Dear Media’s Ultimate Gift Guide: What to Buy Your Bestie, Partner, Kids & In-Laws

The holidays. The season of meaningful gifting…or, more realistically, Googling “good gifts for people who say they don’t want gifts” while reconsidering every decision you’ve made since Black Friday. We get it—that’s why we tapped the people who talk about life, love, chaos, and everything in between for a living: Dear Media hosts.

From besties to in-laws to partners to kids, they share the gifts they give—the ones that make people feel seen, not just “uh…thanks?” It’s basically your entire list, handled. 

Here’s what to give, why it works, and how to avoid the annual meltdown in the Target parking lot.

Gifts for besties

If your bestie leans luxe, Siff Haider from The Dream Bigger Podcast has you covered. “I personally love candles, and I have two go-tos,” she says. Her lineup includes the iconic Loewe candle (“It is so lux, and it smells so good”) and a Not Your Standard candle housed in a marble vessel you can repurpose as decor. Chic, functional, and extremely gift-worthy.

Is your friend more cozy-core than couture? Caroline Baudino from Coming In Hot says you can’t go wrong with comfort-forward classics. “I usually like to do something thoughtful or fun,” she explains—think jewelry with a sweet message, plush robes, slippers, or even a cute handbag. For the sentimental bestie, Scheana Shay from Scheananigans builds a bundle—“some silk pajamas and a little bit of jewelry, maybe a nice scented candle, a gift certificate to a spa.” She loves to “add a bunch of little things that mean something.” 

If your crew has graduated into the “we all have kids now” era, Jordin Sparks from What’s Your Spark? has a different angle: skip the stuff entirely. “Probably my gift for my bestie would be a girl’s trip,” she says. A reset, a laugh, a hotel robe you didn’t pay for—say less.

And then there’s the practical bestie, the one who sends you TikToks about staying safe. Hanna Anderson from The Dating Detectives goes all-in here: “a subscription to DeleteMe” to keep personal info offline and pepper spray “if they’re going on dates.” Not glamorous, but honestly the definition of love. On the totally opposite end of the vibe spectrum, Nicole Walters from Tell Me More makes the gift an event. “I’m really into experiences, so I’m going to get my bestie a really incredible dinner,” she says. “Reservations you can’t find anywhere else.”

Meanwhile, Let’s Be Honest host Kristin Cavallari says her gal pals are lucky because she owns her own company. “I can give them all the jewelry, all the candles, all the skincare and perfume that they ever want,” she explains. “I have all of my friends just give me a huge list.” And then she simply buys from that list. And if your bestie is in her growth era, Sami Clarke from Transform swears by The Practice Journal. “It literally will take you 10 minutes max, and it will change your life,” she says—perfect for the friend manifesting her 2026 comeback.

Gifts for partners

If you ask Sparks, love is spelled T-I-M-E. “My go-to gift for my hubby would be me,” she jokes, but she’s not wrong, especially once kids enter the chat. “Quality time…it’s really important to be able to get that actual time together.” A night where you can stare at each other without someone yelling “Mom!” from the hallway? Elite gift. 

Baudino fully co-signs the experience route, mostly because her husband is allergic to being shopped for. “He hates anyone shopping for him…he will b*tch and complain,” she says. So she leans into activities: cooking classes, flying trapeze, anything that feels like a memory in the making. Some partners want presents—others want to be flung through the air. Know your audience.

For the dating-phase girlies, Anderson keeps it fun and revealing. She gives tickets to a comedy show—not just as a night out, but as a compatibility test. “To see if we have the same sense of humor or if it’s not a match,” she says. Because if they don’t laugh at the same bits…do you really have a future?

Haider goes big with tradition-level gifting. “I booked a trip to the Alps,” she says, and now it’s a yearly thing. She also calls a watch a universally thoughtful pick—“it doesn’t need to be expensive,” just meaningful. A little practical, a little sentimental, very partner-coded. Cavallari, on the other hand, keeps things stylish. She loves to “give men cool bracelets because I know jewelry for men can kind of go either way, but I love a cool leather band on a guy or even some of the beaded bracelets.” It’s the kind of gift that subtly upgrades a guy without him noticing you’re styling him.

For Kristin and Tyler Gallant from After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings, the answer is clear: cozy basics. “When in doubt, go socks, underwear,” Kristin says. Tyler doubles down with “cozy a** pajamas.” It’s giving comfort, it’s giving utility, it’s giving “I know you’ll wear this immediately.”

Walters shops based on hobbies—even the chaotic ones. Her husband is a music producer who is “always banging on things,” so she’s getting him air drumsticks. And in case you need a cautionary tale, Good Enough hosts Sabrina Jalees and Natasha Leggero have one: do not buy something expensive if you don’t know their taste. Jalees once gifted her wife a $3,000 purse because “all of the shows say girls like purses”…and the reaction was not Oscar-worthy. “She opened it up, the very first thing—her face fell and she said, ‘Is this returnable?’” Basically, don’t high-ticket-guess…we are not gambling with luxury leather today. 

Gifts for kids

When it comes to kids, the Gallants say “it really depends on what they’re into” right now. “Like one of our kids really wants a Polly Pocket type of vibe, but one really wants like a science kit type of vibe.” In other words, read the room and meet the obsession. Every parent knows: once they fixate, they fixate.

That’s why Jalees and Leggero’s suggestion tracks perfectly. Instead of chasing every new toy, they created a home base—aka “the Lego station.” Jalees explains how “a few Christmases ago,” her son got a full-blown setup with a desk. “He is there every day like Tim the Toolman Taylor from Home Improvement,” she says. It became his “little man cave and it allows them to repurpose their Legos.” A spot for building that keeps everything organized? Parents and kids both win.

For something nostalgic with a twist, Sparks has the cutest call-back-ever gift: a tin can. “It is like an old phone that kids can call only certain numbers on,” she says, explaining that her son can use it to “call his cousins and vice-versa.” It’s landline-to-landline in the most adorable way. 

And when you’re shopping for the kid who wants comfort above all else? Cavallari gets it. “I got all of my kids a really cute comfort sweatsuit,” she says—camo for the boys, light blue for her daughter. It’s cozy, wearable, and guaranteed to be worn on repeat. Meanwhile, Walters is going full core-memory mode. “Obviously my kids want tech,” she says, “but what they’re getting this year is experience.” She’s planning a “trip to a surprise destination.”

Shay rounds it out with the thing parents end up buying anyway: “clothes and shoes.” Kids grow like weeds and wardrobes can’t keep up, so she’s stocking up for Christmas. Sometimes the best gift is the one they’ll use tomorrow morning, not just on December 25th.

Gifts for in-laws

In-laws are a special breed—they’re grateful, they’re polite, they’ll never tell you if they hated something…which is why the Gallants keep it foolproof: “A framed picture of the grandkids.” Easy, personal, and if their camera roll is already 99 percent child content, this is a slam dunk. Shay agrees that “anything from the grandkids” is a guaranteed hit. “Whether that is a piece of art that Summer is making, a bracelet, something that they can wear, I think that those handmade gifts from kids are so much more meaningful than just a gift certificate somewhere.” Low effort for you, high emotional payoff for them.

If your in-laws are more the “treat themselves but won’t actually treat themselves” type, Walters has the move: a spa day. “I have the best in-laws in the world,” she says, and she’s gifting them relaxation on purpose. Massages, robes, zero responsibilities—the kind of thing they’d never schedule for themselves but will talk about for months.

A trip to the spa is dreamy, but Sparks takes it a step further. For in-laws who have everything—or claim they do—she goes big. “It would probably be a trip, like, to a beach somewhere,” she says, because nothing bonds a family like shared sunburns and umbrella drinks. “A trip for anybody is always a good idea,” she adds. 

And if your in-laws are total opposites in the wildest, most on-brand way, Baudino just shops them like two completely different Pinterest boards. “My mother-in-law, she loves the jewels, she loves to have a little cocktail and have some fun,” she says, so she’ll grab a pretty piece of jewelry and a hilariously oversized martini or margarita glass. Her father-in-law? Golf gear and clothes—because “he hates shopping,” and this way she’s saving him from ever having to step foot in a mall.

Want more? Stream your favorite Dear Media hosts wherever you get your podcasts.

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