Christmas Gift Guide

I love giving gifts. I’d say it’s one of my love languages. However, it’s not always easy knowing what to get for people and I often have a hard time trying to figure out what I want. With Christmas just a few weeks away, the deadline for buying gifts is looming. Trust me. I know. If you’re in the same predicament, maybe I can help a little. I’ve created this Gift Guide using my own ideas, both past and present, for others and myself.

For the Spa/Beauty Lover:

~ Body Scrubbers

I feel like this might be an obvious one, but then again, how often do we think about our body scrubbers? Did you know that body scrubbers should be changed every 2-6 weeks depending on their material? Body Scrubbers made out of Natural material should be replaced every 2-4 weeks. The ones made out of Plastic should be replaced every 6 weeks.

Body Scrubbers are an excellent addition to a homemade Spa Box.

~ Lip Balm

I recommend either Burt’s Bees or Dr. Bronzers Lip Balm.
This may sound weird, but you can feel a difference between these and the ChapStick brand, my previous favorite. Now, ChapStick feels sticky and false. I literally cannot think of any other way to describe it. My personal favorites are Burt’s Bees Vanilla Bean and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Lip Balm Peppermint

Lip Balm can be used as a Stocking Stuffer or as part of a home done Beauty Kit.

~ Pacifica Island Vanilla Body Wash or Lotion

I recently bought this and it is hands down my favorite body wash. It far exceeded my own hopes. An added bonus, Pacifica works to use less toxic ingredients. I don’t know how important that is to you or to the person you’re buying for, but it is something to consider. Pacifica, in my experience, doesn’t sacrifice the beautiful scents in their pursuit of better-for-you products.

If Vanilla isn’t their thing, Pacifica has a whole range of products that smell good.

~ Pacifica Perfume

Yep, Pacifica again. Going on the whole better-for-you line, Pacifica also has a whole line of perfumes. Who doesn’t love smelling good? Admittedly, the bottles are smaller size, especially for the price tag that comes with them, but I’ve learned a little goes a looooooong way. I used my own perfume yesterday. 24 hours later and the scent still permeates my bathroom. Good thing it smells so good!

My favorite scent (so far) is Silver Moon. Before you ask, yes I have a thing for Vanilla, especially this time of year.

~ Tarte Cosmetics

Tarte is another beauty company that works toward using better-for-you ingredients in their products. A bonus is that they have travel size options for almost all of their products. I like to think of travel size being synonymous with trial size.

A few of my favorite Tarte products are their Drink of H2O Hydrating Boost Moisturizer and their Surfer Curl Volumizing Mascara. Both are part of their Sea line. Another product people rave about? Tarte’s Shape Tape Concealer and Foundation.

Unfortunately, one product I cannot recommend is their Baba Bomb 24-Hour Hydrating Moisturizer. A lot of reviews warned against breakouts. I didn’t listen. I regretted it. I don’t have acne prone skin and I continually broke out while using this product. I ended up trashing it. I haven’t had any such issues with the Drink of H2O Moisturizer though!

The One Thing I Don’t Recommend:

I don’t recommend buying face masks for someone else simply because they can have adverse effects on skin. Unless you know the person really well, like you have lived with them or known them for more than five years, don’t buy them a random face mask.

For New Parents:

~ Housecleaning Services

A lot of people give date nights and meals, which is great, but a lot of new parent stress comes from the mess that comes with kids. Whether they’re first time parents or not, another kid always adds to the mess of daily living. A good housecleaning that the parents don’t have to do themselves is an excellent gift and one they can all enjoy.

No, I am not saying you have to offer yourself to clean their house. Brief research should provide you with at least a few cleaning services in your area. An added bonus is if you go with an individual owned cleaning service, you’re also helping someone make ends meet. So it’s like you’re giving two gifts in one.

For Mothers:

~ Birthstone Jewelry

Whether it’s for your Mother-in-Law, your own mom, or a sister, birthstone jewelry is a sweet keepsake for them. The place to get them? Etsy, of course. Etsy provides so many options and customizations without the outrageous price that stores usually charge. In fact, most customizations are an added bonus with little or no additional charge.

I still remember the look on my MIL’s face as she put on the birthstone necklace I bought for her a few years ago. Just make sure you correctly spell all the kids’ names.

For Anyone:

~ Customized Blankets

We have a ton of blankets. So many that we honestly have too many. (Did I just say that?) However, if you were to ask my Hubby which blanket is his favorite, it wouldn’t be the super soft Star Wars blanket he got a few years ago. No, his favorite blanket is a No-Sew Blanket I made for him early on in our marriage.

No-Sew Blankets are actually super easy to make and they don’t take a lot of time or money. The ways you can customize them are almost endless, too. You can choose their favorite colors, the colors of their favorite sports team, or find material with their favorite hobby or interest. You can ignore all of those suggestions and find a way to make it unique for you and the person you’re making it for. If you want to do a set, you can also make a No-Sew Pillow to match the blanket.

If crafting isn’t your thing, there are plenty of people who will gladly do it for you. The price might be a bit steep, though, depending on what you’re wanting, but that’s because their time is also factored into their prices.

One of my favorite blankets is a customized blanket I received as a kid. It had ballerinas on it, long before I even knew I wanted to try ballet, with my name embroidered on it. There was also a matching pillow, I think, but I used the blanket a lot more.

~ Gift Cards

Ugh. The dreaded gift cards. My mom always says she doesn’t want to get us a gift card for Christmas, but sometimes that’s all I want, especially one to a bookstore.

If you need a fast and easy gift, Gift Cards to someone’s favorite store or website is definitely an option. Maybe you can’t customize the gift card itself, but you can buy a card to go with it and customize that. Put it in a pretty tin and wrap it. It might seem like a cop-out, but I guarantee it isn’t. Even kids love gift cards.

~ Subscription Boxes

Is there someone in your life who wants to try their hand at something but they aren’t sure where to start? Why not buy them a Subscription Box?

Most Subscription Boxes come in terms of 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months. A few will even offer a single trial box. A trial box allows you to get a present and then let the other person decide if they want to continue with the service.

I’ll admit, my mind automatically goes to KiwiCo. They offer everything from knitting to cooking to engineering. They boast boxes for ages 0-100 and you can pick a box from age groups if you need to. They may look geared mostly toward kids, but we have fun with them as a family.

Seriously. Whether it’s Beauty, Cooking, Languages, Culture Exploration, even Books, there is a Subscription Box for just about everything. Everything, people.

~ Experiences

Never underestimate the gift of getting to do something. There’s a lot of benefits to giving Experiences as a gift, the number one being it’s not something to be stockpiled and sorted through later.

Some options are Tickets or Season Passes to the Zoo, Aquarium, or their favorite Theme Park. And no, those suggestions are not for kids alone. My family is very much an indoors type of family. We game and we read. However, one of our favorite things is to go to the Zoo and Aquarium. It’s a no brainer for us whether we want to go do that or not. It will almost always be a Yes for us.

What about tickets to an Escape Room? Or a Wine/Food Tasting? It doesn’t have to be so grandiose. Even tickets to an ice rink or an indoor park of any kind is an experience that can be given as a gift.

You can even make a homemade ticket and take them camping, if that’s your thing. Exploring a Park together. Get creative and have fun together! Presents don’t always have to be things that come in a box.

I hope this helped!

I know I was a bit all over the place with this, but I hope you’re able to use at least one of these suggestions. If not, I hope this list helped spark an idea in you.

Is there someone in your life that’s hard to buy for?

What do you usually do? Share your own ideas in the comments below! Seriously, we all need the help!

Happy Friday!