Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Original poster

40th birthday gift ideas?

18 replies

bakingqueen90 · 28/09/2023 12:14

My very close friend turning 40 soon. She has said she doesn't want jewelry, and I'm at a loss for other ideas! Budget around £100 as we already bought one thing for her (tickets to a show she wants to see). I want her to have something to open too! Ideas?

OP posts:
BonneMamanIsMyJam · 28/09/2023 12:17

What does she like/what are her interests? What I’d like may not be what someone else would want (eg I’d love a nice folio edition of books I like, I like nice cocktail glasses, a fancy pan) but everyone is different!

minipie · 28/09/2023 12:24

David Austin voucher if she has a garden/likes plants? I don’t know if that counts as something to open though.

Maybe a beautiful piece of porcelain or crockery - a milk jug or vase or something that she can either use or display. Etsy has some lovely stuff if you look carefully. That may just be what I’d like though!

RandomersAssociation · 28/09/2023 12:25

Hard to suggest without knowing what she’s used to! £100 might mean a coat to one person, but a candle to another. What sort of treat would £100 buy in her world?

There are a few things from the Hermes beauty range that I’d love to be given as presents. Two would come to roughly £100.

Or a … quarter case of wine.

Also love Folio Society books!

Original poster
bakingqueen90 · 28/09/2023 12:25

I think she's at the place in life where she is figuring out her hobbies/interests again after having children. She does love cooking and hosting, so nice crockery or pan is a great idea!

OP posts:
RandomersAssociation · 28/09/2023 12:30

nice crockery or pan is a great idea!

Are you sure?

I mean, obviously if you spend a great deal of time in her home, and she’s talked about exactly what she’d like to buy for it … But I’d be a bit frustrated if someone else decided to choose a random saucepan or piece of crockery for me - they’re such minutely specific decisions.

ShirleyPhallus · 28/09/2023 12:32

bakingqueen90 · 28/09/2023 12:25

I think she's at the place in life where she is figuring out her hobbies/interests again after having children. She does love cooking and hosting, so nice crockery or pan is a great idea!

I love cooking but would be gutted if someone spent £100 on a pan for my 40th

plenty of cooking classes, tasters, at home menu boxes, cookery books etc etc out there

Sparkletastic · 28/09/2023 14:18

I did love the Le Creuset casserole I got for my 40th...

Otherwise I'd say a robe from One Hundred Stars is a winner.

FluffActually · 28/09/2023 14:26

I'd be gutted to get a OHS robe! I think by this age gift cards to hobby related shops are by far the best. For a cook, somewhere like Sous Chef or David Mellor?

RandomersAssociation · 28/09/2023 14:37

You’d only get a griddle or a crepe pan for £100, though, @Sparkletastic.

@bakingqueen90 - if you’re giving her tickets for the theatre, why not take her out for drinks or dinner before or after? She might not care about unwrapping something.

Original poster
bakingqueen90 · 28/09/2023 19:22

So many good ideas here!! Thank you all! X

OP posts:
Sweetener12 · 01/10/2023 08:46

If you have photos of her or both of you together, you can make a for her or create a birthday slideshow with music she likes and add your wishes and inside jokes you have. It's not actually something to open, but it would make a nice addition to the gift.

How to make your own DIY photo book | Step by Step Bookbinding Tutorial

Blog: http://thephotobookguru.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thephotobookguruInstagram: @thephotobookguruTravel Map Creator: https://travel-map-creato...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIRnj9O2bk4

Sweetener12 · 01/10/2023 08:49

Ugh, the links got out of hand 😅I meant "photo book" and a link to the video guide, not the said guide in the middle of my post!

PortalooSunset · 01/10/2023 10:34

Framed print of one of her favourite art works? Or painting of somewhere that means something to you both?

I got a couple of Lego sets for mine which was awesome Grin

NatashaDancing · 01/10/2023 10:53

FluffActually · 28/09/2023 14:26

I'd be gutted to get a OHS robe! I think by this age gift cards to hobby related shops are by far the best. For a cook, somewhere like Sous Chef or David Mellor?

I'm a good cook and baker. I've only once received a cook book as a present that I actually liked. I'd be very disappointed to get £100 of kitchen equipment.on my 40th birthday.

I've also got several dressing gowns. I don't need another.

If it were me , spend a £100 on Hermès 24 Faubourg perfume or Hermès Jardin perfume. Anyone who knows me, knows that's what I wear and will always want and need it.

Actually I tell a lie re kitchen equipment. On my 50th someone gave me a small cast iron teapot with an inner basket for loose leaf tea, but she knew in advance that I liked them, only buy loose leaf tea and didn't already have one

amiboverd · 01/10/2023 10:56

Perfume if you know what she likes
Make up or skincare
a clutch bag if you know what sort of things she likes

NatashaDancing · 01/10/2023 12:25

amiboverd · 01/10/2023 10:56

Perfume if you know what she likes
Make up or skincare
a clutch bag if you know what sort of things she likes

I think perfume if you know that she likes is the safest bet. It might be a bit unimaginative but £100 is quite a lot of money to spend on something completely wrong.

openallday · 01/10/2023 12:27

A voucher!

Get a voucher for somewhere like John Lewis

It's really hard to buy gifts for others and invariably you will be wasting money

septemberoctobernovember · 01/10/2023 16:40

Selfridges vouchers.

those dressings gowns mentioned are horrible

New posts on this thread. Refresh page