Photo credit: peopleforgood.ca

Ok here’s a giftly holiday challenge for you. Tomorrow morning, buy a coffee for the stranger in line behind you. Really.

This is one of many mini challenges suggested by peopleforgood.ca, who have launched an online movement for goodness. Visitors to the site enter their own ideas to pay it forward, and there are some good ones. I particularly appreciated “Give a high-five to a stranger you pass on the street.” LOVE it! Ideas that resonate with the organization’s founders get turned into public ads, like the one pictured above at Yonge & Eglinton in Toronto.

I first discovered this movement with their iPhone app. When you tap or shake your phone, it presents you with a sweet little colourful challenge of goodness. (Inner warmth at no extra charge.)

peopleforgood.ca

Jason Allen

Photo credit: reallycoolpix.com

Let’s suppose for a second that people had less to do to prepare for the holidays: fewer gifts to buy; less food to plan; shorter distances to travel. Now that the season is less stressful, do you think more people would dress in costume? Lots of the other lesser famous holidays have costumes involved: Halloween, obviously; people wear fuzzy green hats on St. Patrick’s Day and there are a few bunny ears here and there for Easter. So why not the Christmas season?

Photo credit: buycostumes.com

Presenting Haft2Know What2Give No. 8 – Christmas costumes! The good people at buycostumes.com wish you would extend your dress-up buying to this time of year and they offer an entire seasonal array of options to help you do so. Giant gingerbread men, all members of the Claus family, the Christmas tree itself with gift box shoes to boot, (sorry) – they’re all here.  There’s even a costume for your crabby Uncle Pete, (below).

Photo credit: buycostumes.com

On a slightly more serious note, I do think that if at least one of you at your holiday gathering dresses up in costume, it’ll be a year to remember for sure.

Photo credit: buycostumes.com

Here are more holiday costume suggestions.

Jason Allen

Photo credit: hamiltonjewelers.com

Depending on where in the world you are, you might not believe that holiday time is upon us and that within a matter of weeks we’ll be wrapping up our days at work to dig ourselves into Christmas and food-fuelled afternoon naps. To prepare for the season, we are very happy to present ‘Haft2Know What2Give 2011′, in which we’ll count down our top ten gift recommendations for this holiday season – some for real, some for wow factor, and some because they just feel good.

So let’s begin.

Photo credit: tatt.ly

Who doesn’t love a subscription to something? It’s the gift that keeps on giving, month after month for the entire year. And who wouldn’t love a subscription of these bad-boy tattoos from Tattly? Truth be told they’re temporary, and they’re more ‘saucy-hipster-boy’ than they are bad-boy, but who cares? Look at ‘em!

Photo credit: tatt.ly

When you give someone a gift subscription to Tattly, he or she will receive 8 tats per month for the next six months. This is the perfect gift to roll up your sleeve and show to your mother on Christmas morning.

Tattly

Welcome to the holiday season, everyone.

Haft2
Jason Allen

Photo credit: tatt.ly