Friday, January 21, 2011

Holiday Gifts & Decorations

Holiday gifts and decorations include festive and party supplies and general holiday gifts. Festive and party supplies are consisted of Christmas decoration supplies, decorative flowers and wreaths, event and party supplies, fireworks and firecrackers, party masks and other holiday supplies. There are also many types of holiday gifts such as Christmas crafts, Easter crafts, and Halloween crafts including Valentines’ Day crafts. Different types of handicraft, fountain, antiques, carpet, rugs, and giftware can be also given as holiday gifts. Handicrafts are the other major category. Handicrafts are the most popular gift items all over the world. Handicrafts includes many fine crafts such as assemblage, beadwork, bone carving, cabinet making, chip carving, collage (made by using fabric, seeds, photographs, paper, found objects etc.), crochet, embossed silver or aluminum, gardening, buffalo horn carving, rhino horn carving, knitting, lathart, marquetry, metalwork, mosaic, needlework, ceramics and pottery, pressed flower craft, puppetry, quilting, saddle-making, scale model, sewing, shoemaking, spinning, stained glass, wood burning, wood carving, and woodturning and woodworking as well. Handicrafts are usually belonged to different cultures and social setting. For example, wooden figurines, sandstone, metal work, marble work, exclusive stone work, wood crafts, wooden painted art, bamboo toys and wooden boxes are the exclusive examples of Indian handicrafts. 

Gifts & Crafts by Use

Gifts and crafts are also differentiated by their usages for different purposes. These different kinds of gifts and crafts include art and collectibles, home decoration items, souvenirs and wedding decorations and gifts etc. There are a number of home decoration items. Examples of these home decoration items include bamboo home decor, candle holders, candles, ceramic and enamel home decor, clay home decor, crystal home decor, fabric home decor, frame, glass home decor, incense, incense burners, lacquerware home decor, metal home decor, painting & calligraphy, paper home decor, photo albums, plastic home decor, resin home decor, stone home decor, and wicker baskets including wood home decor as well. Gifts are given according to the nature of different events and occasions. The most relevant examples of occasional gifts include retirement gifts, lagniappe, congratulations gifts, engagement gifts, wedding gifts, anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, house warming day gifts and new baby gifts etc. There is also a unique category of experiential gifts which involves different experiences instead of traditional material gift. The common examples of experiential gifts are kayaking, skydiving, hang gliding whitewater rafting (adventure gifts), NASCAR, rallying, V8 supercars (driving gifts), wine tasting, gourmet cooking lessons, cigar tasting (gourmet gifts), whale watching, Segway city tours (environmentally friendly experiential gifts) and pilates, spa treatments and stone massages (rejuvenating gifts).

Crafts by Technique

There are hundreds and thousands of crafts e.g. jewelry products including bead jewelry, wedding jewelry, custom jewelry, fashion jewelry, tribal jewelry and other crafts such as earthenware, bowl, vase, wind chimes, china ware and pitchers etc. Crafts are made by employing different methods and techniques such as carving crafts, cross stitch, embroidery crafts, knitting and crocheting and sculptures. These techniques may also differ in different regions and countries because of their own social, cultural and religious settings and geographic backgrounds. For example, all states and provinces in India have their own design techniques and methods. Artisans working in different Indian regions utilize different techniques when making crafts and handicrafts. The areas include Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jarkhand, Manipur, Assam, Gujrat, Haryana, Kerela, Meghalaya, Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Delhi, Punjab, and Assam etc. After invention of different machineries, manual methods and techniques in crafts making are becoming obsolete day by day. Therefore, the process of craft making has become quite easy for craft manufacturers as hundreds of crafts are easily made simultaneously by using different sophisticated machineries and equipments all at once. But despite availability of modern crafts, we can never deny the significance and importance of those crafts which are made manually in many parts and regions of the world. 

Crafts by Style

Crafts are also available in a number different designs and styles depending upon the social, cultural and religious trends of different countries and regions. The most notable styles of crafts include antique imitation crafts, artificial crafts, Feng Shui crafts, folk crafts, nautical crafts and religious crafts. Many crafts are made by using different kinds of plants such as basket weaving, corn dolly making, floral design, pressed flower craft and straw marquetry. Crafts are also differentiated by the particular styles of artisans in different countries and geographic locations. For example in Africa, their way and style of craft making is quite different and unique as compared with crafts created in other American and Europeans regions. The most befitting examples of African crafts include African furniture, African musical instrument, African bowls, African tribal lamps, African leather goods-handbags, canvas art paintings, African flower vases, African bookends, African candle holders, African baskets, African mask, African health & beauty supplies, African profiles, African tribal textiles, African walking canes, African statues, African handmade jewelry, and miscellaneous African products. As a matter of fact, the world of crafts is very extensive and enriched with numerous designs, varieties, and range. You cannot pick your own choice easily because of the diversity offered by different arts and crafts.

Crafts by Material

Crafts are also classified by materials used in making and manufacturing of different gifts and crafts. Examples of different materials used in making and manufacturing of different crafts include bamboo crafts, clay crafts, crystal crafts, glass crafts, lacquerware, leather crafts, metal crafts, natural crafts, paper crafts, plastic crafts, pottery & enamel, resin crafts, semi-precious stone crafts, stone crafts, textile & fabric crafts, wicker crafts and wood crafts. Textile crafts are further classified into other types of crafts that include banner-making, calligraphy, canvas work, cross-stitch, crocheting, curve stitching, embroidery, felting, knitting, lace-making, lucet, macrame, millinery, needlepoint, patchwork, quilting,  ribbon embroidery, rug making, sewing, shoemaking, spinning (textiles), spirelli, string art, tapestry, tatting, and T-shirt art and weaving. Crafts which are made by using metal, wood or clay include wooden sculptures, carpentry, chip carving, jewelry, marquetry, metalworking, pottery, sculpture, wood burning, wood turning, woodworking and fretwork. Crafts which are made by using different canvas or paper include altered books, altered art, artist trading cards, bookbinding, calligraphy, cardmaking, card modelling, collage, decoupage, embossing, iris folding, marbling, origami, papercraft, papier-mâché, parchment craft, quilling (also called paper filigree), scrapbooking, rubber stamping or acrylic stamping as well as teabag folding. There are many examples of other types of crafts such as balloon animal, beadwork, doll making, dollhouse, egg decorating, etching, glassblowing, lapidary, miniatures, mosaics, pioneering, stained glass, toy making and polymer clay also.