Christmas Gift Ideas for Students

By on December 1st, 2017

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It’s that time of year again when we’re required to dig deep into our (perhaps thinning) student loans and give gifts to the people we love. Now whilst the concept of gift giving is something we’re all about (bring on those endorphins), it can difficult for the humble student to find suitable presents for all their loved ones without worrying about hitting the red.

The good news is there’re a ton of thoughtful, inexpensive and homemade gifts you can give this Christmas, many of which mean just as much, if not more, than any shop-bought product.
Check these ideas out.

1. Homemade Food Gifts

Who on earth would say no to a homemade foodie gift at Christmas? From healthy sweet snacks to festive treats, homemade foods are the embodiment of goodwill and really let people know you care.
You don’t have to be a chef to pull this off – just a simple recipe you can easily follow. Go Christmassy or bake that person’s favourite treat, and tie it all up in a pretty jar or box.
Some ideas include:
– Infused olive oil (chilli, garlic or lemon)
– Infused vodka or some mulled wine
– Festive-infused salt (think sage and rosemary!)
– Home-infused herbal tea (tastes much better than the packaged stuff)
– Christmas cookies or gingerbread
– Chutney, jam or piccalilli
– Homemade chocolates
– Homemade ‘Christmas’ granola

2. Homemade Body Care

Homemade body care products are also easy to make and will definitely come in handy during the festive season. If you can make them with all-natural, unprocessed ingredients, even better!
Some easy to make body care gifts include:
– Body butter
– Body scrubs/bath salts
– Natural lip balm

3. Family Recipe Book

Whether you want to package up a bit of nostalgia for a loved one or share your family classics with friends, a homemade family recipe book is a clever gift and better than any new fancy cookbook (maybe).
Gather various old recipe cards, wine tags, and anything else that reflects the classic recipes your family have enjoyed through the years. Use photo corners to secure them in an unlined journal, such as a Moleskine. The more spattered the recipe cards are, the better – though you can, of course, emulate this yourself with some old teabags (!).
An optional addition is a customised cover and some photos throughout of your family enjoying the meals, maybe on special occasions. You could also section the book by dish type, holiday or ‘lunch/dinner/dessert’ and so on.

4. Custom-Made Photo Album

Nearly all of us know a DSLR or film camera owner who just never gets around to doing anything with their pics. Why not gather some of their best pictures and get them printed, to make them an awesomely customised photo scrapbook? What photos you choose is up to you – they can be themed around a specific holiday, just great moments or simply some of your favourite photos they took that deserve more attention. Adding some decoration or little stories and quotes will really make the scrapbook personal and encourage them to take a trip down memory lane of when the photos were taken.
You can get your digital photos printed as polaroids at Photobox, with two variants to choose from. Square Snaps also offer a Polaroid-printing service, especially for Instagram pics.

5. A Month’s Subscription

With so many subscriptions flying out of people’s bank accounts these days, we’re sure they could benefit from one for free. Whatever your loved one is into, chances are there’ll be a subscription for it.
Play it safe with a month of Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Kindle, or get something they’d never think of buying themselves. YogaGlo offers unlimited yoga classes for the avid yogi, whilst Graze is every snack-aholic’s dream. Does that person love to cook? Offer them a month’s worth of Riverford Organic or Hello Fresh recipe boxes. And for those into more niche things, there’s even coffee subscriptions and cheese toastie mailout services too.

6. ‘Time For’ Coupons

What better gift to offer someone at Christmas, than your time? Creating your own ‘time for’ coupons is a brilliant way of showing someone you care and goes way beyond simply opening something on the day.
You can offer time-for coupons for cleaning someone’s house, helping someone with shopping, running errands, or being someone’s personal handyman for a month. If you’ve got a particular skill, you could even offer free tutorials to help that person improve theirs, such as photography, learning an instrument or language, or painting.

7. ‘Work Survival Kit

Another unique and fun gift is a ‘Work Survival Kit’, designed to help that special someone ward off the post-Christmas blues. Include all of their favourite things they can look forward to once they’re back to the grindstone – herbal teas, fancy coffee, earphones, a book or notebook, beautiful stationery, a flask, etc. You could even include some of their favourite chocolates in there too, or (if they’re health-conscious) some granola bars and a new water bottle.

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