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.

If your boyfriend, husband, girlfriend or wife (or all four!) work in the airlines, sales, military, engineering, mining or diplomatic fields AND they will be out of town on Valentines Day, it’s quite possible you’ll be sending them an electronic gift card or certificate if they can’t be with you on the day.

This year Valentines Day falls on a Sunday which means you’ll be paying premium rates to get flowers and other gifts delivered on the day – if they offer weekend delivery at all - which makes it a far more attractive idea to send them an electronic gift certificate.

According to a recent survey, 68% of online shoppers said an e-gift certificate was more convenient than shipping physical plastic (or paper) gift certificates to the recipient while 80% said they would purchase an electronic gift certificate if their favourite etailer sold them.

An amazing 85% who planned to give gift cards were interested in purchasing online gift cards/certificates that could be personalised and sent via email.

Siblings (48%) and friends (45%) dominated the recipient category (remember, this was for Christmas, not Valentines Day) while the most popular type of gift card category was for restaurants (59%), followed by general retail (56%) and consumer electronics (35%). 

Just make sure you don’t send it to um, the wrong recipient…

Ever bid on eBay and been infuriated that your bid has been automatically topped by someone else? It’s human nature to bid higher to beat them.

Here’s a newish website which turns that practice on its head by letting you say what you’ll pay, and having sellers send you offers which you can ignore, accept or negotiate.

Aroxo is a UK website which seems to centre around most  electrical items - electronics, home audio & video, computing, gaming and kitchen and home appliances, many of which would be great for gifts, such as MP3 players or sat nav units (but most, really, for yourself).

You find what you want, list the price you’re willing to pay (which certainly helps with budgeting), and the sellers will come to you with offers. It’s rather like eBay’s Want It Now service which for some reason the auction giant has buried deep within their website.

And the Buzz section lists the latest items available for sale and the newest video reviews.

A clever new US gift registry has been launched which lets couples and singles save for a home deposit, renovation or furniture.

Hatch My House allows users to set up a registry, which through cute illustrations, allows gift-givers to pay towards a front door, a window or say, a new set of taps via payments from Paypal.

They pay a one-time fee of $24.95 and can create a “home” illustrated in the colour of their choice. Currently available in representative Craftsman or brownstone styles, visitors can vote for the next house style to be introduced, whether that’s a San Francisco-style Victorian Queen Anne, the Santa Fe-style of Spanish Revival, New Orleans’ French Provincial or Boston’s Federal style.

This gift registry could be a lot more palatable to people who want cash to buy a home – and to their guests who get a say in how it’s spent.

But it could even be used by families whose home has been destroyed by natural disaster or say for twentysomethings and thirtysomethings who are still living at home and need a little nudge to find their own place…

There’s no greater phrase that strikes fear into a woman’s heart than the phrase, “discontinued product” (well, maybe “bikini season,” and “No funds left”). When you really, really love a particular lipstick or nail polish or eyeshadow and they don’t make it anymore – arghhh!

Anyway, my mother is a fan of Revlon Colorstay lipstick and she freaked out when they stopped selling her favourite colour (335 – Opulent Garnet) and even got out her old lipstick brush to get right down the inside of the tube to get the remaining bit of colour (women understand this stuff).

So when I found a UK discounted cosmetics website called Blush Cosmetics that also ships worldwide, I thought I’d check it out. It stocks everything from bath and shower items to suntan lotion, featuring brands from Almay to YSL.

And hallelujah! It stocks the ever-elusive 335! It used to sell in Australia for the outrageous $29.95 but here, they sell for only GBP2.49 EACH. Even buying two, and shipping to Australia has only cost me $19 or so.

Now, of course, I’m not just going to give her the lipstick for Christmas – but my mother will think I’m a legend!

You’ve still got time. Why not ask your mother, sister, best friend, wife or girlfriend (in a casual way) about her favourite make-up item that was discontinued? You just might find it here (who knows?) but you’ll definitely make her (Christmas) day.

According to the respondents of a wedding anniversary gift survey I did, 10% of people stop giving themed anniversary gifts after the “first few anniversaries” while the majority don’t stick to any custom at all. I’m willing to bet that things can go awry with the third one for leather, especially after that, uh, scene in Pulp Fiction.

A more vanilla gift – depending on his political taste – might be the buffalo leather watch that Barack Obama has been wearing since the Secret Service presented it to him in 2007, or a leather-bound photo album.

While I still have visions of Ross in Friends (unsuccessfully) wearing a pair to impress a girl, your partner might rock out if you gave them a pair of cool leather pants or perhaps a classic leather jacket?

Ever been to Houston airport? I was struck by the kiosks there of cowboy boots in every colour, stitching and skin possible: would they wear a pair of those? Did I mention luxurious leather high heels? Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, yes please, I’m a size 8.5…

Car afficionados might adore it if you splurged on real leather seats, steering wheel covers or driving gloves, while there’s nothing like a buttery-soft leather handbag for women to “oooh!” over. Bike riders and horse riders alike might appreciate a new saddle.

Homewares ideas include a leather trinket tray that can be embossed, a sumptous leather armchair - perhaps you could find an old Chesterfield sofa on eBay? – or (I hope this doesn’t read too much like a gift from Hannibal Lecter!), an animal skin, whether that’s a simple Jersey cowhide or a vintage zebra skin.

Aside from making and baking your own Christmas gifts, how can you save money on gifts during the festive season?

1. Kris Kringle
Not everyone likes them, but if your family nominates that each person receives one present only, you could save yourself hundreds. But if you’re only going to receive ONE present, make sure you insist that the best gift-selector in your family does the choosing (armed with others’ money)!

2. Send lightweight presents
I don’t mean silly gifts, but in their actual weight. If your friends and family live dotted around the country, save money on postage (which will soon add up) by sending them some type of clothing, or costume jewellery or small techie things that weigh next to nothing. Books are notorious for weighing a ton so this is not the time to mail them War and Peace!

3. One really good hamper = 4+ gifts sorted
Instead of racking your brains and emptying your wallet buying your mum, dad, brother and sister a gift each (especially if you live intrastate, interstate or overseas), send one whole food hamper packed with chocolate, salted snacks, biscuits, pate etc. You should be able to get something for under $100 – which is cheaper than 4 or more presents.

4. One address = one sheet of wrapping paper
Wrapping paper (if you’re not buying in bulk) not only adds up in cost (usually $4.95 per sheet) but adds to the cost of your postage.  Wrap everyone’s presents in one sheet of paper with little tags to make sure Uncle Harry doesn’t think your teenaged sister’s belly ring is for him.

5. Got friends and family with kids – give ‘em a break
Make it easier for them to have a date night – give them a book of vouchers to the local cinema chain, or a restaurant gift certificate – all for about $50

6. Hunt for gifts-with-purchases
Google websites that offer goodies with your purchase. If you select wisely, that “gift” of say, a make-up bag can become a stand-by Christmas gift say, for an unexpected guest, or put away for an upcoming birthday.

7. Barter
IF you run your own business (and better yet if it’s some kind of item that could be given as a gift), you may be able to barter your goods and services for gift cards or other goods and services to the same value – it’s worth asking your suppliers!

8. Look in shops you may not normally associate with Christmas gifts
What about:
* your local office supplier for beautiful stationery for your aunt who still handwrites everything
* the food warehouse for trays of packaged chocolates that you can give as simple host/hostess gifts
* the hardware outlet may be having a sale on cute directors’ chairs, welcome mats or lattice screens for your friends who are doing up their garden
* the post office for fun little books for your young cousins
* the locksmith for fun keyrings with Disney, Pixar etc cartoons that you can give your under-10s who want to feel “grown-up”.

facebook is notorious for people posting all sorts of things about themselves.

Now you can manage your wedding gift registry on it! The new app, Gift Registry 360, created by The Knot wedding gift registry allows engaged couples to register for gifts at multiple retailers and to manage that list within facebook’s Weddingbook application.

The Gift Registry 360 application is apparently searchable on on five retailers – Macy’s, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn,  Target, and Crate and Barrel – which, to date, have partnered with The Knot. (Unfortunately, as of today, I couldn’t find any mention of the application on those five retailers…)

Couples can bookmark gifts from any online retailer and can upload images of items from bricks-and-mortar stores that don’t have a website, with a note that to buy that item,gift-givers must schlep to the store.

Sure beats going crazy with a zapper for three hours in a department store.

If you know – or represent – a gift website, how does it celebrate its anniversary with customers?

Do you offer free shipping? Two-for-one deals? Dollars or percentages off to match your birthday ie 15% off if your business is 15 years old?

I’m compiling a list of special offers provided by gift etailers for a special blog post - and I’d love to hear from you!

Have you ever signed up for a newsletter, which among other member benefits, offered you a discount on your birthday?

I have. And I’ve always put in my real birthday date, month and year (and noticed that I have to scroll down the drop-down year list even further these days)!

But as far as I can tell, no online retailers actually require you to prove it’s really your birthday. So this is where you can save money…

1. Create a fake birthday when you register
So if you”ve seen a wonderful gift or two online that would suit someone perfectly for their upcoming anniversary, their child’s christening, an engagement or wedding, or of course, their birthday, AND the etailer offers you a birthday discount if you sign up for their email newsletter, then you can save yourself 10%, 15% ,20% or even more off the gift in question by creating a birthday date in the future (although, not of course, this actual year!) as your birthday. (And you can always unsubscribe later).

My tip is, don’t enter today’s date (with your real birth year). Add at least one day or better yet, one week at least from the current date to your fake birthday registration details. This makes it look more genuine to the etailer and also gives you more time to look around their site at their other products. As I mentioned in an earlier post, you will save much more if you can use your percentage discount for a range of items in one purchase.

When you do receive your electronic discount for whatever goodies this online store sells, you can save yourself money on gifts for yourself and others. Yes, it’s a little naughty, but the etailer would rather get the sale than none…

For example, by signing up to the email newsletter from pet store Central Bark, you’ll receive 20% off on your pet’s birthday for gifts for your furry friend, while you can also receive 20% off items on your birthday when you sign up at lingerie etailer Fantasia Wear. Simply Google ”birthday discount” to discover who offers you a discount on your ahem,”birthday”.

2. Create a fake birthday for regular gifts
Are you the type of person who buys a similar type of product every year for someone? For example, my grandmother used to love getting food hampers so I’d buy her one of those filled with her favourite chocolates and savoury crackers every birthday.

Now that I write the Gifts By The Stars blog, I realise that if I’d taken about a week off her birthday date of 5 May, and made it say, 28 April, that I would have received my discount a week ahead of time to spend on her gift – and it would have reminded me too.

So plan ahead. Select one or two websites which seem to have appropriate gifts for your mother, register for the newsletter and enter HER birthday (less one week) so you can benefit from the resulting discount on her gift. Give yourself a birthday that happens to be two weeks prior to your friend’s engagement party so you can create a personalised engagement gift, for less. And so on. Can you use this approach with regular gifts for other people you know?

3. Get discounts on the company’s birthday
Similarly, you can also Google “birthday celebration offer” (plus the month you need the offer to be valid until, ie “November 2009″ so you don’t get old results). This comes up with a huge range of offers that you can enjoy as a new customer thanks to them celebrating their company’s birthday.