Souvenir Gift Search Tips

Souvenirs are small gifts you bring home from trips for friends, family members and fellow workers. They're also keepsakes, reminding you of places and people. Run-of-the-mill souvenirs range from t-shirts with silly slogans to plastic key rings. Delight those you left at home with more unusual and inventive souvenir ideas. Calculate available room inside your suitcases and don't exceed your traveling weight limits.

1. Scrumptious Souvenirs

   • Choose tasty presents based on the recipient's particular favorites for successful souvenir gifts. Coffee lovers are thrilled by bags of local coffee beans. These, as well as local herbal teas, are light, easily packable and inexpensive souvenirs. Chili fans appreciate new types of dried peppers and small bottles of sauce. Packing a sheet or two of bubble wrap ensures extra protection for fragile souvenirs. Foods such as cookies, cakes, sweets and snacks unique to your location are all good choices, if they are not similar to those you can buy at home.

   Souvenir Searching

   • Ask around to take advantage of deals locals take for granted. Shop at the same stores they do, and avoid overpriced gift shop items. Try searching nearby markets, especially farmer and flea markets. Look for local craft stalls. Even local pharmacies and supermarkets offer unusual variations on familiar products, such as toiletries and stationery. If you're pressed for time and must choose from gift shop souvenirs, look for museum or art gallery stores, where your cash goes toward supporting the institution and the quality of gifts is usually higher.

   Local Specialty Souvenirs

   • Ask yourself what the location you've vising is famous for, and bring home variations on that theme. For example, miniatures of the Parisian Eiffel Tower and Swiss chocolates are both legendary souvenirs. Learn the story behind local products, take photographs and share this information with the recipient for added local color. Attend any local festivals or celebrations to find less common souvenirs. Hispanic areas celebrating the Mexican "Day of the Dead," on November 1, offer rich pickings for souvenir hunters, with items like copal incense, skeleton toys, candy skulls and tiny religious statuettes.

   Seasonal Souvenirs

   • Shop ahead of time for Christmas, Easter or birthdays to ensure a plentiful supply of presents for the coming year. Traditional Christmas ornaments made of all kinds of materials, from glass to bread and wood are inventive souvenirs to bring home from other countries and cultures. Small handmade wooden toys you can adapt to hang from trees make unique ornaments and souvenirs. Locally crafted toy dolls or models of female saints from countries like Russia, China and Japan make unusual treetop angels.

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Good Souvenir Gifts

Whether intended as gifts or a personal keepsakes key chains, mugs, T-shirts, stationery or hats will never preserve those precious vacation memories. A vacation to a new and exciting culture can be an eye-opening experience, and with a little thought and a bit of imagination souvenirs can help preserve that feeling forever.

1. Currency

   • Instead of changing those spare foreign notes and putting those coins in a tin to gather dust and eventually be thrown out, use them as a reminder of the vacation. Nowadays the lamination process is quick and inexpensive, so turn leftover notes into little plastic bookmarks or coasters. The coins can make a great little gift; just put them in a little cloth money bag or wallet -- perhaps one purchased on your travels.

   Art

   • Most travelers pass them by, but in almost every major city across the world there are painters and sketchers hard at work immortalizing their surroundings. Original artwork not only looks great on the wall back home, but finding an artist whose style somehow encapsulates the place can serve as an aesthetic memory of your vacation. For extra authenticity, find an artist off the beaten tourist track. This will also make your holiday keepsake more budget-friendly when traveling in a foreign country, as many street artists are happy to bargain with their customer while practicing their English.

   Food and Drink

   • Wherever you go in the world there will no doubt be some tasty snack, fruit juice, beer or liquor that is new to you. Avoid tourist shops and make sure to purchase any treats from a little independent bakery, liquor store or grocery shop. Not only does authentic food taste better but supporting independent stores helps to preserve the tradition. Store any perishables in checked luggage, as customs officers can be pretty unforgiving if they find food in carry-on baggage.

   Charity

   • The experience of vacationing in a developing or even a Third World country can only improve by investing in a better future. Whether it's sponsoring the education of a child, investing in a local school or leaving a substantial donation toward medicine or drinking water, this souvenir will stay with you when all the plastic nick-knacks have been lost or discarded. Instead of giving a few cents to people on the street, buy local toys for a class of children and take photos when you meet them. The toys and photos will be special to you and the kids.

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Best Souvenir Gift Ideas

It's easy to be lured into buying unnecessary souvenir items when on vacation when everything seems exciting and new. Make a plan before you travel to decide exactly how much you want to spend on mementos and who is on your shopping list. Stick with meaningful items that will reflect your adventure long after the trip is over, and you won't regret bringing them home.

1. Photographs

   • Photographs are an excellent and inexpensive souvenir from any trip or vacation. Take frequent pictures of people, architecture, events and funny moments during your travels, even if you feel like an obvious tourist. When you arrive back home, organize your pictures in a special themed scrapbook purchased on your journey that you can revisit for years to come. You can also create a digital slide show with background music to better share your experience with friends and family.

   Local Items

   • The best souvenirs are items that reflect local culture and atmosphere. Handmade artisan foods, clothing or jewelry are functional and are less likely to disappear in a drawer upon arriving back at home. Buy local music, books or tapestries to help remember your special trip months or years after your adventure. Bring back samples of chocolate, candy or coffee. You can also collect seeds from other regions and try to grow plants in your own garden. Try to find items that will not take up a lot of space in your travel bag.

   Currency

   • Currency is another simple and small souvenir that you can bring back from your travels. Begin collecting paper bills and change from each country you visit. Frame a bill or set of coins from another country to give as a gift. Children enjoy looking through coins from foreign lands, and a handful tossed into a simple box or change purse makes a souvenir they will look at over and over again.

   Avoid Tourist Traps

   • When searching for the perfect souvenir, try to avoid the typical tourist shops. Prices are almost always higher in these types of stores, and the souvenirs are often cheesy and poorly constructed. Take the time to find a relevant memento, like a wool sweater from Scotland or chocolate from a real shop in Paris, foregoing the plastic souvenir that was probably made in China. Street vendors are also an excellent source for authentic souvenirs.

   Freebies

   • Consider keeping free or very inexpensive items from your trip as souvenirs. Most items can easily be incorporated into a scrapbook or placed in a special memory box. Maps, hotel pens, printed matchbooks and menus are location-specific mementos that will not cost you anything. Other paper items to hold on to for souvenirs include luggage tags, museum or theater ticket stubs and hotel stationary. For a low cost, magnets, key chains and postcards can usually be picked up at most destinations.

   Make Room

   • Above all, remember to pack lightly and leave enough space in your travel bag for souvenirs. Consider packing an extra daypack or duffel bag to carry newly-purchased items home on the plane. For longer trips, you can mail packages home, if you find you are buying a lot more than you want to lug around for the duration of your excursion.

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One Dollar Gifts for Girls

If you are a youth group leader, Girl Scout troop leader, teacher or simply have a lot of young girls in your family, spending $1 on each of them for a souvenir can even add up. Focus on souvenirs that will work as keepsakes and that can be purchased in bulk for a big group. If you can tie the souvenir into a lesson you have taught the girls, it will be even more memorable.

1. Pressed Pennies

   • Pressed penny machines are available at tourist destinations all over the world. These souvenir tokens use one of your pennies and 50 cents to $1 to create a flattened token that bears a stamp about the location you are visiting. Be aware that "mutilating" coins is illegal in some countries, such as Canada, and you will need to use a slug instead of a coin. The slugs will be available for purchase near the machine. However, regular coins can be flattened throughout the United States.

   Buttons

   • Buttons with pins on the back are an inexpensive souvenir you can purchase at most souvenir shops or personalize and order them online. These can be pinned to a jacket, tote bag or added to a length of ribbon which girls can hang off their dresser mirror or on a wall. If purchasing a souvenir as a vacation memento, look for buttons with the name of the location you've visited or a famous landmark. If giving the buttons as a commemorative of a special event, such as winning a scholastic competition, design the button and add the words to recognize the girls' accomplishment.

   Local Trinkets

   • You can often purchase local trinkets very inexpensively. In the Caribbean, purchase small sea shells or handmade beaded necklaces and bracelets at open air markets. In New Orleans, purchase praline candy to take back to the kids. In Ohio, buy buckeyes in bulk and take them back along with information about why people from Ohio are called buckeyes. Any location you visit should have something unique to that location. Find out which ones you can purchase inexpensively or in bulk to gift to the girls in your life.

   Patches

   • Patches can usually be found for around a dollar. If they are a bit more and you are buying a large quantity, ask for a discount to bring them down to the price you need. Patches can be collected from each location you visit and sewed to a jean jacket, vest or tote bag.

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5 Ways to Make Merry Christmas Cards

Most everybody who celebrates Christmas sends out Christmas cards to their friends, family and coworkers. Electronic cards are becoming the most popular type of cards to give and receive. Electronic cards are much more versatile than traditional ones, as they can play musical movements in addition to all of the features that traditional cards have. The secrets to these types of cards are electronic musical movements, which are triggered to play upon the sensing of movement, so when the card is opened they play a tune. You can create your own electronic Christmas cards with the proper craft supplies.

1. • 1
     Purchase a Christmas-themed electronic musical movement. These can be bought online from several merchants and offered in a variety of popular Christmas tunes, such as "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Joy to the World."
   • 2
     Fold both 8-inch ends of a sheet of cardstock in to the middle of the cardstock where they meet, and then crease them.
   • 3
     Place the electronic musical movement beneath one of the folded flaps and tape it into place.
   • 4
     Line the underside of the folded flap under which the electronic musical movement sits with glue and press the flap firmly against the cardstock upon which the electronic musical movement sits to glue it atop the movement.
   • 5
     Decorate the front and inside of the card with markers. Consider writing "Merry Christmas" on the outside of the card and drawing a scene of a Christmas tree or snowman on the inside.

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2 Easy Ways to Make Christmas Cards

Sending Christmas cards is one of the simplest ways to let your friends and family know that you are thinking of them this Christmas. However, cards can be expensive, especially if you have a long mailing list. Cut your costs by making Christmas cards yourself out of basic craft supplies, many of which you likely already have on hand. The process can take some time, but the recipients will appreciate the care you put into the handmade cards.

1. Ribbon-Wrapped Card

   • 1
     Fold a piece of card stock in half. Trim it, if needed, to fit inside the size of envelope you plan to use.
   • 2
     Select a scrap of ribbon that is twice the width and twice the height of the front of your card, plus allow at least 8 inches to tie into a bow.
   • 3
     Cut a slit measuring about 1/8-inch wider than the ribbon halfway down the foldline of the card.
   • 4
     Slip one end of the piece of ribbon through the slit in the card. Bring the end on the ribbon that is outside of the card to the inside by bringing it across the front of the card. Hold the ribbon ends together on the inside cover of the card. Twist the ribbons around each other so they are vertical in opposite directions, and bring them around the top and bottom edges of the card so they meet on the front of the card. It should look like it does when you wrap a package, except you are just wrapping the top section of the card.
   • 5
     Tie the ribbon ends into a bow in the center-front of the card. The end result is the cover, or front page, of the card looks like you wrapped a gift with a ribbon.

   Ribbon Tree Card

   • 1
     Fold and trim a piece of card stock to fit in your envelope.
   • 2
     Cut four or more scraps of ribbon to different lengths. The longest should be no more than three-fourths the width of the card and the shortest should be about 1/2 inch to 1 inch long.
   • 3
     Arrange the ribbons on the front of the card to form a Christmas tree shape. Each ribbon stretches horizontally across the card, and they are arranged in size order, with the longest at the bottom and the shortest at the top.
   • 4
     Tape the ends of the ribbon lightly to the card with drafting tape. This will hold them in place temporarily.
   • 5
     Sew a vertical line down the center of card's cover with a sewing machine. Tie off the thread on the inside cover and trim the ends of the thread.

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