Gift Ideas When You Don’t Know The Person Well
We talk about the idea of intentional gifting often as we feel it is important for yourself and the receiver to take that extra time to make it meaningful to them. But what happens when you need to give a gift to someone you don’t know much about?
Examples of this could be your children’s teachers, relatives you only see once or twice a year, a service person who you want to do something nice for during the holidays, etc.
Let’s brainstorm and share ideas together!
First, let’s compile any information you have about them
Writing a quick list of what you do know can be helpful for directing the next steps. Considering their age can be helpful here especially for children. Don’t know how old they are? Even a rough guess will be better than nothing. You can also think about past conversations to see if you can remember something about their interests - this could be remembering how your cousin once wore a shirt with a quote from the Elf movie on it, or how your uncle is always talking about football. Our Intentional Gifiting Guide can be a great resource for sorting through those thoughts.
Tip: If they have social media and you are friends, take a scroll on their profile! You may get a clue as to what their interests are from recent posts
If that still left you empty or they are too far removed from your social circle (like a child’s teacher who you don’t interact with often)…..
One idea is to think about consumable items - this could be some sort of treat, snack, drink, body care, etc. This can be fun as it can be something they don’t get for themselves often but also don’t have to keep forever. If you’re worried about food allergies or preferences, you could make a fruit basket with apples and/or pears and maybe a little sweet treat to go with it. They have a lot of gluten-free, dairy-free, or vegan options in stores these days, especially at big box stores like Walmart or Kroger stores. You could also do a special sauce or dip mix that you enjoy, or hot chocolate as a great option for kids.
It’s also totally okay to ask someone ahead of time if they have any food allergies or dietary restrictions. That consideration is often appreciated, especially by parents of kids who may be more particular than their child would be.
Another tip - consider making a homemade seasoning blend! There are lots of recipes for things like taco seasoning (and who doesn’t love tacos, right?)
You could also consider making the person a nice card to share positive wishes for the upcoming year (bonus points if you include something about them like if you know things have been stressful at work or if they are working towards a particular goal). I love the idea of including an invitation to go out to eat together or grab a coffee to make it feel a bit more of a gift and give you the chance to get to know them better.
Another idea is to consider a classic gift card. It’s okay if you have particular feelings about these - some people just don’t like them. However, I think they can be a great way to have a little something to share that can be flexible to what that person enjoys. Try to think about a place that person may talk about often or has recommended to you. If you see a co-worker often walk in with a local coffee shop cup in hand, that could be a great place to choose. Or if they specifically don’t like something - for example, if your father-in-law complains all the time about what a giant Amazon has become, probably think twice before getting him that smiley gift card.
Are they someone who likes to read? Consider making them a bookmark! This is a great idea for adults or kids who are 1st grade (6-7 years old) and up. You can make it as fancy or simple as you’d like. For instance, you could use our Wood Burned Bookmarks tutorial for something really cool, or you can use regular white paper to draw or print a design and then use self-laminating sheets to preserve it.
Of course, if you know they are a crafty person, one of our Crafty Plans can be a great gift! It’s budget-friendly and easy to give. You can include a small set of the supplies for people who are younger like teenagers or new crafters to beef up the gift, but even just having the plan itself can share ideas and inspiration to use what they may already have available.
We also have awesome one-pager resources that are great for people who are just getting into crafting or maybe want to learn a bit more about cooking. The meat cut guide on the Cooking One Pager is especially good and I use it all the time. This would go great with the seasoning blend I mentioned earlier!
A personal example…
This year I’m giving my boy’s teachers a hand cream set that is nice quality but also small tubes in case they aren’t big fans of lotion and a small Amazon or Target gift card that they can use for themselves or stuff for the classroom. I’ll also be making a card to say how much I appreciate their time and dedication to my children’s education. I usually do this at the end of the school year, but I also like to make the teachers a bookmark that says “Thank you for being part of my story” and have my child sign it and decorate it.
At the end of the day, we can do our best with what we do know and show ourselves grace in what we feel is lacking. There is certainly a lot of kindness in you if you seek to share a gift with someone who you are unfamiliar with, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself to get the person the perfect thing.
Maybe this experience inspires you to have an intentional conversation with them to find out more about them. I tend to like having these conversations in the late summer when I visit family back in MI or at Thanksgiving so I’m prepped with ideas for the coming holiday season. People can change interests and goals over time, so aiming to have at least a small conversation with each person you want to give to can be very helpful.