Creative thinking is one of the best ways of ensuring your gifts are truly appreciated and treasured by the recipient. Even if you can't seem to come up with a completely original idea, adding an international flair to a popular gift item is equally effective.

Holiday Themed Gifts

Has the person you're purchasing a gift for recently returned from a holiday, or has he or she got a big trip planned in the near future? There's great scope to give travel themed gifts that will either remind the recipient of the great time they had abroad, or make them look forward to their upcoming holiday even more.

For someone planning a holiday, guidebooks are an excellent gift as are essentials such as sun hats for hot destinations, or mittens and other woolens for those heading to chillier climates.

For those who've recently returned home, food items or other souvenir-style items are good choices. Or you could buy a gift voucher for a restaurant serving the cuisine of the country they visited.

Cultural Gifts

Is there a particular culture your friend is interested in or even fascinated by? Perhaps he or she studied a language at school, or spent time studying abroad? Invest in a gift that is somehow connected with those memories or that interest.

Books are quite an obvious choice. For example, if the person likes all things French, you may wish to give a French cookbook. Or if the person is a fan of all things Greek, you could give a book on mythology. Another idea that works particularly well if the person is in the midst of renovating their home, is to give a book on design.

Is your friend a fashionista? Buy a piece of clothing by a local designer or from a store. For example, Malene Birger is a Danish designer whose pieces are readily available in the UK, and COS is a Swedish clothing shop.

Gourmet Gifts

One of the easiest ways of ensuring a truly international gift is by giving food and beverages. In the run up to Christmas, many shops have a tendency to broaden their selection by stocking up on produce from around the world. It's not only gourmets who'll appreciate receiving these goodies. Most people enjoy the opportunity to spice up their life by trying out some new flavours.

You could either assemble a range of exotic items from different countries around the world, or pick one country to focus your selection on. Likewise, foods could either be Christmas themed or non-seasonal.

International goods worth including are Moroccan tajine spice mixes, Turkish sweets or baklava, Greek olive tapenades, dried Chinese mushrooms, Japanese rice candy or botan, Jamaican jerk, Australian Tim Tam biscuits, Brazilian acai berries, German rye bread, Estonian white chocolate with blueberries, and more.

British Christmas hampers could include items such as chutneys, scones, malt loaf, oatcakes, Christmas pudding, crisps, boiled sweets, specialty tea, fudge and more.

American food hampers could include popular items like pop tarts, marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, Lucky Charms cereal, maple syrup, cookies, and cake mixes.