It's my party and I'll give you a present if I want to

March 23, 2017 1:35 PM

I have a milestone birthday coming up (think 30) and my dearest friends are flying in to celebrate. It's been a particularly challenging few years and they have been the ones to pull me through. I want to get them something as a fun thank you - think like bridesmaid gifts sans wedding. Thoughts? Ideally want to keep it under $50/person.
posted by msfrizzle to Shopping (10 answers total)

Does your group of friends have any common interests?

Any demographic info? Is this a mixed gender group?
posted by Juliet Banana at 1:42 PM on March 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

I like to give cool picture frames. You can get really beautiful ones pretty inexpensively, and most people have unframed photos. (If you wanted to make it more personal, you could insert a photo of yourself with your friends.)
posted by FencingGal at 1:44 PM on March 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

What do you have in common?

Without more information, my default gift is chocolate. Here's a chocolate library (set of 10 organic fair trade chocolate bars all fancied up).
posted by aniola at 1:47 PM on March 23, 2017 [1 favorite]

I like the photo idea - but print a nice photo of you with your friends if possible.

Another idea is leather wallets or fancy notebooks.

I like the idea of something they can keep to remind them of your appreciation.
posted by lafemma at 2:12 PM on March 23, 2017

This may or may not work depending on your friend group, but if you're all staying together, then how about matching pjs or hoodies? Bonus: wash them before giving them out so everyone can wear them immediately. I can imagine this would NOT work for lots of people, but I would get a kick out of something like this. My best friend and I live far apart, but have bought matching dresses and sweaters and whatnot over the years, and wearing them always makes me smile and think of her.
posted by chocotaco at 2:15 PM on March 23, 2017 [5 favorites]

In a similar scenario where we spent the weekend away, I bought matching pjs.
posted by Jubey at 3:17 PM on March 23, 2017

Best answer: Once I bought a group of friends matching necklaces with a star pendant off of Etsy, to show that even though we were far apart, we had the same stars. That went over very well with my group.
posted by Caravantea at 3:19 PM on March 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Will you be drinking as part of your celebration? What if you gave a nice glass (or better, pair of glasses, since glasses in pairs are nicer to have) for each person. If you're a champagne group, then do champagne glasses; if you're a beer group, do an appropriate beer glass to what you're drinking; if you're a liquor group, do rocks glasses or whatever. Tea cups and coffee mugs also possible if alcohol isn't the thing. You could go general and give everyone the same, or specific and match the vessel to what the person drinks. Be sure to package them in a way that makes them easy to pack or carry on a plane.
posted by vunder at 3:55 PM on March 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

I was going to say matching necklaces.
posted by salvia at 4:39 PM on March 23, 2017 [2 favorites]

Custom Tervis Tumblers
posted by patnok at 6:34 PM on March 23, 2017