11 Desember 2009

Inexpensive and Personalized Gift Ideas For Pet Lovers

With the holidays rapidly approaching, are you trying to come up with creative and unique gift ideas for pet-loving friends and family members? There are a variety of simple yet personalized items that you can craft yourself with just a little time and effort. You will, however, need access to the pet (or at least the pet's photographs) to complete these works of art. Following are just a few suggestions that are sure to please pet parents!

If the pet in question is one that you visit frequently, a paw print in clay can become a meaningful ornament. You can purchase kits for making these prints, or you can search for clay in various colors and textures, roll it out and take a paw print impression. You can inscribe the pet's name on the ornament as well. Put a little hole in the top of the print and, once it is dry, thread a colorful ribbon through it. There are a number of different types of clay that will work for this, the easiest being air-dry clay such as Crayola. However, some of the clays that require baking, such as Sculpey products, come in a number of different colors and can make a more festive ornament. Websites such as createforless.com offer a plethora of choices!

A different type of ornament can be made using a lock of a pet's fur. You can purchase clear glass ornaments such as those from Darice and insert a lock of hair into the sphere with a ribbon. You can further personalize the ornament by painting the pet's name and the date on the exterior surface. Add a ribbon and it is ready to hang! A third suggestion is to purchase a flat surfaced, "ready-to-finish" ornament to which you can affix a pet's photo. These can be decorated around the edges with ribbon, and the pet's name and the date painted on the back. Michael's, Hobby Lobby or other craft stores should have these on hand.

For those who are not quite as artistic, or don't have the time to spend on these projects, there are a number of options for purchasing pet-themed ornaments that allow for personalization. Theanimalrescuesite.com is one choice for finding reasonably priced gifts that can be personalized...and each purchase also helps animal welfare organizations and other charities!

If you would like to try something other than an ornament, a personalized keepsake box is another simple, yet meaningful gift idea. Purchase a nice wooden box (at least 7" x 7" x 7") and affix different photos of the pet on all sides and the top of the box. You can further decorate with the pet's name as well as with paw print or other decals. You should be able to find boxes like this at Michael's, Hobby Lobby or other craft stores.

A personalized pet calendar is yet another gift idea. If you are particularly creative, you can make a one-year hanging wall calendar with scrapbook paper, an 8 1/2 x 11" 2010 calendar printout, and the pet's photos. You can find printable calendars on-line (2010calendar.org is one option). Once you have printed the landscape calendar on a good quality paper, affix it to a background such as scrapbook paper, cut large enough to accommodate the calendar as well as any pet photographs you wish to include. Laminate the calendar, cut a small hole at the top and thread a festive ribbon through it for a year-long tribute to your pet-lover's best buddy.

Other calendar options are available through websites such as smilebox.com, which allows you to create and personalize greeting cards, notecards, photo albums and collages in addition to calendars, with a variety of pre-selected designs. Output can be shared electronically or can be printed.

These are just a few holiday gift ideas for the pet-lovers in your life...and any of them are sure to be appreciated and cherished.

Joy Lee is co-owner and general manager of Rover Oaks Pet Resort in Katy, Texas. She is also passionate about animal rescue, and has authored a book, "Rover's Rescues...True Stories of Shelter Dogs and Second Chances", for which a portion of each book sale will be donated to Citizens for Animal Protection in Houston. Visit her website, http://www.joyleebooks.com/, for more information.

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