they'll always remember from whom they got it.
That's because it could only have come from you.
Promise her a rose garden
Package together a book on growing roses, some gardening tools, a pretty pair of gardening gloves, and toss in a Jackson and Perkins catalog.
Then just sit back, wait for spring and start planning a garden to splash some color.
It's something the two of you can do together, and it produces a fragrant, colorful garden that lasts beyond a lifetime with as little care as watering and attentive pruning.
Give him a sense of direction
Would he rather die than stop for directions?
Then give him a compass. (If he's really bad, maybe you oughta toss in some binoculars, too.)
You can find some nice ones at local hunting and fishing-type places.
Wrap it in a road map.
Have a cow
Or a pelican. A whale, a lion, or even a timber wolf.
Kids will love this. So will many an adult.
Many conservation organizations across the U.S. offer adoption progams for just about any animal you can imagine.
Most offer a certificate of adoption, a photo of the animal you're adopting and a newsletter updating their organization's work. And T-shirts.
Adopt-a Cow: (717) 527-4101
Pelican Man's Pelican Sanctuary: (813) 955-2266
Whale Adoption Project: (508) 564-9980
The Mountain Lion Foundation: (916) 442-2666
Timber Wolf Information Network: (715) 258-7247
Re-create the date
Can you remember the first movie you saw together? Or one that was part of a particularly terrific evening?
Who says you can never go back?
Most any video store can order it for you. Give it with a bundle of firewood (or some candles if there isn't a fireplace) and a bottle of wine.
And don't worry if the movie wasn't necessarily a big romantic once. Not many of us saw ``The Way We Were'' with the one we fell in love with - that would just be too perfect.
From ``Sergeant York'' to ``Lethal Weapon 3,'' almost any movie can launch a romance.
Lease `em a lobster trap
That's right. The folks at Rent Mother Nature will set your friend's lobster trap for any 10-day period selected, any time of the year.
They do all the work - at least at first - setting, baiting and hauling the trap; pegging, weighing and packing the critters.
The lease program includes at least 61/2 pounds of North Atlantic lobster, a lease document with a gold seal, bibs, shell crackers, picks and even Wet-Naps, along with easy cooking instructions and recipes.
If lobster is out of your price range, Rent Mother Nature also offers a maple tree lease with a document, 50 ounces of maple syrup - more if your tree is a bountiful one - three seasonal progress reports and even a campy Polaroid photo of your particular tree in action for about $40.
Rent Mother Nature: (800) 232-4048
Wish upon your very own star
Make someone sparkle with a speck in the heavens they can truly call their very own.
The International Star Registry will name a star for someone special. The calligraphied certificate is top quality with cobalt and gold graphics and even comes with an astronomical map to help you locate your star.
You can give it with a telescope, if you wish, but any observatory will help you find it.
Or you can just go out in the back yard and gaze.
The International Star Registry: (708) 546-5533.
Who doesn't love money?
Is there someone special in your life who lives on Oreos? Maybe it's Snapple or Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream or even just Pepsi.
If the goody is produced by a public company, you can buy some stock so that at least every time they eat it, they know they're making money.
Give the stock certificates or the company's annual report with a box of those cookies and wrap it all up in a newspaper's stock pages.
Music to remember
Still in touch with your college roommate or your best friend and partner-in-crime from high school?
Frame a record album from the past. And the tackier, the better.
Remind them that there was a time you actually had night fever and did the hustle by framing that now-embarrassing soundtrack from ``Saturday Night Fever'' you've got hidden away somewhere.
All the better if it was Bobby Sherman or the Archies ...
Save the rainforest
Or help make Walden pond live forever.
For about $30, you can purchase an acre of the rainforest. And starting at just $10, you can adopt a parcel of Walden.
Rainforest Action Network: (415) 398-4404
Save the Rainforest: (608) 935-9435
Walden Forever Wild: (203) 429-2839
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Or even some jewelry!
Gift certificates from the world's best-known jeweler are something special. That's because they're not certificates at all.
Starting at just $25, Tiffany & Co. offers ``Tiffany money'' - thick and heavy shiny silver coins that can be redeemed for a bauble one day.
Don't be put off by this shop. There actually are things you can buy here for as little as $25.
Or give the first coin with a piggy bank and make Tiffany money an annual tradition and help her save for something really special.
The coins come in a Tiffany blue pouch inside a Tiffany blue gift box simply tied with a bow.
Give it with a Tiffany catalog so she can start dreaming. And they deliver, free.
Tiffany & Co.: (800) 526-0649
Plant a tree
Or at least promise to in the spring.
A willow, a dogwood or a might oak or maple, it's a wonderful gift to give a child on a first Christmas. You can chronicle the growth of each with an annual photo.
Not bad for newlyweds and new homeowners. Especially if you can find a tree of particular meaning. (For a couple who wed in Vermont, give a birch.)
Why not pajamas?
Take one pair of men's pajamas - flannel or silk would be great - and wrap the shirt in one box, the pants in another.
Give him the bottoms, her the top.
Cute present for newlyweds.
by CNB