This Holiday Season, How to Find The Balance Between ‘Fun’ & ‘Functional’ Gifts

Last month, a buddy blew out his back. Having had a similar issue and found a solution, I opened up Amazon and sent him a $99 gift.

That $99 gift ended up being the HyperVOLT ball (that is life-changing) and was one of the best gifts I’ve made in recent memory. But gifting is not for everyone, and that’s why we have our Gifting Guide.

Gift shopping — you either love it or loathe it, but the fact remains that gifts are an essential part of celebrations such as birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries and more. Receiving the perfect gift is always awesome, but giving one can be just as rewarding. 

When it comes to the hunt for the perfect gift, however, it’s not uncommon for many to feel the pressure to find something that is both practical and fun at the same time. The last thing you want is to give someone something that is of no use to them, or even worse, something that they find utterly dull and boring. 

It’s not all doom and gloom though — finding the balance between ‘fun’ and ‘functional’ gifts can actually be quite an exciting experience when conducted correctly. Today, we look at our top 5 tips for choosing the best gifts for your friends, family members and loved ones!

Personalise It

Is there anyone on this planet who doesn’t like a personalised or customised gift? There is something so special about receiving something that has been custom made for you. It shows how much thought and effort went into the planning of a gift, and is one of the best ways to truly show someone that you care. For example, if you are purchasing a gift for someone who absolutely loves coffee, a great idea would be to make them a custom mug set that they can enjoy using every morning — useful, fun, and unique to them! Other ideas include personalised earbud cases, custom artwork and many other options that are sure to make perfectly personalised gifts for anybody and everybody!

Read Between The Lines

If you’re planning on getting an awesome gift for someone sometime soon, the best thing you can do is to read between the lines. No, this doesn’t mean analysing and pulling apart everything someone says. Instead, pay attention to subtle things that they may mention. Have they been wanting to purchase an item for the longest time? Maybe they’re complaining about how they wish they had a better set of cookware. 

Of course, these little snippets of information will differ depending on who you’re shopping for but the strategy remains the same. By listening and reading between the lines, you’ll be able to purchase a gift that isn’t just bright, shiny and new, but also practical and something that you know will be loved and appreciated for years to come.

Gift An Experience

We’re massive fans of experiential gifts due to the memories that they create for all involved. For those who have no idea what we’re talking about, experiential gifting is when you give someone a gift in the form of a life experience or adventure rather than gifting a material item. These experiences can range from wine tasting tours, pottery classes, custom fragrance mixing, or even a vacation if you’re really looking to spoil someone. 

Experience gifts are the perfect mix of fun and functional and are a great way to build memories and once in a lifetime experiences that you can look back on fondly together! 

Think Long Term

There are some gifts that may be best given at certain stages of a relationship, be it platonic or romantic. Even so, you should never feel the need to give gifts arbitrarily. In fact, the best way to choose a gift that will be cherished is to avoid falling for the thrill of a fleeting moment or to give a gift purely for the sake of fulfilling a sense of obligation to mark a milestone. 

In lieu of these all-too-familiar gifting practices, you should instead opt to always give gifts that will continue to serve a purpose for a long time to come. Sure, seeing your loved one beaming with a smile when they open your gift is always an incredible experience, but what if you could prolong that smile for years to come? It might not be overly exciting to watch a friend or family member open the gift of a movie or music-streaming subscription, but the recipient may actually love it, since it’s a gift that can be enjoyed often and over a long period of time.

Forget About Being Unique

Sure, we all want to purchase unique gifts, but it is equally if not more important to remember that ​​sometimes something that many people desire or many others have, can be exactly what someone wants. Studies have shown that we tend to focus on a recipient’s unique traits and personality when we buy gifts for them. However, this fine attention to detail leads us to ignore other aspects of their wants and needs. 

We also tend to buy a variety of different gifts for multiple people, even if they may all be happier with the same thing – and may never compare gifts at all. In other words, stop overthinking or assuming that you need to buy a one-of-a-kind gift for all of your loved ones. Sometimes the most basic things are exactly what someone will be happy to receive.

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And there you have it — our top 5 tips for choosing the perfect gift with the perfect mixture of fun and functional. At the end of the day, don’t fret too much about giving a terrible gift: truly bad gifts are really quite rare and as corny as it may sound, the thought really does count!