The merry season is upon us again, and the time has never been more appropriate for raising our heads from the screens and taking a long look at the person sitting beside you. For those with jolly hearts, both the gift-giving and gift-receiving part of the Secret Santa experience are highly exciting, but even so, choosing a perfect present for a dreamy introvert from accounting is never an easy feat.
The loveliest thing about Secret Santa is at the same time the very thing that makes us so indecisive – with only a couple of pounds to spend, we’re compelled to think long and hard before making a final decision. Ultimately, careful consideration is what the art of gift-giving is all about.
If your mind hasn’t been made up yet, shed all worries and look no further, since we’re about to tell you how to be the awesomest Secret Santa of this season and many to come.
1. Search for Clues
Buying a present for someone you hold dear can be just as hard as buying a present for a co-worker you don’t know the first thing about. Your cubicle mate is probably a person you’ve already spent many holidays with, and finding something new, but equally as unique this year is quite a task. In case the person behind the name you drew is not so familiar to you, you’re in a similar pickle. In both cases, you’ll need to do thorough research on your recipient’s needs and desires.
If all of your attempts to find what you need to know from your everyday conversations fail you gloriously, start combing your recipient’s social profiles. Their music taste, favourite literary genres and movie preferences are written all over their Facebook profile, and everything you need to do is pick one item and find the closest related suggestion.
2. Make Them Laugh
In case such research doesn’t quite satisfy your determination to be the best possible Secret Santa there is, take the jokester approach. However different, people will always share one thing, especially during the season of merriment – a need to laugh harder than they did the whole year long. Hence the unfailing power of gag gifts.
Even if completely useless and downright silly, you can be certain that a gag gift is something that won’t be forgotten for a long time. Whether you go for a Christmas-related one like a Dirty Santa starter pack or something associated with an inside joke of yours, a bit of holiday comedy is something you can never go wrong with.
3. Embrace Office Stereotypes
Michael Scott might be the world’s worst boss across the pond, but there’s only one figure that proudly holds that title in the UK, and his name is David Brent. This year, everyone’s least favourite friend and even less renowned entertainer is coming back in the Life on the Road, which makes a perfect and most suitable gift for your office manager.
Joking aside, “The Office” is still such a hit because every single company has a Tim, a Gareth and a Dawn of its own, thus proving that some office stereotypes are truly impossible to beat; instead of fighting them, embrace them when picking the perfect gift. If you’re a Secret Santa to your office receptionist, print a mug that says “You’re my Dawn and my ray of sunshine” and make her days a bit brighter.
4. Let Them Choose
Then again, you can admit your defeat and play it safe. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with giving the other person an opportunity to use your Secret Santa money for something they actually need or want, and in case you can’t think of any better idea, this is something you should definitely do.
Luckily, everything’s allowed in Secret Santa, which is why buying something unsuitable that may upset or offend the recipient is not worth the risk. The UK is full of great places for buying gift cards, and with such a vast offer of shopping opportunities, even the most indecisive person will surely find a thing or two to make their holidays merrier.
5. Get Creative & Do It Yourself
Another idea, of course, is to use that money for tools and ingredients, and make something yourself. In fact, this is the best possible option you can choose – if you’re not short on time, you can prepare a great gift that’s not only cheap, but one of a kind as well.
Be that a box of homemade cookies for your sweet-tooth colleague from HR, a pair of hand-crafted earrings for the lady from development or a personal itinerary planner for a fellow from external relations who travels for both business and pleasure, a DIY gift shows that you’ve truly put your heart into your Secret Santa assignment.
And there you go – with a little bit of research, a couple of laughs, a bit of personality guessing and some creativity, being a frugal, yet awesome office Secret Santa is not that hard at all.
