As we are all impatiently waiting for 2020 to end, there is one silver lining in sight: Christmas. The holiday season is full of cheer and warmth, and sometimes awkward dinner conversations with your political grandma and your cousins who you see once a year. One way to avoid those conversations is with the perfect gift (here is where I come in). I have curated the perfect holiday gift guide that will make your aunt think twice about asking, “Why did you change your major again? And why are you still single?”
Mom
Gifting your mom a Birth Month Flower Grow Kit is sentimental and a cute way to spruce up her home. Information about what each flower symbolizes, seeds, a glass bottle to grow the plant in and a soilless growing medium come in each pack. You could give your mom the flower of her birth month, or a different kit for each of her children’s birth month.
Dad
A Man Crate is a perfect gift that is entertaining to open and easy to personalize. Man Crates have tons of different boxes to choose from, such as a customized barware crate, a knife making crate, a grill master crate, a breakfast making crate and dozens more. This would also be a great gift for an older brother, grandpa, uncle, cousin or boyfriend.
Brother
This beer holder shower speaker is a hilarious and useful gift for your brother. It will give the family a good laugh while opening, but also be something he uses regularly (well, hopefully not too regularly). This product comes in black or white and connects to a phone through Bluetooth. It is rechargeable through a micro-USB and has a built-in microphone and speaker function. It could also be used for other canned beverages, like soda or seltzers.
Sister
This bedside smartphone vase is a gorgeous gift for your sister, and could be gifted with a lovely bouquet of flowers or a new phone charger to add to the present. It works by bringing a phone cord through the bottom on the vase, allowing it to work with any smartphone. The vase is handmade out of glazed stoneware and is available in white or mint green.
A great gift for your makeup-loving sister is this makeup palette set from Tarte cosmetics. As part of their holiday sale this year, Tarte cosmetics is selling three Tartelette makeup palettes for $49. Each palette has nine shades, and the whole set is valued at $270, according to Tarte’s website.
Significant Other
A photo of what the stars looked like on a date that is special in your relationship is a perfectly sentimental gift for your significant other that can be treasured for years. Under Lucky Stars is one of many companies that makes these stars maps. To personalize the gift, you put the date and time into the website, and it will show what the stars and constellations looked like at that night. From there, you can choose colors, shapes, add text and choose the size.
Grandparents
An Ancestry DNA kit is a great gift for your grandparents to find out more about their lineage and family history. My grandfather was gifted an Ancestry kit for Christmas last year and he is still finding out more and more about his family tree, dating back to over a hundred years ago.
Friends
This succulent gift box is a cute and personalized gift that any friend would enjoy. It comes with a three-inch succulent in a gold, metal pot, as well as a soy candle and bath bomb. You can choose the scent of the candle and pick if you want to upgrade to a larger candle in a glass jar. This company also gives the option of upgrading your box by adding chocolates, lip balm, soap or a tote bag.
Another sweet gift for a friend is a personalized journal or notebook. Papier has dozens of journals to choose from, and you can customize it by putting your friends name on it, the year or a saying that is important in your friendship. Papier also has stationary, photo-books, calendars and pens you can personalize, as well.
When in doubt, buy flowers! Just about everyone loves a fresh set of roses or daisies sitting in their kitchen, and most grocery stores hold dozens of beautiful bouquets.
I hope these ideas save you the anxiety of last-minute gift shopping or help avoid stress during finals week.