10 last-minute gift ideas you need to know

Maybe you procrastinated or you forgot to buy someone a gift? We’ve all had our fair share of last-minute gift shopping every Christmas. When you don’t have the luxury of time, looking for a gift on the spot can be nervewracking and overwhelming. Christmas is a couple of days away, so you better work on your list, stat! And hopefully, finish before the 25th. To help you out, here are 10 last-minute gift ideas:

Gift certificate

If you know the person well enough, you could get a gift certificate (GC) to his favorite restaurant or his favorite clothing store. A GC is good as cash without giving actual cash. The best part is that the recipient can decide what he wants to purchase with the GC. Everyone’s happy!

Movie pass

Similarly, complimentary passes to the cinemas make great gifts to family and friends who are movie buffs. Some of them are open-dated too, so they can watch any movie they want at anytime.

Cellphone case

It’s something functional and I’m pretty sure you know what phone your friend or family member is using.

Christmas card

Do people even still give Christmas cards these days? It’s a beautiful art that’s slowly being forgotten. Take time to compose a heartfelt message, and for a personal touch, bust out your creative side and make a card from scratch.

Perfume

When in doubt, ask the person in charge for suggestions. Most of the time, they have scents to recommend. If they don’t, go with your gut! To be safe, go with a subtle scent.

Gift pack

It can be disorienting when there are too many options to choose from. A gift pack eliminates that problem by bundling key products in one package, sometimes in smaller sizes (such as beauty products). It’s a little bit of everything!

Baked treats

It’s best to give something that everyone can enjoy. It can be a jar of freshly baked cookies or a chocolate dream cake (which is popular right now). Cebu has a lot of specialty cafes and bakeries with decadent baked treats you can easily pick out from the display.

Water tumbler

No mugs this year, please. A more practical alternative is a water tumbler. It’s compact, light and mobile. Whether it’s with water or whiskey (I don’t judge, don’t worry), we all need to hydrate especially when on-the-go. Skip the boring aluminum cylindrical ones. How about a sleek matte black one or if the person loves color, how about one in pastel pink?

Sunglasses

Sunnies have become more than just a utilitarian item. They’re stylish accessories, too. There’s a plethora of designs to choose from these days— from the classic aviators and wayfarers to the trendy cat-eye, and skinny and tiny style which is en vogue.

Journal

Get a blank one and a set of letter stickers and put the name of the recipient on the cover. It’ll seem “I really made an effort to get you a personalized gift” as to “I forgot to buy you a gift so I bought a notebook and slapped your name on it.”