Tammie Durkin builds gifts around what the recipient enjoys, including the wrapping.
A watering can holds seed packets in the teacher-appreciation gift Tammie Durkin shared with Debjo’s Boutique. It answers the gift question through the container as well as the contents: what would this particular person enjoy?
Durkin’s Ryder & Co. Creative Services makes personalized gifts and celebration details on Long Island. In her written interview, she described gathering information about the recipient before bringing the pieces together.
That information gives a theme something to do. The garden supplies in the photograph belong together because they point toward a shared interest rather than just filling a basket.
Ask about the recipient first
Durkin says she has always enjoyed gifts that reflect someone’s personality and interests. A gift registry or a theme can supply the beginning of the design.
When she doesn’t know the person, she asks about their favorite things and style. Those answers help her choose what belongs in the gift and what can be left out.
“From there, I bring everything together, right down to the wrapping and presentation,” she wrote. “I believe the magic of gifting begins before the gift is even opened!”
Her Easter-basket photograph shows that attention in the fabric lining and the way the rabbit decorations and treats are arranged. It is an example of past work, so use the theme as a conversation starter rather than a promise about today’s selection.
The gift may already be chosen
If choosing the contents is finished and wrapping is what remains, Durkin points to Wrapped in Magic. The gift-wrapping service handles the part people see before opening the present.
Its website describes paper, ribbons, bows and personalized tags. Ask about the look you want and the price for your request, the wrapping can carry the idea without making you choose another gift.
Sometimes the guests make the keepsake
Durkin also highlights Ryder’s Stuffables, a stuff-your-own plush activity brought to a celebration. She says guests choose and fill a plush friend, then name it and complete an adoption certificate.
Here the experience supplies the personal connection: the guest helps make the thing they take home. Durkin also welcomes custom requests across the company’s gifts and party creations.
Take an occasion, needed date and budget to Ryder & Co.’s website, along with something the recipient enjoys. A detail as plain as their interest in gardening gives the gift a better starting point than guessing what belongs in a basket.