Present ideas ....

[Saracen999]

I have a problem choosing a present.

The recipient is a relative, but not immediate family. She's a delightful lady, and utterly generous both of her time, and of money, of which I'm sure she doesn't exactly have a surfeit. She has done us several solid favours, ncurring costs in the process and won't let us even cover her costs.

So, we're going to get her a present. She can't refuse a gift.

We want something that hopefully she'll like, but the idea is something 'luxury' that she'll really like, but would be a bit extravagant if she bought it for herself, so she no doubt won't.

There are some no-go areas :-

- she's trying to diet, so chocolates, port-and-cheese, etc, any type of fattening food is ... unhelpful.

- she's teetotal, so booze is out.

- perfumes are a minefield. We don't know her likes or dislikes well enough to avoid mines.


We have considered a few things. Good quality scented candles are possible, as is some 'luxury' bathroom stuff, like bath oils, etc.

Spa day? Maybe, but it doesn't seem like her thing.

Experience day? Perhaps, but she is disabled and that makes some things dubious, like a racing day or supercar rental. Not her thing at all. Balloon ride? Not unless we can find out if she's scared of heights. Same goes for skydiving, etc.



So .... anyone got any .... out of the box .... thoughts? We can't be the first ones to have this issue, and while we'll no doubt pick something, if anyone has any particular ideas, we can always adapt.

Budget? No less than about £30, and up to say £100-ish is okay. Even over that for a really good idea. It's not really about the cost, within reason, though a world cruise is a non-starter. Nothing too ostentatious, as it would embarrass her. Oh, and something suitable for a religious 'maiden aunt' or similar, so no Victoria's Secret, etc. It's about trying to find something we think she'll really like, but wouldn't buy for herself.

Thoughts?

[Jonj1611]

High street or Amazon gift voucher, can't go wrong Especially as many can be used online

[Saracen999]

Yeah. No.

And yeah, it was the voucher thread that prompted me to post this one.

[[GSV]Trig]

Hahaha, I was gonna say gift card...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Some decent tea??

Dilmah does good Sri Lankan tea which is high grown. Silver and Gold tips use the younger tips,so have a milder flavour:
https://shop.dilmahtea.co.uk/our-tea...ilver-tips-40g

I have had Gold tip tea,and its kind of a halfway point between black tea and green tea IMHO. However,it seems to be quite sort after.

Edit!!

There are also other tea derived things they do like this:
https://shop.dilmahtea.co.uk/catalog.../category/196/

[kalniel]

Hazmat suit?

Hamper of condiments (collections of herbs/salts etc.)

Lavender

Anything from Fortnum & Mason - teas, sparkling teas (non-alcoholic), tea caddies etc.

Scarf (and other National Trust type goodies)

[OwP]

Have you got a local independent art gallery? We have several around here, that are setup and run as a cooperative, wide range of originals, prints, ceramics, jewellery, etc. Handy f they do gift cards because they cover a range of artists you can let the recipient decide. I have picked up stuff ranging from jewellery and paintings to a nice set of hand thrown coffee cups.

[Saracen999]

The art gallery is an interesting idea. That bears exploring. I do like the idea of handcrafted, artisan-type stuff .... but maybe because that's the kind of thing I'd buy for me. It's just finding the right item or items, without knowing what she likes.

So does Lavender, the condiments/herbs, etc. Not so sure of F&M stuff, though. While they sure do have some intriguing items, we were regularly given F&M hampers in which the interesting stuff was outnumbered by stuff we had no interest in, and most of it was, IMHO, overpriced. Not that I think you're suggesting F&M hampers. Just that, well, I'm a bit jaded about F&M as a result of experience.

[kalniel]

Oh you would never get F&M stuff if you're interested in value for money. But as a gift where the value is in the thoughtfulness of giving rather than the value of the item itself, they start to make more sense.

[b0redom]

Olverum bath oil? It’s expensive, but it’s the mutts nuts so to speak. If you’re sore/poorly it works wonders.

[jimbouk]

+1 on the tea stuff if they like it, or just have the time to enjoy it in its various varieties. Bird and Blend (subscription) might be worth a look, and I have gaven a temperature controlled kettle with built in infuser as a gift, seemed to go down well. Also handy for lemsip when you need very hot but not boiling water!

[Saracen999]

He tea ideas are good. My only problem is as far as I know, she's not a tea drinker, or at least, not a selective one. I can make some discrete inquiries, though, and find out.

Oh, and I like the temperature-controlled kettles, too. We're on our second, the first one having died after about 5 years. Current one must be approaching that with no signs of problems.

[Zhaoman]

Do you know if she has any hobbies? I always find that's a good bet for gifts if you get a top of the line gizmo that improves their performance at their hobby by 2% or something. It's likely they were always eyeing it up but could never justify the cost and are generally always delighted when someone gets it for them as a surprise.

Some gifts I recently got various people: a framed print, a book on foraging, a voucher to get nails done, a jumper, this season's new football kit, and I'm thinking of buying someone some nice paintbrushes. Obviously jewellery as well such as Alex Monroe if she's into animals/nature and handcrafted stuff, you might be able to find something small under £100 there.

[Hoonigan]

An RTX 3080? Who wouldn't be happy with that?

[ik9000]

An RTX 3080? Who wouldn't be happy with that?

you beat me to it! I was going to say asking for present ideas on a tech forum is going to come up with some interesting but probably tech-focussed ideas. Is she into reptiles? My old boss would automatically reply to any present brain-storming with "get them a black-mamba, always works" we never got to the bottom of whether he meant the actual snake/PC RAM/something else.

Seriously though at times like this and given the covid constraints and religious aspects it's a tough one. We have it semi frequently given the circles we move in. I will ask Mrs IK9000 as she is usually the one who cracks it.

[ik9000]

1) Afternoon tea at the Ritz or Fortnum and Mason/similar.
2) a nice painting
3) christmas hamper - yes she's trying to lose weight but you can get ones focussing on christmas pud, nice jams, chutney etc to share with the family. Let's face it this festive season is going to be about staying in!
4) proper posh coffee and tea - if she's tee total those will be important substitutes. Also things like Seedlip, though they're a bit more mainstream now than they were.
5) I once got someone a years supply of toilet roll. If all else fails blockade them in their house with andrex. Mind you that kind of order is probably not allowed in these present times!!
6) is she into gardening? A nice tree/mature shrub, or even a national trust pass to some of their gardens and associated houses can work
7) flowers and a posh vase?