Small Gift Ideas For Men 2016

Some small gift ideas for men today. I know it's a little too early for Christmas shopping...or not. Comes 1st October and we'll start to see the decorations in high streets. Then we'll all moan "Far too early!" But nothing's wrong with looking for gift materials for friends and family throughout the year. Just as you find them, you know?

...As long as you have a clear, organised shelves in your cupboard. I was pretty devastated when I found a tub of Cadbury's Heroes a couple of weeks ago under the pile of winter knit jumpers. How did it end up there? We must have bought it for Halloween last year. Expired in June 2016.

Tasted perfectly fine though. We kept our favourite ones for ourselves and the rest was gone to my husband's colleagues to share. We're all still alive.

Well, looking at the muddy football mark on the side of our car, perhaps we should have saved some stale chocolates for those kids for Halloween this year. Or shall I bake some garlic & chilli biscuits instead?

Only joking. Here is a pretty random selection of small gifts - some of which I've received for my birthday and others are recommended by my friends.

Small Gift Ideas For Men 2016

Aerobie AeroPress Coffee Maker

This is a very simple but effective filter coffee maker for one. The only reason I drink instant coffee in the weekday morning is it's quick. But that's ok, I've drunk it all before I actually wake up. This way, I look forward to the weekend with a nice cup of coffee from my cappuccino machine more. But sometimes I crave for a second cup and really don't fancy another vile instant. AeroPress Coffee Maker does a great job for that. It only takes a couple of minutes to prepare, press and wash.

In fact the taste result has exceeded my expectation - the air pressure of AeroPress creates better, richer taste than dripped coffee (and quicker!)

Amazon Echo

My Californian friend has been raving about Amazon Echo for months, finally persuaded me to buy it as a birthday treat for myself (instead of sending it across to me...) Only to find out it's not out until 28th September here in the UK. Which is now days away.

This "awesome stuff" is a hands-free speaker that you control with your voice. You can listen to Amazon Music, Prime Music, Spotify and TuneIn, and with Bluetooth enabled, you can also connect it to your iTunes.

But that's just a small part of it. By connecting with various third party apps (via Alexa), you can order a cab from Uber, check your train timetable, news and weather, ask for a recipe by Jamie Oliver, or order a takeaway via Just Eat.

If you proactively use voice sensors such as Siri and Google Voice, Amazon Echo will be your great partner. My husband has not typed a text message for a long time. "Tell Ray. I'm coming home. Have a diarrhoea. I think it's the chicken." I hope no one was around him.

Amazon Echo "Dot"

Amazon Echo Dot is the new version - 2nd Generation already - and it's due to be released on 20th October, both sides of the Atlantic. Obviously I've only seen it advertised at the time of writing, and I'm not going to say "5 Stars! Because I can't wait to have it!"

...In case you don't know, a lot of Amazon users take the Mickey out of the product reviews. Give 5 stars for products in pre-order stage because they're looking forward to receiving it. Give 1 star because the delivery was late.

Amazon Echo Dot will still have a built-in speaker. The third of the price of the original Echo - the idea is to have a few of them, place them in each room in your house and sync. Amazon is already offering "Buy 5 Get 1 Free" or "Buy 10 Get 2 Free".

Which is a little odd...both offers are essentially the same. Let's see if they start "Buy 10 Get 3 Free" when it's out for sale.

Marvis Travel Toothpaste Collection

You wouldn't buy for yourself but you'd consider as a present, wouldn't you? I was pleasantly surprised by two of the flavours that I generally don't like - Licorice and Ginger. They're not overpowering and your mouth will be left with only the minty freshness soon after the brushing. 

And the variety of flavours - toothpaste market is dominated by big brands such as Colgate and Aquafresh, they taste more or less the same. It's nice to have something unusual while you're travelling.

Normal toothpaste tube contains 100mg, so these are 1/4 of the size. Dimentions 31.1cm x 10.2cm x 6.4cm, weight 363g in total.

Man Cave The Survival Gift Set

Anything that's called Man Cave can be ridiculous, so can be a "survival kit" - basically this is a set of 6 x natural grooming essentials;

• Face Wash 125ml
• Face Scrub 100ml
• Moisturiser 100ml
• Lemon & Oak Shower Gel 200ml
• Shave Gel 150 ml
• Post Shave Balm 100ml

Why do I like Man Cave's products? Because the company supports animal protection and promotes the use of natural resources. Their products are not tested on animals, do not contain ingredients from animal sources, free from synthetic dyes or petrochemicals.

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