You will find gift ideas for every occasion

Sometimes it's really fun to give gifts: the person receiving the gift gave the right clue, you happened to find exactly the right thing and then you even did a really good job with the packaging. However, it is more often the case that gift ideas are a rare commodity. And that's exactly why we've put together some tips for you.

The most important question: do you need a gift?

Sounds simple, but it is true. You should think carefully about this obvious question with every gift. Because perhaps a gift is not appropriate or is downright excessive.

And almost as exciting: why do you “need” a gift?

Ideally, gifts are meant to make others happy. And – good news – there is generally (almost) never a bad time for a gift. Too often, however, the specific reason for giving gifts is exaggerated: probably every second student has now received a student cookbook when they start their studies, and the same, funny gifts are piled up on big birthdays. Instead of standard gifts or bouquets of flowers, it can make sense to ask yourself whether a joint activity or a voucher for a bouquet of flowers - at a time of your own choosing - could be a much better gift.

When do you give?

There are many occasions when it is customary to give something as a gift. Christmas is of course at the top of the list of occasions, as are birthdays, weddings, births or other religious holidays. And even if these celebrations have become routine, it is still important to give the recipient a particularly great gift. By the way: there are also great alternatives for people who “already have everything”… but more on that later.

Gift occasions and gift ideas

Religious festival

All over the world, religious celebrations are used as an opportunity to give gifts to one another. According to a representative study by the consultancy EY, Germans are quite generous at Christmas: they spend an average of over €280 on Christmas presents, extrapolated to €18.4 billion a year. Most of the money is earmarked for the immediate family circle. If you are unsure whether you should give your colleagues something this year, there is a simple trick. Ask your colleagues ;-) – it saves everyone involved unnecessary stress and time.

Birthday

Instead of grand gestures, most people are happy to receive a call, a card or a text message. Even people who don't care much about their birthdays are happy to receive a nice greeting. And beyond? Think about how you relate to the “birthday child”. Are you close and know everything about each other? Do you want to spend more time with this person in the future? Or did the person just have a difficult time and you want to make them happy? If you can answer “yes” to one of these questions, then nothing stands in the way of a gift.

(Inter)national holiday

While a gift for the Day of Penance and Prayer may be a little unusual, holidays are generally a great opportunity to get creative. Sure, a monthly ice cream subscription for National Ice Cream Day (July 19th, by the way) might be a bit excessive. Nevertheless, such a holiday is a nice opportunity to go out for ice cream together . And speaking of the really important holidays: a chocolate tasting box for International Chocolate Day - September 13th - is of course a must anyway ;-)!

New period of my life

As already mentioned, people often receive similar gifts at certain times in their lives. And instead of giving the third student cookbook as a gift, it often makes more sense to put yourself in the situation of the person receiving the gift. What does the person really need? Would a basic set of spices or a pressure cooker be a better choice for a student? And would the friend in the hospital perhaps prefer to eat something sensible instead of another bouquet of flowers? Here, too, it is often helpful and useful to ask the person receiving the gift directly.

No reason

Sometimes the best moment to give something is when there is no reason. It doesn't always have to be a “real” gift: a nice post-it note, flowers you picked yourself or your current favorite book. Small gestures in everyday life simply make life nicer!

By the way: especially in times of Corona, gift ideas that involve spending time together are often the best. A coffee walk together, gardening together or a digital quiz evening could be much more enjoyable than another book.

header Photo by Edgar Soto on Unsplash