đ€Ż INCRĂVEL: 48 Gifts That Felt Expensive Without The Price Tag đČ
Who doesnât enjoy receiving gifts?! Itâs awesome to feel appreciated, loved, and respected. Itâs even better when you know for a fact that the other person put in a ton of effort to curate the present to you, uniquely.
Inspired by content creator @howdoewedo, the TikTok community opened up about the most personal and thoughtful gifts that theyâve ever received. These are the kinds of wholesome presents that donât cost a lot, but because of how creative they are, they seem super expensive. Scroll down to read all about these peopleâs experiences. And we hope youâre taking notesâwe know we are!
Bored Panda reached out to @howdoewedo for a friendly chat about gift-giving, and she was kind enough to share her thoughts with us. You’ll find our full interview with her below.
More info: TikTok | YouTube
Image source: @howdoewedo
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I lost my baby blanket when I was 14. My bff cut hers in half (a gift from her grandma) and gave it to me. Iâm 36 and still sleep with it. Her grandma just passed so I cut my half in half and sent it to her since she had lost hers.
According to David Robson, the author of âThe Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Transform Your Life,â December can âoften feel like a never-ending ordeal, as we try to find the perfect gifts for our nearest and dearest.â
He writes in a piece in The Guardian that, âNo matter how well we know someone, we struggle to discern their hidden wishes and desires. Each decision can feel like a test of our relationship. This is a natural consequence of the brainâs workings. Humans may be unique in our advanced ability to consider othersâ viewpoints, but perspective-taking is enormously taxing for our little grey cells.â
My granny was midway through knitting a blanket for me to take to uni when she died. My mom secretly learnt how to knit so she could finish it for me as my graduation present.
Coming up with gift ideas by trying to understand what people want is mentally taxing, according to Julian Givi, a professor at West Virginia University. As such, your choices can miss the mark completely.
Some of the main things to consider when getting someone a gift are the following:
- Think beyond the moment of actually exchanging the gift. Go for long-term enjoyment rather than short-term pleasure;
- People tend to want the presents they actually requested rather than being surprised;
- Exciting experiences stick with you longer, so itâs better to focus on them than material goods;
- The cost of the gift often isnât important;
- You should set your ego aside and focus on bringing the other person joy. If you stumble across a genuinely good, unique item, donât be selfish and keep it for yourself to feel special;
- Opt for something thatâs more sentimental and emotional than expensive or practical.
the day after my 18th birthday my dad handed me a bundle of letters. each year on my birthday from my first birthday to my 18th he would wait for me to go to bed and he would write me a letter of all the things i had done that year and reasons i made him proud. from walking to being a good friend to making a soccer team. i could cry just thinking about it
When my daughter was 4 she wrapped an empty box and drew Xâs and Oâs all over it. When I opened it, she yelled âhurry mommy- catch them- youâre letting all the kisses out!â đđ„č that was 23 yrs ago and nobody had ever topped it.
Meanwhile, empathy is a wonderful skill to have in your arsenal here. CNN urges you to put yourself in the gift receiverâs shoes. Think about what theyâd buy for themselves.
âThat might seem obvious, but it happens far less than weâd like. People tend to use gifts as jokes, encouragements to change oneâs ways, or to signal something about themselves rather than providing utility (or happiness) to the receiver. The best way to get it right is to simply ask the upfront question, âWhat would you like?ââ
I wrote my first book when I was 19 and one of my friends read it, then recreated the necklace the main character wore down to every detail and gave it to me for Christmas đ„Č it cost her $11 and I still wear it 12 years later
I jokingly told my students on a field trip to the mall to buy me something nice and they brought me back a crocheted plant that said âThanks for helping me growâtalk about a ball of tears lol
Some people seem like theyâre naturally good at coming up with ideas for gifts. Others (hi!) struggle with gift-giving to a ridiculous extent. All in all, gift-giving is like any other skill. The more you practice it, the better youâll get. It also offers you space to sharpen your creativity and truly strengthen the relationships you care about the most.
That being said, letâs not be naive. Coming up with unique, authentically thoughtful, personal gifts is hard. Itâs also exhausting and time-consuming if you have a lot of cool people in your social life. Not to mention that all of those expenses add up, even if youâre very thrifty and have a penchant for being economical.
In short, you want to be in a situation where you genuinely enjoy getting, crafting, and giving people gifts. Not like youâre doing things simply out of a sense of duty, like a burned-out Santaâs little helper in the North Pole. If you find no joy in gift-giving, take a break, step back, scale back, and focus on the most important thing: helping other people feel seen and understood.
someone bought my favourite childhood book (they stopped making copies and iâve been looking for one everywhere, even secondhand but no luck) on my birthday, i was given a NEW hard copy with⊠a sign of the AUTHOR from the author itself, HANDWRITTEN with a short birthday note. turns out, the author was emailed by the person themself and asked for one, FOR ME. i cried, i never knew someone could care that much about me. i never thought my words were enough to make someone move a mountain for me (at least thatâs how it felt like). we arenât together anymore but i still talk about the gift whenever i get a chance to. itâs the best one ever.
I used to work in social housing with some of the poorest kids in my city. One of them got me a pack of gum from the dollar store. She gave it to me wrapped in a piece of paper she had drawn all over and when I opened it all she said was âI really hope you like gumâ and I cried because I do like gum but also because I loved her.
During covid time, my mom was not able to go buy a birthday gift for me so instead she spend weeks writing a recipe book with all the family recipes she knew
We were very curious to find out about the inspiration behind @howdoewedo’s awesome viral post. She was happy to share the story with Bored Panda.
“This one’s quite personal to me and comes from my own experience. Before I moved away for college, my mum wrote me a little recipe notebook with all my favorite dishes,” she told us via email.
“I ended up sharing it online and was so touched to see how many people had similar stories or just loved reading through the comments. It really made me feel warm inside, and I think a lot of people felt the same way,” @howdoewedo said.
“Itâs one of those everyday moments that feels so real and relatable, and Iâm glad others connected with it too.”
one of my best friends single handedly folded one thousand paper cranes when she found out my dad had cancer. In japan itâs like a wish for good health. and in one of them she wrote her wish âthat my dad would live long enough to walk me down the isle
my best friend folded 100 paper cranes and hung them up in my house for my first 100 days clean. I’d never felt so cared for and seen
Bored Panda also asked the content creator about what lies at the core of a truly great gift.
“I think people often focus too much on the price of a gift when really itâs the thought that counts,” she told us.
“The intention behind a gift (something personal or thoughtful) always means more than the price tag. It doesnât have to be functional or expensive, just something that shows you really thought about the person,” @howdoewedo said.
My mamaw always called to sing happy birthday to me on my bday. I had a recording of it. She died- my bf found the recording; put it in a build a bear and gave it to me for my bday so she could still sing to me
My grandma sewed all of us grandkids quilts for us to have as a wedding gift. She passed in 2017 but this last weekend I got my handmade wedding gift from her
When my husband and I were dating we were hanging out in his bedroom and he had tons of dirty laundry in a hamper and said he didnât wanna do so much laundry. I said I wish that hamper was full of candy bars instead of dirty clothes (I was craving sweets) and we laughed and moved on. Our first Christmas together he gave me a laundry basket full of candy bars
Digital content creator @howdoewedoâs post got a jaw-dropping 501.5k likes, 13.4 comments, and 10.8k reshares on TikTok at the time of writing. The post also garnered a whopping 6.5 million views (and counting!). The creator has collected around 7.6 million likes across all of her posts, clips, and videos on the platform so far.
If you enjoy this type of content, be sure to check out @howdoewedo’s TikTok account. Meanwhile, if you enjoy travel, take a peek at her YouTube channel, too!
Which of these gift ideas genuinely surprised you the most, in the best possible way? What is the very best present youâve ever received, dear Pandas? On the flip side, whatâs the most thoughtful and creative gift that you think youâve ever given someone else? Whatâs your secret to truly great gift-giving?
Honestly, we really want to know what you have to say on this topic. Feel free to share your thoughts and advice in the comments at the bottom of this post!
My brother was really financially struggling one year round my birthday so he made me a Spotify playlist of all songs that reminded him of me and songs i loved when I was younger ⊠I loved it x
First valentines day after my husband left me our son made me a huge heart out of Legos and it took him weeks. He watched YouTube videos and everything. He was 6. I modge podged it so I could keep it forever
One of my 7th grade students gave me a gift card to Starbucks randomly in October. I asked what it was for. He said âI had money and I donât know if Iâll have money around Christmas time so I wanted to make sure you had a Christmas gift from me.â
I go to the same coffee shop every single morning and get the same drink. I have for the last 10 years. One of my baristas hand knitted me a coozie for my iced latte. I cherish the s*** out of this thing.
My partner fills my water cup every evening. My kid sits at my desk in the morning and writes me notes on my legal pad. And our cat brings me toys everyday after I feed her. Pretty great.
I was adopted when I was only a few days old. Never knew my biological mother. 3 years ago I finally found my biological family, unfortunately, my mom has past in 2009. Turns out my biological family has been searching for me since I was adopted. When I met them, they gave me a baby dress my mom hand made for me while still in the hospital with me before giving me away. She never got the chance to give it to me before I left. I cried when I received it you wouldnât believe!
A 5th grade student overhead me talking about liking tamales & a few days later he showed up with 3 different kindsâŠhis mom said he begged for days to make them but all 3 kinds bc he wasnât sure which one was my favorite & wanted it to be a surprise
my husband always brings me little treats. sometimes its a soda when he stopped for gas, sometimes it’s a wild flower he picked on the way home, or video of a bird. Just endless things that lead me to conclude that Ive never left his mind even for a moment
A former student gifted me a notebook before starting middle school and inside was a four page letter on how I positively impacted her life. I read it whenever Iâm doubting myself as a teacher.
All my pets have been named after flowers, my best friend made a bouquet of all of them made of felt⊠I cried
My partner bought me a clock that shines the time on the ceiling so I didnât have to move my neck after a neck fusion.
my grammy made me a rainbow scarf after i came out. girly had me crying in front of the family at christmas
The last thing my grandmother ever got me before she died. A tie she mailed me because âit made my eyes popâ. I wore that to my college graduation recently so she could be there with me.
My younger brother gave me his favourite childhood book when I found out I was pregnant. I read that book to my brother every night before he went to sleep.
When I was a little kid, I was obsessed with Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.
My mom got me an amazing Wizard of Oz beach towel when I was about 5. One day it ended up in the wash with bleach, and the colors drastically faded. I was heartbroken.
Somehow, this random piece of information came up in conversation with one of my teachers. While I didnât think anything of it, she filed it away in her brain, looked it up on eBay, MESSAGED MY MOM TO MAKE SURE IT WAS THE RIGHT ONE, and surprised me with it for Christmas.
The way I SOBBED when I opened it
my aunty and uncle gifted me a pounamu for my 20th birthday, it’s been the only gift that has made me cry
when i was 14 i was really into playing piano but i only played on my ipad and my dream was to play on actual keys. my friends group collected money and bought me a keyboard. i still have and it’s very special to me
My little girl made me an Optimus Prime out of toilet rolls and cardboard when she was 7. I told her I wasn’t allowed one by my parents as a child because “they were for boys”
Iâm 24 & my bf took me to build a bear workshop because i told him i never got to experience that during my childhood & it was always on my bucket list . I cried in line as the lady was stuffing my bear. He healed me & itâs the best gift i ever had in my life
a homemade kalimba from one of my coworkers. He found out I got dumped by my ex of 7 years a month before and spent his time carving the kalimba and customizing the design to my favorite musical (Les Miserables)
My grandmother sent me a card and when I opened it, she had cut-out bugs off baby wipe packaging bc her nickname for me is bugs, and put them inside. There were about 30 of them and I cried picturing her cutting them out.
My bf surprised me for my birthday and made a cook book of every recipe Iâve sent him on Tik tok and insta and organized it from apps, entrees, desserts, etc. (I love cooking) and I cried
My aunt saved lots of the petals from the flowers my mum received when I was born and made her own dried flower petals. Then gave them to me in a jar for my 21st birthday with a letter explaining sheâd kept them all these years later
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