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?

We did this for my dad's 80th birthday. Some of the gifts were items he already had that had memories attached to them from when we were growing up or funny stories from things we had done with him over the years. So it was a bit like a walk down memory lane with lots of giggles. He loved it and it was a bit different. 80 is an amazing age to reach!

I think identify what she loves and then buy around it. So if she loves books buy her 5, does she read magazines, then buy 5 different ones, say 5 different types of tea or coffee, bright scarfs, socks, different chocolates, lovely mini expensive soaps, shower gels, hand creams, bulbs or plants if she gardens. Mini bottles of drink. What’s her hobbies, my dm paints so would enjoy 10 new paints or brushes. It is a lot to buy, and I think a book of 80 memories is lovely but if you want presents then go for it!!!

dragon maybe not you but many people on this thread seem a bit horrified at the suggestion of treating granny to some biscuits or chocolates. Most granny's I know - that's the type of thing they would love to get.

Actually I can just about imagine this if all of the small things were in a beautiful box (all edible things with good dates and no fridge required) and all separately contained (not wrapped!) etc. Possibly even with a slip of paper around each with a year from her life and news headline or family event or something. Then presented as one big lucky dip box for a ‘daily treat’.
Still shed have to be someone who had room for the box and would find it fun - not all would. Think my own ma would have loved the idea but found the reality an obligation and/or be rummaging around for the cheesy snacks/miniature spirits then chucking other stuff.
Wouldn’t be the only present though. I’d want to get her something more substantial to unwrap.

80 photos in a book or
80 memories or
80 things we love about you
Plus one lovely thoughtful present or experience day/outing

I'm only 65 and already decluttering and asking peope not to buy me more stuff. I honestly think I'd be close to tears if I had to sit and open 80 mini presents.

@Ilovemaisie

Mummyoflittledragon my mother in law is 83 tomorrow and she loves going to shops and buying a different shower gel to try out and she goes through craft stuff and books at a cracking pace so always needs more. I feel sorry for all these grannies on here who apparently never get any treats or new stuff.

That’s great that your mother in law likes trying new things BUT the difference is is that it’s things SHE has chosen, not lumbered with someone else’s choices.

I am going to be 80 in the summer. I will be happy with anything that the family decide to do but hope they don’t hit on your idea as I hope to have something I can keep.

@denverRegina

"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!

those are things my mother would like. She would also enjoy opening them all with her grandchildren, e.g they would all open some

dragon maybe not you but many people on this thread seem a bit horrified at the suggestion of treating granny to some biscuits or chocolates. Most granny's I know - that's the type of thing they would love to get.

I think you are being disingenuous here, no one said that.

Treating granny to some chocolates and biscuits is nothing like buying 80 presents.

denver well that just shows everyone is different. I would absolutely love the gifts I have suggested and would have zero interest in a 'slap up meal'.

@LoosingTheChristmasBattle such a good idea

Chardonnay arrrgh. My idea is just a fun way of giving 80 gifts without it being overwhelming and lots of 'stuff'.
Nanne well luckily I know what my mother in law likes - or I ask her.

"denver well that just shows everyone is different. I would absolutely love the gifts I have suggested and would have zero interest in a 'slap up meal'."

Uh huh, and you're quite obviously nowhere near 80, you might just change your mind by then!

You're being very dramatic here assuming people never get their nan a tin of biscuits throughout the year, or that they sit their deprived of bubble bath and seeds.

An 80th birthday is huge. In fact at birth, her life expectancy would've been somewhere around 65 if she was born in the UK. 5 fudges and 5 packs of pansies to celebrate that? Plus 70 other items of equally small bits of crap?

I said upthread I hope I would still like gifts like that at 80. I can't predict the future. But unless I have a major personality change I believe I will still like a nice biscuit at 80.

By the way - I will be 46 in a months time. So I am more than halfway to 80....

Of course you'll like a nice biscuit. 420 of them all on the same day or whatever it'll end up - not so much.

I am leaving this thread now. The OP asked for ideas. I hope I have been helpful and given inspiration.
Happy 80th to your Granny OP. Hope she has a fantastic birthday whatever you do
Now I am going to write a list of 46 things I want for my birthday next month....

I'm trying to think of items my nana likes as she loves a good gift. M and S do some really nice toiletries and talcs in nice fragrances like lavender or Lilly of the valley, they also used to be 3 for 2. Also what about a Emma Bridgewater mug that says Eight-Tea. Plants or seeds or a made up flower pot. Bunch of flowers. Chocolates but retro style ones, Audrey's chocolates do some retro style boxes, or Betty's of Harrogate for cakes ( all can be ordered and delivered online). Also hair perfume is a big hit with my nana. And as others have mentioned photos or a photo book. Good luck I think it sounds like a nice idea .

I would make a scrapbook , full of photos, memories and sayings.
Or put together a nice Spring\ summer hanging basket plant or pot.
Or if she is an animal lover, sponser a dog or cat kennel at Battersea,

I'm closer to 80 than you are, and please believe me, 80 year olds don't want a pile of "stuff" for their 80th . Give her a beautiful bunch of flowers or a photo book, she'll love it.

Turning 80 is an achievement. Should be treated with gravitas. And a suitably poignant gift.

This whole “look at me with my cool novelty idea Nan! Look everyone at how much effort I put in and what a quirky idea I came up with! I love
Nan so much I went to visibly more effort that my cousins/siblings” etc .... it smacks of being all about YOU rather than respecting the likelihood that your 80yo GM (or indeed anyone over the age of 40) won’t appreciate it.

Still, you do you, hun

@bonbonours

80 memories, songs, photos etc all much better ideas than 80 presents just for the sake of it. Most elderly people have little they need or want in terms of material things.

Now that is a great idea. A photo book would be lovely, with anecdotes from friends and family. I hope when I'm 80 that I will be de-cluttering my life, not having to accommodate 80 presents just for the sack of it.

My relatives would all have hated this. As they’ve got older they’ve been trying to offload ‘stuff’. Sorry I think it’s a ridiculous amount of things and very wasteful. Have they got lots of space to put all these 80 things? I’d rethink if I were you

Whenever I go home my parents try to give me something. I cannot leave there empty handed because they are just giving things away now, same with my siblings. They don’t want anything, they want to know they have a home for their belonging in the future.

My PILs are the same.

If I gave them 80 presents I’ll most likely find them smuggled back in my luggage when back home.,

My step mum is in her 80s and has spent a lot of time over the last few years getting rid of the bits of tat around the house given to her by various friends and relatives for birthday and Christmas presents. She constantly asks us not to buy her anything - she doesn't need or want anything. She's happy with flowers and the odd box of chocs or fancy biscuits but would much prefer a visit and a cup of tea. The memory letters or photo book sound a much better idea.