5 Ideas for Practical Christmas Presents
Buying Christmas presents is always a difficult business, and increasingly over recent years people are less happy to receive random gifts they have no real use for and just have to find storage for in their homes. So here, we’ve created a short list of more practical Christmas gift ideas that will hopefully prevent you from filling your loved ones Christmas sacks with things they don’t really want, or won’t use.
- Cooking products
To preface this, we are absolutely not suggesting buying anybody’s wife saucepans for christmas, unless your real christmas cheer comes from starting arguments. Instead, what we mean is to buy some nice cooking products which will eventually be used up, so they don’t require long term storage – for example, a set of nice spices or oils. Alternatively, a recipe book is another great choice as you can bet that sooner or later, it will be used at least once!
- Bags
In the instance no, we aren’t talking about the latest Birkin bag or any kind of designer number. But especially for a school age kid or perhaps someone who goes on overnight trips often, a well chosen backpack or tennis bag can be a great choice that the recipient will get a lot of use out of. While fun colours and patterns may brighten up the present some, you can also go for neutral colours to fit in with anybody’s taste and wardrobe.
- Clothes and shoes
Of course this depends on having a reasonable understanding of the recipient’s taste and size, but as long as you’re confident of those two elements then buying clothes and shoes can be a great option. Clothes are expensive and often fall under the category of things people wouldn’t buy for themselves, and it’s always nice to have a new outfit. Clothes can be especially welcome for children – again, as logn as you’re confident of sizes – as they are expensive and children are constantly growing. All tht said – it’s still a good idea to keep the receipt when it comes to buying clothes.
- Writing equipment
While not everyone is a letter writer, almost everyone has some use for writing equipment to a lesser or greater extent. Whether it’s simply a nice pen, a notepad to keep next to the phone, or a magnetised to do list to keep on the fridge , you can’t go far wrong with some nice writing equipment. It takes up little space, and it serves a functional purpose which means it doesn’t just get in the way or mean the recipient has to hunt for somewhere to keep it, never to see the light of day again.
- Gift cards
Finally, this list wouldn’t be complete without mention of the humble gift card. While this is some people’s first choice of gift if they’re especially choosy, it’s also a great solution for when you’re just out of ideas on what to buy someone. It’s a practical choice because it takes up no space beyond a card slot in their wallet, and it allows them to choose something they will get genuine use and enjoyment out of rather than you picking something on the off chance they will like it. You’ve wasted no money, and they don’t have to store something they don’t need or want!
While kids are happy just to have something to open, with adults it’s important to offer them something they’ll actually enjoy or get use out of – and hopefully, some of the suggestions on this list will help get your brain thinking about what practical gifts you could buy for your loved ones this year that they will actually enjoy!
