A present speaks volumes about the giver and the receiver. It shows how high – or low – a regard the giver has for the recipient of a gift. Example: a well-thought out, not necessarily expensive, gift like a beautifully-designed pen for a writer shows that you care enough to match the present to the personality. It shows the effort and time it took to think of a gift and then peruse for a design to suit the recipient’s taste. Now, if you got a mug from someone you thought was a close friend – well, let’s just say you’re not as close as you’d like to think.
The process of gift-giving isn’t a materialistic system – so says the lifestyle writer/product-hawker. While we’d like to give and receive gifts from friends all year long, the universe – and our budgets – just don’t work that way. Aside from birthdays, Christmas is the only time you can legitimately celebrate your taste, I mean, friends and family.
Not every gift can be the success all gift-givers want it to be. Nothing lives up to the practical, usable, beautifully-designed conversation piece standard. Well, nothing under P300 that is. A nice little Van Gogh might do the trick, but unless your daddy’s credit card says Rockefeller, it’s out of your league.
YStyle’s wallet-friendly guide offers practical gift ideas that won’t send you screaming out the door in manic hysteria/joy. Hell to the n-o. But these gift ideas are better, because they’re under P300 bucks (some are even under P100)! Sure, giving something under P300 usually means you’re a cheapskate, but giving something from our under-P300 gift guide means you’re a cheapskate with good intentions. And in the end, isn’t it the though that counts?
No matter what you choose from our gift guide, it’s bound to be better than a mug. Anything, even your brother’s dirty socks, is better than a mug – you can trust us on that count.
A clock. How unoriginal. How boring. How boy scout-esque. Well, not every gift can be as fab as a fiberglass vase. But unless you repeat gifts, which isn’t cool no matter what your know-it-all friend told you, you’re bound to run out of ideas. This sleek, retro-fitted digital clock is the politically-correct gift to give consistently tardy colleagues. (A T-shirt with a rude slogan doesn’t quite have the cachet it used to in college.) The clock not only tells time but also displays the temperature. (Gasp!)
Made from real river snake skin – okay so maybe it’s not exotic python, but then again, you’re not on J.Lo’s budget – this snazzy wallet makes the perfect gift for mom or the boss. Unless they’re card-carrying PETA members, they’re bound to love the elegant pattern and luxurious feel of local snake skin. The only thing more surprising – and frightening – than the fact that we have local river snakes is the price tag.
Dad might regularly complain about your freeloading lifestyle: how you scam off your parents’ money and goodwill, live rent-free at home (even though you’re past 30) and eat all their food without helping even a little bit with household expenses. But once you give him these smart skinny ties, in bright pink and elegant blue, he’s bound to stop complaining for at least a month. And in the words of that never-ending MasterCard ad: that’s priceless.
A Victorian choker spells class with a capital C. A Victorian choker that costs this much spells class with a capital K. But who’s spelling? This cool accoutrement is sure to have your stylish friends cooing over your fabulous find. The best part of the present? Telling them where you bought it – so they don’t have to schlep to some stale vintage store in the boondocks to hunt for similar finds.
Vases may be the forte of finicky grandmothers, but this orange fiberglass vase is pretty to look at and doesn’t break if you accidentally shove it off the table in one of your drunken fits. Sleekly-designed and Philippine-made, the vase goes with any setting – whether it’s modern minimalist or dirty hobo. Not even a pedigreed Boston terrier can switch settings with such ease.
Yes, we live in a tropical country, but a girl’s gotta accessorize. These pretty scarves, made of cotton yarn, make wearing them forgivable. Wear them draped over a T-shirt and jeans or tied around your bag. Better yet, the next time you get on a plane, wrap the scarves around your sunglasses-covered face, like a drugged Joan Collins in Dynasty, and make like a diva.
Other countries put a premium on Philippine-made products like abaca bags and granite statues (Gap shirts don’t count). So it’s always a disappointment to find people who put down locally-made products in favor of imported stuff. "Uy, gawa ‘to sa States!" as my cringe-worthy tita likes to say. Well, products like this mother-of-pearl ring, with its simple but classy cream and brown striped design, should help educate people. Not only is it made here, but it’s a steal at P150.
For the woman so enamored of her lipsticks, she needs a separate case for them. Gift for mom? Check.