When you give a gift someone really loves, it’s magical to see their face light up. But there are some people who are really hard to buy for, no matter how well I know them. I usually have the hardest time buying gifts for the men in my life, my husband is the hardest nut to crack. I decided to create a list of ideas I could refer back to when shopping for the men in my life.
Use this list of gift ideas for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas etc., for the guys in your life.
When composing this list, I tried to think about budget-friendly gifts to spare no expense. Gifts that are pretty tried and true and ones that require a bit more thought and research.
Budget-Friendly or Free Gifts
The Gift of Time: Does the man in your life like to camp, hike, hunt, fish etc. ?Encourage him to go on one of those trips. For this coming summer, if my husband wants to go camping and hiking, I’m going to say yes, Happy Father’s day to him! And yes, I’m awesome!
Lend a hand on a big project he is working on. My brother gave my dad a full day of work at our family cabin last year as a Father’s Day gift. At first, we teased my brother about being so cheap, but my dad really appreciated the help. They got a lot of work done and got to spend the whole day just the two of them!
Make the man or men in your life their favorite meal, cookies, etc. Everyone loves to enjoy their favorite meal, especially when made by someone who loves them.
Homemade or Photo gifts: Pinterest has so many cute handprint photos, and handmade ideas, check out my board. My board has so many great gifts for kids to make!!
Tried and True Gifts and short on time
I would pair one of these gifts with time spent together or making dad’s favorite meal.
3 S’s: Shirt, socks, and slippers: Nice things about these gifts, the men in your life can probably always use these and you can find them in a wide range of brands and budgets. Next time you are at Target or at Nordstrom grab the 3 S’s and your Father’s day gift is done. JCPenney is also a go-to because they have a good selection of Big and Tall items for my dad!
The ubiquitous Tie. I am not sure of the actual history of the tie for father’s day, but the Washington Post had a great article providing some historical background and a theory of why we keep buying them.To add some flare to the tie, you could add a nice dress shirt or accessories (cuff-links or a tie tack). Instead of the tie, you could just get the accessories, I got my brother some really cool initial cuff-links for Christmas this year. Here are the ones I bought. My husband has some really cool plane tie tacks that he received from work. Here are some tie tacks on Etsy.
Are you super short on time? Grab a gift card at the grocery store for his favorite restaurant, store, movie theater, etc. My mom considers this an easy way out and she’s right, but I think people appreciate getting a gift card to their favorite store or that’s what I tell myself when I give a gift card. My dad loves coffee so getting him a gift card to his favorite coffee stand would go over well. It’s the thought that counts!
Books: You could grab a few books in his favorite genre or get him the gift of thousands of e-books.
Gifts that require a bit of research and thought
Experiences: Think about what the men in your life love to do, what are their hobbies and interests? Experience gifts could have a small budget to a huge budget. Once you have a list of about 3-5 interest or hobbies start researching.
For example, my dad is such a racing fan, for his 50th birthday, the whole family chipped in on a race car driving experience in Las Vegas. We went to the Richard Petty Experience at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway . It was on the expensive side, but since we split it between a number of people, it was manageable. He had the best time and I know it’s an experience he will never forget.
Is your husband, dad, or brother into cooking, beer or wine making, find a class in the area he could take? Take a cooking class together.
Do you have a daredevil in the family, what about the indoor skydiving places? I think I have seen gift cards for indoor skydiving at Costco, who knew.
Themed gift: You could put together a box with your guy’s or dad’s favorite things. These can also be budget friendly depending on what you put in the gift. Here are few examples:
Beer Enthusiast: Beer glasses, bottle opener with assorted craft beer. I found cute glasses at Target for $3.00 last year and bought a wall-mounted bottle opener on Etsy. Include his favorite beer.
The Griller in your life might need new grill tools and rubs.
Your hiker might need new fancy hiking socks, protein bars, and safety gear. REI has some great hiking gear lists.
Car Lover put together a car wash kit in a bucket.
Tech-Lover: My husband has been playing with all kinds of home automation. His favorite home automation products so far are the Amazon Echo, Eco-Bee thermostat, and smart switches.
Movie Lover: Buy several of his favorite movies, some snacks and movie tickets.
Subscription box: If you don’t have time to shop for each item to make your own themed gift, check out some of the pre-made boxes at My Subscription Addiction or check out the cool boxes for men at ManCrates .
Hope this helps you find the perfect gift for the men in your life!
Cheers, Amy
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