How to give good gifts
Giving a ✨perfect gift✨ is amongst the most satisfying things I know of.
It’s up there with opening a new pack of highlighters or successfully making shortcrust pastry from scratch 🥧
You feel smug on another level when you know you’ve understood someone else and can bring them joy through a gift.
But out of aaaaaall the gifts you give over a year - birthdays, anniversaries, mother’s day, valentine’s day, house warmings, baby showers - often the feeling is more, “ah shit, that’s come round quick again.”
Launching the Nom Edit has made me really consider what I define as good gifting.
First do no harm. The obvious stuff.
Nothing useless, novelty or gimmicky.
No single-use items, or choose ones that are biodegradable.
No palm oil/slave labour/questionable ingredients/you know the drill.
Secondly, it should actually make three people feel good:
The person getting it: mums, sisters, teachers, wives.
The person giving it: you should also feel uber-satisfied
Ideally, someone else also feels good.
Number three is the hardest.
Because you don’t know them.
You will likely never meet them.
So how on earth do you work out whether it’s making someone else feel good?
Option one: buying from independent sellers
Etsy or the markets
Local shop
Independent online retailer
↳ When you buy from a large company, your purchase is a drop in the ocean 🌊
↳ When you buy local, you are casting a vote for the neighbourhood you live in or the industry you want to see grow.
Option Two: Buying responsibly sourced
Fairtrade or transparent practices,
Australian made,
Small co-operatives,
Short maker-to-shop journey,
Social enterprises.
I’ve started thinking about it like this:
If I can answer yes to the question, ‘was somebody somewhere proud to make and sell this?’ then I’m on the right track.
Still feeling stuck?
Ultimate ‘Good Gifting’ Gift Guide 📯
1. Something sharp ✂️
Every hobby since the dawn of time benefited from the use of a quality sharp blade. Sewing scissors, gardening secateurs, a chef’s knife. Not glamorous but highly useful. What’s their hobby?
2. Something soft 🐏
Think of an everyday basic and then find the softest possible version of it you can afford to give: high-quality pillowcases, bamboo underwear, cashmere socks, merino wool jumpers. Make their everyday a bit fluffier and softer.
3. Photos
Get them off your phone and into a box (like this or this) or scrapbook. There’s a reason this stars in every friendship movie ever - it takes time and love and is universally appreciated.
4. Photography 📸
Find a specialist photographer for whatever they are into: their dog, car, kids, garden. For husbands, wives, or even solo, boudoir photography would be a seriously memorable gift 💕
Alternatively, Polaroid cameras are timeless as well.
5. Books 📙
Start with your favourite or take a risk - there’s a top seller list for a reason - keep the receipt and wrap it like this.
6. Ask your hairdresser.
Give a good hair day. There are so many clean ingredient hair brands available at hairdressers now - buy a tailored mix of hair products or a voucher for a blow dry 👱🏼♀️
7. Food
Make food special again! 🦞 Bring a lobster to a birthday dinner, a wheel of cheese to an anniversary or a whole side of prosciutto to a housewarming. Even a tiny dish of caviar will be more a thousand times more memorable than any other gift they get.
In summary: pride comes before a gift.
Will they be proud to own it?
Was the maker proud to make it?
Are you proud to give it?
