Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Life > Experiences

5 Unique Gift Ideas To Get For Your Friend’s Birthday

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCLA chapter.

Many of us wait until the last minute to buy a gift for our friends, mostly because we have no idea what to get them. There are so many gifts we could get for that one special friend that the limitless choices make us so indecisive we end up not being able to choose anything. However, we do not always have to spend tons of money on a gift to make our friends feel special on their birthdays. So, here are five gifts that you can get for your friend’s birthday that are affordable and may touch your friend’s heart. Though they may appear small, these gifts are about sharing your greatest memories with your friend on his or her birthday: 

Goodie Basket

Instead of getting your friend a single gift, you can instead give your friend a basket full of gifts! You can find any old box, whether it be a shoe box, a cardboard box or even an actual basket, and stuff it with goodies. You could fill it with your friend’s favorite snacks, which may include certain brands of chips, different types of candies or drinks.

Moreover, you can fill the basket with self-care supplies. Common items may be face masks or skin creams so that your friend can feel extra fresh! Or, you can even fill the basket with makeup items that your friend uses, such as eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss, etc.

Another idea is to decorate the box itself. For example, you can wrap the box or basket with paper and write your friend’s name on the paper. Afterwards, you can either leave the box as is and just fill it with gifts, or you can also draw designs around the name on the box to make it stand out even more.

Portrait

Gifts that personally come from you will be cherished by your friend no matter what. Although not all of us are Bob Ross’s, we can certainly draw something for our friends. These can be portraits for our friends or just a painting of something important to your friend. This painting may even be a scene or a memory you had with the friend. The portrait or painting does not have to be magnificent, and if you are not a good artist like me, your friend will still have a good laugh when trying to figure out the similarities that he or she has with the portrait. Though this is a cliché often used, no matter your level of mastery of drawing or painting, it is the thought that counts. Having something that was made by you will definitely be a gift that your friend will remember and showcase.

Mason Jars

Mason jars are aesthetically pleasing. You can essentially fill them with anything, and they will still look nice no matter where you place them. You can give your friend any number of jars, and here are some ideas of what to fill them with. For each jar, you can place a small note at the bottom that describes what you love about your friend. These can be notes about their personalities, best traits, how you met, etc. After placing the note at the bottom of the jar, you can fill it with candy. In the next jar, you can fill it with origami, such as the origami lucky star or the paper crane. Other things that you can fill the mason jars with are tiny photographs of you with your friend, office supplies, self-care supplies or makeup.

Birthday Medal

It’s your friend’s birthday, and that’s something to celebrate! You can congratulate your friend by buying an inexpensive toy medal and then decorating it. One idea is to cover the medal with your friend’s face. You can print out a clear photo of your friend and then cut out the picture according to the medal’s diameter. To protect it from future wear, you could also laminate the photo. After having cut the photo, you can then glue the photo onto the surface of the medal. You can do the same with the other side of the medal with a different picture, or instead you can use the opposite side to write a small message. This message can simply be “Happy Birthday,” or you can write a more sentimental message. 

Collage

One of the best ways to celebrate your friend’s birthday is to celebrate the moments you have had together. This can be done through making a large collage. One option is to print many photos of just you, just your friend or both you and your friend together. After the photos have been printed, you can then cut each photo to a rectangular size and then tape or glue them together for one large collage. The other option is to use a collage maker application and import all your photos into that application. Once the application arranges the photos automatically, you can print the collage. After you have the physical collage, you can choose to frame it, or just give it as it is to your friend. A different version of a collage is to print out multiple photos and arrange them in a shape for your friend on his or her room wall!

Hopefully, you have found an idea to use to find your friend the perfect birthday gift! Again, these gifts may appear too small compared to how much your friend means to you, but they are meant to celebrate the memories between you and your friend. Additionally, you do not have to lawfully abide by these ideas and you can even incorporate them together in a variety of ways. Thus, your options are limitless, and you can finally pick the right birthday gift for your friend.

Jamie Vu

UCLA '23

Jamie is a second year student at UCLA. She loves to listen to music and enjoys going to concerts and listening to artists live. During her free time, she likes to go out and explore.