Whether birthday or holiday or anniversary, the gift card has officially exhausted its welcome as the ideal present. Cookie cutter blouses or ties scream: “Lack of effort and thought.” And let’s face it, not everyone has the same taste in wine.

It’s time to break out your creative side, Columbus.

There are plenty of opportunities – from customizing a fashion T-shirt to creating a signature candle or perfume. The city is full of businesses that offer hands-on involvement in the creative process, letting you give a special, one-of-a-kind gift, while getting a one-of-a-kind memory in return.

It all makes scents
Create your personal fragrance at Earth Elements, at 1407 Grandview Ave. If smell is the sense most connected to memory, then choosing your signature scent is no small task. It will reflect every bit of your style.

The shop uses 100 percent organic, natural perfumes, which, according to owner Nyongson Pae, helps your body adapt more quickly.

“You can come in and tell us what types of scents you like – floral or woody or maybe spicy odors. Then we go through the different possible scents you have as options and put together a combination of top, middle and base notes,” Pae says.

Call 614-488-8570 for more information.

Repurposing with style
The store that is a stickler for style, and substance, gives its customers the chance to be a designer for a day. At Substance for Fashion Conscious People, in the Short North, design is inspired by the consumer. Its design lab regularly repurposes salvaged and overstocked items into pieces customers individualize. “Ultimately we want customers to know ‘it’s made for me,’” says Michele Ulmer, visual branding manager.

Substance goes a step further to give the consumer complete creative license to design a look in a workshop setting. “We like to open up the design process,” Ulmer says. By providing a base T-shirt, which the customer tries on first to confirm comfort, Substance sends people home with a one-of-a-kind piece they designed themselves with block stamping, hand painting or embellishment.
Visit www.shopsubstance.com.  

Baking the world a better place
Brownie Points, a company featured on Food Network, The Today Show, CNN and Rachel Ray, invites customers to experience the process behind its products. Guests suit-up in hair nets, aprons and gloves to take an experiential tour. These do-it-yourselfers have a chance to make chocolate covered brownies and cookies, gourmet buckeyes, popcorn and other confections.

Although tourists don’t actually bake, they get the overall idea of the process that makes Brownie Points unique. “It’s definitely a labor of love here,” says Founder Lisa King. “Even when things are bad in the world, people are happy when they’re with chocolate.”

Visit www.browniepointsinc.com.  

Burning for you
The Candle Lab doesn't merely provide customers with scents for their home; they give them their perfect, signature scent. In a world filled with options, customization is the future of retail. “It's new, it's different, but it's very necessary," says Kurt Weaver, co-owner of The Candle Lab.

Customers come in after store hours to pour candles with customized scents. The Candle Lab offers more than 120 fragrance oils that can be mixed and matched to achieve perfection.

Although candles and scents may seem to be a woman’s area of expertise, customers at the Candle Lab transcend age and gender. “Guys are using more lotions and potions and sauces than ever before, and it's neat to see them get into that,” Weaver says.

Customers enjoy the novelty of do-it-yourself projects and like to get involved, he adds. The Candle Lab now has stores in Grandview, Worthington and Gahanna. Visit www.thecandlelab.com.  

Let’s be clay-mates
Evolve beyond your childhood paint-by-numbers experiences at Clay Café in Grandview. The paint-your-own pottery studio allows customers to drop in and decorate any type of clay piece they want – from vases to mugs to plates.

Nancy Kanter and Julie Byrne opened the studio 12 years ago after Kanter visited a similar business in California. “It was the coolest place I had ever seen. I am not an artist, but Julie is, so I figured we could do this. It’s an amazing idea,” Kanter says.

There is no messy clay play here, nor do you have to worry about improperly firing up the kiln. “They get to do the fun part, not the messy part,” Kanter explains. Clay Café does offer various techniques beyond painting, for those who “aren’t feeling particularly creative.” Otherwise, all is fair.

“People have fun at the café. It always surprises me when people say they can’t make something – they always end up surprising themselves, which is always nice,” Byrne adds. Visit www.claycafecolumbus.com.  

Downtown residents also have the chance to create their own clay creations at Clayspace 831, on Front Street. Workshops are available for all ages, including potter’s wheel classes, as well as open studio time. Visit www.clayspace831.com.  

Glass City
Dale Chihuly, look out! Glass Axis in Grandview offers visitors the opportunity to design and create their own unique glass art – from jewelry to vases to ornaments or paperweights. “We have a lot of class opportunities, almost every weekend and sometimes during the week for people to come in and learn about glass art or create their own work,” says Heidi Rozell, studio manager.

Classes include stained, mosaic, glass blowing, bead making, fused glass and more, in hot, warm and cold glass processes. “We try and teach as many different types of glass art as possible, so the community knows more about it. They don’t have to be intimidated by it,” Rozell says.

Participants can even choose to continue their glassblowing education, with a progression of classes that have higher degrees of difficulty. “We get everyone in here to try it. It’s exciting to see people be part of this amazing process and to treasure their creation,” Rozell says. “Columbus is a great city for glass.”

Class schedules are available on-line at www.glassaxis.org.  

Don’t be baaa-shful
Make sure you’re sufficiently warm this winter by attending the Make it Yourself with Wool event on Nov. 1 at the Ohio Expo Center, 717 E. 17th Ave. Call 614-644-3247 or visit www.ohiosheep.org.