A Quick Guide To The Perfect Housewarming Gift

Let’s be honest – housewarming gifts are a bit tricky. I hate that heart-palpitating moment when you realize, you may have made a bad selection. Like the $15 bottle of wine for the couple with a wine cellar. Or a Nut of The Month membership for the family with a child deathly allergic to legumes. While you may think the rechargeable toilet bowl night light with 16 motion-activated LED colors is the coolest thing ever – you might want to check out some of these other ideas before you put a bow on it.

Not All Housewarmings Are Equal

There are many circumstances that place you in the gift-giving position for someone’s housewarming. It could be a new work colleague who just moved to town, a new neighbor who you may end up knowing (or putting up with) for decades, or your best friend who’s celebrating their new dream home. Some housewarmings are casual while others are momentous; like a first home or a move after a major life event. These occasions are certainly extraordinary and you don’t want to show up with a six-pack and a bag of chips.

Lucky for you, I’ve combed the universe for everything on the subject of superbly splendid housewarming gifts.

Wine: The Old Standby with a Twist

A nice bottle of wine – (something in the $30-$40 range) is a perfectly acceptable and often appreciated gift. That said, with a little additional effort or expense you can make your gift of wine more memorable.

Make it Personal

Personalized gifts are perfect for special housewarmings. One of my dear friends just moved back to Arizona after 20+ years in California. She bought her first brand new home – completely on her own. I love the idea of recording this noteworthy event with a personalized gift.

Themed Gifts

I must admit, this is my favorite type of housewarming gift to give because you can make it fit your budget and really customize it to the recipient’s personality and situation.

Game Night Basket for a Family

A new home means creating new memories so how about a “Family Game Night” gift basket. Use the Popco healthier BPA-free microwave popcorn maker as the “basket” and fill it with everything they need for a fun-filled evening. Bonus – this entire housewarming gift runs about $40.

A Quick Alternative: A gift certificate for a near-by pizzeria that delivers. What family isn’t thankful for a free pizza on a busy day.

A Gift for the Outdoor Enthusiast

Often people are moving from a different state or from a different part of town and they are excited about their new location. Help them explore their new stomping grounds with this housewarming gift for the outdoor enthusiast. Coming in under $30, this gift is budget friendly and original.

Quick Alternative: A Gift Certificate for the local zoo, botanical gardens or local museum.

The Neat Freak

While doing research for this blog post, I came across several Top 10 articles for Worst Housewarming Gifts. I was shocked to see “A Gift Basket of Cleaning Supplies” on the list! While many people might think that is a lame housewarming gift, if the person you are celebrating with is a neat freak – it might be the perfect thing. Here’s a “Fresh New Kitchen” basket I put together for my girlfriend’s housewarming. She loved it!

OR

A Cute Office/Desk Organizer with fresh Post-it notes, To Do or Shopping List pads, A few new pens and pencils and some decorative paper clips. Target has a section of really cool color-coordinated office supplies that would look perfect in this.

First Time Homeowner

First time homeowners are the easiest group to give a housewarming gift to because they could use it all. You could show up with a step stool, duck tape and a broom and they would be thrilled!

When our daughter moved out on her own, her Grandparents put together a basic tool box; the things she might need to put together a piece of furniture or hang a picture. It was perfect. You can buy a basic kit ready to go like this General Repair Tool Kit which is available in pink, blue or red. I also love the idea of putting a basic tool kit together yourself, blending the person’s personality with your experience of which tools really work well. Doing it this way does cost more ($80-$100) as you tend to chose higher quality tools. Therefore, you may want to make it a group gift.

Of course, any of the ‘Make it Personal’ or ‘Neat Freak’ gift ideas are perfect for a new homeowner as well. A Celebratory bottle of wine or champagne (with one of the ‘Wine Plus’ gifts) are also a great way to mark the exciting milestone of first-time, home ownership.

Tips & Tricks: How to Put Together a Great-looking Gift Basket

Since many of these housewarmings gift ideas involve putting together a gift basket, I want to share a couple tricks to help make your baskets look amazing.

Tip No. 1: Always chose a useful and theme-appropriate container for your items. The ‘basket’ should be part of the gift, not an afterthought.

Tip No. 2: Items don’t look good when buried half deep in a basket. Raise and tier your items using recycled Styrofoam. (I save Styrofoam from packaging just for this purpose).

Tip No. 3: Make sure to have two or three small ‘filler’ items. These will make your gift basket look nice and full.

Tip No. 4: Don’t skimp on your fluff. Whether you are using tissue paper or confetti, make sure it fills out the basket nicely.

Tip No. 5: Lastly, shop the clearance section of your favorite stores for things like candles, small linens, and realistic looking faux plants. Hold on to them until you need ‘just one more thing’ to make a gift basket look great.

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I hope you find this guide helpful for the next time you are contemplating a housewarming gift. I guarantee you . . . well maybe 99% positive, the recipient will enjoy any of these fantastic options better than this . . . The LED 16-color lighted Toilet Seat. Yes, it truly exists. I’m still trying to figure out the part of the description that says it has an “internal memory” ???

Have a wonderful week and please don’t forget to SHARE, Like, PIN and Tweet. The new social media icons on the left of the screen (desktop) or the bottom of the post (mobile) under “sharing is caring!”

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