Truly: The Only Gift Guide You’ll Ever Need for Thoughtful, No-Stress Gifting

Gift giving: joyful, yes, but also a mental marathon. 

Between finding unforgettable gifts, wrapping them beautifully, and making sure they arrive on time, the list can feel endless. So, we did the heavy lifting for you.

We asked our readers about the joys and headaches of gifting: 

• who’s the hardest to shop for

• the gifts that have been a total home run

• the most memorable presents they’ve received

• their favorite gifts to give

• what they’d most like for themselves

From their responses, we crafted this guide full of creative, thoughtful gifting tips, ideas, and recommendations. Click below to navigate reader-inspired gift options:

Gift guide navigation

1. Treat yourself gifts

2. Experiences and time

3. Subscriptions and memberships

4. Home and kitchen upgrades

5. Personalized and sentimental gifts

6. Hobby-related and practical gifts

7. Kids and family

8. Food and drink

💅 Treat yourself gifts

For the indulgent people in your life (like you), the ones who do everything for everyone else (you), and who need a little downtime (you, again), these gifts say: “You’ve earned this.”

Spa and beauty indulgences

• Enjoy total relaxation using Spafinder gift cards that grant you access to thousands of spas, salons, and wellness centers nationwide. Or book all day access to luxury hotel spas and pools through ResortPass (no overnight stay required).

• Make the holidays a time to truly shine with facial memberships and gift cards from Heyday, blowout gift cards at Drybar, and at-home manicure kits from Olive & June.

Luxury comforts

• Warm up in the viral Tasman UGGs that everyone secretly wants—or these remakes that fit a tighter budget. 

• Elevate a “rot day” in a quilted robe, a simple-yet-polished pajama set, a weighted blanket, or ultra-soothing Brooklinen silk pillowcases. Splurge on a Barefoot Dreams throw beloved by celebs—and anyone who’s ever touched one.  

• Add to cart at Quince: affordable cashmere wraps, silk sleepwear, and luxe basics without the markup.

• Calm the room with sleek diffusers and essential oils from Vitruvi. Or soften the glow with seasonal candles from Otherland and P.F. Candle Co. Instant exhale. 

• Indulge is spa-level soaking with posh bath suds and salts from Bathorium. For extra at-home care, throw in a frozen eye mask (low price point) or red light therapy mask (high price point). Readers recommend these Lush face masks, especially Calamity and Rosy Cheeks.

Jewelry and scent

• Catbird has dainty, elegant necklaces, charms, and bracelets that can be engraved with initials, meaningful dates, or tiny symbols. Perfect for friends or family who love minimalist jewelry with personal significance.

• Mejuri sells elevated, everyday pieces that can be personalized or layered, making them both wearable and meaningful. Their simple designs suit anyone, but engraving or pairing with a birthstone adds a sentimental touch.

• Sharkies Cove makes hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind jewelry from sustainable resources and packaged in biodegradable and recyclable materials. Find an angel fish charm necklace or pair of shooting star huggies (or request a custom order) for your mermaid-adjacent loved one.  

• Maison Louis Marie makes clean, beautiful fragrances and candles (a dupe for Le Labo favorites).

• Salt & Stone offers gender-neutral perfumes and body care, as well as candles, that smell like a walk on the coast.

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🎟️ Experiences and time

Memories over things! Thirty-seven percent of our audience says they love giving experiences—our most popular gifting category. From surprise date nights to weekend cruises, the vendors below can book and give a perfectly planned experience. 

Live events and entertainment

• Fever offers a wide variety of local events and experiences—candlelight concerts, theater, comedy shows, and other immersive experiences—at prices for every budget. Buy in two clicks, then share with the recipient. 

• With Vivid Seats, you can purchase gift cards for concerts, Broadway shows, and sporting events, allowing recipients to choose their preferred way to play.

Weekend getaways and cruises

• Cruise for a weekend with Royal Caribbean, by booking one tiny getaway (yes, that short!). It’s a perfect balance of adventure and relaxation.

• Through Gift A Trip, secure travel certificates for cruise lines, resorts, and hotels in one click, then email them to your recipient. Corporate, personal, and charitable gifting approved.

• Explore a variety of travel and stay experience gifts, including weekend getaways, hotel stays, and dining experiences with Wonderbox. 

Classes and workshops

• On ClassBento, you can book or gift thousands of fun and unique classes and experiences in the U.S., including arts, crafts, cooking, and more, taught by highly-rated local artisans.

• Likewise, Classpop! offers fun, social cooking and art classes with top instructors, available both online and in various locations.

• Xperience Days provides unique gifts like food tours, golf, skydiving, sailing, salsa classes, and even driving experiences.

• You can find a wide range of creative experiences on Giftory, including paint and sip classes, cooking courses, and adventure challenges, suitable for couples or groups.

• Gift experiences in the U.S. and abroad using the popular travel company Viator through platforms such as Giftly. 

Curated date night experiences

• Date Night In Box delivers a custom-curated date night to your door, including activities, accessories, snacks, recipes, and more. The Adventure Challenge does, too, offering date night boxes with scratch-off cards, shared experiences, games, connection questions, and a map to guide the process.

• Explore your own city like you never have before with Avital Experiences. They curate date nights with incredible food, drinks, and more.

• The Jones Travel Co. provides personalized date nights with intimate dining and adventures, creating memorable surprises.

Pop-up picnics and curated outdoor experiences

• Gather outdoors with brands like The Picnic Collective. Based in California (LA, the OC, San Diego, Palm Springs), they create beautiful themed picnic setups for couples, families, or groups. 

• You can also use Airbnb Experiences to find local pop-up picnic or “romantic picnic” experiences in your area, often paired with wine tastings, photography, or scenic hikes.

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🛍️ Subscriptions and memberships

These are the gifts that keep on giving—all year long. Gift a subscription and become the ultimate mental-load easer: They’re thoughtful, easy-to-order, and guaranteed to delight long after the holidays. 

Books and learning

• Choose from a curated lineup of new releases every month using Book of the Month. It’s a treat for anyone who loves the feel of a fresh hardcover.

• Audible features audiobooks and podcasts galore, ideal for commutes or cozy evenings.

• On MasterClass, you can cook with Gordon Ramsay, hear stories from Shonda Rhimes, explore tennis with Serena Williams—there’s something for every curiosity.

• For creatives or career-growers looking to sharpen skills through online classes, Skillshare is perfect. 

Food and drink

• Start mornings fresh with coffee subscriptions. Trade Coffee offers freshly roasted beans matched to your taste and delivered on your schedule. While Atlas Coffee Club turns coffee into a geography lesson, sourcing from a new country each month.

• Sign up for personalized wine deliveries through Winc—with notes to help you discover new favorites.

• Give the gift of a home-cooked meal with HelloFresh, ideal for anyone new to adulthood. Or opt for Blue Apron; their meal kits save time, cut grocery trips, and add fun back into dinner.

• Snack well and often with Universal Yums, which delivers snacks from around the world to adventurous eaters, or Murray’s Cheese Club, a monthly artisan cheese selection. Yes, this exists.

Kids and hobbies

• Inspire STEM-inspired projects for every age with KiwiCo. (They have adult crates, too!).

• Raise your own globetrotter with Little Passports, which delivers monthly adventures that teach kids about world geography and culture.

• Elevate at-home art with The Crafter’s Box, which offers beautiful, high-end craft kits that let you learn new art forms at home.

• For the gamer or pop-culture fan in your life, opt for Loot Crate—they offer surprise crates of collectibles and gear for different fandoms. 

Wellness and self-care

• Spark joy and mindfulness with therapy-inspired gifts: Give the gift of me-time with Headspace, encourage calmer days and better nights with Calm, and use TheraBox to deliver self-care boxes curated by therapists directly to your loved one’s door. 

• Enjoy a little bit of everything with FabFitFun, which offers seasonal boxes mixing fitness, skincare, and cozy lifestyle finds.

• Use luxe meal delivery service Sakara Life to champion nutrition and beauty-from-within vibes.

Flowers and plants

• Make a nice-to-have a necessity with flower subscriptions: The Bouqs Co. offers eco-friendly floral subscriptions featuring farm-direct blooms, UrbanStems delivers stylish bouquets that feel fresh and modern, and BloomsyBox lets you choose from mixed bouquets or single-variety flowers each month.

• Enroll in intro-to-botony with The Sill, which ships easy-to-care-for plants right to your door. (Corporate gift options, too!)

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🍽️ Home and kitchen wares

If your loved one cherishes time at home—cooking, lounging, or hosting friends—these gifts will fit right in. Think of them as everyday luxuries: things that make their routines a little easier, their space a little cozier, and their home feel a little more them.

Decor and accents

• Pair a new cookbook with a pack of wildflower seeds or quality kitchen sponges. For something unexpected, give this tomato leaf-scented candle. After the scent is gone, you can plant the box, and the seed-infused package will grow tomatoes.

• Invite slow mornings with a soft, super-plush robe, a pair of cozy socks, or a cotton throw blanket.

• Add a comforting touch to their space with a sculptural flower vase, a giftcard to get photos framed at Framebridge, or tea towels that bring personality to the kitchen. For a DIY option, try this craft framing art using an old shirt or fabric scrap. 

Housewares and hosting staples

• Purchase curated kitchen and home goods from small makers across the U.S. using Food52 Shop. Handcrafted salt cellars, cutting boards, and other unique home accents bring both style and utility to everyday life.

• Gift a beautiful set of linen napkins, unique serving utensils, or wavy ceramic appetizer platter.

• Splurge on the necessities: a 10-in-1 nonstick pan, timeless dutch oven, chic glass cake stand, or a cast iron skillet for the person who always has something in the oven. 

• Upgrade daily essentials with “newer models of the staples in case they’ve degraded,” one reader says: Nordic Ware sheet pans that never warp, a razor-sharp Mercer bread knife, a refurbished cordless Dyson vacuum, or fresh Pyrex containers to replace mismatched Tupperware sets. 

Home scents and ambience

• Inspire ambiance with luxury candles, essential oil diffusers, or a vintage match striker that lives on the coffee table.

• Elevate the little details in everyday rituals with sensory staples like woodsy incense, clean room sprays, or fancy-feeling hand soap and lotion that make even the smallest routines feel indulgent.

• Keep in mind fragrance gifts can be deeply personal. Look for brands that focus on storytelling and craftsmanship, like Boy Smells, Anecdote, Imaginary Authors, or Hotel Lobby Candle, to make the gesture feel intentional and luxe.

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💌 Personalized and sentimental gifts

To be loved is to be seen. Thoughtful, personalized gifts show how much you really know and cherish someone. Close to a quarter of our readers (20 percent) say they love giving handmade gifts—something sentimental that feels meaningful or tied to a shared memory.

Handmade and customizable goods

• Etsy offers thousands of small, customizable keepsakes that mark a memory, location, or shared experience: personalized book embosser stamps, embroidered makeup bags, Jane Austen novel-themed coasters, custom silhouette pendant necklaces, fruit basket candle sets, and so much more. 

• Papier has beautiful weekly planners, stationery for every design taste, recipe journals, dinner party card games, and custom photo books, all ideal for someone who loves writing, memory-keeping, or stylish organization. Artifact Uprising also offers personalized photo books and albums for travel, year-in-review, weddings, and more.

• On Uncommon Goods, you can find guided memoir books (perfect for a parent or grandparent who loves storytelling), custom books that retrace the history of their favorite NFL team through reprinted coverage from The New York Times, handmade repurposed sari tote bags, and much more. 

Sentimental DIY crafts

• For the crafty gift-giving queens, sew a teardrop bag dupe, upcycle wooden beads into coasters, mold an air dry clay trinket dish, fashion a fabric Airpod case or custom calendar, collage an Altoid tin, stitch a quilted journal cover, or make a personalized phone or bag charm.

• Turn your favorite memories together into keepsakes. Compile a photo book, make a mini scrapbook or junk journal from movie ticket stubs or receipts from meals out together, or frame a photobooth strip or snapshot from a trip you took together in a funky, monochromatic frame. 

• For loved ones who live far away, Skylight Frame is a digital frame that allows photos to be updated remotely, so family and friends can see new pictures instantly. 

• DIY curated kits are always a hit. “Face masks, snacks, lotions, and a handwritten note can go a long way,” says one reader. Make it a fully personalized “you-time” basket, “filled with cozy pajamas, their favorite tea or coffee, a book or DVD they like, something that smells good like a bath soak or a drawer sachet”—any odds or ends that bring them joy.

Unique and meaningful gestures

• For animal-lovers, make a macramé pet toy, cook a month’s worth of their pup’s favorite food, donate an adoption gift certificate, or adopt an endangered animal in their name.

• Name a star (one reader named a star after their grandmother) or plant a tree in their name, giving them a symbol of thoughtfulness that lasts beyond a material possession.

• For the constant vacationers, help lessen planning overwhelm for their next trip by creating a loose sample itinerary or simply listing out a few highly-rated restaurants, must-see landmarks, or underrated museums to see. 

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📚 Hobby-related and practical gifts

For the hobbyists, the tinkerers, the self-care devotees—the people who love receiving something they’ll actually use—these gifts are all about a mix of function, fun, and thoughtfulness. 

Sports and fitness goods and gadgets

• Encourage an active lifestyle with something that enhances their favorite sport or exercise: a non-slip yoga mat, wireless earbuds, a sleek gym bag that doubles as a weekender, or a portable foam roller for post-workout recovery.

• Buy something that makes their day-to-day life easier: a smart water bottle that tracks hydration, a cooling towel for outdoor runs, or a lightweight bike helmet.

• One thoughtful way to support their fitness goals? Gift them a ClassPass or studio class pack, a private training session, or a virtual membership to an online fitness community they’ve been curious about.

Specific hobby-related gifts

• For the avid readers, go for a beautiful edition of a favorite classic, a Book of the Month subscription that lets them choose their next read, or a blind date with a book gift.

• Gardeners and nature-lovers might appreciate something experiential, like a houseplant-of-the-month subscription, a set of heirloom seeds, or a monogrammed gardening apron. As one reader shared, tech upgrades to everyday hobbies can be a hit: “My mom loved the smart bird feeder I got her last Christmas.”

• For the creative type, choose a hands-on kit like Sculpd’s pottery starter kit, an essential oil soap-making kit, a collage art pack, or an embroidery kit that matches their style.

Practical home and hobby upgrades

• Focus on upgrades or accessories rather than basics. Many hobbyists already own the fundamentals, so something that enhances their process (organizers, deluxe versions, personalization) makes a difference. Some examples: a camera strap with custom embroidery, a craft bag, or a personalized fountain pen.

• For the coffee or tea devotee, consider a quality-of-life upgrade like a sleek tea kettle, a Nespresso machine, a hand-thrown ceramic travel mug, a monthly coffee subscription from a local roaster, or a conversation-starter coffee table book.

• Tech lovers might appreciate something that makes their setup more seamless: an Apple Watch stand, a wireless charging dock, or finally getting their camera lens repaired (acts of service, we love).

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🪴 Kids and family

Looking for gifts that are fun, educational, and creative? These gifts spark curiosity, develop skills, and bring joy to kids of all ages.

Toys that teach and entertain

• Build something incredible with Legos, Blockaroo Magnetic Blocks, or STEM-inspired Snap Circuits (8+). 

• Fuel creativity with Etch & Sketch, Drawing Tablets, or this Baby Einstein Upbeat Tunes Drum Toy.

• Inspire wonder—and limit screen time—with glow sticks and bubble machines.

For quiet time, bedtime, and lifelong reading habits:

• Sit down for family storytime with timeless classics, like Where the Wild Things Are or How to Train Your Dragon.

• Raise the next generation of innovators. National Geographic rock tumbler kits and books like 101 Things for Kids to Do on a Rainy Day keep young minds busy.

• Develop your kids brain (and eye for design) with high-contrast art books like this Art & Concepts set that promote cognitive growth. 

• Explore a land before time with interactive Encyclopedia Prehistorica Dinosaurs.

• Encourage independent listening with Toniebox.

Experiences and exploration

• Take curiosity on the go with museum and science center passes. Local children’s museums, science centers, or Go City Pass offer ways to engage kids all year long.

• Build-your-own bug hotels, plant-growing kits, and more with nature & STEM kits.

• Backyard experiments, hiking, beach trips, or nature scavenger hunts—plan a family hike or trip to encourage independence (and build lasting memories).  

Activities and creative kits

• Encourage media-free play and reflection through brain teaser puzzles, coloring books or “Destroy This Book”-style activity books, and photo albums or scrapbooks. You can create a homemade album, or order one through Shutterfly. 

• Raise a future influencer—or at least someone who loves to capture the moment—with digital cameras for kids.

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8. Food and drink

If you’re ever stumped on what to give, start with food. It’s personal but universally loved, whether that means a box of artisanal chocolates, a restaurant gift card, or a DIY cocktail kit that turns a mundane evening into a memorable experience. 

Specialty treats

• Elevate their pantry with something indulgent and beautifully packaged, like artisanal olive oil from Brightland or Heraclea, small-batch gourmet chocolate truffles, unique hot sauces, or high-quality coffee beans.

• Treat the foodie in your life to specialty treats they might not know about: infused sea salt slide tins, spicy miso ramen noodle chips, an almond butter variety pack (with flavors like chocolate sea salt, pistachio crunch, and vanilla latte), or spaghetti dust.

• For the protein-lovers: Check out Fishwife’s stunning cookbook gift box complete with their debut cookbook and three Fishwife essentials: Albacore Tuna with Spanish Lemon, Smoked Trout, and Anchovies.

Meal experiences

• For the home cook, pair a staple cookbook (like Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat or Cook This Book) with their favorite bottle of wine or a specialty ingredient they can experiment with, like unique spice blends or infused vinegars.

• Treat them to an all-expenses-paid meal at their favorite restaurant (“I literally just want expensive steaks from Hall's Chophouse,” says one reader) or a new spot they haven’t tried. 

• Surprise them with a delivery box from an iconic restaurant, chef, or city they love but can’t easily visit. Goldbelly’s Taste of New York Weekender Box, for example, comes overflowing with iconic New York City staples, including a pastrami sandwich, pizza, cheesecake, and oven-ready par-baked bagels. 

Creative DIY gifts

• Make homemade mocktail and cocktail mixes: “Find a recipe for a syrup with their fave alcohol, like homemade limoncello,” one reader says. “Make your flavored simple syrup, put it in a pretty jar, attach a drink recipe or recipes in a small booklet, or make it into a basket that includes the mixers for one or more of the recipes with vodka, ginger beer, limes and/or lemons, fresh herbs, fresh fruit, a lemon squeezer tool, and a snack.”

• Encourage creativity in the kitchen with an at-home cocktail-making kit, a soft pretzel baking mix, or a kimchi making kit.

• Create the ultimate cozy morning basket with specialty coffee beans, tea bags, hot chocolate packets, a milk frother, ceramic to-go mugs, various kinds of sugar and honey, and a few drink recipes.

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