Aghh! Need Xmas inspo for 13 yr old girl who's not into makeup and fragrance. Bought Nothing 😭

[Twiglet2026]

Sooo other than a bracelet and some Lego I'm stumped. She likes art, crafts, music and books. But everything art wise looks too young or too mature and boring. Tips needed please!!

Could you book a trip to an art gallery/event that would interest her. Then have some spending money for a souvenir from that event.....

The Sharpies acrylic pens are great. I like them better than Poscas.

A good penknife.

My dd sounds similar to yours in interests (though she’s 15 now and also loves her smellies, makeup and clothes!). Gifts we’ve got her in the past couple of years:

An adult jewellery making kit. Came with various pliers, wires etc.
Good quality drawing/colouring/shading pencils and pads.
Light up Bluetooth speaker alarm clock
Planner/journal with stickers. Sounds dull if you’re not into them (like me) but those who are seem to find them very relaxing and enjoyable, dd loves them.
Gooseneck phone holder
Cuddle cushion for reading comfortably in bed
Small lego creator eg tropical toucan, watering can with flowers, there’s loads.

This year amongst the fancy makeup etc she’s got:

A book nook
Two painted cover edition classics
Metal wall art (a cat on a half moon, really cute)
Tree of life bookends

Jewellery making kit including pliers, findings and semiprecious stones
patch work kit, (you could make it yourself so little sewing kit, some charm squares, good quality scissors, self healing cutting mat, and quilting / patchwork magazine or book….but get fabrics and kit from an independent sewing shop, the quality off Amazon is generally shite) and bad tools will put her off.
(Maybe off eBay and second hand as next suggestion is quite pricy) die cutter and dies like sizzix (huge range of dies, the ‘bigz’ range can also be used with fabric) (YouTube offer a range of tutorials as Sizzix are a bit crap at showing you how to use their wares in the non-existent instruction manual!) if she really gets into patchwork and quilting you could look at an entry level sewing machine and swish die cutter like accuquilt, for future Christmas / birthdays.

Holister seem to be the current ‘on trend’ clothing for teens at the moment!

Which music artists does she like? E.g. if she likes Taylor Swift, there are nice Taylor Swift themed prints on Etsy. Or a band shirt, as a PP said.

If you can afford it go for an instamax camera, the ones that print the photo out straight away. They're so much fun!

Sorry that should be Instax mini camera, not instamax!

Baking stuff? Little baking kit they can do independently?

If you can get to a branch of Urban Outfitters you can get adult type Taylor Swift colouring books, crochet your own Harry Styles, that sort of thing. My nieces and their mates all went nuts for a Nee Doh cube or gum drop recently.It’s a stress ball type fidget toy and very addictive.
Bracelet making, badge making (try Amazon) and folio books have also gone down very well here. And Uno in all it’s iterations.
Flying Tiger is also good for craft supplies and quirky lamps or desk tidies.

If you can get to a branch of Urban Outfitters you can get adult type Taylor Swift colouring books, crochet your own Harry Styles, that sort of thing. My nieces and their mates all went nuts for a Nee Doh cube or gum drop recently.It’s a stress ball type fidget toy and very addictive.
Bracelet making, badge making (try Amazon) and folio books have also gone down very well here. And Uno in all it’s iterations.
Flying Tiger is also good for craft supplies and quirky lamps or desk tidies.

A book nook! Mine has the owl one and it was fun to make and looks lovely on her shelf, as it lights up. book nook

A book subscription? You can get some lovely ones that come with extras like custom illustrations and snacks and tea to enjoy while reading them.

Glue gun
Badge maker
Decent art supplies

Pandora bracelet.
Slime.
Gaming 'stuff'?
Water bottle.
Science experiment kit.
Alexa for her room.
Lego.
Journal with lock and key.
Clothes/trainers - something she'd like not something you were going to buy anyway.

My 12 year old does too. In fact she bought a special edition of one of her favourite books today on a trip to York. I don’t know why people would think it was such a bizarre idea!

My kid has one of these but the rolls work out quite expensive tbh it looks quite babyish. If she has a phone, the phone camera is much better and more practrical.

We got the Canon Zoemini printer last year that went down well and you can get non-branded printer paper for it.

Headphones
fahlo bracelet to track her favourite animal
Sewing machine
felting kit

I'd buy her a cute light/lamp - you can get super sweet ones in sort of Japanese cartoony style. Or a light box that she can change the letters on.

Or a game like Uno. Or some beautiful pens, if she's into art or even calligraphy etc.

A nice plant on a cute pot also for her room? A lovely leafy one, I'd have loved that at 13 and they can be pretty pricey for bigger ones.

Fridge for her room
Colour change lights/ projector

This is the Art section of my 13 year old’s wish list:

Ohuhu alcohol markers
Pebeo studio acrylics set (30)
Washi tape
Cute stickers
Silicone painting mat
Water Colour paper
Reverse colouring book

Hope that helps.

HMV do a vinyl player with built in speakers for about £60. Took my daughter till boxing day night to realise there were songs on the other side of her LP - hahaha

Hollister and Urban Outfitters popular here (16 year olds)

Candle warmer light and scented candle?

other lighting for room? Cable/strip light things. Ikea do a nice colour changing pencil light.

My DD was similar at 13. She loved watercolour paintbrush pens, posca pens, lots of lovely stuff in cass art like postcard size watercolour books. Origami paper, a paper quilling set (inspired by watching Kirsties christmas). She got lots of smaller parcels rather than a big main gift. Lots of books & she would have appreciated a folio one.

What about a bookstore voucher so you can go and shop for some books together in the new year? Make a day of it. My daughter loves reading and a trip to Waterstones is her love language 🤓 She loves a beautiful bookmark too.

Crochet kits, colouring books - the new style ones are a hit in our house. Sketch book and some good quality pens. What about a drawing/graphics tablet?

Record player? Spotify subscription? Concert (I know this can be an expensive nightmare but so worth it if you can) tickets?