Share Your Ideas for Unique Gifts As Well As Your Gift-Giving Experiences
Best Wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!
A group of friends set up the original UMGI site in 2005, and even though none of us still know what we're doing, we’ve decided to keep the web site going under a different service provider for a lot less money. By the way, if you have a chance to use them, the price we got through the Web Stuff Shop, for everything, is great! That's why their ads are everywhere for now. And the staff is very helpful.

We really wanted to add a more interactive feature and this was the easiest way to do so. We've added a Gift Blog page where we intend to add content about unique gift ideas on a more frequent basis. You can add your thoughts on gift giving — both material and non — as well as your experiences, suggestions, and resources in the comments below or on our blog page.

For this Discuss Gift Giving page, we're sort of starting a forum to continue a discussion we've been having on the nature of giving gifts and how those acts differ (or not) from general shopping for stuff that we don't need. That's why we decided to focus on the concept of "unique-and-mindful gifts."  We welcome your input as we keep refining what we mean and what makes the gift experience meaningful.

Help us make this site as we intended — a place to share with each other ways to make the world a better place by giving to others more than we receive and passing along the attitudes of love, gratitude, peace, and joy that make such unconditional generosity possible.

Check in with all of us in the comments and dish on the particulars of any or all of your gift-giving efforts, even if that means reporting on the need for some extra loving yourself at the start of another year.

Wishing everyone much abundance and lots of good things in 2008!

Liz, Dee, Karyn, Jen, and Rita
The Mindful Gifters
     

Please note that your contact name is posted when the comment is published and an e-mail address is requested for site monitoring purposes only. The purpose of this page is to allow sharing and discussion of specific ideas about "gift giving" on a much broader basis than our own experience allows.


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Dee said:   January 9, 2008 1:43 pm PST
See that the site changes have been made. Looking better and better! Like the idea of separating our discussions from the Gift Blog. Yea! We're now bloggers,ha!

Karyn said:   January 3, 2008 9:54 am PST
I'm always surprised by the number of people who don't exchange gifts. And by how many people get uncomfortable when you give them something. Guess it comes from what your family did. But there are lots of ways to gift each other, even those we don't know, with our attitude, smiles, and acts of kindness.

Dee said:   January 2, 2008 11:14 am PST
Our family doesn't exchange gifts with each other any more on Christmas. My mother always makes a donation and each of us kids gets a card noting the particulars. While I like the idea, the lack of something tangible still leaves me feeling a little let down, I have to admit... ok, no violins! But, I found a great gizmo gift idea that does something similar, where the company donates one when you buy one. Great for anyone doing corporate gifts, since cost is $25 and can be a gift certificate. Is a solar powered flashlight--the Bo Go Light--useful in emergencies or storms. So, when you buy/get one, you get to select where in the world to donate another. See www.bogolight.com!

Liz said:   January 2, 2008 9:06 am PST
Hey gang! Had a great Christmas! Hope you all did too! Didn't go to the mall once! Costco and the grocery store, that's it! Extended family decided at Thanksgiving to get together, but no presents. Brother w/ the biggest house offered to host and it was a blast! About 18 of us just pretended we were camping, ha! Decided to focus on family memories and think was first time had all been together since we were kids. Everyone arrived Saturday and made and decorated Christmas cookies that night. Watched home movies and old slides on Sunday night. Monday, volunteered at church soup kitchen in afternoon, then went to Christmas Eve midnight mass. Christmas day, cooked and ate, then left for home. Was a BLAST, especially now that kids are older. They're more mature than we are, ha! Think was my best Christmas ever!

Karyn said:   January 1, 2008 2:00 pm PST
Hi, Hope you all enjoyed your holidays. Anyone have a good gift story? My niece (age 9) sent my most favorite Christmas gift of the year. A hand-illustrated and colored bird pictures that she put together in a little booklet. It's gorgeous and fun and unique and precious to me. More later!

Rita said:   January 1, 2008 10:41 am PST
Happy New Year everybody!

Dee said:   December 31, 2007 3:49 pm PST
Glad to see the site up again! Good going! Happy New Year everybody!

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