Sorry about the typos and close spacing in my last post - couldn't log on for ages and still slightly off my head on meds (strep throat but massive stresses added have made me slightly doolally).
I had forgotten that a gardening hamper is a great one - you can put all the things into a nice planter pot, or plastic wondow box, or a wooden trug - all sorts of "useful" gardening containers at a wide range of prices. Gardeners love things like string, sharp knife with a retractable blade, LABELS, a pencil, new pair of gloves, the plastic things for tops of canes, plastic ties for plants, small notebook, pack of water retention gel for pots etc. A few packets of seeds if you know what they like, or a nice new trowel/fork/handweeder tool (or whole set), secateurs, kneeler etc. This is one that can go from quite small (and using Poundland or similar things) to quite big, cheap or expensive, or a range (a big roll of poundland string and large pack of labels, but with a posh pair of good gloves, looks both useful and thoughtful). You can even make things like the posh expensive cans for string with a hole in the lid to feed it out, so it's very personal to your recipient. And if you have any plants in your own garden that you love and think they'd like, try and save some seeds from that for them to grow.
And anyone who has kids, especially if it's any way a large family, a craft hamper may well be handy. Just lots of things to get busy with (but check with the parents beforehand perhaps if lots of messy stuff). Packs of paper (plain white, coloured, or even patterned) and sheets of card or card blanks, packs of colouring pencils or crayons or felt tips (depending on ages), stickers, glue dots or pritt sticks, foam shapes, pipecleaners, lollipop sticks, pom poms, etc. Bottle of pva glue and bottles of paint IF YOU KNOW IT'S OK WITH PARENTS!! Sets of brushes, or pots/trays to hold paint and water are handy. Protective coverings are very welcome (smocks, and maybe hairbands if long haired girls). Child-friendly scissors, especially ones that cut patterns. Stamps and ink pads. And they can all come in a storage container so they can be put away when projects are complete!!
Adding an apron into a baking one is always good too (less mess). And I forgot about board games in a family night in hamper. These are all options and ideas - not to use everything in 1, but trying to think about what would work so that when I see things, I have a long list of things I COULD buy, and can grab suitable things when I see them at a nice price. (Or freebies that could work - perhaps in a unconventional way, if I just have a theme in mind for a person or a few different people).