Over the period, many people actually straight up ask me, what do I suggest for a gift, i’m like
Instantly some many things running through in my head, I have no idea what to say at those moment, i mean, there are so many instances and so many options to match different situations.
Meaningful type of gift
This is usually the easier of the bunch, a gift that can hold a meaning for something, like birthday, anniversary, and so on. A little something that has a date on it, good for a birthday gift for friends, or just any date that is meaningful for you or for them.
Other than the date, photos are the next best item as a gift for a meaningful event. We love visual after all. A memento perhaps, a photo or image that can remind the them on the event. Let say, a close up photo of you putting wedding ring on her, with some decoration and creativity, it could be a good anniversary gift! Slightly more economical at that too ; )
There’s a saying in sales, “People buy because of emotion”.
So, any gift that is meaningful enough that can trigger emotions (well, the good one of course), is a good gift.
Hardwork type of gift
The value doesn’t count, the effort you put in is what it counts.
Heard of that sentence?
That usually refer to those DIY present, especially handcrafted art piece.
This can be many things, from origami to DIY doll, or even a cooked meal, as long as it is done by you, the willingness of making something for someone is the gift that you are giving.
Since effort is what that counts, therefore usually some dip in the aesthetic value can be overlooked. Some even take that as the unique point of the gift, the imperfection shows the true value of hand made.
So, when you are running out of ideas of what to BUY, try get into what to MAKE. There is a huge range of what you can make on the internet. Pinterest is especially good to get you started with the brainstorming, just try words like DIY or handcraft, happy making 🙂
Food type of gift
You see, a box of chocolate. Done.
If it is for friend who loves chocolate, then it would totally suitable!
In other occassions, maybe some local food that is unique to your area or some hard to get food could be a good gift too, well, for the not-so-serious kind of gift. Maybe a small celebration, or simply a gift for visitting your friend, they works too you know.
You know the friend of yours would not say no to macaroon, probably a pack of macaroon properly ribboned (totally a real word) would suit some situations.
Sometimes, just pack a few of their favourite snacks into a ribboned (again 🙂 ) basket, it could be a not too shabby gift, especially friends with sweet tooth. And you just reminded them you remember what they like 😉
The next level will be your own cooking or baking. This even half categorised as the “hardwork” type of gift.
Cooking for some important occassions is definitely the ultimate-skill to get them touched.
Imagine serving the food that you have prepared or just by claiming that you made the cookies in their hands, not only it shows your sincerity, but also gives you the sense of accomplishment (well, not the main point here XD ).
Stationery gift (LOL)
We all know there is such a niche, right? Things like pencil, pen, eraser, scissors, tape, even paper, those can be designed in such a way, the person who receives it will precious it like a treasure.
Especially very popular with the Japanese stationary.
I don’t know about you, but these things come to my mind when thinking about getting gift for pre- or primary-schoolers. Probably because I used to have the habit of collecting these things.
But sometimes, this can be good option for let say, your colleague/friend changing new job, move to a new desk, new work environment, they just bought a set of stationery but missing a few.
Lots of those washi tapes and sticky notes with interesting designs.
“It’s just a gift” gift
There is this type that we all usually pick as a present. A gift that the receiver does not value much. Out of nowhere, pick by intuition, or the laziness, or the urgency in the brain.
When you are just thinking “I need to buy something for this someone”, there is a high chance you are going to get just that gift, that is just a gift.
Most of you should have received a gift in your life that you felt like “meh”. It serves no purpose to you at that moment, it doesn’t excite you, it is not interesting, but it might be good looking as a gift! In the end, to you, it is just a gift, just another gift.
It is not about the price when we talk about the value here.
When the receiver doesn’t appreciate the gift, it would be just a something that takes up space.
You do not want to get this type of gift to someone important to you, not worth giving a gift that doesn’t value to them.
So, avoid this “this is just a gift” type of gift… Bit your tongue yet? 🙂
There’s a type called “flower”
What can I say, just straight up flower(s).
Girls, women, still loves to receive flowers thanks to all those perceptions that guys should buy girls flowers 🙂
It might not be practical, but in terms of cheering a girl’s mood up, it works.
It could also serve as an addition on top of other gifts you are giving, totally depends on whom you are giving to and the occasions.
What flower you should choose? How many? That is whole other story for other time, have your own research, make it your effort, even just gifting flowers.
There’s all for the types of gifts that I can roughly categorise based on my opinion, it depends on your knowledge and experience, you may have a different take on the types of gifts.
What are yours? Drop it in the comment and let see if I should broaden my categories 😉