Add a personal message: "Congratulations on your success - no doubt you will have worked up a sweat to get this far!".

A great congratulations gift for your colleague or friend who has just been promotod is a gift voucher to a sporting-goods store for a new pair of running shoes to say "Congratulations! You are on the fast track!"

For a colleague or co-worker who has been promoted, give a small star: a paperweight in the shape of a star, star candy or even a piece of jewelry. Add a note saying "Congratulations on your stellar performance!"

A simple yet personal gift for anyone with a tendency to make notes on the back of grocery receipts and other bits of paper is a personalized notepad. You can tailor the personalization to refer in some way to the gift occasion or go for something standard like "From the desk of [name]". You can get all sorts of shapes and sizes, from self-sticking notepads to address labels.

Mark a special occasion or milestone by creating a personal scrapbook for the recipient. Get the whole family or a group of friends to participate and ask each of them to fill a couple of pages with their best wishes and personal memories, including photographs and other small items, to create a truly unique gift.

Make this gift more meaningful by including a few special songs when you purchase your choice of mp3-player.

Choose songs that relate to the recipient and yourself (songs from a joint vacation, a night out together, etc.) or which have a 'theme' (songs of encouragement, love songs, happy tunes). Explain the meaning behind your choice of songs in a personal message to make your gift perfect!