12 Digital gift Ideas that don't cost a thing

This year many of us may not be able to spoil our loved ones as generously as we would like to. Additionally, with many people being separated from family and friends due to current travel restrictions, physical gifts cannot be given in person in the way we would usually give them. A positive way to handle this is to cease the opportunity to get a lot more creative with our gift ideas. Below are 12 gifts that can be created/delivered digitally and are completely free!

Create a video tribute

Celebrate your loved one by creating a montage of photos and video messages. Friends and family can contribute by sharing their favourite memories or feelings about the recipient. Tribute is a great app for easily editing something like this but you can also do so using basic features on your android or iOS mobile phone.

Create a family tree

This may take you a while depending on how big your family is! Putting together a family tree is an extremely meaningful way of showing your care for someone through the effort spent researching details from the past. You can create this in a document that can be printed out and framed or you can draw it out on paper and post it. Enjoy being crowned the family genealogist.

‘Just in case’ or ‘One for each month’ letters

Write out a series of heartfelt or humour filled notes to suit different life seasons. Put them in a file and label them with times when they should be opened eg “‘Read this when you are feeling blue” or “Read this when you have something to celebrate” or simply label them by the month in which they should be opened. This will ensure your loved one has a piece of you all year round.

Edit a favourite Photo

Choose a favourite photo of the recipient and have a dab at editing it for them to blow up and frame. You can be wacky and creative using apps such as intameme or if you want to try your hand at something more serious apps like vsco have a plethora of features to make your images look incredibly professional.

Special recipe book

Pull together the best cooks amongst your family and friends network and note down the magic ingredients to their famously loved dishes. You may have to do a bit of asking around but this gift will be a timeless treasure for food lovers. Get creative with the presentation designing a front cover page and index page so that the document can be printed out and ring-bound into a physical menu booklet.

A digital scrap book of memories

Put together a collection of priceless artifacts that create an emotional trip down memory lane. This can include photos, videos and scanned receipts, tickets or brochures, from past dates or days out with a short sentence noting what you remember about that moment shared with the recipient and why it was so special to you.

Write a Poem

You don’t have to be a professional wordsmith to create a poem that will make your special someone feel loved and valued. If you are stuck for inspiration there are plenty of resources online such as thinkwritten to help get your creative juices flowing. You can go silly and humorous or heartfelt and honest either way this is a timeless gift that will last forever.

Create a song

If you have musical talents put them to use by creating a song from scratch or choosing a known melody and switching up the lyrics to words that will mean a lot to the recipient. If you or anyone you know plays instruments you can get them involved too to create harmonies and add some dulcet tones to the masterpiece. You can film this or even do a live performance via apps like zoom or microsoft teams.

DIY trivia game

Who can remember the name of the first street you lived on, how many countries your friend has lived in or the name of your cousins first pet? Write down all the questions and answers, get a group together online on a video app such as zoom and have fun whilst you play the game virtually. If you are feeling creative you can create images for the different themed rounds using programs such as powerpoint whilst using a split screen.

Tik Tok creation

The Tik Tok phenomenon is so popular as it gives people the creative freedom to make videos of almost anything and it is super user friendly. Using the video, picture and sound templates on the app you can create a mini movie or a series of clips that will brighten up your loved one’s day. If you aren’t the most creative person fear not, there are many templates and dances on there that you can copy and re-make in your own way, meaning all you have to do is be ready to have some fun!

Spotify playlist

Create the modern day version of ‘ a mix tape’ by putting together songs that you know will mean a lot to your friends and family. You can choose artists and song lyrics that you know your loved ones will appreciate. For example a song that was played on a great day out you had together, a song that reminds you of your childhood or a funny moment. Give the playlist a personal meaningful name and then share it!

Photo calendar

Create a custom one of a kind calendar using photographs of fond memories and moments shared and choose a photo to represent each month. Websites such as calendar labs provide free downloadable templates that you can customise. Its a perfect gift for someone to be reminded of a fond memory every month of the year.

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