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Gift & Gifting Encyclopedia

Meaning and symbolism

Choose the sentence behind your gift, and explore how an everyday object or shared moment can carry personal meaning.

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Meaning and symbolism

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Before choosing the object, try finishing this sentence: “I wanted to give this because…” Explore how gratitude, remembrance, welcome and affection can take a practical form. A familiar object or shared moment may carry a personal connection. Its meaning still belongs to the context and to the person receiving it, with room for their own interpretation.

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Connections that matter

Give the meaning your own words

An intention, a shared memory and a personal note can each start the story.

  1. Name the intention

    What would you like the gesture to say?

  2. Return to a shared moment

    Choose an accurate detail that belongs to you both.

  3. Write your own meaning

    A plain sentence can carry the connection.

A good place to begin

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Meaning and symbolism. Choose a different collection below to widen your search.

30 articles in this collection

Continue exploring

Picture the moment they find their name on the parcel and unfold the note. Wrapping, arrangement and a few accurate words can help a gift feel easy to receive. Explore simple methods, reusable materials and messages in your own voice. Read the diagrams alongside the explanations, then try physical folds and arrangements with the real materials before the handover.

Wrapping, presentation and messages →

Follow a useful thread

Keep exploring the question that caught your attention.

  • English reviewOne fragrance, several memoriesFollow a remembered scent without treating your association as someone else’s preference.
  • English reviewBuild around an existing pleasureFollow a routine the person already enjoys instead of assigning them a new one.