Gift ideas for the festive season

The end of the year is coming and with it the tradition to exchange gifts. That in itself creates a lot of headaches and last-minute shopping when trying to decide what gift to give. Here are a few ideas to make life easy for you.

For women

It can be easy and at the same time difficult to give gifts to women! There are plenty of things to give to them but at the same time, we all know women are very picky. They want the right colour, the right pattern, design, brand, features or simply not what their friends have. Dangerous territory to be!

Some ideas can be fashion accessories such as a shawl, belt, jewellery and so on but be careful when giving clothes. Too large or too small and she may take it the wrong way. Be careful as well when giving her underwear. You need to know her quite well to be giving her these kind of intimate gifts. Again, there is a lot of room for error if you pick the wrong size, colour or design. So you should really know her taste before buying.

If you want to avoid the minefield of fashion and its accessories, go less personal. A book is a great idea if she likes to read. Try to find out her favourite topics and if she has read the book before. there is nothing more disappointing than giving someone a book she has already read.

Homeware is a good idea if you’ve been to her house and seen something missing or she mentioned that she doesn’t have. Be careful here again as gifts should be personal to a small extent at least. Giving her an iron and ironing board would be insulting her and so may be a frying pan, no matter how fancy and non-stick it is.

For men

Not fussy to please but with fewer ideas to come up with. Forget fashion accessories here unless it’s a pair of functional socks, ties or shirt. The keyword here is functional and utilitarian. Something he needs for everyday use, something that is useful. Cufflinks are somewhat boring, especially if he doesn’t dress formally for work.

Moving away from clothing, nothing beats giving a man the latest gadgets. Most men are into this, but gadgets can become pretty expensive. A sat-nav can cost several hundred pounds. How about giving a mobile phone app as a gift if he has a smart phone?

Finally, a good way to give a gift that will be truly appreciated is to look at his hobbies and passion. Does he appreciate fine wine or liquor? Does he have a wine cellar?

Is he into gardening? Does he have a greenhouse?

Is he into sports? Does he play football or go horse-riding, surfing or cycling regularly?

Is he a hands-on guy, forever fixing something in the house or doing DIY? These guys love tools the way women love shoes.

Is he an outdoors guy? Camping and hiking every weekend no matter what the weather?

Is he a nerd? Always on the PC, surfing the web? A membership to a site may be a novel gift.

For kids

Ah, they are the easiest to please. For teenagers, try video games. For pre-teens, any toy that is trendy in the shop. Young boys we know like playing with trucks and cars and girls with dolls, although with the advent of PC games, these seem somewhat archaic. But then, no matter what you give to a kid, his attention span is short-lived and he will move on from your toy to something else sooner or later.