When it comes to gift baskets, men and women have somewhat different reasons, tastes and budgets according to a recent gift baskets survey by online gift retailer It’s In The Stars.

Men buy more gift baskets for colleagues, clients, employees
While both sexes buy gift baskets for friends (82.1% of men vs 78.4% of women) and family (69.2% vs 74.8%), men are far more likely than women to buy them for colleagues (64.1% vs 36.0%), clients (64.1% vs 21.6%), and employees (35.9% vs 18.0%).

Gift baskets are an easy, no-fuss gift option
Since women are regarded by both sexes as better gift-buyers, it may be no surprise that more women than men see gift baskets as easy, no-fuss gift options (72.3% vs 64.1%). Women are more likely than men to believe that gift baskets make an impressive-looking gift (67.0% vs 51.3%).

Nonetheless, since men buy gift baskets for a much wider range of celebratory events than women, have more cash to spend, and often forget birthdays and anniversaries, this may explain why they are more likely than women to view gift baskets as last-minute emergency gift options (59.0% vs 49.1%), fun (53.8% vs 50.9%) and affordable (48.7% vs 25.9%).

Men spend more than women on gift baskets
Three in four men (76.9%) spend over $100 on gift baskets with their top five inclusions being gift certificates (71.8%), jams & spreads (64.1%), chocolates & sweets and champagne/wine/spirits (61.5% each), and BBQ food & accessories (59.0%).

Two-thirds of women (66.7%) spend under $100, typically selecting gift baskets with chocolates (69.4%), champagne/wine/spirits (60.4%), baby toys & clothing (57.7%), bath/beauty/body products (55.9%), and flowers (50.5%).

Men more likely to buy gift baskets with gift certificates
Chocolate and champagne are perennially popular gift basket inclusions for everyone but since men spend much more on gift baskets than women,  it would seem they might also have the money to include gift certificates to extend the gift experience for the recipient with 71.0% of men including gift certificates vs only 22.5% of women.

They are also far more willing to spend more on a gift basket that includes a personalised gift than women (89.5% vs 76.1%).

Men and women have different occasions for gift baskets
The top five most popular gift occasions for men to give gift baskets are Christmas (73.0%), birthdays (67.6%), Mother’s Day (59.5%), and Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day (56.8% each) while the top five gift basket occasions for women are new babies (74.1%), birthdays (65.7%), Christmas (55.6%), and Mother’s Day and housewarmings/new homes (36.1% each).

Overall, the top three gift basket occasions are new babies (69.0%), birthdays (66.2%) and Christmas (60.0%).

The only two gift occasions where men and women buy in near-identical rates are birthdays (67.6% vs 65.7%), and housewarmings/new homes (37.8% vs 36.1%).

Men and women are equally likely to buy gift baskets with champagne/wine/spirits (61.5% vs 60.4%), bath/beauty/body products (56.4% vs 55.9%), and fruit (30.8% vs 30.6%).

Everyone knows the traditional wedding anniversary gift for the first year is paper (and ahem, might I suggest one of my beautiful LoveStars reports would do just the trick). And you probably know it’s cotton for the second.

But when we leap forward a couple of decades, the anniversary gift game gets a lot harder. With everyone getting older, MUCH older, those once-rare 40th, 50th and especially 60th anniversaries are already starting to make big, splashy appearances, thanks to the ageing populations of many developed countries.

For most of us, the $6 million question is what can you give someone who’s celebrating four, five or six decades in marital harmony? A set of porcelain flying ducks probably just isn’t going to cut it. A quick keyboard dash to SeniorStore.com, however, will give you a smorgasbord of gift ideas that are original, appropriate, and affordable.

This is an area that SeniorStore.com knows well. It’s been around for 12 years and was one of the first online retail stores devoted to gifts for milestone anniversaries and for seniors. With the increasing demand for 40th, 50th and 60th wedding anniversary gifts, they’ve recently expanded their range and now offer a myriad of creative gift ideas, many of which can be personalized.

The gift baskets and gift combination sets contain icons and touchstones from the year the marriage took place, such as chart-topping songs, newspaper clippings of world events, magazine advertisements, nostalgic trinkets and other trivia. Other gifts include personalized items such as special anniversary clocks, coffee table books, photo albums and picture frames.

Not only can you find an anniversary gift that’ll outshine everyone else’s, but you’ll probably also pick up a lot of facts and figures and pieces of useless trivia about the year of the happy couple’s wedding, all those decades ago. Very handy for Pub Trivia comps.

Who knew that the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1950 was the Bette Davis classic All About Eve? (“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!”).

Is one of your friends pregnant? Are you? One of my friends is seven months along and another friend will be hosting a lunch – Kate couldn’t bear it being called a baby shower (and we’re hoping there won’t be any baby shower games like guessing her tummy’s circumference with a piece of string) - for her next month.

So what do you give a friend about to have a baby that she’ll really love – and more importantly, use?

Canadian baby gift online retailer Pipsqueak Boutique surveyed over 200 mothers to find out their top 10 favourite baby gifts:

1. 53% of mums chose baby clothes in larger sizes – kids always get bigger, and many babies these days are real whumpers!

2. 27% said baby clothes in newborn sizes. They’re pooing, weeing, vomiting and generally being making a mess so very young babies need to change their clothes more often than Lady Gaga.

3. In hot pursuit in third place are books at 26%. Kids who love reading do better at school and hey, anything for peace.

4. Bath and skincare products for baby came in at 24%. Preferably all-natural to protect their skin. These can be pricey when you have to buy them all the time.

5. Where’s my blankie? 22% of mothers voted a soft baby blanket as a favourite. Ones you can stick in the washing machine after they’ve been dragged through the mud are even better.

6. 20% of mothers want personalised/monogrammed keepsake items that they can cherish forever.

7. Only 19% said gifts for themselves were a favourite but that only reveals how few received them. In fact, most mothers wanted a gift to indulge themselves after nine months of hard labour. Can you blame them?!

8. 18% of mums voted for children’s toys. Probably not drums though.

9. Bibs and burp clothes get a big workout so 18% of mothers also voted for these.

10. Although they wanted to be the ones to select the decor, 17% of mothers voted for nursery furniture as a favourite gift to offset the expense.

Have you ever received a personalised Christmas card from a friend or family member?

They usually feature a smiling group of parents and children and sometimes the family dog, arranged in front of the Christmas tree, or in their garden or perhaps at the beach.

Some of them have a generic “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” message inside, others are blank, while yet other people have created a round-robin type card that tells the recipient all the fantastic things they’ve been up to for the past 12 months. (You don’t often hear about Uncle Larry going off to jail for armed robbery, however.)

But all jokes aside, they can be a lovely way to stay in touch with your friends, family, neighbours, clients and suppliers at Christmastime. And they can work out cheaper than getting Christmas cards one at a time which can run $4.95 per card.

If you tend to send quite a few, you can get, for example, 100 x DL full-colour cards, featuring a glossy cover of your beaming family, for $290 at Australian online printer, Web and Print.

Order by 2 November 2010 and you’ll have them by mid-November, by 16 November for end of November and by 1 December to skate on thin ice (aka mid-December delivery).

What would you put on your card?

Receiving something which is totally customised and personalised for you is a huge thrill and when it’s handmade with craftmanship and love, it’s even more treasured.

However, many people don’t realise how far ahead they have to plan to get handmade gifts personalised if they’re ordering them online until they check the delivery information section, at which point they get pretty disappointed they’ve left it too late.

At a bare minimum, you need to allow at least 2 weeks delivery for many handmade personalised items, but there are some which are so painstakingly hand-crafted that you need to order them out at least 16 weeks prior to the anniversary, birthday, christening, Christmas, engagement, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day or wedding that you’re giving them for.

While it of course depends enormously on the online retailer, companies which specialise only in machine-made personalisation of items (you know, the ones that people often use for corporate gift solutions) tend to produce these much faster. Clue: the fastest suppliers tend to let you see what the finished item looks like in real-time online with your images, copy or letters.

If you see the adjective “handmade” anywhere in the product description, it’s a sure bet it’s going to take longer. Of course, you’ll need to add even extra time if your order is coming from overseas. Plus, if you need it urgently, you may have to pay a premium to receive it in time.

Here’s a rough guide to personalisation methods by hand and how long they can take (depending on the sophistication and product turnover of the online retailer) from the quickest to the longest.

Handframed, personalised prints/certificates – 1-8 weeks
Handcrafted personalised jewellery -1-6 weeks
Handknitted personalised baby clothing and accessories - 2-6 weeks
Handpainted personalised furniture - 2-8 weeks
Handbuilt custom-made furniture - 4-10 weeks
Handsewn personalised quilts  – 6-12 weeks
Handcarved stoneworks – 8-12 weeks
Hand-embroidered blankets - 10-16 weeks

According to personalisation company Zazzle (yep, this is gonna amaze ya!), in a survey of their customers, a whopping 95% of mothers want a personalised gift from their children or husband, even if it has no monetary value.

Luckily, 63% of males surveyed said they were more likely to buy or create a personalised gift this year as it was less expensive than other gifts(!) and a much wiser 68% said they thought their wives would prefer a personalised gift over traditional gifts of flowers or perfume (ie where no thought was involved).

A third of men admitted they had forgotten about Mother’s Day gift shopping until it was too late to buy or order a personalised gift. Arghhh – how can they miss those endless Mother’s Day ads on TV and in the newspaper liftouts?!

Only 47% of husbands said they’d spend up to $50, and another 27% said they’d spend up to $100 on a personalised gift.

Since 40% of women were unhappy with their gifts for Mother’s Day, there could be a few men who need to pull their Father’s Day gift socks up…

Did you buy any of the top 24 gifts listed for 2009 for an anniversary, birthday, christening, Christmas, engagement, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, new baby, Valentine’s Day or wedding gift? I bet you did!

According to consumer insights company Unity Marketing, they were:

1 (46%). Books (I gave one each as a Christmas prezzie and a thank-you gift for Dad, to Mum for Mother’s Day, and to nephew Sol for his birthday but I’m sure I gave many more!)
2 (36%). Chocolate – boxed or pick-your-own (hmmm – does that count buying them for yourself?)
4 (28%). Men’s clothing (to brother David for his birthday)
5 (26%). Bath and body soaps and lotions
6 (24%). Toys including action figures, building sets, sports toys, vehicles
7 (22%). Games/puzzles
8 (22%). Children’s clothing (for niece Camille, and nephews Lachie and Sol for Christmas)
9 (20%). Candles and/or candle accessories
10 (19%). Flowers, plants and /or garden accessories including bouquets
11 (17%). Wine and/or wine tasting gifts
12. (16%) Gift baskets including cookies, snacks, fruit, candy, wine (I gave this to Audra for her housewarming)
13 (15%). Video/DVDs (I gave a boxed set of the Marx Bros to my grandfather for Christmas)
14 (15%). Fragrance/perfume
15 (15%). Electronic games such as Wii
16 (14%). Women’s accessories eg handbags, belts, wallets, scarves, shawls
17 (14%). Coffe and tea gifts
18 (14%). MP3 players, iPods and personal audio devices
19 (13%). Plush/stuffed animals
20 (13%) Teenage clothing (I wonder if so few were bought because we’re afraid of getting it wrong?!)
21 (13%). Dining/restaurant experience
22 (12%) Liquors and spirits (I gave someone champagne…)
23 (12%) Gift card – discount department stores and mass merchants eg WalMart, Target etc (I’m surprised this was so far down the list but Mum got one for Mother’s Day and stepmother Jo for her birthday although it was really a gift voucher)
24. (12%) Baby/infants’ clothing including booties and hats (I got a personalised one made for niece Camille for Christmas – she was running a bit late being born though so it really became her birth-day present).

I’d love to know where personalised gifts came in on the list… As well as homewares that all of us seem to be asked to buy on wedding gift registry lists!

Did you know firstborn children get all the expensive gifts (and most of all is spent on them by their aunts and uncles) - and people give cheaper gifts to the second and third child, but they usually end up giving a gift to the oldest child as well?

I’ve found a fun range of personalised gifts which could be perfect for that all-important first baby! If it’s going to be too much of a stretch to buy it on your own, why not organise a group gift and share the expense?

Jewellery & accessories
There are quite a few personalised baby gifts you can give of jewellery to the mother and/or child. One of them are the hand-engraved Rings of Love on which you have the baby’s name hand-engraved in sterling silver from $230. Another sterling silver piece is the Vine Adoration bracelet from Artful Home which lets you personalise the interior with the name and the exterior with up to 15 words for a special message, from $185.

And if you prefer necklaces, celebrities such as Katherine Heigl love Isabelle Grace for their silver necklaces which can be personalised with your child’s name and birth date for $150. If your new mum is pretty fashion-conscious, she’ll love having the chance to customise her baby’s diaper bag! 1154 Lill Studio lets you make bags that are so pretty you’ll want to use it long after your baby’s toilet-trained. My favourite design is $196.

Decor
If you want to give them something personalised that will last for decades, a beautiful Rosie Hippo handmade oak toy box personalised with your child’s name and illustrations for each letter (eg an apple for A and so on) is something your family would keep forever. From $375. If you want artwork which won’t look babyish once they’re out of the nursery, check out the contemporary wall art panels at Numsi. They combine cool colours and, unusually, black and white images of animals not commonly “profiled’ such an ostrich, or the very pretty tufted deer. The largest one retails for $128 but smaller sizes are available.

If you’re keen on giving them something contemporary yet cute, the Kutelights nightlights features cool-to-the-touch lights which illuminate a bunny, dog, giraffe, cat, polar bear or three other animals when switched on. From $125. Perfect for your brand-new princess is the “Once Upon a FairyTale” artwork of a horse-drawn carriage from Artistic Sensations which can incorporate your little girl’s name. From $148. 

If your new mum loves bling and is partial to Faberge egg-style trinkets, she’ll love Gifts That Give’s Jay Strongwater’s tiny enamel baby carriage photo frame which features Swarovski crystals and silver trim for $550. And the coolest children’s rocking chairs I have ever seen are the ones for kids aged 3-10 years at What She Buys. Costing just $109.95, this could make a great gift for the eldest when their siblings are born. I especially love the funky pirate version for boys.

About your baby
Are your friends still trying to work out what to call their unborn child? An analysis and consultation with name expert Kerri Hopkins who’s been profiled on Good Morning America could help them know what personality attributes their child could have by calling them Apple, Suri or Shiloh, for example. A full consultation and report costs $189.95.

Or why not create a Welcome to the World book for the new baby? Mad Moon creates beautiful hardcover 15-page books that contain up to 15 photos and copy based on a 10-point questionnaire that are perfect for new parents. From $175.

It’s fascinating knowing what happened the day your child was born and now you can have a time capsule keepsake containing their name, birthdate, photo within a news front page of the day with the framed, commemorative Daily Portrait from Milson Road for $165.

Keep a permanent slideshow of your baby with Video Birth Announcements. You simjply upload up to 30 photos and pick a theme and they turn it into a movie with a website link you can give to friends. No more wasted photo printing! From $149.

To let everyone know you’ve finally delivered a healthy baby, you can’t go past the beautiful birth announcements by Minted. My favourite design allows you to upload your child’s photo and name with a pack of 50 customised birth announcement cards from $110.

And of course, you might want to consider giving them a keepsake of a hardcover 45-50 page BabyStars astrology report all about their child for them to enjoy forever, printed on thick 100gsm premium paper for $109.

It’s In The Stars is seeking a new couple to Be the Face of LoveStars for 2010: could it be you and your partner?

You could win a $AUD500 gift card to spend at your favourite retailer, or one of 5 x BabyStars boxed gift certificates worth $109 each to redeem for your own BabyStars report or to give your favourite new parent for their new baby or as a unique christening gift.

LoveStars reports make ideal personalised gifts for an anniversary, birthday, engagement, Valentine’s Day or wedding and yes, you will need to have one of your own (or borrow a friend’s LoveStars report) to take part.

Set up your camera timer so you can take a great shot of you and your partner enjoying reading your LoveStars report - maybe you’re wearing your wedding outfit, curled up on the sofa, or in a hammock!

For your chance to win, you’ll need to email at least one shot in low resolution (72dpi) and high resolution (300dpi).

Click here for more details. Competition closes 31 March 2010.

On Sunday 14 February, there will be millions of happy couples gazing adoringly into each others’ eyes, and whispering sweet nothings. There will also be several hundred thousand others thinking, “How can I get out of this mess?”

With this in mind, I’m going to suggest Valentine’s Day gift ideas when you want to celebrate your love, and when you just want to kick them to the curb.

Flowers – OK, now you already know that most women get flowers but don’t really want them… 
Love ‘em: If you insist on spending waaaaaay too much on a bouquet (and paying through the nose for Sunday delivery) AND you know she really does love them, see The Flower Man where they will be more than happy to separate you from a week’s mortgage payment.
Loathe ‘em: wait til 5pm on Sunday evening, and when you pull it into the petrol station, pick up a wilted bunch of sad-looking daisies in cheap cellophane reduced to clear, shove it in her hands and say, “There!”. That ought to do it.

Chocolate – Again, this didn’t rate too highly as what women wanted (especially for Baby Boomers).
Love ‘em: Look for a chocolate shop where the glass-fronted counters display individual chocolates with fantastic dustings of confectionary sugar, sprinkles and truffle powder, sugar fruit decorations on silver trays and mouth-watering descriptions of each flavour, and the shop assistant is wearing white gloves so as not to disturb the gloss of the chocolates, and use your credit card with the biggest limit.
Loathe ‘em: Give your soon-to-be-dumped partner a box of Cadbury Roses reduced on sale, that you’ve already opened and eaten your favourite creme centers, just leaving the tacky toffee chews.

Jewellery – This was the third most-wanted gift in the Valentine’s Day survey.
Love ‘em: Want to make her really happy – and your wife? Go see the helpful people at Tiffany, Harry Winston, or Fairfax & Roberts and select the biggest carat diamond ring you can afford so you can propose on Valentine’s Day (hopefully with more success than Ashton Kutcher in the Valentine’s Day movie). Already married? Visit the same stores and see what amazing necklace, earrings or bracelet they can help you find for her.
Loathe ‘em: If you’re planning on breaking up with her, you give her a cheap friendship ring, some generic gold-plated necklace or a bangle you picked up in a $2 shop.

Perfume - Hmmm, this can smack of I’ve-got-to-run-into-the-department-store-to-buy-something-anything!
Love ‘em: Hunt down that discontinued perfume she’s wailed isn’t made anymore if she’s mourning the loss of a favourite (eBay could help). Or buy the pricey parfum version of her favourite scent. Eau de toilette is the cheap version and it doesn’t last as long.
Loathe ‘em: A can of Impulse body spray should do the trick.

Lingerie – eeek! Be very careful here! No-one wanted lingerie even though a few women got it.
Love ‘em: Don’t buy her anything that looks vaguely like a hooker on Halloween would wear ie red and black. Lace, or broderie anglaise in white or pale pink tones is less about sex and more about making her feel pretty (which does make her feel sexy). Please check her size from her underwear drawer. Women can’t bear receiving something too small – or too large with this type of very body-conscious gift.
Loathe ‘em: Well you can really go to town here and give her some of the nastiest polyester underwear around. Something that looks like it’s been bought in a shop favoured by men in raincoats should appall her enough to know it’s never gonna work.

Meal/picnic – this was pretty popular!
Love ‘em: Book a cosy table for two at a beautiful restaurant she’s been longing to dine at where she gets the chance to really dress up, the music and lighting is low and the waiters give seamless service. Book a taxi so you can toast to your relationship over a bottle of champagne.
Loathe ‘em: Make sure the takeaway cafe has at least one chipped laminated table you can sit at while you wait for your greasy order along with the local tattooed bikies. Bonus points if it has eye-wateringly bright fluorescent lighting, tiled floors to increase the noise and slipping factor, and a really basic menu (“Steak with chips”) with spelling mistakes in plastic sleeves.

Romantic personalised gift – this was the second-most wished-for Valentine’s Day gift.
Love ‘em: Give her something special that’s about her (first) or your relationship (second). It needs to be something she can keep and enjoy, and that features her name (and hopefully yours, too), birthdate, or photo. It also needs to have good “boast factor” so she can enjoy showing it off to her friends.
Loathe ‘em: I don’t think anyone would create anything personalised for someone they wanted to dump or they’d be sending mixed messages.

Weekend away – hurray! This was THE most wished-for Valentine’s Day gift.
Love ‘em: Whisk her away somewhere special where she can relax, feel pampered and have plenty of time to enjoy being with you. Whether it’s an island resort, a cosy, antique-filled B&B, a Love Boat-style cruise, a health spa or a fancy city hotel, a romantic getaway will win you major points!
Loathe ‘em: Tell them you’ve booked a weekend away at a resort. With someone else.