Too many of us rely on everyday gifts with no personal meaning. Adding a personal touch can often make a gift more memorable, as well as showing a deeper sense of appreciation. After all, personal gifts aren’t just impulse buys – they require more thought and careful selection. Here are just a few inspirations for a personal gift.
Match their hobbies and passions
Gifts related to hobbies and passions are certain to be appreciated. However, they can be risky gifts. What if you buy a gift that they already have? What if their interests are so niche that you don’t understand them?
You maybe able to find expert advice online for niche passions such as these gift ideas for medical students. Alternatively, you may be able to go into a store and get recommendations from the owner such as a sports shop when looking for a gift for a gym enthusiast.
Sometimes it can be better to play it safe with small thematic novelty gifts. This could include a chocolate guitar for an avid guitarist or a novelty wine glass for a wine enthusiast.
Share memories
You may be able to bring back a special memory that you both shared. Photographs are a great personal gift – they cost little to produce and can show creativity. If you want to go the extra mile, don’t just settle for a single framed photo. Consider creating a photo album or a photo collage with lots of memories on it. Alternatively, you could get a large photo printed with acrylic on canvas. You could even get a photo printed on a keyring or a fridge magnet.
Photographs aren’t the only way to share memories and there may be items that you can buy to remind you both of special times you shared together. This could be a quirky food or drink that you both has somewhere, a reminder of a location you both visited or even an ornament related to a private joke. You could even regift old items that you’ve hung onto all these years and that the recipient may have forgotten about. These gifts might not mean much to other people, but are certain to be appreciated by the recipient.
Keep up a running gag
Running gag gifts are gifts that stick to a theme and are given out to one person at every birthday and Christmas event. You should take care when buying these gifts. You don’t want to jump on the bandwagon if you weren’t part of the original joke. You also don’t want to buy something that annoys or offends the recipient. Get creative with these gifts and consider practical items related to these themes rather than ornaments and soft toys.
Go bespoke with clothing
Clothing is a common gift choice, but many people stick to accessories like ties and socks. Bespoke clothing can often make more of an impact. It’s one-of-a-kind and therefore immediately has more novelty.
Bespoke clothing could be tailored to someone’s exact measurements. This could be difficult to achieve if you don’t already know the person’s measurements – you don’t want to resort to guesswork. However, if you do know someone’s measurements this is certain to be the ultimate gift.
Another way to personalise clothing could be to consider monogramming. This involves embroidering someone’s initials into a piece of clothing. This could be a dress, a hat, a scarf or even the pocket of a suit jacket. Monogrammed baby clothing is very popular and certain to be appreciated by the parents.
You may also be able to tailor accessories to someone’s interests. This could include earrings or a necklace pendant shaped like dolphins or a dress covered in pineapples.
Also consider people’s heritage. Someone’s surname may have Scottish or Irish roots and may have a tartan associated with it. Alternatively, you may be able to find clothing related to a country that means something to the recipient.
Create a personalised message
Cards aren’t the only places for personalised messages. You may be able to engrave a personal message onto a metal phone case or into a wooden picture frame. This could be something romantic for a partner or something funny for a friend. You’ll find personalised engraving services online that can send these items to your address.
There are also some chocolatiers that can do personalised messages on chocolate plaques. This could be a more personal foody gift instead of just getting a box of chocolates.
Handcraft a gift
If you know a craft, you may be able to pour your creative energy into making a personalised gift for that special person. Your recipient is certain to appreciate the time and effort you’ve put into it.
This gift could be something to wear. If you know how to knit or crochet, you may be able to craft a scarf or a blanket. If you know how to make jewellery, you may be able to craft an item to someone’s taste complete with a themed pendant.
Alternatively, it could be a foody gift. You may be able to make them a personalised cake or brew your own beer for them.
Even if you don’t have a craft, you may be able to still build your own personal gift by getting creative. You could create a CD for someone with lots of special songs on it that mean something to that person. You could handcraft your own birthday or Christmas card, avoiding the card-building sites and using your own resources. And then of course, there’s the idea of collating a photo album for someone as previously discussed.
