Have you ever had to come up with a last-minute gift for a birthday party or another event? I’ve found that having a gift closet is a great way to avoid last-minute trips to the store.

Storage

I keep all the gifts in my basement, in a section only for gifts. This way I am able to remember what I bought. I also add sticky notes, noting who this would be a good gift for. And when it comes to regifting, be sure to add notes, saying who gave you the gift, so you don’t regift back to them!

Events

Here are some occasions to keep in mind when you are stocking your gift closest:

birthday parties
Christmas
graduations
anniversaries
weddings
baby showers
Easter
Mother’s Day
Father’s Day

What Kind of Gifts?

Here are some ideas of what I have stockpiled over the years.

Anniversaries- Depending on the year, the 25th, which is silver, and 50th is gold, you can create a collage in Shutterfly (I did this for my in-law’s 35th anniversary), framed photos of the couple on their wedding day, or convert some old video tapes of them to computer-ready format, so they can be shared on Facebook and emailed to family and friends.

Baby showers — Diapers, wipes, and a favorite board book, all are good ideas. Think practical! I also like diaper cake ideas, you can find instructions on Pinterest.

Birthday parties — Board games, dolls, gift cards, books. For older kids, you can’t go wrong with gift cards. A good time to stock up is when Target has its clearance sale in January and July.

Weddings — This is harder to stock up on, because I normally go off the person’s registry list. But if you want to have basic gifts on hand, you can’t go wrong with gift baskets, photo frames from Pottery Barn, a memory box. My go-to sources for wedding gifts are Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and Williams Sonoma. They regularly have sales online and in-store.

Graduations — Prepackaged treats, a gift box of cleaning supplies, movie tickets, restaurant gift cards, and of course, cash!