We all have someone special in our lives; someone we want to share news with whether it is happy or sad. It might be someone you have known all your life or maybe just a few months. It could be your other half, your mother, a friend from work or a school mum. Whoever they are it’s important to let them know how much they mean to you. Words of appreciation go a long way, but if you are looking for a gift to give your best friend I have pulled together a selection of ideas which are just perfect to make them smile this Christmas.

***AD* Disclosure: this post contains a combination of items I have bought, items which were gifted and it contains some affiliate links. They have all been included because I think they are fab.***

Ideas For Presents To Give To Your Best Friend

Gifts to Motivate

Guide To Adulting

It’s been a tough year for all of us so how about a book which will help motivate your friend, give them something to smile about and even includes adult reward stickers like "I survived today" and "I made a scary phonecall"? The Guide To Adulting (affiliate link) is a great book by Milly Smith, illustrated by Katie Abey (I often share Katie's quirky motivational messages with bright fun illustrations on my Instagram stories). The book contains exercises, advice and upbeat messages. From body acceptance and coping with a crisis to mindfulness this book includes serious topics in a sensitive and light hearted way. Warning: contains quite a lot of swearing. 

Note: Fits through letterbox.

The Adulting Manual by Milly Smith and Katie Abey

Happy Keepsake Token

Nettlefold was founded by Zoe after rediscovering a series of poems written by her Grandad for her when she was child. She has used the words and added illustrations to create prints, stationery and greetings cards. This pewter keepsake token is a lovely gift for a friend to remind them they are loved and cared for. It can be hung around the house or it's small enough to be carried with them, as a keyring for example. On one side there is an illustration of a bee about to land on a sunflower and the other has the message "Happy in your happiness".  

Note: Fits through letterbox.

Nettlefold Pewter Keepsake Token

Love Leggings

I have recently discovered Love Leggings and they are the clothing every woman needs in their life at the moment: good quality leggings at a great price. These are the "Empowered" running leggings which have a supportive waist band and help regulate body temperature with their sweat wicking, quick drying fabric. They retain their shape and actually stay up when you run (always a bonus). And they have pockets! If your best friend isn’t likely to be running or working out then their other UK designed leggings are just as comfy and thick enough they wont show off your pants. Whether you prefer your leggings to stop below your belly button or cover up that mum tum there is a style for you. The sizes come up pretty true to size and in some of their styles they have maternity, petite, tall. Their plus size leggings go up to size 28. Even  more styles will be coming soon which I'm pretty excited about and can't wait to try. 

Love Leggings full length sports leggings

Meee In A Minute - 60 Ways to Improve Your Life In 60 Secs

Meee In A Minute is one of a series of books by Sid Madge all with the same concept: quick ideas of how you can make your life better. Each idea will take less than a minute to read, but they will start making you think. You can make the change right away; they aren't complicated, mostly changing how you think about something, but they will take some practice before they become habits. The original book (also available in Welsh) is great for everybody and there are also versions for people who want to improve their family or work life. There is crossover between the books with similar ideas, but they are written in a way to make them relevant to the subject area.

Note: Fits through letterbox.

Meee In A Minute Book - 60 Ways To Improve Your Life In 60 Secs

A Cookery Course (at home)

Have you ever wandered around a Japanese Supermarket and looked at the amazing foods, but been a little unsure of where to start? Well this Authentic Japanese Cooking Set makes a great gift to inspire people to start cooking real Japanese food. Inside a handy drawstring bag (which will make it easier to wrap) there is full size cooking book: Hashi - A Japanese Cookery Course and a range of essential ingredients: sesame oil, instant dash powder, cooking chopsticks, toasted sesame seeds, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried seaweed, soy sauce, red miso and Kirin. My mouth is watering just writing about it.

An gift of an authentic Japanese Cookery Course

Reusable Sandwich Bags

If your best friend needs a little bit of motivation to save money and be more eco then how about the practical gift of reusable sandwich bags? This might be just what they need to make sandwiches to take out with them and because they are plastic free they are good for the planet too. There are 2 in the packet and they can each be cleaned after use ready for the next day. The beeswax is naturally antibacterial so cleaning is easy too.

BeeBagz reusable sandwich bags

Gifts to Recharge

Moments of Mine Gift Set

I have been a fan of Wearth London for a few years due to the brilliant collection of eco products they sell. The Moments of Mine box from Alice & Peg hits you with an amazing smell as soon as you open it. It is presented beautifully and makes a lovely eco-friendly gift to enable your friend to have a spa session at home full of natural, sustainable products. The set contains: Himalayan bath salts scented with essential oils, a handmade cold-pressed soap, wooden slatted soap dish, shower puff from natural fibre, scented candles in recycled glass tea light holders made from natural plant wax and a tea tasting selection. 

Notes: Eco Gift, Vegan

Moments of Mine Gift Set by Alice & Peg

Letterbox Pamper Hamper 

This Pamper Box Letterbox Hamper comes with a range of treats to encourage your friend to have some time out and it all fits through the letter box. Contents may vary, but should contain similar products to my image: a You’re My Favourite Chocolate Bar, English Tea Shop Chamomile Tea Sachets, a Clipper Tea Clippers Hot Chocolate, Buttermilk Salted Camera Chocolate Cups, Read My lips lip balm, Yes Studio "Ooops" 12 Mini Emery Boards and Patterns & Petals Mini Hand Cream 30ml. 

Note: Fits through letterbox.

Pamper Hamper Letterbox Hamper from Prezzybox

Scented Candle

At times 2020 has felt a little like the apocalypse is coming so giving your friend a way to get away from it all for a few minutes might be just what they need. Les Lumieres du Temps perfumed candles smell amazing and will help take you away to another place, a much happier, calmer place. The candles are hand poured in France from vegetable wax and scented with perfume sourced from Grasse (known as the world's perfume capital). They are distributed in the UK by The Little Dove Company. The 180g candle in the image is scented with Bergamot and has a 55 hour burn time. Larger candles, diffusers and a range of scents also available.

Les Lumieres du Temps perfumed soya wax candle

Up Circle Face Serum and Eye Cream

Up Circle started as a beauty company which wanted to help repurpose the huge number of coffee grounds thrown away each day. They extract coffee oil from the used coffee grounds and combine with other products to make eco friendly and effective beauty products like the eye cream made with repurposed coffee extract and anti-inflammatory maple bark extract, a by-product of the wood industry. The hydrating Face Serum is made with coffee, jojoba, sea buckthorn and rosehip oils. Rich in Vitamin C and antioxidants it claims to help fade dark spots and brighten complexion. The products smell mildly of coffee and feel great on the skin. There are plenty more products in the range made with a variety of repurposed ingredients. The UK made, cruelty free products come in low plastic packaging. When ordering a replacement you can order without the plastic and reuse the plastic from your original bottle/ tube.

Notes: Eco Gift, Vegan, might fit through letterbox.

Up Circle make beauty products from used coffee grounds and other repurposed ingredients

ChillCore 3 in 1 Wine Cooler

This wine cooler is a great idea because you can use it to either cool a bottle of wine (or any drink in a similar shape bottle) in around 15 minutes or keep the wine cold for up to 2 hours. This makes it handy if you have no space in the fridge or if you want to keep the bottle on the table during a meal. The ChillCore 3 in 1 from CellarDine works thanks to a cooling gel sealed inside the stainless steal rod which can stay cool for long periods after being “charged” in the freezer for at least 4 hours. It has a pouring spout and stopper to help preserve the wine too so you don’t have to finish it in one sitting.

A wine cooler which chills from inside the bottle

Hair Styler

Make their life easier with an easy to use hair styler

Beautiful Earrings

Anika Earrings from Harfi

A Jigsaw Puzzle

Wentworth Puzzles Wooden Jigsaw

Letterbox Wine

Wine through your letterbox, how perfect a gift is that if you can't see your friend in person?  This bottle of red wine comes in a flat plastic bottle inside a cardboard box which should fit through most letterboxes ensuring your friend doesn’t need to be home to receive their gift. It’s a full size bottle but with a screw cap there is no need to drink it all in one go. There is also a white wine option. The bottle is made from recycled plastic and can be fully recycled after use.

Notes: Fits through letterbox, Eco Gift.

A (plastic) bottle of wine that is flat and can fit through the door

A Bouquet for Men

If you are looking for something totally different then check out the edible gifts from Manly Man Company. If you like the sound of a beef jerky flower bouquet in a pint glass "vase" in a hamper with the ingredients for Bloody Mary then you can get it here or one of their other gift sets for me.

Gifts For Animal Lovers

Illustrated Dog Coasters

Jo Clark Design has a selection of beautifully illustrated cards for every occasion as well as a small range of gifts including totes, mugs, tea towels and these coasters. The cute dogs in costumes coasters would make an adorable gift for dog lovers (there are cat and guinea pig versions as well) with the quirky and original drawings. The coasters are made from hardboard with applied printed and laminated vinyl design on the front and cork on the reverse. The front surfaces are stain resistant and wipe clean. For every coaster sold a tree will be planted as part of the Eden Reforestation project.

Notes: Fits through letterbox, Eco gift.

Fun dog illustrations on coasters by Jo Clark Design

Super Leopard Print

I think Ink & Drop are currently my favourite online print store because they have a huge range of really cool designs, including many that you can add your own message to. It was a challenge to choose my favourites, but I really love their Little Heroes series of animals with superhero masks. Some of them are cute, some look a little bit scary, but there is something about this snow leopard that particularly appeals to me. I think it’s a subtle reminder that we can all be a little bit bedraggled, but still fierce and have the ability to change the world. Other styles include street art and botanicals. 

Designs are available in a variety of size prints (with optional frames) or you can choose a canvas design with easy to use magnetic hanging rails like in the image below. I love this because the material is a bit thicker, but the overall picture is quite light and you don't need to worry about glass smashing to the floor if your friend is rubbish with DIY.

Super leopard print from Ink & Drop

Fun Bottle Opener

Another one for dog lovers: this fun Fetch bottle opener is cute and practical. Made from beechwood and stainless steel you can easily open bottles of beer and then leave them in the dogs mouth to look like it has caught a frisbee. The bottle opener is a good weight making it a practical paper weight too. 

Fetch dog shaped bottle opener

Yoga Cat Magnets

If your friend loves yoga, cats or both then I’m sure they’ll be amused by these fun yoga cat magnets. The set of 5 magnets show the cats in a variety of poses, but not downward dog for some reason. They are a fun and slightly practical present which will make your friend smile. 

Cat Yoga Magnets

Personalised Gifts

A Photobook of Memories. 

Anyone unfortunate enough to be close to me will know that even if I’m not grabbing them to pose with me in a selfie I’ll be regularly snapping away with a camera. My excuse is that I have a rubbish memory and I absolutely love to look back on old photographs and remember good times. I might send friends an occasional snap saying “remember this?”, but it’s even better to print the memories out. 

It can take a bit of effort to create a photo book. You need to decide all the photos you want to include (and I have over 100,000) and then how to lay them out. I created this book with ASDA photo which gives you the choice of auto populating the book. I wanted to choose the layout of each page so I added the snaps myself and it was straight forward to do. When it arrived the lay flat design impressed me with the quality; each page is 200gsm paper (basically thin card) and the cover is a glossy hardback meaning it should keep looking great even after many sessions reliving the memories. This is the most expensive style of photobook in the ASDA photo collection and it's great quality, but they have a range of photobooks. 

Note: Fits through letterbox

Hardback quality photobook

Botanical Wreath Necklace

A ring a day make and design a range of handmade jewellery, some of which can be personalised with an initial charm. I love their botanical designs best like this flower wreath necklace which is like giving a bunch of flowers that will last forever (NB no guarantee is provided that it will last forever, so if it breaks in 164 years please don’t sue my descendants). 

Note: Fits through letterbox

A Writing Set

Emails, texts, phonecalls, they are all great ways to keep in touch, but nothing compares to receiving a letter through the door. When you write the letter with beautiful stationery it’s almost as much fun to write as it is to receive, and how beautiful is this Coles Kipling Chrome Trim Ballpoint & Fountain Pen Set and Kartos writing paper? Many items and pens on the Pen Haven website can be engraved and gift wrapped adding an extra special element.

Pen Set and Writing Paper from Pen Haven

Personalised Storage Tin (and bonus sweets)

Proper Goose has a great range of personalised gifts like this sweet tin. You can add a photograph and message of your choice and choose the sweets to go inside (from a choice of 12). It gives your friend something to enjoy now and a tin they can keep and use in the future which will make them think of you every time. These sort of gifts can be as nostalgic or cheeky as you want so they are a great way to show your personality.

Personalised photo sweet tin from Proper Goose

I hope you love this selection of gift ideas as much as I do, thank you for reading.

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***Disclosure: this post contains gifted products and affiliate links***