Gift Guide # 5 – Housemate.
You know Christmas is close when you have Christmas dinner plans coming out of your ears and are racking your brains and ebay for a gift for your Secret Santa for under £5 – it seems impossible right?! Never fear, HCX are here just in time to help you with the task of finding the perfect jokey/cheap/thoughtful/cute present for either your best friend at Uni or the guy in your friendship group that you never really talk to, but unfortunately pulled his name out of the hat when deciding on Secret Santa’s!
- You’ve got a girl for Secret Santa.
For girls – if on a very small budget, get down to Boots, Lush or the Body Shop if they love their bath products, and get a little travel or mini size bottle of bubbles, and wrap it up with a bow round the neck. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it is hard to buy really nice and worthwhile presents for £5! They’ll really appreciate it when they get home for Christmas and have unlimited use of hot water for a long soak, and those bubbles will come in real handy!
- You’ve got a guy for Secret Santa
I got a boy for my Secret Santa and really wanted to put some thought into it so everyone was impressed with the ebay find for just £5. Think about sports they play, jokes they’re subject to within Uni, music they like, or foods they’re known to love. Chocolate is the obvious gift and will of course be appreciated by most guys, but it’ll be gone and forgotten about within 5 seconds… I found lots of really jokey presents in when browsing in HMV; things like mugs with crude sayings on the bottom, rubber band shooters, catapults, and a pack of Top Trumps that’s, shall we say, more suited to those aged over 18. If you go for one of these, not only will it will provide the boys with hours of fun pinging rubber bands at everyone, but it will last longer than a box of chocolates, and for that I’m sure they will be grateful!
- Your best girl friend at Uni
For your best girl friend at Uni, if you’re not part of a Secret Santa and have agreed with your close friend to exchange gifts before going home for Christmas, what on earth do you buy her?! I think it’s a good idea to set budgets, so that you don’t end up receiving a Thorntons lolly and buying her a cashmere jumper. River Island do some gorgeous necklaces, perfect when worn with a pretty blouse worn on a night out, or with a round neck warm jumper for a day on campus. They range from £10-£20 which I think is a reasonable price to spend. You can find similar ones in Topshop and Urban Outfitters.
- More presents for girls…
Since its mostly girls who read HCX, although I’m convinced most boys can’t resist a sneak peak at some of the articles too, I’m going to stick with presents for girls – I swear everyone at Exeter always has pristine nails, and a new nail varnish I’m sure would be appreciated – Boots have a huge array from makes such as Rimmel and Barry M, and also sell the nail pens that everyone is showing off at the moment.
- Thoughtful ideas…
Is there something that your housemate always borrows of yours, or is always mentioning that she wish she had one of her own? My housemate has been using my hot water bottle every day this week since my room is much warmer than hers, and had I got her for Secret Santa, I would have gone straight out and bought her one of her own! Sometimes there’s things that we just never get round to buying for ourselves but always tell our girlfriends that we’d always like one/it, be it a hot water bottle, a matching set of underwear (Primark do gorgeous sets, at ridiculously cheap prices) or a pot of Whittard’s white hot chocolate (my other house mate has it and take my word for it – it’s amazing! I’m yet to buy some for myself… Secret Santa?), your friend will appreciate that you’ve listened to all her moans for whatever it is that you have, and be even more happy that she now has one of her own!
Photo credits
http://lovecobbler.blogspot.co.uk/2011_11_01_archive.html
http://www.shinyshack.com/product.php?prid=213114&pn=Everything%20S
http://www.nailartblog.co.uk/olympic-nail-tutorials/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whittard-Luxury-White-Chocolate-Pack/dp/B009EOS4DI
http://lovelustlike.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/statement-necklaces.html