Gift for a 70 year old?

[Waytoomanycoasters]

A close relative (as in closely related rather than I know them super well, if that makes sense) turns 70 this year. I'm stumped for presents.

• I've suggested a day out or a trip away somewhere but she made a face and shook her head
• Tried to suggest to the family that we do a surprise lunch or something with everyone but our family is pretty fragmented and noone really seemed keen
• Usually buy experience gifts and I feel like I've done everything I can think of already so there's not really anything stand out. In the past years I've done wine tasting, massages, bee keeping experience, glass blowing, other craft type workshops, theatre tours, afternoon teas at nice places near where she lives etc)
• She's always decluttering so doesn't like 'stuff' for the sake of it, anything would have to be something she wants/needs/something useful
• Loves her garden but seriously has so much to do with gardening already and I wouldn't know where to start
• Has voiced loudly and often that vouchers are a lazy and impersonal choice of gift

Any ideas?! Was thinking a hamper but I was up there recently and the creams and stuff she uses are so specific. Wish I'd taken photos of all the brands, though tbh she was telling me some 20ml tube of something cost £50 so I don't think I'd be able to afford enough for a hamper anyway!!

Budget is about £100.

Buy her two tubes of the expensive stuff?

A beautiful bouquet of flowers.

Year’s subscription to a gardening magazine? You’d need to get advice on which one though.

She’s 70….so maybe a Lec Zeppelin tee shirt, biba handbag, some silver platform boots, purple eyeshadow, A box of Aztec bars (ask your mum!), a few Jackie Annuals from eBay, Barry White greatest hits cd, some Meadowsong perfume (or gingham, kiku, patchouli, whatever she prefers), an afghan coat etc etcetc
Shes 70…these will all please her I promise!

My children organised a birthday lunch for my 70th, which was lovely. But I have everything I need, and really don’t want birthday presents. A nice card and a token gift would be more than enough, even from my closest relatives.
Does your relative really expect you to spend £100 on a present?

Really? 70 is the new 25!

https://www.englishroses.co.uk/product/fab-70-happy-birthday-rose/

If she likes flowers I would look for a subscription. We gave one to a friend for her 50th and she loved it.
I think 6 months was a bit over £100.

Oh what a great idea!!!

A photo book going back from childhood to now if you can get access to some photos.
a shrub or rose bush for her garden.
nice reclining chair for the garden.
a picnic lunch somewhere nice with friends / family
bottle of fizz and a big bunch of flowers.
nice silver / engraved photo frame with family photo in.
pamper session with hair, nails, make up, facial together in a local beautician / spa.
nice warm blanket for the sofa, maybe heated if she feels the cold.
stylish new robe/ nighty/ pyjamas.

Oh no she doesn't expect anything at all, that's just the maximum I could afford.

Haha I love this list! Getting the creative juices flowing

Food isn't clutter so that's my go-to... you could build your own hamper. Stuff like fancy rose jam, English wine, a really nice tin of tea, etc

The Thoughtful Gardener: An... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1910254592?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

A Flower Garden for Pollinators:... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529422140?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

I recently bought these books for myself/ both are beautiful and I think would be of interest to most gardeners.

Aunt, great-aunt, much older sister, cousin? I think I'd be inclined to take her out to lunch or dinner. If you can't get the whole family together, maybe just assemble the ones closest to both of you. Would that work?

I love getting flowers but some people don't, so I'd think carefully about whether a flower subscription would be welcome, especially if she's decluttered to the extent that she hardly has any vases now.

Box of wine? I'd love that, but again, not everyone would.

Also, fun as that list is, your relative was born in 1954 and would have been in her late teens or her 20s when a lot of that was fashionable. It strikes me as more a list of things that would have appealed to someone 5 or 10 years younger. She's not necessarily going to have enjoyed any of that. I'm 7 years younger and there's not a single thing on that list that I had as a teenager except the Jackie annuals.

I think it was the annuals I honed in on mostly. She's never really been into Zep. But a magazine feels like a cool thing to add into the general gifts. Something a bit different. They're available on WOB too.

Well, I'm 60 and apart from Barry White, this is pretty much my wishlist!

Ha screenshot it and send it to your gift buyers !!!

Don't get her stuff she doesn't want which I imagine is anything you or we could come up with.

Go with the flowers!