Unique Gift Ideas, Themed Puzzles Add Pizzazz

Today is National Puzzle Day, and I've rediscovered the fun in jigsaw puzzles while working on them with my mother-in-law who is staying with us while recovering from hip surgery.  We've worked on jigsaw puzzles with 500 pieces, 100 pieces, and 300 pieces.  Considering she is 83 years old, the 500 piece puzzle did not go too well!  The 100 piece puzzle was slightly too easy, and we are now working on the 300 piece, which is a lovely spring nature design, and I think it is just right!

There is another puzzle series that my husband and I discovered on our quest for unique gift basket items.  Scramble Squares are 9 piece puzzles that are both challenging and intriguing.  There are hundreds of themes to choose from, so you can find one for virtually any theme or subject!  We have selected a few different designs which we include in our housewarming gift basket, travel gift basket, and gardening gift basket.  And, most appropriately, we include a Scramble Squares puzzle in our get well gift baskets - naturally!  They're perfect for those on the mend.  They don't take up much space (9 pieces, remember?), and they are challenging enough to take time to solve.

Any of our custom gift baskets can be made with a puzzle of your choice! 

Enjoy and have a happy day!

 

 

 

WBDC Video: Thoughtful Presence Gift Basket Success Story

I was very pleased to be included in a recent success story feature for the Women's Business Development Center in Chicago.  As I was developing Thoughtful Presence, I took a great entrepreneurial class, FastTrac Planning, at WBDC and came out of it with a completed business plan and action plan for launching Thoughtful Presence gift baskets.  I still have the pleasure of speaking to the classes at WBDC every semester, time permitting, and am always intrigued and impressed by so many ambitious and creative women working on launching new businesses just as I did.  Enjoy the video and have a happy day!

5 Reasons to Love January

On one hand, January can be considered a long, cold month.  It's winter extended; the glorious Christmas season comes to a close; and people begin to anticipate spring, albeit still far away. 

In my monthly newsletters, I like to highlight not just the big holidays and events, but the little unknowns as well.  In preparing for my current newsletter, I found a whole host of wonderful little celebrations available for the month of January, particularly in the latter half of the month. 

Choose any or all of these as reasons to celebrate this month:

• January 18 - Winnie the Pooh Day - My personal favorite classic character of all time.
• January 19 - Popcorn Day - Go to the movies or watch at home, and add your favorite seasoning and good old butter if you choose! 
• January 20 - Penguin Awareness Day - Who doesn't love these classy little creatures of the cold.  There are some great videos on the lives of penguins, or check out Jim Carrey's Mr. Poppers Penguins for a fun movie for all!
• January 24 - Compliment Day - Everyone needs a nice compliment as often as possible, so keep this in mind today.
• January 27 - Chocolate Cake Day - I always seem to highlight my own personal favorites!  Yours too?

These are just a few of the many reasons to celebrate January.  I hope you'll enjoy one of these or find a few of your own. 

Have a happy day!

Going Green with Unique Gifts for Women - Emerald Green, that is

Since the start of Thoughtful Presence, we've been going green with practical gift baskets made with reusable, recyclable and functional containers of many types.  Creatively packaged inside our containers are lasting gift items, not a lot of throw away packaging to clutter our earth. 

This year, we'll be going green in a new way - emerald green, that is.  Emerald green is the Pantone color of the year for 2013!  Didn't know there was a color of the year?  Last year it was tangerine, and our Especially for Her gift basket incorporated tangerine in its convenient tote bag container and 8Petals jewelry design.
 

This year, we've added a jewelry set by Jennifer Jangles that incorporates emerald green, tangerine and a loving Happy inscription. You'll find it in our Hope Springs gift basket combined with our favorite Hope Springs gift products. 

Have a happy day!

Winding down a good year for gift baskets

2012 has been a year of transition, and a good one for Thoughtful Presence gift baskets.  I have always been one to spend time during the last week of December, considering accomplishments of the current year and goals for the coming year.

Thoughtful Presence was in the works for a year before going full time in May 2012, when we also launched our website.  It has been a wonderful adventure, and we hope our customers have been pleased with our service and our products.  We made many new business partnerships, and were pleased to work with some of our local churches and organizations to provide gift baskets for their annual benefits.  These included St. Baldricks, Immaculate Conception, and St. Mary Queen of Angels in Chicago.

During the coming year, we look forward to further strengthening our business partnerships and continuing to grow our business.

Happy New Year to all!