Everyone will agree that it is much more difficult to find a special gift for a person you are close to, no matter what the occasion. In such cases people usually spend hours and hours without luck. It is the same for me, I always need lots and lots of time when I'm looking for a present for someone I love, no matter if it is for a birthday or any other occasion. Just by accident I once found a great special present for my sister.

I was actually very lucky as she is very limited in what she can wear, being allergic to all types of metal jewelry. So that bracelet I found was made of two lines of glass beads and was just in the colors that she likes and wears a lot. It was stretchy so size didn't matter at all and the most important - there was no metal on it at all.

On another shopping trip of mine I luckily came upon a special gift for my godchild. She has always been into the heart shaped things, and what I found was a wide variety of different colors and sizes of hearts shaped out of glass. I also found a heart shaped bow made of glass so I purchased some hearts and the bowl, making a very nice and warming set of crystal hearts.

After a few lucky occasions I realized that it was actually much easier to get those special gifts when they are not the priority and you are not looking for them at all. This made me take the decision and now I am looking at such items all year round.

It is better like this because first there is no pressure and shopping itself becomes much more pleasant and relaxed and second it saves me money, because shopping all year round I often get the sale prices, and even if they are not on sale it is much easier to get a thing each month instead in getting all together in December.

And in case I already managed to convince you that it is better to do it my way, I will give you some advice on how to make it even easier to find a special gift. It is very simple but it helps a lot. Just make a list of all the beloved people you usually buy for and make sure to have it always with you. Any time you find a gift suitable for a person on your list just buy it and cross the name off.

Then when holidays come you just buy for the ones still on the list. It is also a good idea to arrange a place where to store all those, because it already had to buy another present because I could not remember where the one that I bought earlier was. Being sensible and organized in purchasing the presents for you closest people can both help you save money and time finding a special gift, and make holidays much more relaxed and pleasant.