Show your friend how much you care with one of these creative gifts
If you’re lucky enough to have a true-blue friend who’s always ready to share all of life’s ups and downs, you want to make sure they know exactly how much they mean to you. That’s why there’s always some pressure involved in finding the perfect gift for them.
It takes a little creativity to find a present that speaks to your buddy’s personality and interests and can really make their day.
Are you having trouble shopping for your bestie? Check out these unique gift ideas that will thrill your friend regardless of their favorite hobbies or pastimes.
Choosing unique gifts for friends
You usually have an advantage when gift shopping for friends since you probably share many of the same interests. Selecting a gift that celebrates your friend’s favorite hobby or encourages them to pursue an activity they’ve always wanted to try is often the best way to go. Consider your friend’s personality and how they like to spend their free time to find a truly special item they’re sure to love.
- Friends who enjoy cooking will appreciate items that help them try new recipes and techniques in the kitchen.
- Gardening supplies like seed starter kits are a safe bet for friends who have a green thumb.
- If your friend spends all their free time at the gym, don’t just stick to basics like workout pants or a fitness tracker. Gifts that add a little more fun to their workouts, such as a jump rope or a punching bag, are excellent options.
- Friends who love to try out the latest makeup and skin care products will get a kick out of the newest beauty gadgets, such as smart mirrors and facial exercisers.
Best unique gifts for friends
Unique gifts for friends who love to cook
Julie Pedersen Dessert and Baking Salts
This spiced salt kit is designed specifically with baking in mind, so it can bring out the sweetness in your friend’s favorite recipes. It offers unusual flavor combinations, including vanilla lavender and lemon ginger, to take the usual cookies, cakes, muffins and pies up a notch.
Sold by Uncommon Goods
DIY Gift Kits Hot Sauce Making Kit
If your friend likes a little more heat in their recipes, this DIY hot sauce kit allows them to craft their own at home. It contains all the ingredients necessary to make seven hot sauce recipes and includes plastic bottles and labels for the finished sauces.
Sold by Amazon
Cuisine R-Evolution Molecular Gastronomy Kit
Encourage your friend to do some experimenting in the kitchen with this molecular gastronomy kit that combines food and chemistry. It comes with food additives that allow you to turn liquids into jellies or powder for a truly unique culinary experience. It’s especially fun for dinner parties.
Sold by Uncommon Goods
Chefman Electric Crepe Maker Griddle
This electric crepe pan makes it quick and easy to whip up paper-thin crepes. It has a generous 13-inch cooking surface and comes with a spreader to distribute the batter and a spatula for flipping. It also doubles as a griddle for pancakes, omelets and more.
Sold by Amazon
Unique gifts for friends who garden
AeroGarden Harvest Indoor Garden
If your friend wants to grow their own herbs but lacks outdoor space, this indoor hydroponic garden makes the perfect gift. It comes with basil, parsley, dill, thyme, Thai basil and mint seeds and can grow up to six plants at a time. It also has a control panel that alerts you when it’s time to water and automatically turns the lights on and off as needed.
Sold by Amazon
This sunflower kit contains seeds for six heirloom sunflower varieties, including Autumn Beauty, Classic Mammoth and Velvet Queen. It includes a recycled egg carton for the flowers to sprout in. Some of the varieties grow up to 12 feet tall too.
Sold by Uncommon Goods
AvoSeedo Avocado Tree Growing Kit
This simple kit makes growing an avocado tree at home super easy. It features a plastic bowl with a hole in it to place an avocado pit, so it can float in a water-filled pot. It also includes small flags to insert in the bowl to keep track of the date you started germination.
Sold by Amazon
Unique gifts for gym junkie friends
Help your friend add some variety to their workouts with these fun fitness dice. The set comes with six dice that determine the exercises and a seventh with the repetitions and time. The workout doesn’t require any weights or equipment either. Instead, they rely on body weight, making it an ideal option for travel.
Sold by Uncommon Goods
This 3.6-pound hula hoop not only burns fat and strengthens the core, but it can also add plenty of fun to your friend’s workout. It features extra-thick padding to protect the skin during use and is easily assembled by pressing a button on each segment’s end to connect them.
Sold by Amazon
Unique gifts for friends who love tech gadgets
Hatch Restore Smart Sleep Assistant
This smart alarm cook allows you to customize a sleep-wake routine to aid in falling asleep, staying asleep and waking more easily. It offers a library of soothing sounds and white noise to encourage sleep and has a soft reading light that won’t strain the eyes.
Sold by Amazon
Petcube Bites 2 Wi-Fi Pet Camera
For a friend with a beloved pet, this Wi-Fi camera lets them monitor their cat or dog and even give their pet a treat when away from home. The camera offers a wide-angle view and night vision to make it easy to keep track of pets and even has a microphone and speaker that allow for communication with furry friends.
Sold by Chewy
PhoneSoap 3 UV Cellphone Sanitizer and Universal Charger
This handy device features two UV-C bulbs scientifically proven to kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria on the surface of a cellphone. It also has a USB port and a USB-C port to charge your smartphone while sanitizing it. Best of all, it works with nearly all smartphones, including larger models.
Sold by Amazon
Unique gifts for beauty-minded friends
Misavanity Bluetooth Makeup Vanity Mirror
This large, lighted mirror has a built-in Bluetooth speaker, so you can stream music — or a makeup tutorial on YouTube — from your smartphone or tablet. It also has a USB charging port and multiple lighting options. It has user-friendly touch controls and a magnifying mirror too.
Sold by Amazon
Nurse Jamie TriAngle Facial Beauty Tool
This sonic face massage can help the skin look firmer and more radiant when used with a favorite serum, eye cream or moisturizer. It offers two massaging modes, normal and heated, and works well for the eye area, brow area, cheeks, jawline, chin and neck.
Sold by Amazon
Unique gifts for hard-to-shop-for friends
Jill Henrietta Davis Wishing Ball
This beautiful, hand-blown glass ball is designed for holding messages of gratitude and hope. It comes with 52 strips of paper, so your friend can write down their wishes and place them inside to help send them out into the universe. Each one is unique because the ball is handmade, making it a lovely display piece.
Sold by Uncommon Goods
Sharper Image Light Up Word Clock
This striking clock provides the time in five-minute intervals, but it does so in a word design, lighting up phrases like “Five minutes past ten.” It is available in a copper or black finish and comes with a USB power cable and adapter, so you can plug it in anywhere.
Sold by Amazon
Urban Accents Movie Night Popcorn Kernels and Seasoning Variety Pack
Help your friend have the most delicious movie nights with this tasty popcorn variety pack. It comes with three types of popcorn kernels and five flavorings, including white cheddar, kettle corn, sriracha, chili lime and caramel corn. You can also use the seasonings for other foods, such as potatoes or corn on the cob.
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Jennifer Blair writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
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