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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

So You Still Haven't Bought Your Significant Other A Gift...

Some people are easy to buy for, and some are difficult to buy for. And sometimes, the ones that should be the easiest to buy for end up being the most difficult to buy for. Say, your significant other, for example.

We all know how this goes. You're convinced that this year will be the year you get your boyfriend/fiance/husband the best gift ever. But then somehow it's the week before Christmas and you still haven't bought it--nor do you know what it is.

If you find yourself in that position, here are some ideas to help you out.

christmas gifts for your boyfriend

A Year of Dates. 

Why it's a good gift: It gives him a chance to go on dates all year long without having to plan or pay for them.

How to pull it off: Buy 12 big envelopes. Think of 12 dates he'd like to go on in 2015, then pre-pay for all of them. Label each envelope a separate month, and stuff them with a note about the date and then the money or cards for the date.

For example, you could do drinks and appetizers in January, take-out and a Red Box movie in February, a movie and dessert in March, etc. So at the beginning of every month, he'll get to open an envelope that has a date already planned out, plus cash or gift cards to pay for the date!

A Scavenger Hunt. 

I did this for Chris on our second Christmas together, and it was such a fun night.

Why it's a good gift: It gives you a chance to be sentimental, plus it's an activity and not just a second of sitting down and opening up a gift.

How to pull it off: Think of all the places around you that are special to your relationship: Where you had your first date, where you had your first kiss, your favorite place to get coffee or ice cream. Make up different "clues" for all those places.

At each place, give him a small gift and a note about why that place is special to you. It makes for a fun night of reminiscing and opening presents!

A Scrapbook. 

Why it's a good gift: It's a keepsake that's special to just you guys.

How to do it: At first glance, this is no easy task. But trust me, it's not at all as complicated as you may think.

Send tons of photos to be printed at Walgreens.  Then, head to the nearest Hobby Lobby and buy a scrapbook. Next: The sticker aisle. Grab alllll the stickers you like. The more, the better. Then go down the scrapbook aisle and throw everything you like in your cart. Swing by Walgreens on your way home, and voila, you're basically finished.

Throw it all in the scrapbook and call it a day--it's impossible to make it look bad when you use fancy stickers. No one will ever know you're not a scrapbook pro.


Greeting Card Memories. 

Why it's a good gift: It's a super creative way to reminisce on the time you've spent together. 

How to pull it off: If you want a simpler alternative to scrapbooking, this is a winner. Grab cheesy greeting cards for all the holidays you guys have spent together--birthdays, Valentine's day, Christmas, all of them. Then write your favorite memories in them and put a picture of you guys inside. 

You can get really creative with this one. A happy Valentine's day card with your favorite memory from your first Valentine's day together, an "I miss you" card with a list of pros and cons of your long distance relationship, a "get well soon" card with a memory from when he took care of you when you were sick. Add in pictures and it's a super sweet, super creative gift.

Fix a Problem. 

Why it's a good gift: You know the things in your life that you are vaguely aware that you need, but you also know that the chances of you buying them for yourself are slim? Those are the kind of things I'm talking about. It makes a good gift because it's not something he would buy for himself, and it's something he actually needs--and guys are weird, they like getting gifts that they actually need.

How to do it: Think back over the last few months--what did he complain about? If he's always complaining about his computer screen being dirty, get him a laptop cleaning kit. If his shoelaces on his favorite shoes are dirty and frayed, buy him new shoelaces. If his car has black leather seats that feel like the surface of hell when he drives home from work, buy one of those windshield guards that keeps the car from getting too hot.

Alone, those don't seem like great gifts. But if you can make a little collection of gifts like that, it can be a thoughtful present that's incredibly useful.

Have you bought your significant other a Christmas present yet? 

19 comments:

  1. These are fantastic ideas! My favorite part: they don't involve clutter. I did a combination of these - I got my partner's watch battery replaced (which he's mentioned several times, but hasn't done in over a year), and bought us tickets to a pottery class/date night. I really love the year of date nights! It's a good gift AND it ensures that you'll have at least one romantic evening each month.

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  2. These are ALL great gift ideas! Thanks for sharing!

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  3. These are such great ideas!!! I especially love the greeting card one! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. These are fabulous! I love the scavenger hunt idea! So so so cute!

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  5. These are all such great ideas! I did a date coupon book a long time ago for my husband, and have also done a scrapbook of sorts. This year he is getting Jeep parts and a Bose wireless speaker…ha!

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  6. These are such great ideas! For an wedding gift I made a scrapbook from the time we got engaged to our wedding day. Last Valentine's Day I gave my husband a year of dates but sadly we haven't gone on a whole lot of them. Where does the time go?!?

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  7. So we haven't always given each other gifts. Some years we've purchased plane tickets for future vacations or concert tickets. Jordan mentioned to not open any packages coming in and I panicked a bit because I assumed we weren't doing gifts this year. Whoops! Amazon Prime to the rescue. ;-)

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  8. Those are great gifts! I really like scrapbooks. This year I got Chris the gift of an experience-he really wanted to go to a college football game at the school where we met so I put together a Baylor package for him. I had to give it to him early, but he was so excited to go! :)

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  9. Great ideas! I've been looking for a box frame to mount hubbie's Grandad's war medals and a photo of him in there and today I found the perfect one! It's actually a frame with a kit to make a plaster model of a babies hand! But i'll just throw the plaster stuff away. It's perfect as one side is a normal photo frame and the other is a box frame so the medals can go in. I'm chuffed as to get them dome professionally would cost a small fortune x

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  10. these are all great thoughtful ideas! i tend to default to just buying a gift but i might try one of these ideas for maybe jarrod's bday :)

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  11. Great ideas! I'm still struggling trying to think of what to give!
    Melanie @ meandmr.com

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  12. These are such great ideas, loved that they're a little "out of the box"! :)

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  13. These are adorable!! I especially love the year of dates since it keeps giving you something to look forward to (now I just need to find that significant other, haha!)
    xoxo B | visit The Sequin Notebook for a Cirque Colors polish giveaway!

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  14. I love doing the year of dates. I am all done shopping this year but might write this one down to remember to give for Valentine's or an anniversary!

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  15. Aww I love the year of dates idea! Perhaps that would be a good gift for our first wedding anniversary ("paper"!). My now-husband used to do scavenger hunts for me in high school; they were my FAVORITE thing. Great post! We're just getting each other stocking stuffers this year, but it's always fun to pick out trinkets, too.

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  16. this is so super cute!!!! love these ideas thanks for sharing them!

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  17. Luckily I'm on my game this year and knew what I was getting the guy six months ago. I just had to hope that he didnt buy it for himself first. I do love scavenger hunts though, Im thinking of using that for Valentines Day.

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