It’s already November, and it is a perfect time to start your gift hunting for all your loved ones this Christmas and New Years. Finding the best gift every year is not an easy task, more so if you have plenty of people to buy presents for! One thing is spending the right amount of money overall so you don’t starve yourself for Christmas, but you also need to ensure that you don’t get them something they would not need or use.
To help you out with your gift choices, we are going to list to you some perfect gift ideas for your colleagues, family and finally friends to help you get your brainstorming rolling.
Colleagues
Coasters
Buying gifts for your colleagues allows you to fill in the empty spaces of the things they need at their office space more than their homes. Have a colleague who loves to have their coffees and is not the last person to make a mess? Get them some Instagram-worthy coasters to use on their desk. These are available at boutique shops all around Singapore and make a perfect, small gift for your neighbour at work.
Pin-Up Board
This is another work-related gift. Pin-up boards are amazingly useful for those whose job scope involves plenty of deadlines and people to chase after. Yes, you can use a notebook to track these dates, but nothing beats something written in Red and capitals staring at you right in front of your desk. You’ll be doing them a huge favour is they are a slightly forgetful person usually.
Speakers
Have a colleague who loves to groove to music while they work? Although your boss may not be fully fond of this idea, getting your colleague mini speakers for work might do the trick for this Christmas. Music lightens and livens the mood up in any room, and if your boss is not a fan of hard rock or pumping music, your colleague could always switch it to some instrumentals for the day!
Chocolates in a Jar
Seems like a simple gift, but getting them their favourite chocolates and placing them in a huge mason Jar as a tiny little hamper could make the day for many people. You can mix it up by adding some savoury bites as well, like crackers, and they would absolutely love you for the next few weeks whenever they are able to snack in between work. You can take this a step further and stock up your pantry instead as a little Christmas treat for all your colleagues!
Cactus
Fancy seeing little pots of Cactus by office desks in television series? Maybe this might be a good time to get your colleagues (and yourself) a couple of small pots of cactus to freshen up your office environment. These fellows need very little watering, are definitely able to survive in your office temperature, and would be pleasing to the eyes to look at once in awhile. Small pots of cacti come in plenty of colours for the pots and accessories, so you can have some fun customising things for your colleague. Just remember not to place them somewhere where you might accidentally poke yourself with the needles!
Water Bottle
Got a colleague who isn’t hydrating themselves enough with the weather? This might be a perfect time to stop advising and start acting, and to get them a water bottle that they would really like. Having your own bottle around filled with water makes you more inclined to remind someone of their thirst and take sips of water throughout the day. You might actually save your colleague’s kidneys and health with your present!
Family
Photo Album or Photo Frame
We have always seen fancy photo albums or family tree frames in photo shops but have actually never gone down to simply have a look at one to purchase it. Most of us find the idea very unique and we enjoy looking at them at the shops, so why not bring it to your house? It will be a gift for yourself and everyone at home to have their best photographs up and nicely laid out with their loved ones.
Another gift idea with the same concept is to get all your nice photos in your handphones and digital cameras printed out instead of keeping them as a soft copy for your laptops and computers. Nothing beats having physical copies of photographs being put up on the wall for you to walk by everyday and smile. Hiding your photographs in hard drives tends to make you forget the many good moments you have had as well!
Tickets for a Trip
Want to really surprise your family? Bring back home tickets for a short trip or a cruise for everyone to take some time off their work and studies this holidays. You don’t have to go anywhere too far, with plenty of spots in Malaysia and Indonesia just a stone’s throw away from Singapore. Try to hint to your partner or your parents to check when they are free, then make the plans – no doubt this is going to sweep your loved ones off their feet and keep them really excited for the holidays ahead!
Watch
Timepieces are an essential accessory for everyone. They can be expensive, but are a lifelong companion and is something that we would use every day, and quite frequently within the day too. Often, we choose to buy our own watch or buy a single family member a watch and get the rest other items. Why not go for a package where you can find a suitable watch for everyone under the roof and still maximise savings? Plenty of such options are available at stores and not only would you save money, but you give everyone at home a chance to wear their best timepiece out the next time you head out for an event.
Finish it off with Necessities
Spend a little more effort for your family this year and let them know how much they really mean to you. Set aside a special gift for each family member, which does not need to be something you feel they need to have – it can be something to simply pamper them with. But at the same time, make sure that all the necessities they need to get their new year rolling on is purchased for them as well. All of these don’t have to be expensive presents, but covering both areas of need and want would certainly make your loved ones feel very loved!
Friends
Make Up or Make Up Brushes
Finally for friends – this might seem like the easiest thing to do since we know our friends from shades of their lives and feel we would be able to get the perfect gift in seconds. However, we also know how picky some of them can be and might struggle with finding the right present to please them.
Make up or getting a set of make up brushes would be a good gift for a female friend. With the countless videos on Instagram and Facebook on different styles of dolling up, your friend will have a good time experimenting for her upcoming events and nights out.
Headphones
This is a more unisex choice and something that we don’t often consider getting for ourselves or for our loved ones. Earphones or headphones are important accessories for many of us who commute via public transport every day to work or to school. Killing time during commute is easily done with good music, and good music is only going to be honey to our ears if we have good head or earphones to do the trick. Instead of going for something cliche like Beats, try researching and investing on other brands like Audiotechnica or have a look at Kickstarter for something interesting to pop up!
Polaroid
Again another unisex choice, this is another opportunity to stop storing all of our lovely moments in our computers and phones. Polaroid cameras started becoming popular a couple of years ago and are still highly favoured in the market because of how convenient and simply adorable they are. They are perfect for day outings and short getaways. Even if you don’t want to take all the photos with your polaroid, you can take your group shots and memorable moments with your loved ones with it and make copies of it for everyone involved. Such a memory it would be if you are able to pin it up somewhere in your work space or in your room right?
Wine
This is a common idea for either your family, colleagues or friends and this option is never going to go wrong. Everyone loves to have some wine to celebrate Christmas day and more than getting the wine for yourself, the joy is indeed in giving it for someone else to appreciate. This would be a perfect gift for ardent wine lovers and collectors as well.
This is definitely a non-exhaustive list; we are sure you would have plenty of ideas too on what to gift your loved ones with. But we hope to have at least kindled some kind of thoughts on your gift planning for this year!
