Christmas Gifts for people who are hard to buy for because they have everything

It’s the same every year isn’t it. You roll through the Christmas gift lift ticking off most people with relative ease until you come to the one. The one person who is so hard to buy for. Not just because they seem to have everything – they don’t but what they seem to have is everything they want. And, very often, if they wanted anything else they would have bought it. So the trick is to find the thing that they will like but wouldn’t have bought for themselves. This is the annual dilemma with The Mad Husband, who has been known to return from the shops on about the 15th December brandishing a brilliant thing he found and thought he would just buy. He affects bafflement every year when one wife and two sons start shouting that he could have just brought the information home rather than that actual object. Mind you I think I have sorted him this year as I have been paying attention to comments as the months roll buy and picking things up as I go along. That said he has a birthday in January which feels rude after all the Christmas effort.

But still, what about those of you/us who haven’t been paying attention all year. Well, for the latest post in my collaboration with Rockett St George I have come up with a list of 10 things that I think will work for those hard to buy for people. RSG has come up with a full category of these gifts and I have chosen some of my favourites. See what you think – there is a full range of prices.

I’ve long been a fan of old portraits used in modern interior design schemes and this is part of a series of similar pictures that you can choose but I am fully enjoying the incongruity between his expression and his words. Also, I like to ponder how he might be saying it: “Yes SIR, I can boogie,” (Army Style) or would it be more laconic: “Yes, Sir, I CAN boogie.”? It’s £45 unframed.

Next up is this sleep mask which costs £10. Now I’m a recent convert to a sleep mask. I was given a velvet one at a press day some years ago and immediately assumed it was a rubbish thing that would prevent me getting to sleep. Then one night when we were sleeping in the loft, which doesn’t have curtains, I thought I would give it a go. Well it’s a game changer. I have since bought myself a new one and I use it every night. It’s not just that it’s dark but it also now seems to trigger a sort of Pavlovian response: Oh the mask is on it must be time to sleep…. ZZZZZzzzzzzz. I can’t recommend it highly enough as an affordable, pretty and useful present. Ticking all the boxes there.

From sleeping inevitably to clocks – the two seem to be linked. This isn’t an alarm clock but that’s probably why the person won’t buy it for themselves as it seems more ornament than use. Now the 18yo was desperate for a vintage version of one of these last year and they were all very expensive, I tracked one down in the end and he loves it. That said he doesn’t have room for it at university and I’m seriously contemplating stealing it back again. Try this for £119 if you too want something useful and unusual.

This is another good’un for those tricky men. This book spotlights great tracks from the 1950s through to 2000s and pairs them all with a great drink. It’s organized by mood, including Rock, Chill, Dance, and Seduce and each entry has notes that underscore the album’s musical highlights with an accompanying cocktail recipe to complement the music’s mood, imagery in the lyrics, or connect the drink to the artist. It’s fun and I think it could be a winner.

From books on booze to containers for booze, these glass decanters are so pretty they can be used for their purpose or just grouped as a decorative item on a shelf. They are £35 and would look great in a bathroom as well as on a bar cart. This is a perfect example of the useful thing that a person won’t buy for themselves. Build it up with a bottle of something to decant into it. And the book if it’s a big present for a special person.

Stilling drinking but moving onto the morning after the night before and it’s time for coffee. This brass coffee spoon measures the dose and keeps the packet closed afterwards. It’s one of those brilliantly simple things that is both beautiful and useful. Can’t go wrong for a tenner either. Throw in a bag of really nice coffee and a pretty mug and that’s Christmas sorted.

Can’t go wrong with a pretty wash bag or make up bag and this cotton pouch is also £10. Fill it with soaps or make up until you hit the budget point. You could even use this one as a clutch bag for an evening out too. Perfect for those tricky teenagers who are so prone to rolling their eyes at things. There are a few to choose from if you want a different one or one for the boys.

So there we have it. I hope this filter of some of the things that are out there has given you a starting point for your own hard to buy for people. And don’t forget if you’re really stuck then a gorgeous scented candle might do the trick. These are new to Rockett St George and are made from natural wax and are paraffin free.

Before I go can I also say thank you so much for all your kind messages over the last few days. I’m feeling better now and The Mad Husband is in a fury as he is starting to feel ill. Perhaps I’ll give him one of the Christmas presents I have found for him to see if it cheers him up.

This post is my Wednesday Ad break. Posts on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are free, organic and unsponsored. If there is a post on a Wednesday it is sponsored content which allows me to write the other days. I do, of course, strive to work with brands and items that I think you will find useful and helpful and, as regular readers will know, I have been writing about Rockett St George since they launched over ten years ago.