The Best Winter Gifts for Five Personalities
Shopping season approaches, as we all gear up for the fall and winter holidays! No matter what you celebrate, giving the perfect gift is as thrilling and rewarding for the giver as it is for the recipient. Our tips will help guide you to the perfect winter gifts for everyone on your list.
For the Bookworm
Everybody has this friend, right? The friend who is always reading a new book every time you see them and who spends hours at the local library sniffing books (we can’t blame them, books smell amazing). Maybe it’s a Facebook friend going for her master’s in library science or your local bestie who’s hosting a nonprofit bookstore out of her garage or maybe it’s just your mom who’d love the latest guilty pleasure novel. Here’s what we recommend:
A Book: Either ask them outright what books they’d like or do a little wandering around your local bookstore until something jumps out at you with them in mind. Lots of bookworms are also writers at heart (or in actual practice), so a guided writing journal with prompts is a great creative choice to get the literary feels flowing from pen to paper.
A Scented Candle: Reading by candlelight is the perfect fall and winter activity. But not just any candle. This one smells like old books. Perfection!
An Experience: Find a local book signing or literary themed event and snag your book-loving buddy a couple tickets.
A Shelf Buddy: A Curly Spider plant looks beautiful on a bookshelf and helps clean the air, so it’s a great easy-care addition to your friend’s home library.
For the Busy Parent
Whether it’s your own mom or a friend with a little one, parents deserve a break. Parenting is hard work, and it’s often thankless. Celebrate the parents in your life with these recommendations:
A Caffeinated Beverage: Get your friend their favorite coffee or tea as a special treat. Bonus points if you also include a totally-not-about-parenting book for them to curl up and read in two-minute increments when they can step away from life.
A Decadent Treat: Find out your friend’s favorite chocolate or other indulgence and slip them a little somethin’ in their holiday stocking.
A Little Escape: Offer to babysit so your parent friend(s) can have a night or afternoon to themselves. This is a gift beyond measure.
A Leafy Family Member: A Sansevieria is so low-maintenance, it’s the perfect plant for someone with a busy schedule who can’t remember their own name.
For the Mentor
Teachers, bosses, parents, and more… the mentor type in your life needs a gift truly in line with how much they’ve supported you.
A Letter: Write your mentor a heartfelt letter to show them with words how much you appreciate their touch on your life.
A Cafe Gift Card: Everybody loves coffee, and you can’t go wrong with a gift card to a local cafe.
An Indulgence: A gift certificate to a spa in your area for a massage or other spa treatment is a relaxing and wonderful gift for someone who is always looking out for others.
Something to Nurture: Pothos or Zebrina would be great for a mentoring personality. Just like they nurtured you in a time of need, they’ll be able to watch the vines and leaves of their plant grow long and strong!
For the Creative
A Hilarious Practical Thing: Creatives love when you see something completely off the wall and get it for them, especially if it’s a fun take on a practical item. An avocado shaped pencil sharpener, squirrel mug, or unicorn shaped sticky notes are all winning ideas.
A Creative Outlet: If your creative buddy spends most of their time drawing, get them something related to painting or writing, and vice versa. Creatives need alternate outlets that aren’t the same thing they normally do all day.
A Night on the Town: Check your local art museum or gallery for any upcoming exhibits or show openings you can attend together.
A Piece of Living Art: Appeal to their artistic nature with a beautifully colored Echeveria succulent or an Alocasia with a stunning silhouette.
For the Jet Setter
This friend can pick up and go for a weekend away at a moment’s notice, and their passport is full of stamps from faraway places. They may end up a traveling nomad or they may put down roots eventually. But for now, they like to stay fairly untethered. Here’s what we recommend:
A Passport Cover: A cute passport cover lets your travel-obsessed friend stay stylish when it comes to their must-have ID. We love this one from Etsy!
A Travel Journal: Some travel journals come with prompts about location, favorite thing, funniest moments, etc. -- shop around for one that suits your friend’s personality the best.
A Bucket List Adventure: Obviously this can mean only one thing… planning a road trip with your bestie! Even if it’s just a weekend getaway, make a plan for a fun friends’ weekend. Daydream your ideal destinations while you put together your all-time favorite road trip playlist.
Something to Come Home to: The Peperomia is a great choice for someone who may be out of town for a while, since it’s very forgiving when it comes to missing a watering or two.
It’s impossible to cover every gift-giving persona in just one blog, so reach out and let us know who YOU need to shop for! We’d be happy to recommend a plant - we mean, a gift, that’s just right for them.