So, the tree in your apartment is set up, you’ve created your holiday playlist, and the chestnuts are roasting on an open fire. There’s just one thing missing: presents for your friends! We’ve rounded up a few ideas to make your job even easier:
A MEMORY JAR
Cost: $0
Where to buy: In your apartment
Who doesn’t like to reminisce about the good old days with their bestie? Write down a few memories that you and your friend have shared on colorful slips of paper and then put them in a recycled jar! You can also put in other small items like ticket stubs from movies you’ve seen together or small pictures of the two of you. Decorating the outside of the jar with ribbon or stickers makes it look even cuter.
FOOD
Cost: Varies
Where to buy: Fresh Grocer or Trader Joes
Every college student knows food tastes better when it’s free! You can cater this gift so that it suits your friends’ tastes. Know someone with a chocolate addiction? Give them a Christmas stocking stuffed with packets of hot cocoa, their favorite candy bars, and fudge. Know someone with a coffee obsession? Give them a Starbucks gift card, a mug, and a pack of their favorite coffee beans.
NAIL POLISH/MANICURE SET
Cost: $5 and up
Where to buy: CVS or Rite Aid
This is perfect for the friend that doesn’t want to traipse through the snow every time she wants a manicure. Around the holidays, there are usually stores that sell multiple mini nail polishes in a set — a great option if you’re not sure what colors your friend will like most. If you want to go all out, you can even buy a small makeup bag to put the nail polishes and any other manicure items such as a nail file, clippers, and a cuticle pusher.
HEADPHONES
Cost: $7 and up
Where to buy: Marshall’s, Target, Best Buy
We’ve all been there — our headphones either don’t work or have disappeared. It always comes in handy to have a backup pair of ear buds. You can even make a DIY headphone case using a redecorated Altoids box or prescription bottle, thus ensuring your friend won’t misplace her new gift!
PHONE CASE
Cost: $10 and up
Where to buy: Etsy, Forever21, Amazon
It’s easy to find a phone case that fits your friend’s personality, making this gift both thoughtful and within a college student’s price range. Unfortunately, this present might be harder to find if your friend doesn’t have an iPhone but with a little extra work, even your Android obsessed friends can enjoy a new phone case.
FUJIFILM INSTAX MINI 8 INSTANT CAMERA
Cost: $70 and up
Where to buy: Amazon, Best Buy
This is a gift that can only be given to the person you click with the most — your best friend. This camera instantly prints out small Instagram-worthy Polaroid pictures and comes in a variety of colors!
Whatever the present, enjoy time with your friends this week, whether it be in Starbucks with coffee or in Hagerty with text books, because sometimes friendship is the greatest gift of all. (Yes we went there)