So I know Christmas is literally two weeks away, but I had to write this while it was still top of mind (yes I just did most of my gift shopping — if it’s too late to heed this advice there’s always next year). Listen closely:

There is an art to buying gifts.

Whether it’s Christmas, a birthday, an anniversary, a retirement, whatever. Buying gifts is always the same. I’ve realized this over the past few years¹ , some things always make for good gifts. Van Neistat outlines a beautiful guide to doing gifts right every time in this video.

Over the years I’ve maintained a list of ideas in an Apple Notes file. These are generally things that are at least 2 of the gift trifecta: 1) nice, 2) thoughful, and/or 3) handmade. Also generally things that people wouldn’t get themself, which is a great way to add the element of surprise. Here’s 25 of my favorite.

25 (Last Minute) Gift Ideas

1. Framed picture of a nice moment (has never failed to be an amazing gift)

2. A proper chef’s knife, Japanese (no one has ever bought one for themself)

3. Car emergency kit (got this for my brother a few years ago, he used it)

4. Really good coffee grinder (grind your beans ppl it makes coffee 10x better!)

5. Aeropress coffee maker (seriously, the best coffee I’ve had, and portable)

6. Digital collection of old family photos/videos (restored / organized optionally)

7. Nice headlamp with red/green light (reading in bed, night-time jogs / hikes)

8. Quality, portable powerbank (nothing wrong with pure, raw utility)

9. Cast iron pan (can even be second hand, make cooking fun again)

10. A tiny time capsule of a significant year (get nostalgic on their ass)

11. A good book (Hemingway’s short stories, must be something you’ve read)

12. Museum / botanical garden subscription (Got my wife this this year)

13. Hand-made postcards (I like to draw but if you don’t that’s okay)

14. Glass food storage containers (seems that microplastics are bad)

15. Nice planner or journal (Amazon basic dot grid-ruled is my fav)

16. Emergency sewing kit (Mom got me this when I went to college, used 10x)

17. Real nice lawn chair (How can you not be romantic about sitting outside)

18. Really nice umbrella (How can you sit outside when it’s raining?)

19. Nice (and/or stupid) pair of sunglasses (Dealer’s choice, both are awesome)

20. Actually nice pillow (tbh MyPillow is epic)

21. Carefully curated playlist for them, for a special time, or from a special place

22. Surprise adventure day planned just for them (My wife would love this)

23. A proper rice cooker… (yes seriously it makes such a difference)

24. An electric kettle (this is my favorite) to go with the coffee grinder / aeropress

25. A real nice pair of home slippers (they can be fuzzy + pink no one is judging)

The whole point is to get people things they want. Ideally things they want without realizing they want them. And it should always be a surprise — even if they know what it is, then just surprise them with when or how you give it to them.

Making something always adds bonus points, but the rule of hand-made (or digitally made) gifts is that they must be smaller than your hand — this way if they don’t like it, it doesn’t take up too much space.

Ultimately the best way to get good gifts is not in the list above. It’s a Note page in your phone that you keep open all year. So that when the perfect gift idea ***presents*** itself, you have a place to write it down and hold onto it so you don’t forget it. That’s what I do at least.

25 good gift ideas don’t just magically appear in your head on command. Like most good, diverse, thoughtful ideas — they bombard your mind over time, and it’s your job to put a system in place to capture them and file away.

So, enough lecturing. Hopefully this list might help at least one person. In return I just ask that if you have any awesome gift ideas that aren’t included on this list, please share them with me :-)

Cheers,
Ramsey