The holiday season is underway and sometimes that means watching the dates on the calendar as they slip by in horror, knowing you still don’t have a gift for that one person. I covered what to get kids and teens earlier this week, so here’s a few ideas for adults.
For the Organizers
Everyone has at least one organizer in their family. The person who actually pulls off all those Pinterest hacks in their pantry while you’re staring at the mess of cans, pasta and who knows what else in yours wondering what sort of magic they had to perform to actually make that work. For the organizer planners are fantastic. Not only do you have the option of picking up a pretty one for them, you can easily find templates online so you can customize it to them personally–and include messages to them throughout the year to remind them how much you appreciate their effort.
Alternately, try a home management binder. These can be customized to their particular situation to help them budget, plan a menu, keep track of bills, contact information, important dates and practically anything else you can think of. This is also a great gift for anyone moving into their own home or apartment.
For the Chefs
I touched on this idea with the youth edition, but this one carries over here too: recipe and cook books. Again, this can be customized to match your budget and your culinary expert. If you make it yourself you can theme it as you like, and keeping it in three-ring binder makes it easy for them to flip through, reorganize and add recipes as they like. You might also consider leaving them a space to add any extra notes (for instance, if they know someone they’re cooking for hates Parmesan, so they make a note to substitute for another hard cheese like Romano or Asiago, or to double up on egg whites for a particular recipe).
For the Crafters
Various forms of crafting hobbies are really popular, so chances are you know someone who crafts something. Be that knitting baby booties or upcyling jewelry, the crafting industry is a huge one. If you have someone who uses a lot of random bits in their crafts, consider giving them a grab bag of odds and ends they can use. This might be old jewelry they can remake, interesting buttons, small pieces of leftover fabric, or other pieces they can use in their next crafting project.
Crafters also tend to have a lot of pieces that are destined for other people, so consider making them tags to attach to those pieces. These are pretty simple to make and can include who made them, ‘made by hand’ or ‘made with love’ on them. It’s a tiny, simple way of encouraging them to share their hobby and passion for what they love.
For the Travelers
Ever had someone tell you a story about that time they were in Rome? No, not that time, the other time they were in Rome. Yeah, that time! Gifting someone who travels a lot can be challenging since you’re never sure where the wind will blow them next, or even what they’ll need. So, try a map. I don’t mean just any map however–something like a scratch map is an updated version of popping a pin in where they’ve already been. You can also find photo frames in the shapes of maps, or simply put together and label an album with the states and countries so they can add pictures as they visit.
Alternately, put together a ‘travel journal‘ of the stories they’ve told you and some of their favorite things they’ve seen in each place. Bonus points if you can get others to pitch in and send you their stories about traveling with your recipient.
For Other Writers
Arguably, some of the easiest people to give gifts to are other writers. Just ask yourself what you could use to make writing easier. Stationary is always a good choice–and again, pulling an idea from the kids: make a prompt book. Adding a few prompts to a cheap journal gives them a place to turn when inspiration is failing.
Alternately, give them coupons redeemable for help editing their work (such as doing developmental or line edits) or even an hour of interruption-free writing time.
The Written Vixen 