How to make your gift seem thoughtful

Let's face it, most us fail miserably when it comes to gift-giving. We think we know somebody until it comes down to finding the perfect object that encapsulates the very essence of them and their interests, all in the budget of BDT 500 because, of course, we're broke.

To help you all out, here is a fool-proof way to make sure your loved one will adore your gift no matter what: Get them something personalised. To make things even easier, here are some ideas of what to get personalised.

MASON JARS WITH FAIRY LIGHTS

Mason jars and fairy lights are both objects that can

single-handedly make anything a hundred times more "aesthetic" according to millennial standards. Combine the two, and you have the most aesthetically pleasing gift you could give. However, the best part is, these jars could have stickers on them that you could personalise with whatever image or writing you want. Now you know exactly what to get that friend of yours with the best Instagram feed.

ENGRAVED WOODEN PLACARDS

This has been a trend for a while now. You basically pay an online store to take a piece of wood and engrave whatever you like on it. It could be a favourite quote, a picture of you and your loved one. The person on the receiving end will not know what to do with it, but hey, they will be wholeheartedly grateful for your effort. They will even overlook the fact that all you did was place an order online, so don't worry about it.

COMMISSIONED ART

Our country is full of talented artists who sell their art online. A lot of them do commissioned work and so this is the perfect opportunity for you to make them use their spectacular skills to draw a very poorly taken photo of you and your loved one. You could even frame the art. I must add that art is not cheap. However, do not try to haggle with an artist. If you think they're asking for too much, just go ahead and try to draw it yourself. Maybe your loved one will love the extra effort no matter how ugly of a drawing you make of them, accidentally.

NOTEBOOKS

Notebooks are something we all love to hoard and never use. Therefore, the visual of the cover is more important than anything when it comes to notebooks. Who cares about the functionality of it if the cover is of your favourite band? Take to the internet and design whatever cover you think the receiver would like and you're good to go.

PASSPORT HOLDER

This is the perfect farewell gift for friends who are leaving the country to pursue higher education, or for any other reason. There are online stores that take passport holders that have a small metal plate on the front and engrave a name on it. Since we're all self-obsessed creatures anyway, this gift will make anyone happy.

Hopefully, you have now mastered the art of personalised gift-giving and will never gift something disappointing again.

Mayabee Arannya can never say no to a cup of tea or cute doggo pictures. Send her the latter at fb.com/mayabee.arannya