Men can be really hard to shop for. I think the difficulty arises from the fact that most men don't shop for themselves for fun, so its hard to know what they might like. To help you out, I have put together a list of 10 fun gift ideas that I think men might like this year. I tried to make a varied list, so there should be something here for everyone:
Cards Against Humanity is a card game that has been popular for a few years now, but is still a fun party game. The game is played like Apples to Apples, but is intended for adults. Its a really, really fun game. You can download a PDF and print the cards for free (free!) or you can buy a pre-printed boxed set of cards for $25. If you know someone who already has a set, they also sell expansion packs now, too.
Earbud-style headphones are still popular, but if you know someone who spends a lot of time listening to music, a nice pair of over-ear headphones might make a great gift. There are tons of headphones on the market now. I would check out Amazon.com and BestBuy.com to see which ones get good reviews and are on sale. This pair looks nice, gets good reviews, and is almost 50% off on Amazon.com:
Do you have a man in your life that loves his Converse sneakers? I know I do. Converse now offers the ability to customize a pair of sneakers online. You could try your hand at custom-designing a pair for your man, or you can get him a gift certificate so he can make his own dream pair of sneakers. All for about $75!
For $40 you can get one of these home brew kits that contains everything your guy would need (ok, other than a stove and water) to make his own brew! The Brooklyn Brew Shop offers a great variety of kits - everything from "Warrior Double IPA" to "Grapefruit Honey Ale". Check them out!
Homemade Favorite Meal Coupon
Let's not forget that not everything that you give this year has to come from a store. A fun idea for a free gift is a coupon allowing the redeemer to have his favorite meal made for him. There is so much eating and rich foods during the holidays, so why not spread the love from the kitchen into the new year?
Customized Stainless-Steel Steak Knife Set with Box
Know a man who loves meat? Why not get him this set of stainless steel steak knives, and have his initials put on the box? The knives are $80, and personalizations is another $7.
Customized Steak Brand and Carving Board
Here is another great gift for the meat-eater in your life - especially if he loves to grill. For $70 you can get a customized, hand-forged iron steak brand and a matching carving board. What guy would not love to put his initials on his steak? And if you know a guy who seems to have everything, well, I doubt he has this!
Even the manliest feet get cold, so why not warm them up with a pair of these wool and leather slipper socks? For travel or at home, I think these slipper socks would make a great gift for a man or a woman! Only $45.
Whether he is commuting to work or going on a camping trip, a vintage-style thermos like one of these Stanley Thermoses from West Elm would make a great gift to keep your man warm all day long. From coffee to soup, a thermos like this will keep his stomach nice and warm, and will cost you only $32.
New Year's Eve is right around the corner from Christmas, so do your part to make sure your man is nice and kissable by buying him some fancy shaving stuff! Maybe if he likes his shaving cream and equipment, he will shave more often? Its worth a shot! West Elm is selling a cigar box full of Portland General Store shaving goodies for $45. For another $22 you can make sure he has a fancy wooden shaving brush, too.
I hope these ideas get you well on your way to finding special, thoughtful gifts for all the guys on your shopping list this year! Stay tuned for some great gift ideas for the ladies later in the week.
The Turkey has been cooked, and the leftovers enjoyed (or, if your house is anything like mine, the leftovers are still being enjoyed), and now it is time to unabashedly start getting ready for Christmas. It's time to pull out the ladder, get the lights down from the attic and up on the house. And while I have been trying to chip away at my Christmas list slowly for a while now, its time to kick it into high gear!
Celebrating The Twelve Days of Christmas is an important part of my family's holiday season. That means picking out fun little trinkets and goodies throughout the year to fill the boxes for our family members to open from December 26 through January 6. To give you a jump-start on shopping for The Twelve Days of Christmas this week I am going to share with you some of the toys and trinkets that we have given to our family (and received ourselves) over the past couple of years. Today I will share with you some of the goodies that have been found inside the male family member's boxes. Later this week I will share some of the goodies that the ladies have gotten. None of the things on this list are very masculine, so most of these ideas could go for either gender and any age.
These are fun little toys. They are a bit sticky, but harmless. You throw them against a wall or window and they walk their way down. Fun for adults and kids.
These are fun toys to position and play with. They start out as a cube and then transform into a robot. We have two - the smallest one which will fit in a Twelve Days box, and the next size up. Both robots like to hang out in various places around our house. One is hanging out on our wine rack right now.
I put one of these in one of my husband's boxes last year. They are a bit hard to play with adult sized fingers, but still fun. And cheap.
These are fun little gifts - especially if you know someone who enjoys wine. Most of us have a couple corks lurking around in a drawer somewhere, so why not dress them up? These "Corkers" come in lots of different sets.
These are fun for kids of all ages. You stick it in your nose and hum, and somewhat like a kazoo it makes noise.
I remember these from when I was a kid, maybe you do too?
The list goes on and on. Get creative!
Christmas Food Traditions from Around the World