Coworker Gift Ideas

[Immadismom]

I just did gifts for my employees this week. I gave each a $10 Target gift card, a snowflake ornament, and a nicer candy (large piece of salted caramel drizzled chocolate bark individually boxed). I have a team of 4 men and 1 woman. I also hand out bags of Oreo truffles during the week leading up to Christmas that everyone has already started looking forward to, so they know those are coming soon!

 

[Mirielle]

Men are so easy!! I have one man in the group and I've got all sorts of ideas of what to get him.

Men easy?!!! To me, they're the worst! Please...give me a clue. Struggling here.

 

[dotfurio]

Thanks, lots of good ideas here! Now I need to see what I can manage within the next week or so.

For those Tervis Tumblers, what are their most popular uses. My daughter got one from someone when she started college (it was a collegiate one). I've seen them in the store. I can't say I've actually seen anyone using them. I see people using the S'well water bottles and the Yeti beverage holders, but not a Tervis item. Is it for people who drink a lot of water all day? Hot stuff? Both? I don't think I'd like to put my tea or coffee in them, though I suppose you can.

I definitely want to stick with half the gift being a gift card. I usually will do ones from lunch places around the office so they can have a cheap lunch on me! But if I know someone likes a store and is dieting (we seem to always be dieting), then I'll do one from a store.

I have some Tervis tumblers I use for hot and some for cold - depends on the lid. I use some for coffee in the morning, others for water when I'm out and about. They'll take up most if not all of your $20 budget, though.

They all have cellphones but not sure what they have. I don't think they all use iPhone. I got my "kids" some of the items above for their stockings. They are ALWAYS running out of a charge.

I think batteries should be universal to any device charged with a USB cable? (and there are probably adapters for devices that don't)

 

[lovesmurfs]

I'm boring, but I really don't know what they'd like, so I do Amazon gift cards with homemade caramel corn.

 

[powellrj]

I don’t drink, but I like the tervis wine glasses. I also like the inside/out umbrella, I love mine.

 

[Christine]

Men easy?!!! To me, they're the worst! Please...give me a clue. Struggling here.

Small flashlights, local craft beers (individual bottles), small pocket tools (mentioned above), food (they never seem to be dieting), socks, etc. Now buying for the husband is a different matter!!!

 

[Christine]

The new inside/out umbrellas. Most folks don't have them yet but they are catching on because it's so nice to not have a wet mess when you walk in the door after being in the rain. I saw them on amazon yesterday for about $15.

I also like the inside/out umbrella, I love mine.

So, I'm looking at these on Amazon and they are all over the place on brands and pricing. Haven't seen any for under $17 (but there are pages to comb through). I'm a little skeptical about some brands. The descriptions seem poorly written and I wonder if they are poor quality. Does anyone have a particular brand they use and like?

 

[maxaroni]

Gift I received last year from a manager was a red coffee mug (Target, I believe), wrapped in clear gift wrap. Inside the mug was an envelope of hot chocolate, candy cane, scratch off lottery ticket and GC to Target. Most of us use the coffee mug at work. I don’t “get” the love for Tervis Tumblers, have been given them and don’t use them, at least the ones with the straws.

 

[powellrj]

So, I'm looking at these on Amazon and they are all over the place on brands and pricing. Haven't seen any for under $17 (but there are pages to comb through). I'm a little skeptical about some brands. The descriptions seem poorly written and I wonder if they are poor quality. Does anyone have a particular brand they use and like?

I have a reversa Bella, but I think it’s better Bella that some friends have and like. You can get the better Bella at wal-mart on-line for under $20.

 

[Mizzoufan]

I like the desk calendar idea myself.

 

[nighttowll]

I did movie theater gift “baskets” one year for coworkers. Really simple and cute, and not expensive. Not sure if it would work for the OP though with the food issues.

I went to the Dollar Tree and bought the popcorn buckets, the cute red and white stripped ones. Then, I bought a few boxes of popcorn from Walmart, the microwave kind. One box of movie theater kind, one of kettle corn which is always a big hit. This way I could include a bag of each kind in each bucket. Next, I got some movie theater size boxes of candy to add in. Then I got gift cards to the local movie theater. Add a little yellow raffia or tissue paper and you are done.

Makes a great gender friendly gift, and who doesn’t like going to the movies. Everyone seemed to really like it.

Our local small town theater still sells $5 matinees, so I put 2 matinee tickets in each bucket. This meant each bucket only ended up costing me around $13.

We have gotten so big now, we have stopped doing gifts for everyone. Instead we hang stockings with each employee’s name on it. Then on the day of our Christmas party, everyone brings one small inexpensive gift for each stocking, office supplies are a favorite. This seems to work well. We do a secret Santa for each person to have one nice gift, but even that we cap at $25.

Some stocking stuffer ideas we have done are:
Sticky notes
Notebooks
Pens
Pencils
Erasers
Scissors
Bulk ornaments you can buy cheaply by the dozen
Christmas Candy
Popcorn
Fruit
Candles
Small toys, the guys seem to love these. I usually raid the party supply section of Target.

The trick is to only buy things sold in bulk packaging. I can usually find stuff bulk packaged for $4 or less total that can be divided up into 25 stockings. Walmart has some ornaments they sell 20 for $2 I think. It might be less. The dollar tree always has a good selection of options to pick from as well.

If you are willing to spend a little more, you can really make some nice gift stockings with everyone pitching in. We do it more for the thought than the quality and try to make it so no one has to contribute more than $5 total because some of our employees really struggle to make ends meet, but we want them to feel they can still participate.

 

[elphaba91]

What about a nice jar/bottle of jam, relish, sauce, oil or spice? Personalised mugs for use at work?

I do like the power bank idea; my mum took hers to a destination wedding recently and I think lots of the other attendees will be buying them now! You can get them in various designs - mine is silver and sparkly!

 

[Bluestars]

You can't go wrong with a Target or Amazon gift card.

 

[Micca]

You can't go wrong with a Target or Amazon gift card.

I agree. I know some folks feel gift cards are impersonal, but what's better than getting something you really want? (I know the answer is "Having the gift giver know exactly what you want" but that's often not the case.)