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10 Easy Ways to: Be the Best Secret Santa Ever!

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Kelly Bower
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Caitlin Mann
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BC chapter.

 

The holidays are fast approaching, which means one of my favorite Christmas traditions is about to begin – Secret Santa!  While I always enjoy the suspense of not knowing who has me or what present I’ll receive, I know that picking out a gift for someone, especially when you have a small price range (somewhere between 10 and 25 dollars) can be super stressful.  The fact that BC is a not so short T ride away to a mall or shopping center doesn’t help matters either.  So I’ve thought of ten gifts ideas that I hope will make playing Santa stress free!

  1. A Stress Relief Gift Basket: Unfortunately, if you are doing Secret Santa amongst your school friends, the gift exchange will happen right before finals.  But you can use this unfortunate fact to your advantage by making a stress relief (and low cost) gift basket!  An eye pillow, stress ball, magazine, tea, a play list with mellow songs, and a big bag of your person’s favorite candy are all you need to give the gift of relaxation. 
  2. Spa Day: If your price limit is somewhere in the 20-30 dollar range, you can treat your person to an awesome manicure at Dellaria Salon and Spa in Newton Centre.  The have manicures starting at 19 dollars!
  3. Coffee, Coffee, Coffee: The opening of the Starbucks in Cleveland Circle is wonderful for many reasons, but one not so obvious reason is that it is a great place to get your gift.  The Christmas mugs range from $6.95-$8.95, and if your gift limit exceeds 10 dollars, you can throw in a gift card and/or a box of their excellent hot chocolate mix.   An adorable mug and delicious hot chocolate to go with it?  Sounds like a great gift to me!
  4. For the nerd if all of us: Check out this “Reading is Sexy” t-shirt on amazon for only 22.00 dollars!  (I happen to have my own “Reading is Sexy” t-shirt and it is, without a doubt, one of the greatest conversation pieces I own).  If you are playing Santa to a bookworm, this shirt, plus a copy of their favorite book, will make the perfect gift. 
  5. Ornaments: If you have someone who loves, loves, loves the Christmas season, give them what they love with a Christmas themed gift!  It’s Always Christmas in Boston, located in Faneuil Hall downtown, has an amazing (and seemingly unending) collection of ornaments.  Not only do they have wonderful Christmas themed ornaments, but they have ornaments for almost every theme, including Boston, candy, and even St. Patrick’s Day!  These ornaments are fun and can (and hopefully will) be used over and over again. 
  6. Photo Collage: If you happened to get one of your best friends for Secret Santa, and your budget is under 20 dollars, head to CVS and make your very own photo collage!  Download the pictures onto a flash drive (or just take them off your own computer) and bring them to CVS to make an awesome photo collage of the two of you that your BFF is sure to enjoy.  The poster sizes are 11×14, 12×18, 16 x 20, and 20×30, and start at $11.99.  
  7. Baked Goods: As much as I secretly love the chocolate chip brownies in Lower, nothing beats homemade cookies, especially when they are holiday themed!  If you have a kitchen (or have a friend who has one) use it to make your person a few batches of holiday cookies… Let The Food Network be your guide. 
  8. A Taste of Cleveland Circle: Go to as many restaurants in Cleveland Circle as your budget will allow (Starbucks, Chipotle, Eagle’s Deli, Roggie’s, Dunkin Donuts, Fin’s, Applebee’s) and buy 5 to 10 dollar gift cards at each place to give your person their own personal “Taste of Cleveland Circle.”  
  9. Movie Day: If you want to impress but you are short on time, run to City Convenience (or possibly one of the mini marts) and buy a bag of popcorn, a big box of candy, and some colored pencils to make a fake movie ticket and promise to take your person to the movie of their choice, all the snacks and drinks they want included!  It may seem a bit weird at first, but with all the excellent holiday movies coming out, and the promise of a junk food binge, your person will surely love their gift (and may not even suspect that you waited until the last minute).
  10. Fuzzy socks: It’s a bit random, but fuzzy socks are oh so comfy, and if you are able to find a Bath and Body Works, they come in different scents.  This gift can work for your best friend or the person from work who you barely know.  

 

Happy Holidays everybody!!

 

Photo Sources:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/hol…

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-…

 

 

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Caitlin is currently a student at Boston College studying English and Pre-Law.  At BC, she is a member of the Boston College Irish Dance Club, on the Honors Program Student Executive Board's Community Service Committee, and interns and writes for the fashion and culture blog Rusted Revolution.  She has been wriring for Her Campus BC since Jaunary 2011 and is serving as BC's Campus Correspondent for the 2012-2013 school year.  Outside of school, she is a competitive Irish dancer, and has been dancing for 18 years. During her high school career, she completed an engineering project at Case Western Reserve University that made her one of 40 Intel Science Talent Search Finalists in 2009.   In addition to all of this, Caitlin loves reading, yoga, running, shopping, spending time with friends and family, and traveling.