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Original poster

80 presents for 80th birthday...help!

518 replies

tessiegirl · 14/04/2021 20:11

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

OP posts:
Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:09

Oh the book in the photo was published in 1941 and was very popular apparently Grin

Blueskytoday06 · 15/04/2021 06:10

I imagine she'd be overwhelmed with 80 presents. The memories idea was the best I think.

sashh · 15/04/2021 06:13

I think the OP will know her own mother better than we do. Yes some people would hate this but not everyone.

OP

When my Nana was in hospital I sent her a goody bag with everything individually wrapped so she could open one a day, with it being a hospital stay a lot was toiletries. Now the shops have opened you will be able to get samples, sample perfume bottles are tiny, about 3cm long and less than a cm wide.

I blatantly told Boot's staff why I wanted them and they went and found a few for me, not just perfume but powder, soap, bath oils etc.

My dad was 80 a few years ago and one thing he often uses is a magnifying glass.

Tickets to an event or a promise to take her to one.

Seeds / bulbs if she has a garden, if she doesn't then a window box as well.

Vouchers / gift cards for supermarkets, or her favorite shop.

Hand made cards / drawings from the youngest members of the family.

A framed photo or photos of the family.

A family tree showing all her offspring, every family has an arty person who could do this.

Mini bottles of champagne, wine, spirits.

Something she can do with her grandchildren, painting, baking even lego.

Sponsorship of a guide / assistance dog. My parents got a sponsorship of a golden retriever for their golden wedding.

Coins, a set of 'old money'.

A box of Christmas cards with the envelopes already addressed.

80 piece jigsaw.

Ok I may have more ideas after I have had coffee.

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ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/04/2021 06:14

No one needs or wants eighty pieces of clutter, presents or not.

CryptoFascist · 15/04/2021 06:14

I'd cry if I was given 80 things.
And not with happiness.
Does she actually want so much stuff?

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/04/2021 06:15

An 80 pieces jigsaw might do it.

mammmamia · 15/04/2021 06:16

For my mums 70th I got a poster made “70 things we love about you” filled with quotes from her family and friends. Soo much better than 70 tiny gifts she’d have hated that.

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:17

I've got to say if I am still the way I am now when I turn 80 I would be well disappointed with receiving some 'memories' and nothing else for my gifts. Birthdays are for treats. Maybe I am terribly greedy but I want chocolate and fancy bubble bath and things to do like craft sets or books to read for my birthday and I hope I still feel the same when I am 80 Grin

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:19

It doesn't have to be 80 pieces of 'clutter'. Chocolate, favourite foods, bubble bath etc gets used up. In my house it would be gone within the month. No clutter at all.

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/04/2021 06:26

Chocolate, favourite foods, bubble bath etc gets used up. In my house it would be gone within the month. No clutter at all.

You named three items here, now imagine 77 more. That a lot of, well, clutter.
Even if things get used up, or used, they still need to be put away and stored.
Also, you are thinking of your house, a 80 year old woman already has all she needs and plz

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:27

It's actually my sister's 50th next year and I am now thinking of 50 things I could get her. She doesn't like 'clutter' but she would definitely love 10 different 'themes' with 5 items each - 5 packets of biscuits, 5 bottles of shower gel, 5 books to read, 5 different gift cards for shops with a value of about a fiver on....ooh I am quite excited by the idea.

springblossom2 · 15/04/2021 06:29
Shock

What a daft idea!! No to 80 of anything. Urghhhh.

Get her one nice gift and a birthday cake.

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:31

Chardonnay my idea was having 10 'themes' with 8 of that in each. So it would be 8 chocolate bars. Little ones like Cadbury Fudge, Milky Way (or whatever the Granny's favourites are). If she ate one bar a day then it's a week and a days worth. Hardly clutter.

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/04/2021 06:32

She’ll still need storage f0r that.

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:35

Well if I gave my mum 8 little chocolate bars they would go in the old ice cream tub where she keeps her kitkats, 8 little bottles of bubble bath would go on the bathroom shelf where she...well...keeps her bubblebath. Not a lot of storage space needed.

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/04/2021 06:36

Five shower gels and five packs of biscuits don’t feel like a present, they are like the Costco aisle.

Anyway.

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:41

Chardonnay well I know my sister better than you. She would be quite chuffed by that. Infact I sent her some seeds for Easter for veggies to grow as last year she couldn't get hold of any because of lockdown. 6 packets from Poundstretcher. 2 for a £1 so 3 quid. She was really surprised and thought it was lovely.

candlemasbells · 15/04/2021 06:43

I still think it’s a great idea so long as items are carefully chosen for the recipient. My mother isn’t yet 80 but if all we gave her for a milestone birthday was chocolate, flowers and memories she’d be pretty pissed off.
Gardening gloves
Socks
Note lets
Nice pens
New bag for life reusable shopping bag
New address book

Ilovemaisie · 15/04/2021 06:45

Chardonnay a lot of what people suggest as gifts on Mumsnet don't "feel like a present" to me. Perfume, a 'nice piece of jewellery', a scarf, a handbag... urgh. Zero interest in stuff like that.
Everyone is different.
I like biscuits. My sister likes biscuits. I like to get presents of things I like Grin

Mayra1367 · 15/04/2021 06:45

Please don’t do this . Maybe consider the 80 memories / photo idea . It’s much more appropriate.

LightGreenLeaves · 15/04/2021 06:48

I put 90 candles on a cake once. That was a nightmare 🔥

Don’t do 80 presents

Imagine having to open them. Awful , you’ll wish you hadn’t.

DianaT1969 · 15/04/2021 06:49

Don't do it. Dreadful idea to give someone 80 cheap presents. She won't want 'things'. One good day out with her family is what she'd appreciate. Depending on her interests, Afternoon Tea somewhere lovely with views and people watching/a National Trust property, a garden centre and a makeover for her garden/a day at the races... Don't give 80 bits of tat!

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 15/04/2021 06:55

I never professed to know anyone’s sister better than them.

It’s just common sense, imagine the sheer volume of 80 bits and having to find storage for all that.

But whatever floats your boat and fuck the environment.

denverRegina · 15/04/2021 06:59

"My mother isn’t yet 80 but if all we gave her for a milestone birthday was chocolate, flowers and memories she’d be pretty pissed off.
Gardening gloves
Socks
Note lets
Nice pens
New bag for life reusable shopping bag"

She'd be pissed off with flowers and a memory book but made up with a bag for life 🤣

If someone gets me a bag for life for my 80th it's going over their head!

OnandOnforHoursandHours · 15/04/2021 07:02

Trouble is, OP, none of us know your nan or your budget!

What does she like?

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