Let’s face it: buying for teens is probably the hardest part of Christmas. As they get older, their lists get longer or at least my teens’ lists do. Over the years I’ve stressed about what to get to them, will they like it, will it get used, etc. To ease some of my stress, I’ve developed a list for some gift ideas catered to teens.
Makeup:
While this is probably a given, I am putting it on the list. Having three daughters between 11 and 14 (two of them full-blown teenagers) makeup is something we go through way too much. Due to this constant need of borrowing my stuff, I started giving them their own for Christmas gifts. Now, anyone who buys makeup knows how expensive it can be. Of course, it kind of comes down to quality vs quantity and most people will drop some serious money on good quality. Since I am not willing to take out a second loan to cover their addiction, I usually stick to not-so-expensive makeup for them. I have learned that “palettes are life” and so are makeup brushes, apparently. Seriously, when I was in school the brush came with the makeup. Okay, maybe I showed my age there, but still, buying this stuff separately cracks me up. This time of year is the best time to buy or even stock up on makeup and makeup accessories. Google will be your best friend for this! There are lots of specials, sales, and even coupons floating around (which can be used during sales and specials; WINNING!) right now. That means more bang or in this case, highlighter, for your buck. A little piece of advice here: try to find out what colors your teens are into. I made the mistake of assuming it was kind of like a one-size fits all situation and I had to find out the hard way it isn’t!
Game Cards/Subscriptions:
Probably one of the best gifts I’ve given my son was a year’s subscription to Xbox Live. Now, this is geared more towards older teenagers, but if you have younger teens that play online that’s great too! I will admit, I didn’t see him for the remaining part of that Christmas break. Which to be honest, wasn’t all that bad. I love my son, but teenage boys are weird. I have a daughter who use to play an an online game for tweens so I bought her a game card/year’s subscription as well. As a bonus it came with a bunch of “coins” and she was absolutely over the moon. These particular Christmas gift ideas for teens are wonderful if you are stuck on what to buy. Even buying programs or subscriptions to programs, is great. One of mine loves art and anything relating to art. For teens who are really into art, Photoshop is wonderful and they have a subscription plan.
Electronic Accessories:
Now, before you freak out, I am not talking about over-the-top expensive items. One great item would be earbuds. This is something my kids seem to run through. They are either lost, broken, or not working. I’ve yet to figure out how they do it. I, myself, have had the same pair for about four years! Another go-to item for me is phone cases. Those too, seem to always get messed up. Luckily they do their job and protect the phones–occasionally the trauma is too much and we have to replace those as well. My third favorite would be the wonderful screen-protector! This is usually what has saved a few phones from not needing to be replaced. The accessories idea would really be buying a pair or two of earbuds, a phone case, and package of protectors; then putting them all in the same box to wrap up. As an added bonus a popsocket and stickers wouldn’t hurt.
Here’s to hoping that all of our gifts are well received, liked, and used. Kids are sometimes hard to please and teenagers can hard to the fifth power! I sure am going to be upset if I actually have to follow through with the “lump of coal” in the stocking next year!