80 presents for 80th birthday...help!

[tessiegirl]

My nan is shortly turning 80 and I wanted to try and come up with 80 presents for her
Is it possible?!
Presents can be small and cheap to some which can be more expensive...
Can anyone please help with ideas?

80 photos lovely, 80 presents is just totally overwhelming.

What a waste of resources - where will she put it all? I'd honestly cry if someone wasted all that stuff on me..80 trees in a wood somewhere - perfect

I only asked for ideas not opinions.

Tbf, your Nan's opinion may well be the same as ours, where will I put all this STUFF??

It’s my mum’s 80th birthday this year she would absolutely hate 80 gifts she is majorly decluttering as having had to clear houses after relatives died she doesn’t want us to have a huge job with her house. She has her things she loves and treasures which she uses everyday, so no need for lots of tat, no point in keeping things for best is her motto. She would much rather the gift of our time. So after a lack of regular contact due to COVID we are planning a nice family meal at home with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and also theatre / concert / day out whatever we can do COVID permitting.

What kind of things does she like op?

What’s the first letter of her name?

The item related to each year of her life is a good idea too but that could be hard to do mind you.

I had 30 presents for my 30th. I think my mum struggled to find 30 things, so finding 80 will really be a push and some of the things will have to be very small, or you will spend a fortune. What about 8 larger presents, one for each decade?

Ideas for small presents if you go for the 80 idea:
Nice packet of tissues or handkerchief
Lip balm
Photo keyring
Photo fridge magnet
Reusable coffee cup
Chocolates (a large number of small ones rather than 1 big one, to make up the numbers )
Nice teabags
Biscuits
Scarf/gloves/socks

@tessiegirl

I only asked for ideas not opinions.

You got ideas! Ideas of how you can take the theme of '80 presents' & make it meaningful eg 80 photos / memories etc.

80 presents is just nuts. Completely over-the-top & invariably will have tat, as how could you really come up with 80 lovely, thoughtful, proper gifts?

You could do something like 8 presents each made up of 10 things?

10x packets of sweets from her childhood
10x her favourite chocolate bar
10x seed packets or baby plants (if she likes gardening)
10x her favourite flowers in a bouquet
10x family’s favourite memories written on postcards
10x scratch cards
10x vintage silk scarves (if she’d wear them)
10 photos in a frame

Or, just eight presents, one for each decade.

I also like the suggestion of some of the things being "experiences" rather than "things". E.g. vouchers for "a walk on the beach" or "a car wash" or "a big hug"

@ChocOrange1

I had 30 presents for my 30th. I think my mum struggled to find 30 things, so finding 80 will really be a push and some of the things will have to be very small, or you will spend a fortune. What about 8 larger presents, one for each decade?

Ideas for small presents if you go for the 80 idea:
Nice packet of tissues or handkerchief
Lip balm
Photo keyring
Photo fridge magnet
Reusable coffee cup
Chocolates (a large number of small ones rather than 1 big one, to make up the numbers )
Nice teabags
Biscuits
Scarf/gloves/socks

Sorry, but these just sound so awful. Teabags?! Fridge magnet?!!

No... something with meaning is much better.

@tessiegirl 😆😆😆

"I only asked for ideas not opinions."

Have you met Mumsnet? 🤭

It’s really personal isn’t it ? My ma was a healthy alert active social quite young 80. She would have been exhausted with 80 presents and would definitely not have wanted what she would have thought was a lot of wasteful ‘stuff’.
Heck I wouldn’t want my own age in presents !
Loads of good ideas above about how to do the 80 idea (which is great) in non overwhelming way.

What about a hamper of 80 consumables from ‘posh’ shops - food / toiletries / flowers and maybe one other gift - maybe a voucher for the hairdressers / beauty salon x

@Loveisthehope

80 photos lovely, 80 presents is just totally overwhelming.

What a waste of resources - where will she put it all? I'd honestly cry if someone wasted all that stuff on me..80 trees in a wood somewhere - perfect

It's quite easy to buy 80 things, for example the OP could buy 80 food items for a hamper, which would all fit in the cupboards and likely save her man from doing a food shop for a while.

Not all presents have to be 'tat' as some people are referring to

80 presents just sounds so stressful. The 80 flowers or 80 memories idea is lovely. Can you not use the money to take her out somewhere nice when it's allowed or get her one really decent thing. I think most of us would prefer one expensive present to lots of bits and bobs.

Obviously i don't know your nan but someone her age is from a mend and make do generation and they generally hate waste. More meaningful things like photos or a collection of memories as suggested by pp are the way to go imo.

Tbh, unless she's actually counting the parcels as she opens them it'll just be a giant random glut of gifts, she may not even make the '80' connection by the time she's waded through. Having to point it out would be a bit awkward.
Overwhelming and unnecessary.

Oh some people are miserable. Seriously if I'm still here at 80 I'd love this! What's she in to?

What sort of things were you thinking about @tessiegirl? My DM is in her 80s, she would not have liked 80 different gifts for her 80th, she would have found it overwhelming. She also doesn't do clutter.

If you are going to do it, I think people's ideas of grouping things together so 10 lots of certain sweets, 10 photos etc is the best

I feel stressed just thinking about the idea of 80 presents, 8 would be the absolutely maximum at any age!

I’m half your nan’s age and I would find it hard to stomach/accept/see the point of 40 little presents. It really isn’t about what you give not at that age - what about a lovely afternoon tea/ get together for the family and I love the idea of memories/wishes - I know my Nan who is 90 all she wants from us is to see us and her great grandchildren and hear our voices - she wouldn’t have room for lots of tat!

We recently celebrated a big birthday and wrote out to friends and family and asked them to send something personal. A story, a poem, a photo - we collected them together and wrapped them beautifully and they were so well received - it landed up being a bit of this is your life - stories came out, old photos made us all laugh and cry and the birthday girl loved it! Maybe you could do something like this rather than presents as I think older people want less stuff.

Hand cream, books/cds/audiobook, manicure/pedicure voucher. Hairdresser voucher, facial voucher, earrings, necklace, watch, donation in her name, tree planted in her name, food bank donation in her name, premium bond, umbrella, seed packet, letter writing set, silk scarf, kindle pre loaded with 80 books ( even free books), teapot and cup, engraved water glass, homemade vouchers for a seaside drive fish and chip supper, purse, Amazon portal for video check ins,perfume, paint by numbers kit ( check ebay there are loads available, knitting or crochet set and pattern.

You know her best so do whatever you think she would like.!

I can only really imagine imagine loving eg 80 trees or 80 metres of new hedging or 80 fish for lake or 80 animals sponsored or children educated etc etc.
Sadly I don’t have a large estate nor do most friends family have that kind of money !
Good luck op, hope you make it work. Think the memory and photos are great ideas.

[quote Dontfuckingsaycheese]@tessiegirl 😆😆😆

"I only asked for ideas not opinions."

Have you met Mumsnet? 🤭[/quote]

😂🤣😂

I also like the tree idea. Planting 80 trees that will still be here long after I've gone is what I would like.