“A book is a gift you can open again and again.” – Garrison Keillor
A gift is never measured by its price. A true gift is always measured by its meaning (and sometimes its usefulness too).
You don’t have to buy expensive gifts to show how much you value the other person. Simple ideas that convey true genuine feelings have more lasting and meaningful impact.
There is a smart trick to make your simplest ordinary gifts unique. The trick is to be creative on the wrapping. Some of the gift ideas below might seem ordinary. But, with a creative wrapping, it will look unique and surprising.
Here are three rules of thumb for giving gifts:
- A gift must be appropriate and relevant to the person.
- Always go for anything handmade.
- Gifts should be memorable, not expensive.
So, let’s look at 55 simple gift ideas that are unique and memorable:
- A Small Nice Mirror with a message that says, “This is to see how beautiful you’re everyday”
- Flowers. It’s the all-time super emotional gift.
- Handmade Journal with a Little Pen
- Empty glass jar with nice stickers on it and filled with colored sea salt body scrubs.
- Lip gloss
- Flash USB Memory loaded with personal photos you had with the receiver.
- Night Light
- Meditation singing bowl
- Cotton Bath Robe
- Love coupons (from Tina at ThinkSimpleNow.com). The idea simply is to make a little coupon book containing favors you would do for the receiver, like airport pickup.
- Scented candles.
- Meditation music CD.
- Photo album containing photos of memories you shared together.
- Spa/Massage voucher.
- Gift certificates for the person’s favorite shops.
- Photo frame. Handmade or Digital.
- Cordless Skype phone.
- Moleskin Pocket Notebook. I love it.
- Non-fiction books of interest.
- Novels or fiction books.
- Bath oils.
- Personalized mug. You can create your own at Ceramics Cafe.
- A cool pen.
- Gift basket/box filled with goodies.
- Music CD burned with the person’s favorite songs.
- Handwritten letter. Let your heart talk.
- A small plant.
- Personalized T-shirt.
- If you can, knit something for him/her.
- “I appreciate you jar” (from Leo Babauta at ZenHabits.com) The idea simply is to fill a nice jar with slips of paper, each with a reason you appreciate (or love) someone.
- DVD for his/her favorite movie.
- Written poem.
- Paint a picture, if you can.
- Hand painted picture of his/her face.
- Make-up set.
- Shaving kit.
- Box of tea and/or tea cups.
- Box of delicious handmade bakery.
- Dip bowl set.
- Storage tote.
- Decorative soaps.
- Chocolate basket.
- Perfume.
- Voucher for dinner at his/her favorite restaurant.
- Glass teapot.
- Bamboo Mug tree.
- Conceal Bookshelf.
- Fish bowl.
- Electronics accessories. e.g. iPad case.
- Fondue set.
- Birds in a bird house.
- Cookbook stand.
- Fragrance diffuser set. (Aromatherapy)
- Coffee Maker.
- Subscriptions. For example, one-year favorite magazine subscription.
Do you have more simple gift ideas to share? Let’s make it a list of 100 ideas!
* Photo Credit: by asenat29
** If you found this post useful, please give it a LIKE and share it with someone you care about.
Love your list Tohami. I need a brand new kitchen in my home, I don’t think anyone can afford that gift though.
Hahaha! You need to have rich friends then.
I’m surprised lip gloss is on your list!
Yeah! It can mean a lot
Mohamed, you are so right about presentation. I am known for my creative gift wrapping. It seems to garner more compliments than the gift, ha!ha! Presentation in everything we do is so important. Life is in the details
. Here in Hawaii, we also give flower lei as gifts. I love that tradition. Money is always appreciated as well. The key is to give it creatively. If not a money lei, it can be wrapped in a tier of gift wrapped boxes. Smaller denominations to larger denominations in coordinating sizes of boxes. My Dad used to always say, “If I had a nose full of nickels (US 5 cent), I would sneeze a fortune your way”. I wrap a roll of nickels with Dad’s saying each year as one of my daughters Christmas stocking stuffers. I have also given a roll of pennies (US 1 cent) as part of a gift saying, “A penny for your thoughts”. Gifts of flowering plants and green plants I have found are also appreciated. And, you are so correct that handmade is the best gift of all.
Another idea for gifting money is to place it in a red envelope. Customary in the chinese culture.
I recently gave a gift card to a favorite chinese take-out restaurant. I purchased a take-out container,disposable chopsticks and a fortune cookie from the restaurant. I wrapped the gift card and fortune cookie in the container. Tied the top with a red ribbon and the chopsticks that I had printed and glued “Happy Birthday” to/from on. No need to purchase a card.
WoW! That’s a very creative way of gift wrapping! You’re truly talented in this area. Is it the breeze of Hawai that makes people that creative?
It could be the trade winds, haha! Keeps everything moving. No pollution or smog here either. A sense of place where life moves a little slower and the attitude is one of “Hang loose” and “No worries”. It is wonderful place to live.
it helps me a lot ! thnx
I find that the gifts that are dearest to me are the ones that I can tell that people put their hearts and thoughts into. It’s not the price of the gift but the thought and love that was put into it. Gifts like those mean a lot