Create a Gift Jar
Set the topic to 'General'. Name it after the recipient — 'Gifts for Mum', 'Dad's Birthday Ideas', or 'Secret Santa Pool'.
Collaborate on Ideas
Invite siblings or friends to contribute ideas for a shared recipient. Perfect for coordinating gifts without buying duplicates.
Capture Inspiration Year-Round
Whenever someone mentions wanting something, add it immediately. 'She said she wants a good book lamp' — into the jar it goes.
Pick the Perfect Gift
When the occasion arrives, spin the jar. Every option is something they actually want, not a generic gift card.
The Gift-Giving Panic Cycle
It's 9 PM the night before your partner's birthday. You're frantically scrolling Amazon, adding things to your cart and removing them. Nothing feels right. You settle on a generic gift set and a card that says "Sorry this is late" even though it technically isn't yet. They smile politely. You both know it's uninspired.
The irony? Three months ago, they pointed at something in a shop window and said "I love that!" You nodded, thought "I'll remember that for their birthday," and promptly forgot. Every gift-giver has experienced this gap between intention and execution.
The Year-Round Gift Intelligence System
A Gift Idea Jar turns you into a thoughtful gift-giver by capturing inspiration when it happens, not when the pressure is on. The method is simple: create a jar for each important person in your life. Every time they mention something they want, admire something in a store, or you spot something perfect while browsing — add it to their jar immediately. Include the product link, price, and where to buy it.
When their birthday, Christmas, or anniversary arrives, you don't brainstorm under pressure. You open their jar and find 8-12 options, each one something they genuinely expressed interest in. Spin to pick one, or browse the list and choose deliberately. Either way, the gift will feel deeply personal because it's based on their actual expressed desires — not your panicked last-minute guesses.
For families, this is even more powerful. Create a shared jar titled "Dad's Christmas Ideas" and invite all siblings to contribute. No more group chat chaos about who's buying what. Everyone adds ideas, the admin can claim specific ones, and you avoid the classic duplicate-gift disaster.
The secret weapon: add a "Budget" tag to each idea ("Under $50", "Splurge") so you can filter based on the occasion. A birthday might call for something modest, but a milestone anniversary deserves the splurge category.