With how crazy life can get some days, there are occasions when you will forget all about your best friend’s birthday or even your own mother’s birthday. In this case, you have to run to the store quickly and spend five minutes picking out a gift just to find out you’re late for the birthday party. And most of the time, it is very obvious that your gift was “last minute”. Here are some gift ideas that don’t look as “last minute” and will make anyone happy to receive from someone.
Idea #1: Take Him/Her Out to Lunch: I believe that the best way to show someone that you care about them and their birthday is to spend time with them. You should probably buy them a card and then write something inside of it saying that you are going to take them out to lunch or dinner at their favorite restaurant. A full stomach is a happy stomach on anyone’s birthday.
Idea #2: Spa Gift Certificate for Two: Everybody loves to go to the spa occasionally. But with all the chaos going on in every day life, it’s hard to find the time. So, the perfect time for someone to go to the spa is to go on their birthday. You can either tell them you will spend the day with them at the spa (hence the “for two” part) or you can tell them to go with their significant other if they have one. Make sure you at least put it in a card or something so they have something to open at the party.
Idea #3: Customized Gift Card/Certificate: Let me explain what I mean by this. Sometimes people get a gift certificate for an entire mall or to a random store like Walmart or Target. To make it seem less last-minute, get a gift card for a place that you know they will like. Or get them one for something you know they need. For example, I’m a college student and every semester I need to buy my textbooks. Since my university’s bookstore is a Barnes and Noble bookstore, it’s nice to get gift cards for Barnes and Noble so that I can buy my textbooks. Do something along those lines. If you know that that person loves to read, get them a bookstore gift card, if you know they love Dunkin Donuts, then get them a Dunkin Donuts gift card.
Idea #4: Necessity for the Season: By this I mean to get the person something they may need to go along with the season. For example, if it is winter, you could buy them a scarf, gloves, winter hat, and things like that. These are pretty easy to locate in any store since most stores, especially retail stores, have winter stuff. If it’s summer, you could get them flip flops, sandals, etc. Things like that. Just go along with whatever season it is.
Idea #5: DVDs: This one can get tricky because you might not know which DVDs the person already has. However, DVDs are everywhere, are pretty cheap, and everyone loves them. Try thinking of which genre the person likes and go to that section of a DVD store or the DVD section of a store like Walmart or Target. See if there are any new releases and pick one from there. The later it was released, the better chance the person doesn’t already have it. Better yet, once you find the DVD you want to buy, call a person who lives with the birthday person or someone who is in his or her house a lot and ask them. They can probably help you out. Anyway, you can never have too many DVDs.
It’s hard to think quickly when you’re in a hurry to get to someone’s party and you don’t have a present for them yet. So, keep these ideas in mind if you are ever in this situation!
