Today’s post is going to be a Christmas wishlist or gift-guide. So I was going to do a wishlist list by itself but I actually don’t really have anything that I would like for Christmas this year like I don’t really have anything like I couldn’t think of anything I wanted, to be honest, I really don’t need anything and I feel like as you get older Christmas kind of becomes less about the presents and more about just being able to spend time with your family.
So it’s kind of a gift-guide and wishlist a bit both so like gifts that I think are good to give out that are a bit more personal than perhaps other gifts would be and also things that I would like if someone gave me if that makes any sense. So I just have a few gift ideas of things that you might not have considered or you might not have I don’t know like come across and that might be a bit different and something exciting for your loved ones or friends or family.
Like the first one, I actually have and I think that this would be a really nice Christmas present. Tt’s a countdown to New Year calendar so the body shop actually sent me this which I wasn’t expecting at all but I’ve never ever seen an advent calendar that goes from Christmas Day to New Year’s.
So this one’s from the body shop I’m sure there were loads of other ones out there but this is the one I have to hand and basically it’s like an advent calendar but instead of counting down from the first of December to Christmas it counts from Christmas Day all the way up to New Year’s Day and each one has a different gift in which I thought was such a clever idea.
And if you’ve got a family member that you know loves having an advent calendar and it’s kind of sad on Christmas Day ‘cause it’s over I feel like something like this would be a really really good idea. I’m sure if you look there’s going to be absolutely loads of these and I’m sure they’ll have beauty ones and fashion ones and everything like that.
And I don’t know I thought this would be a really nice gift idea that perhaps a lot of people have not thought of. The next gift idea is experiences. So I know that a lot of people think straightaway that an experienced gift is too expensive and they just can’t do it but I actually beg to differ.
So although they have you know like Virgin Experiences and things like that which can be like a helicopter ride or as a spa trip obviously they’re quite expensive what I found is actually been a really good gift is sort of making your own experience. So you could perhaps buy train tickets to London for the day or to Manchester and just offer to take someone out like for a day or for a weekend like to Edinburgh or to Wales or anywhere like that or give them you know a card that says we’re going to go to see a concert together.
And sometimes I think those are the best presents, our memories. For example last year I got my dad and my sister go a voucher which is like a high-ropes thing and they said that they had a really really good time. So that’s money well spent because its memories rather than material gifts that are often are kind of like all thanks on Christmas Day but they don’t actually get used and they get sent to [00:03:25.4] or they get sent to a bazaar or something.
So I often think that experiences are the best way to go. So there’s I know that Virgin Experiences there’s also smart box experiences, you could also go for concert tickets musicals are a great one. If anyone is watching that wants to buy me a present get me a ticket to a musical I’ll be there. Or maybe go and see a show or going I don’t know into a Christmas market anything like that I think it could be a really really nice present.
But that leads me on to my next gift which is vouchers. So last year I sort of gave one of my loved one’s voucher booklets. So like this voucher entitles you to a cup of tea this voucher entitles you to a shopping trip this voucher entitles you to be making your bed like stuff like that because often if money is a bit tight then gestures and acts of service can actually be a really really nice present show that you’ve thought about them and show that you’re willing to be there for them.
And it’s also kind of exciting for the person because they can be like I have a voucher you know you have to do it right now. That’s the only problem with the vouchers is if you’re sat watching a film and they’re like, dishwasher then it becomes a slight problem but it can actually be a really really thoughtful present especially if your parents are struggling and they’ve got so much to do that you could just like lend that little bit of an extra helping hand.
The next gift is one I’m so excited about. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or any social media ever which are always linked in the description, by the way, you’ll know that I’m a little bit obsessed with Lalalab which is an app where you can print off photos you can print off photo books, big frame photos, phone cases and literally everything like with your photos your own photos I don’t know how to explain this.
I have been using them since 2015 and recently I went to New York and I actually bought two giant framed photos one of the Empire State and one of loads of photos that we took while we were there which I will insert a picture of here and Lalalab actually reach out to me and they were like hey like we love your coverage would you like to partner with us for a post and of course I was like yes because I’m going to film a Gift Guide and you would fit in perfectly.
So I think that the best gift you can give someone is a personal one that reminds you of memories. So when I left dance which I have been a part of for years they got me a photo frame I’ll insert a photo here of all of us together and all of the memories which I have on my wall loud and proud and it’s still one of my favorite presents I’ve ever got.
So I think photos are probably the best present that you can give someone whether that be one of the big photo frames or like I have here I printed off I think 50 I think I want to say 50. So they’re like loads of different memories and you can change the color of them and you can also like put captions on so here’s like VFS, Central Park, Molly’s 18th birthday Notre Dame, YouTube pals, house arts, like so many photos.
And I also bought myself a little mini wood peg kit from Amazon which I will link down below of course and I thought that this would be such a lovely present idea if you could perhaps make them a photo book or you could make them a little photo box filled with your favorite memories together and write notes on the back and it would just be so cute.
And I don’t know I’m just really excited about this because they’ve given me discount code as well for you guys to get 30% off until February like 30% off people 30% which I’m going to put in here. So if you guys want to use your Lalalab code to get some gifts for Christmas I really would recommend them like I’m not just saying this I have so many Lalalab photos in my dad’s room in this room everywhere I’ll insert a clip obviously of all of them being up here.
But they’re so easy to do you do it straight from your phone or your tablet and there’s an app and you just click the photos you can edit the photos and they will be shipped to you really really really quickly. My next gift idea is what’s called an adventure jar or like a date jar if you’re doing it for your boyfriend or girlfriend or wherever special significant other. I’m going to put a picture of one here because I don’t have mine with me it’s at my dad’s.
But basically the concept is that you buy a jar and you fill it with loads of exciting things you could do so like bowling, cinema, restaurant or like go climbing or anything like that and you put them in a jar and this can be a jar that you can give to your significant other and throughout the year you can try and do as many of them as possible. So this would be a nice present and that it’s not a gift on the day but it’s a gift as the year goes on.
So if they pull out a bowling one and be like hey let’s go bowling then you pay for them to go bowling and it could be such a really like I don’t know like a really thoughtful gift because you know your partner better than anyone or you know your mom better than anyone. So you could write so many things that they love to do and I just think it would be such a nice year-long gift and one that keeps on giving rather than just a present on the day so this is probably my favorite idea.
And you could also extend this to be a memory jar so perhaps you could have memories of things that you’ve done in the past that you want to do again or you could just have nice things that you love about the person. I always think that a gift does not have to be expensive to be good you could literally just buy a jar from a jar shop which is like a pound and fill it up with post-it notes full of things that you love about a person and that is a really a gift that’s going to light and lighten someone’s day brighten someone’s day.
So I hope you enjoyed this, I know it’s been a bit of a different and that I haven’t been showing you gifts because I do feel like sometimes we get so wrapped up in the commercial side of Christmas and the “oh let’s get this person this gift set” and “oh we need to get that person that”.
But at the same time I think it’s so important that sometimes we just stop and think about how we could make a gift that keeps on giving and a gift that is not just going to be for Christmas it’s going to be for a year or two years or the rest of your life and for me the best gifts have never been the most expensive ones it was not my new camera you know it wasn’t like this that or the other it’s experiences.
So I don’t know, for this Christmas I’m and my birthday because they’re cautiously close together my two main presents are tickets to see Billy Joel who is my absolute favorite artist of all time and an 18th birthday party and for me those two experiences alone are worth so much more than any material gift could ever be.
So I hope this post sort of enlightened you and made you think about other things that you could do for your friend or your family that you might not have thought of before.
