How To Tackle The Hardest Thing About Christmas: Buying Gifts For Men
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Christmas is one of the happiest times of year. You can celebrate with your friends and family and spend a lot of time with people that you might not otherwise see as much at different times of the year. There are beautiful decorations up everywhere and a great deal of holiday spirit from a lot of people. But Christmas isn’t all a barrel of laughs. Even though the process of gift giving brings a lot of joy to people, it can also be very difficult at times. Men are particularly hard to buy for. Although women can be hard too, it’s easy to resort to the old cliché of toiletry sets or scented candles – they may not be interesting gifts but they’re usually appreciated! But it’s harder to know what to get for the men in your life, whether that’s your partner, your dad, your uncle or your brother. The most important piece of advice is to consider their interests and go with what you think they might like. Here are some tips to help…
Pets
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For anyone who loves their pet, there are a plethora of possible Christmas presents. For the truly dedicated dog owner, a present for their dog basically means a present for them – so check out any doggy accessories you could get like a new leash or boots so the dog can be walked all the way through the winter despite the cold temperatures. There are a lot of great books out there for animal lovers, from stories about celebrities’ experiences with their pets to books where you can test your dogs’ and cats’ IQs. The poet Mark Doty has written a memoir about how caring for his dog helped him recover from the loss of his partner. Pets can change people’s lives and if your recipient feels that way then there are plenty of gifts to choose from.
Cars
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If your gift recipient loves cars, it’s sometimes hard to know what to buy for them if you’re not as into all things motoring as they are. Accessories for their car would always be appreciated, like new mats to protect their floors from muddy footprints, or maybe a new glossy encyclopedia on all the best luxury cars. If they’re into music, then you could get a Bluetooth cassette so they can stream their phone through their speakers, or maybe a new car stereo and speakers for better sound quality. You could also go for an experience day, and send your loved one rally driving or trying out a Porsche or Lamborghini!
Music
Music is something that most people love – and that it’s easy to buy gifts for. A gift card to a ticket website will be loved and appreciated, or maybe tickets to a show that you know they’d be interested in. If you’re booking a Christmas treat for your partner, try dinner and a nice hotel afterwards too, for a perfect gift experience. Remember that experiences are much more treasured in the long term than material gifts – some time spent together will be valuable and create some special memories. If your recipient is a fan of a specific genre of music, consider buying them a book on the history of it so they can get to know their favourite artists, albums and songs on a deeper level. If your dad’s into older music, try checking out more recent bands and musicians who have been inspired by his favourite artists, so he can branch out into some new tunes.
Home Improvement
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If your recipient is into home improvement, there are plenty of must have products to beef up the contents of their garage and tool boxes. If you don’t know much about DIY and home improvement, go to your local store and talk to whoever works there about the latest must have products. They’ll be able to help you pick something out, whether it’s a cordless drill, a new wrench, or a smart new tool belt. You could also talk to your loved one about what he wants – maybe you could go and pick out a new work table together.
Film And TV
For anyone who loves TV and film, the first gift option would always be a subscription to Netflix or Hulu. Not only are there a lot of great TV shows and films on there, but they’re also starting to get bigger and better with their own programming, meaning that they’re the only place that you can get new popular TV shows like Stranger Things and Jessica Jones. If your gift recipient is already subscribed to these services, consider Apple TV or maybe get an Amazon Fire stick so they can easily watch their favourite internet TV shows on their TV instead of their laptop. Even if you’re buying for your dad or an older relative, these services are pretty user friendly and intuitive so they should be easy to use even if you have to show them how to set it up! If your recipient is a film buff, try a gift card to a movie theatre or maybe a DVD of a director’s cut of their favourite movie. Biographies of film directors and the golden age of Hollywood would be an interesting buy, to show the behind the scenes of an incredibly interesting – and sometimes seedy – industry.
Art
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If your loved one is into art and design, then there are plenty of gifts you could give them. Take them for a day out to your best local art gallery, or purchase them some prints of their favourite works, which you could then get framed so they can be hung up on the wall and displayed for the whole family to enjoy. Glossy coffee table books are great for art addicts as they reproduce some of the world’s most beautiful artworks in beautiful high definition photography and give you some information and insight about the works as well. If your loved one has always wanted to get into art but isn’t completely sure how to do it, you could give him a voucher to a local art class, along with some art supplies like a good quality sketch pad, some pencils, and some oil paints. Make sure that you stick to the form of art that your loved one enjoys – if they love Old Masters then they might not appreciate a Banksy book as much as you want them to!
Fashion And Grooming
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For anyone who loves fashion and grooming, there are a load of great gift ideas out there. Remember to go for more classic designs if you’re getting something clothing related, so it doesn’t date as easily and your recipient can keep wearing it for a long time. Older relatives might be a little put off by gifts that are too fashion forward! Men who are interested in looking good might enjoy a beard care set, which might include trimmers and wax. A tie is always a good, safe bet for an older relative, but a scarf in a bright colour like red or forest green, or good old traditional navy blue, might seem a little more personal. If you’re feeling like splashing your cash on a little luxury, then go for a nice watch or some soft cashmere socks.  Make sure you think about what they want and what they might look good in – you don’t want to buy a gift that will lie unused at the back of their closet, so go for traditional styles that aren’t too adventurous but that still put a modern twist on old favourites.
Gardening
As people get older, there’s often nothing that they love more than becoming more green-fingered, so if you’re looking for a gift for your dad or an uncle, look no further. If they live in a small space, then a small house plant would be a good idea, or maybe a selection of herbs that they can grow along their kitchen windows. If they like to spend a lot of time outside, then look for new garden implements like secateurs, trowels or spades. So long as you make sure that your gift is practical and not solely decorative, they’re sure to love it. You can also get gardeners’ boxes full of plant tags and other small implements that gardeners might need and that they’re frequently running out of – that’s also a great gift, along with a waterproof cushion for them to kneel on to protect their knees from the ground. If you really want to splash out this Christmas then you could purchase a greenhouse, so that they can grow vegetables like tomatoes in there. Get a fold-up chair as well, so that your recipient can relax and admire the fruits of his labor.
Always remember that the best way to pick Christmas gifts for your loved ones is to consider what they’re interested in and go from there. No matter how much you might want to share some of your favourite things with your recipient, remember that their Christmas present is about them and what they might like instead of your needs and wants. Happy shopping!
Tia, and TipsfromTia.com is trying to keep you looking good and
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