Gifts for the tricky to buy for - Dads and Grandads

September 11, 2025

Oh, Dads and Grandads. What do you do to our gift-hunting brains!!

I'm not sure what it is. Maybe they've just spent enough years on the planet to already have everything they need. Or possibly they are impatient and buy whatever they want, whenever they want it. But when we turn our grey matter towards the menfolk's Christmas solutions, we can often come up empty-handed.

Team Betsy to the rescue. After decades of making gifts, and decades of giving gifts to Dads and Grandads, we have some ideas. We also asked a few Dads and generally got the thumbs up. Obviously, after they said "Oh, don't buy me anything, love".

Stocking Fillers (or little tree presents)

You can go useful or whimsical with the little gifts for Dad or Grandad. We've listed some of each.

• Gourmet popcorn - perfect for festive film watching
• Chocolate coins, reindeer, Santas - just chocolate!
• Retro sweets - how retro you go is up to you! My brother loves flying saucers.
• Sample or travel-size aftershave or cologne
• A LEGO minifig to build
• A personalised notebook. Two ideas here. Either a notebook just for him, to keep track of his to do list, or notes for his sudoku. OR... if he doesn't need a notebook for him, and keeps saying he doesn't want a gift, maybe you can ask him for his gems of wisdom for his grandkids in our "letters to" notebook
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• This Snoopy car air freshener
• Personalised keyring - men always have so many keys! This wooden bear keyring holds a personalised message on the back and comes with a greetings card that can be tailored for any occasion. Our bigger keyring collection features classic cars, gorgeous Harris tweed, full moon designs, and even ones that have your own handwriting on.
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• Coffee pods or posh tea bags and maybe a low-value gift card for his fave coffee shop.
• Mini favourite spirit
• Unusual snacks. I am very much a child at heart and chuckled for hours when I found a packet of instant Cock soup in Sainsburys. You can rise above my standards and check out CandyMail for snacks from all over the world. 
• Fancy savoury nuts or bombay mix
• Their face on a Christmas decoration. These are such popular gifts, everyone loves them. If you're getting one for Dad, you may have to get one for the rest of the family, too. 
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• Christmas socks. so so SO many to choose from. I love BAM as a sock company and a friend recommended Stance.
• This Bloody Knuckles hand cream - so manly - even the label says "formulated to repair the hands of workers, fighters, and world champions." Okay then!
• A lottery scratch card
• Black Garlic Ketchup from Hawkshead Relish
• Phone cleaning wipes
• Personalised label for his Marmite jar. It's very much intended for you to affix to a jar of Marmite (other yeast-based spreads are available), but you can also get labels for ketchup bottles, chocolate spread, jam etc. Very useful if he's always asking who used the last of his Nutella!
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• A personalised slim wallet/bus pass holder. These are SO HANDY. Photo driving card and two credit/debit cards are all you need for an excellent day out. You can go stylish with simple monogram initials, or poke gentle fun at his advancing years with a "freedom pass" style cover.
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Experiences

If Dad doesn't want "a thing" maybe an experience is more up his street. We've seen some epic ones on our search. We're not going to put any links in here as it really depends on where you are, but thought starters are:

• A ski lesson at a real snow slope
• Whiskey and food pairing tasting.
• Tour of a brewery
• Roast your own coffee
• Axe/sword making
• Floating in a hot tub down a local river (have seen it in both Bristol and London!)
• Kayaking/Canoeing/Paddleboarding
• Aston Martin Driving 
• Meet the Meerkats - or be Zoo Keeper for an afternoon
• Football stadium tour by helicopter
• Tour of chocolatiers
• Pottery class
• Life drawing class
• Beekeeping experience
• Spa day
• Guide to foraging
• Stained glass making
• Tickets to the theatre or a comedy show

Under the Tree

• A YETI Rambler. This insulated drink flask is the GOAT. Keeps coffee warm or summer drinks cold for hours. Fill it with chocolate coins.

• This warm wooly hat with integrated head torch and Bluetooth speakers. Another reason why he should walk the dog!
• Vintage port, or brandy.
• Personalised champagne tin! 
• Novelty door wedge. They are so fun, just check them out. 
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• A stack of books from the charity shop. Find out what genre they love the most, or authors they like, and hit one of the specialist charity book shops or even Vinted. I bought a stack of ten for my big brother one year, and he found some new favourite authors and enjoyed most of the autobiographies too. It was a great gift for £20!
• A coffee and book subscription. This one from Bookishly features classic crime and thriller books and amazing coffee from indie roaster, Perkulatte.
  
• This gorgeous wooden headphone stand. Something minimalist but classic. If he doesn't already have them - then noise-cancelling headphones are the DREAM.
• If he loves his vinyl, hunt around on second-hand sites for a favourite album and pop it in a frame. 
• His favourite photos - particularly of the pets, kids, or grandkids, printed on wood. There's something quite magical about a photo on warm cherry wood - it's just elevated somehow into the land of fabulous.
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• This cheese and chutney hamper. All Dads and Grandads love cheese don't they? 
• A family tree t-shirt called The Grandfather! Very much based on The Godfather.
• Blow the budget with a Bramwell Brown weather clock.
• A travel memory print. We KNOW this has been such a hit for the many Dads and Grandads because our wonderful customers have told us so. Capture up to 40 of the places he's seen in his lifetime. Brilliant to get him reflecting on how amazing his life has been and sharing the details with you. Imagine what you might learn!
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