Sometimes, despite best laid plans, a couple of Christmas gifts always get left to the last minute. It often results in some rushing around trying to find the perfect gift before the shops shut for Christmas. Well, just in case you find yourself in that position, we’ve rounded up some last minute gift ideas that you can buy on the high street, perfect for the literary lover in your family!
- Go for fun and useful. Clip on book lights, novelty bookmarks, book stands and lyric fridge magnets (which you can use to inspire poems!) are charming, useful and readily available in many high street stores (WHSmith in particular will be your last-minute saviour).
- When in doubt, give them options. Not sure what to get and running out of time? Try a subscription to a writing magazine, book subscription box (we’ve done a post on this one already!) or writing experience/retreat. Some of these options can be pricey, but they will provide joy throughout the year (and if you’ve really left it late, you can buy these online, print out the confirmation and put it in a card to give as the present).
- Make them a hamper. Hampers are a great way to present a gift that really plays to a theme or suits a specific person. Why not put together a writing hamper? A new notebook, some pens, a pack of Post-It notes for jotting down new ideas and some sweets or chocolate for fuelling writing sessions would make a perfect gift for a writer and they can all be bought on the high street; try WHSmith or Wilko or you could head to Waterstones and maybe even pick up a ‘642 Tiny Things to Write About’ book so they have enough prompts to last them all year! Or for the book lover in your life put together a hamper with a new book that they might like (make sure to check they haven’t got it!), some chocolate or sweets for nibbling when they read, a new mug with some hot chocolate for cosying up on cold winter nights, some fluffy socks and bookmark which will be sure to make them smile! Again, you can pick all of these up at WHSmith, Waterstones, Wilko or even somewhere like Tesco and Sainsbury’s!
With any gift, the finishing touches are sure to make it stand out! Add some ribbon, or a bow to wrapped gifts and maybe include a notecard in a hamper explaining why you bought each of those items for that person; it makes it more personal and shows the effort you put into it!
