It's that time of year again.  Time for hot cocoa, visits with Santa, Christmas Carols, sending/receiving holiday cards, and of course holiday gift shopping.  My kids are pretty easy to shop for as they are always up for making an amazon list and any toy commercial they see, they are sold!  Ha!  But we all have that one person who we adore, but we find can be tricky to buy for.  Here are a few gift giving ideas for your favorite people.

Hot Cocoa Bombs

I think the hottest gift item this year will be Hot Cocoa Bombs.  These are so fun!  They are balls made of chocolate, YUM, and inside you will find the ingredients to make a delicious hot chocolate.  Perfect for cold, winter nights!  You simply put the bomb in your favorite mug (you could gift a cute mug with the bomb!), pour hot milk on it, and voila! you have hot chocolate!  I recently visited the Cookie Jar Bakery in downtown Lee's Summit.  I wasn't able to purchase any cocoa bombs from them as it was an unusually warm December day and I had other errands to run (I was afraid it might melt in the car).  But they had some adorable bombs available in their shop.  Most bakeries these days are carrying them.  So shop local and find your nearest baker to get that perfect gift for the guy or gal that already has everything!

Blanket Scarves

One one year I received an awesome gift . . . a blanket scarf!  They are so fun, fashionable and of course warm!  The great thing about scarves too, is one size fits all!  So you don't have to worry about figuring out what size to purchase for your sweet friends.

Pictures

Now my family is not lacking pictures.  I've gifted my family pictures my whole adult life.  Of course!  I'm a photographer!  But not everyone has as easy access to a photographer or knowledge on how to take their own pictures.  Gifting Grandma an updated family picture of you and your little (or big) ones will warm her heart.  Especially these days, where are are not able to get together as often as we would like.  Simply search "Photographer near me" or "local Kansas City photographer" and see who pops up!  Find a photographer that fits your likes, desires and needs.  Then you can either gift Grandma a professionally printed picture in a fabulous frame, a custom album with lots of images or give her a picture frame with a gift certificate in it so she can join you for the family portrait session!  (Read here for ideas on what to wear to your family portrait session.)

Local Goods

Okay spoiler alert, some of you may or may not be getting awesome Kansas City items from me this year.  Made in Kansas City is so cool and has several locations. I found some super cute KC items at their Lee's Summit store.  They have KC BBQ sauce, mugs, glassware, t-shirts, candles, ornaments, to name a few.  And on top of their very cool products, Made in Kansas City also had an amazing staff.  They were kind, sweet, helpful and joyful.  Something hard to find these days.  (Bad customer service is my pet peeve.)  

So if you are having trouble finishing up your holiday gift shopping try to keep it local.  Find something unique that can't be ordered off amazon.  Find something that makes your friends and family feel warm and loved.  Find something fun, unusual or jolly!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!