Gift ideas for older female colleagues

[LongWalkShortPlank]

I started a new job in September and I work with 4 other ladies. I'm the youngest by 20 years and I'm a little stuck on something lovely I can get for them that fits in with the budget they have of around £5-10 per person. I dont know them well enough yet and I'm stumped! Help!

[PaulMorel]

I had given a gift to my co-worker last Christmas. It's a Trackimo GPS tracker. She loves it because she likes traveling and trekking.

[Butterflycookie]

I saw in next the other day that they have cute little cacti. You could get them one each. They don’t really need watering much so people don’t need to worry about looking after it! Also it’s quite unusual and they will like the Novelty of it!

Hand cream is also a good idea. It doesn’t have to be loccitane but Crabtree and Evelyn do nice ones.

Wilko have a lot of gifts. They are doing mugs with initials in gold for £2. www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-gold-alphabet-mug-f/p/0473205
You could get each Person a mug with their initial and fill with Linder chocolates or anything that you want. I did this one year, where I bought really nice mugs and filled them with lindor balls. I then wrapped them in cellophane with a bow and then a candy cane in between.

Tbh I wouldn’t worry so much about whether they will like it. I’m sure they’d appreciate the thought especially as you haven’t been there long.

[KC225]

You need to get to know them as this thread proves everyone is different. I am 50 I would love a kitsch bauble, a good paperback (maybe something you think I may like). I would hate nail polish - I never wear it. I would hate cheap hand cream but would love a matte red lipstick.

Perhaps a wax seal stamp with their initial (try amazon) and gold/red sealing wax. I use mine loads when sending cards, invites etc.

[RangeRider]

An amazon voucher then they can pick something more useful!

[sparklyfee]

I love the advent calendar idea!

[goose1964]

I'd love an amyrillas or nice wine,a rioja would be my favourite, Last year I found cashmere socks in TKMaxx I'd kill for another pair

[sparklyfee]

I agree with the nice bauble. I don't paint my own nails much any more, don't want cheap creams or candles etc.

A nice bauble and a cupcake.

And to the poster who said about fake chilly bottles! Are they real? Do they work?! I need 4 of them!

[Exboarder]

(You could always keep half for any other presents needed!)

[Exboarder]

Someone else mentioned Nesti Dante soap- I just got 6 bars for £15 I think , on sale in John Lewis

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I'm old - 47- and a decent candle does me every time. White Co do lovely ones for a tenner

[AwkwardSquad]

If they all get on buy them the M&S advent calendar and they can draw numbers for days and open 6 boxes each

I think that’s a great idea. I’m ‘older’ and I’d enjoy that.

[funmummy48]

Forget the fact that they're older.....it means nothing!😉 They're still ladies with likes/dislikes irrespective of age. It's still just October so you have plenty of time to get to know them a bit before you make a purchase.

[Bloodybridget]

I'd echo other posters in saying get something consumable - wine, good chocolate, hyacinths in a pot. Personally I loathe scented candles and never use nail varnish (am in my 60s). OTOH there's no such thing as a fail-safe present and they will probably appreciate the thought, whatever you give them.

[bellinisurge]

I don't think it's very nice that you or anyone else has to cough up all that cash for people you barely know.
I would hate that waste of money and feel embarrassed if I go anything. What will they all be getting you, op.
Aren't cards enough?

[Jackietheduck]

I'm in my forties and I would hate so many of the gifts mentioned. Somebody gave me a bottle of nail varnish last year. It was glittery and a brand I had never heard of. I wear nude varnish or red varnish. I generally only use a couple of brands. I threw the varnish straight into the bin. I don't use handcream. I would not want a candle of any description. I would find getting a magazine quite odd and a subscription for a magazine far exceeds the budget. Similarly I find being gifted books rather odd as its too personal. I have been given books that the person buying them must like but I don't.

A starbucks card is something I would use. A cheap bottle of plonk would be used. Chocs would be used or passed on. Consumables are a far better option especially for someone you don't know very well.

I find the culture of buying a gift for the sake of buying a gift a terrible waste of time and money.

If they all get on buy them the M&S advent calendar and they can draw numbers for days and open 6 boxes each

^ This actually sounds quite fun. At the very least, it would be festive and they could swap things around or leave things in the office for general use by everyone if they didn't care for them much themselves.

[shiningstar2]

I am 66. For under £10 I would like small box really good chocolates or a scarf or half bottle of Baileys or Gin or a really nice soap or a pair of ear rings from accessorize/monsoon or a plant. Problem is you don't have much time to get to know them. Usually can't go wrong with a nice wine if not teetotal but still need to know a bit about them to get right sort.

[TheClitterati]

Does everyone in your office give each other gifts? I've never worked anywhere like that.

Been at current place many many years and we give each other a hug at Christmas.

[TheClitterati]

Cats. Two each if your budget stretches that far.

(Not mugs ffs - by the time you are older you have lots of mugs already).

[sirmione16]

I have no different suggestions but do bare in mind, these ladies will appreciate the fact you've only worked with them a few months and that any gift isn't going to be ultra personal, instead a token of friendship - and they'll appreciate that. As this is the case, I would generally go with something edible as it can be either be given to someone else if they don't eat chocolate or such, or thrown away at home without any awkward talk of where it went/what happened to it/why don't you ever use it etc later down the line. Mini bottle of prossecco and some chocolate won't offend anyone. Despite some of these rather blunt replies which seem awfully ungrateful and make me take a second look at who I'm buying for slash wasting my money on unknowingly !!

[PeggyIsInTheNarrative]

www.waitrose.com/ecom/products/neals-yard-geranium-orange-range-hand-wash-200ml/752991-107066-107067

I like these as they smell lovely and get used up! 1/3 off Neal’s Yard at Waitrose at the moment.

[LeMesmer]

I second listen to what they like over the next couple of weeks, or just observe. In one job a fairly new colleague bought me a lovely set of nail varnishes, as she had noticed despite me having no interest in beauty type things I always painted my nails. I am 53, so about the age you are looking for. I hate Prosecco, would have to be red wine or good beer. I never eat chocolate usually but enjoy it at Christmas. Just goes to show it is a bit of a minefield.

Now is the perfect time to start a few Christmas gift conversations , you will probably get from that what they love or hate and buy accordingly .

[boux]

A small box of charbonnel et Walker champagne truffles?

[QuaterMiss]

Surely the difficulty is that the budget is too tiny for the gift giving to be worthwhile? Some (additional) communal gathering would make better use of the £10 per head.

[Petalflowers]

I’m not sure that us ‘older ladies’ are making it any easier for op!

[Ragwort]

Are you sure your office does individual gifts? I suggest you find out first.

As you can tell from the replies on this thread, we 'older' women all have different tastes, just like younger women, I doubt you will find a generic gift that would suit everyone. Personally, the only gift I really like (and which I never receive) is a charity 'goat type' gift. I have everything I need, I can afford to buy myself a bottle of wine/candle/chocolates etc. I buy myself a charity gift every birthday and Christmas .