Holiday gift-giving can be the perfect way to show a special girlfriend how much you appreciate her friendship and support throughout the year—if the gift giving is done in true girlfriend spirit. To help you find great gifts and stay in a holiday mood (no stressing out allowed), GirlfriendCelebrations.com presents our first annual gift-giving guide, in two parts.

Today we’ll review some basic “rules” that make shopping and giving more fun and gratifying for everyone. Next time, we’ll share some ideas and links to girlfriend gifts that meet our criteria for fun and meaningful ways to say “Happy Holidays, Girlfriend!”

Part 1: “The Rules” of Shopping and Giving

When buying a gift for your friend, remember some basic “rules” to keep yourself from turning into a shopping Scrooge:

1.  Focus on your girlfriend.  Put a few minutes of thought into this.  What can you get her, make her, or do for her to enrich her life?   Remember this key question when shopping.  If it doesn’t enrich her life in some way, she probably doesn’t need it.
            We’ve found that a great girlfriend gift does one of the following:

• Draws from shared interests or qualities you cherish in your friendship;
• Celebrates her femininity;
• Helps her nurture herself;
• Is something decadent that your friend would not purchase for herself;
• Enriches her life without adding to the clutter.  Spa services or theater tickets, for example, are nurturing gifts that don’t take any shelf space.

2.  Make it fun.  Meet your pals for some girlfriend time at the mall; spend a few hours shopping together.  This is an easy way to get a first-hand view of what they like, want or need.

3.  Get an early start.  Waiting until the last moment to shop only adds stress to your season.  Why would you do that?   Yes, there may be good deals on Christmas Eve, but that bargain is probably the gift that no one wanted at a price you couldn’t pass up.  Your friendship is worth more than that. 

4.  Stick to a timeframe.  Allow yourself only a few hours to visit select shops (or websites), and then go do something you enjoy.  Having a timeframe to accomplish priorities helps to eliminate the temptation to browse for yourself (plenty of time for that during the post-holiday sales).

5.  Forget pressure. A true friend would rather get no gift at all, than one you spent hours aimlessly "stressing-out" to find. Holiday gifts are, after all, just icing on the cake–an extra "bonus," you might say. Your friendship itself is the true gift, and it’s priceless.