A scented candle. A pair of fuzzy socks. An Amazon gift card. Typically, these are the items that you expect to see under the tree on Christmas day—and quite frankly, you can count on getting at least one of them before the holidays end.
But just because everyone else is being boring and predictable with their Christmas shopping doesn't mean that you should. The holidays are about showing your loved ones how much you care about them, and that isn't going to happen if you're giving everyone a different version of the same ugly sweater. Herein, we've rounded up some creative Christmas gift ideas for everyone on your list.
1 | A Scented Subscription Box
$15 per month; buy now at scentbird.com
Finding a new signature scent is no easy feat. It's tedious, tormenting, and time-consuming—but not with Scentbird. Each month, the subscription box allows subscribers to test out a new fragrance from more than 450 offerings, and every scent is conveniently packaged in a travel-friendly 8ml spray bottle. For the man or woman in your life who's in dire need of a sweet new smell, this is easily the greatest—and most creative—Christmas gift.
2 | A Funky Instant Film Camera
$100; buy now at bloomingdales.com
Though the company that used to make the famous Polaroid cameras of the 1970s is no longer, you can still buy your film fanatic friends a similar camera thanks to a company called Polaroid Originals. Founded in 2008, this company manufactures instant cameras modeled after some of the late Polaroid models, and in May 2017 it even acquired the company's brand and intellectual property.
3 | A Customized Wall Calendar
Starts at $15; buy now at shutterfly.com
Round up some of your parents' favorite family photos and use them to create a customized wall calendar via Shutterfly. And if you have a friend with a passion for art, photography, or travel, then you can even use their photos to create a specialized calendar for them too!
4 | Or a Homemade Calendar
ShutterstockWho says that you have to spend money on a gift to make it special? If you prefer DIY over buy buy buy, then consider making your loved ones homemade calendars this Christmas. There are so many different ways to craft your own calendar, but if you want to keep it simple, then all you have to do is cut out twelve papers of the same size and put the months and days on each one to make a hanging wall calendar similar to the one above.
5 | A Pop Print of Their Pet
Starts at $120; buy now at popyourpup.com
Give your favorite dog parent a forever photo of their furry friend that they'll forever be grateful for. Over at Pop Your Pop!, you can choose a photo of your pal's pooch and the company will transform it into a piece of POP art with a cute custom background. If this isn't the perfect holiday gift for your canine-loving comrade, then nothing is.
6 | Personalized Chocolate
Starts at $25; buy now at mymms.com
Tell your friends and family members how much they mean to you using the best medium possible: chocolate. On the My M&M's website, you can choose which three colors you want your M&M's to be, and then you can customize the candies with messages, clip-art, and even personal photos.
7 | A Family Birthstone Necklace
Starts at $74; buy now at lisaleonard.com
There's nothing in this world that a mother loves more than her family—so this Christmas, why not give your mom something that will allow her to take her tribe with her wherever she goes? This simple necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs comes with up to six pendants, each of which is adorned with the names and birthstones of your choosing. Simply customize this piece of jewelry with the names and birthstones of everyone in the family, and your mom will always be able to have her family with her—even when everyone is hundreds of miles away.
8 | A One-of-a-Kind Lipstick Shade
$55; buy now at select Bite Beauty locations
For the makeup guru who has every shade of eyeshadow and lip liner imaginable, there's Bite Beauty's Lip Lab. If you live in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, or New York, then you can head over to this makeup studio and create a customized lipstick, choosing everything from the product's shade to its finish and flavor. Your beauty-loving bestie will appreciate having a piece of makeup that's entirely their own—and at just $55, these one-of-a-kind lipsticks are creative without being costly.
9 | Edible Cookie Dough
Image via Instagram/@cookiedonycStarts at $46; buy now at cookiedonyc.com
If your Instagram feed at all includes food or travel blogs, then it's likely that you've already heard of DŌ, the New York-based cookie dough company that's taking social media by storm. Currently the company only has one brick-and-mortar location, but if you know someone who's dying to get their hands on the viral edible cookie dough, then you can treat them to a signature gift box. The cookie dough can be shipped nationwide, too, so don't worry if your foodie friend is somewhere across the country.
10 | A BYOB Kit
$50; buy now at williams-sonoma.com
In the case of this beer kit from Williams Sonoma, the acronym BYOB doesn't mean "bring your own beer," but "brew your own beer." At just $50, it includes all the equipment, materials, ingredients, and instructions necessary to have your very own batch of homemade IPA in just four weeks—a small price to pay to give hoppiness and happiness to the craft beer lover in your life.
11 | Wishing Ball
$32; buy now at uncommongoods.com
Sometimes people need to be reminded of the importance of gratitude and wishful thinking. Luckily, glass artist Jill Henrietta Davis has come up with a fun and creative way to gift people gratefulness in the form of her wishing ball. Every week, owners of the hand-blown glass balls are instructed to "record a message of hope or gratitude" and stick that message into the hole at the bottom of the ball. As Davis explains: "When you look at the little slips of paper accumulating in your wishing ball, I want you to think about the big picture those messages convey."
12 | An At-Home Gym Membership
JETSWEAT Fitness$90; buy now at jetsweatfitness.com
New York City undoubtedly has some of the best workout classes that the world has to offer. Not everyone is able to make it to boutique studios, though—and for those people, there's JETSWEAT. This streaming fitness app offers classes from popular New York studios like modelFIT and Switch Playground, and the best part is that they can all be done from the comfort of your living room.
13 | A Personalized Pie Dish
Image via Etsy$28; buy now at etsy.com
There's no such thing as having too many pie dishes, especially in the eyes of a wannabe Betty Crocker. If you have a relative, in-law, or friend who uses every occasion as an excuse to bake, then this customized pie dish from Etsy is a Christmas gift that they'll definitely get use out of.
14 | A Homemade Pasta Maker
Williams Sonoma$80; buy now at williams-sonoma.com
Your friend who loves to cook might think that they have every kitchen gadget imaginable, but odds are that their collection is still devoid of a homemade pasta maker. With this unusual but useful kitchen appliance, they can toss together a simple dough and make fettuccine, ravioli, linguini, and more. Plus, this gift is the ultimate win-win: Not only will your friend love it, but you'll also get to taste test the fruits of their labor once they start experimenting with the machine!
15 | A Lottery Ticket Christmas Wreath
Image via Spot of Tea DesignsFeeling lucky? Your friends certainly will be once they see this fun lottery ticket Christmas wreath you've put together for them! Even if you're not the most artistic person, you should have no problem cutting out some cardboard and transforming it, along with a few lotto tickets, into an adorably festive wreath. Check out the step-by-step DIY instructions courtesy of Spot of Tea Designs here.
16 | A Donation To Their Favorite Charity
ShutterstockMoney on its own is a boring gift that screams minimal effort. Donating to charity on behalf of someone else, however, is a monetary gift with lots of meaning. And even if you don't know what a friend's favorite charity is, all you have to do is make a list of their favorite things to do and go from there. If they're an animal lover, for instance, you can donate to the ASPCA! And if they spend a lot of time at the gym, you can give some money in their name to Action for Healthy Kids.
17 | World-Famous Cake Truffles
$24; buy now at milkbarstore.com
One of the best parts about visiting New York City or Washington D.C. is going to Milk Bar to grab some of the store's famous b'day truffles. However, if you know someone who doesn't have the time or money to stop by the East Coast, then you can always order them a 12-pack of the store's truffles for delivery. Your pal's taste buds will thank you for introducing them to these sprinkle-infused balls of vanilla cake bliss.
18 | A Collectible World Series Crystal
$150; buy now at bloomingdales.com
For those fanatics in your life, there's this Waterford collectible World Series crystal. Though yes, it technically is baseball memorabilia, this crystal is just sophisticated and subtle enough that any spouse won't be able to say no when their partner asks to keep it on permanent display in the living room.
19 | At At-Home, On-Demand Massage
ShutterstockPrices vary; buy now at zeel.com
Thanks to Zeel, you can bring the gift of a massage right to your best friend's living room. The on-demand massage company employs licensed massage therapists to go to customers' homes with their own supplies and provide convenient, spa-quality services.
20 | A Candle That Smells Like Memories
Starts at $16; buy now at homesickcandles.com
Each of Homesick Candles' creations are designed to remind customers of fond memories and elicit formerly felt emotions. If you and a friend have particularly good memories together in a certain state or college town, then gifting them a Homesick candle will help them recall those good times and appreciate the sincerity of your friendship all over again.
21 | A Label Maker
$20; buy now at staples.com
A label maker is not a traditional gift by any means, but there's no doubt that the Type A person in your life will go nuts for such a useful organizational tool. Plus, seeing as the school supplies aisle is the last place anyone is going to look for gifts, buying a label maker pretty much guarantees that your present stands out amongst the many a gift card and fuzzy sock.
22 | An Ice Cream Mixing Station
$70; buy now at uncommongoods.com
Why should the employees at Coldstone be the only ones who get to cleverly combine ice cream toppings into one beautiful blob of sugary goodness? This marble slab set makes combining ice cream ingredients a delectable and DIY at-home affair.
23 | A Smart Pen and Notebook
$179; buy now at moleskine.com
Artists especially will enjoy working with Moleskine's latest technological offering, the Pen+ Ellipse. When used with a special notebook, it records what you write and draw and automatically sends that information to your phone or tablet, where notes and sketches are readily available. Plus, as an added bonus, the pen records audio as it is being used, meaning that the creative types in your life will be able to talk to themselves out loud (as they normally do) and have a means of listening to their musings later.
24 | A Smart Fitness Mirror
$1,495; buy now at mirror.co
Meet Mirror, the newest technology in the ever-expanding world of fitness products. Though it looks like an everyday mirror, it's actually hardwired to project real-time fitness classes and track progress so that users can optimize their workouts for the best possible results. And for people who don't enjoy working out alone, there's even a feature that allows Mirrors to become connected for multi-user workout sessions.
25 | A Cocktail Infusion Kit
$65; buy now at uncommongoods.com
You could get your alcohol-loving friend a bottle of champagne and call it a day, or you could do something more creative and surprise them with this craft cocktail infusion kit including everything from citrus to chocolate. All they'll have to do is leave their alcohol to infuse throughout the day, and once they come home from work or running errands, a deliciously spicy cocktail will be right there waiting for them.
26 | A Heated Towel Rack
$100; buy now at bedbathandbeyond.com
We highly recommend buying this for someone whom you live with. Why? Well, think of it this way: If the towel-warming rack is in your bathroom, it's going to be nearly impossible for them not to share it with you.
27 | Car-Inspired Coffee Beans
Starts at $18; buy now at drivecoffee.com
Coffee connoisseurs will appreciate the fine detail that goes into the process of making Drive Coffee. The reason that cars and coffee came together to create this company, in fact, is because the founders believe that "details matter" when it comes to making coffee, just as they do in the sport of racing. Each of the company's blends are specifically designed to encapsulate the essence of a famous racetrack, and all of them are tough, tasty, and oh so easy to enjoy.
28 | A Sleep-Inducing Weighted Blanket
Shutterstock$140; buy now at amazon.com
Weighted blankets are the hottest sleep product of 2018. People with anxiety and insomnia swear by the weighted blankets for calming down and falling asleep faster, and even people without any problems drifting off enjoy feeling the weight of the blanket on top of them while they doze off into dreamland. Quite frankly, you can't go wrong gifting a weighted blanket to anyone on your holiday shopping list.
29 | A Children's Book with a Customizable Adventure
ShutterstockStarts at $15; buy now at putmeinthestory.com
Imagine the surprise on your son or daughter's face when they open up the book you give them, only to realize that they are the protagonist. Yes, that's right: On Put Me in the Story, you can choose from hundreds of books and customize them to create a story that uses your child's name and features their photograph on the cover. Even kids who hate reading won't be able to put their customized storybook down!
30 | The Ultimate Club Fitting Experience
Shutterstock$450; buy now at reynoldskingdomofgolf.com
The Reynolds Kingdom of Golf is a mecca for golf lovers everywhere. One of the facility's most sought-after offerings is its club fitting, where a certified fitter works with you to analyze your swing and help you create a set of clubs designed especially for your body and movements. Though it's pricey, Golf Digest found that the ends justify the means: Approximately 8 out of 9 golfers who get a personalized club fitting add approximately 21 yards off the tee.
31 | An Inventor's Kit for Beginners
$100$70; buy now at littlebits.com
Spark your child's innovative spirit at an early age with LittleBits' inventor kit. It comes with all the parts necessary to help your kid invent everything from a robotic arm to navigation system—and whenever they get bored with their inventions, they can just take them apart and start all over again!
32 | A Tea Herbs Garden Kit
$40; buy now at williams-sonoma.com
Your friends and family members could easily buy themselves bags of chamomile at the store, but they won't taste nearly as flavorful or delicious as bags of tea filled with homegrown herbs. Of course, patience is a virtue when it comes to growing tea herbs, but anyone who tastes the end product will understand just how worth it that wait is.
33 | A Limited Edition Pandora Charm and Ornament
$85; buy now at reeds.com
This year, PANDORA and the Radio City Rockettes have come together to design a limited edition cubic zirconia and white enamel charm inspired by the beauty of Christmas ornaments. And though the essence of this gift is a PANDORA charm, it's really two gifts in one: After the person whom you give this to takes the charm out, they can use the special packaging as an ornament on their tree for many Christmases to come.
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