70th Birthday gift ideas
BY A PROFESSIONAL PARTY PLANNER
Let’s face it, most gift websites suck!
They’re usually full of the same old tacky and useless gifts that merchants are desperate to sell, but that no-one really wants to receive.
Honestly, no-one gets excited about personalized golf balls, cufflinks, monogrammed bath robes, or a ‘World’s Best Mum’ mug. I personally hate these type of ‘obvious choice’ generic gifts.
They’re always based on such clichéd ideas of what men and women want: Men = golf accessories, tools, ties, and grilling equipment. Women = engraved glass ornaments, jewelry boxes, tote bags, chocolates, and photo frames. Snore!
And don’t be fooled into thinking that because they’ll engrave someone’s name on a gift, that makes it personal. Truly personal gifts are ones that are thoughtful, sentimental, or consider the genuine hobbies, tastes, needs, and interests of the recipient.
So, I’ve put together a selection of less obvious gift ideas below, which covers sentimental gifts, fun personalized gifts, gifts for book lovers, gifts for food & drink connoisseurs, and gifts for lovers of tech and gadgets.
While I don’t expect these to be to everyone’s taste, I hope they’ll inspire you to seeks out truly personal, thoughtful, unusual, or simply useful gifts that the recipient will actually enjoy for their 70th birthday.
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i’m matt james
professional event producer
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CONTENTS
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01 SENTIMENTAL GIFTS
A collection of sentimental, thoughtful, unique, or personalized 70th birthday gift ideas for men and women.
02 FUN PERSONALIZED GIFTS
A selection of lighthearted, humorous, and fun 70th birthday gift ideas for men and women.
03 GIFTS FOR BOOK LOVERS
70th birthday gift ideas for lovers of literature.
04 GIFTS FOR FOOD & DRINK CONNOISSEURS
70th birthday gift ideas for wine, beer, whiskey, and gourmet food lovers.
05 GIFTS FOR TECH & GADGET LOVERS
Fun or functional 70th birthday gift ideas for lovers of technology and gadgets.
06 70th BIRTHDAY PARTY IDEAS
Ideas for 70th birthday invitations, decorations, food & drink, and party themes.
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01 Sentimental gifts
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GENERATIONS FAMILY PORTRAITS
These portraits, that capture several generations of one family, would make a wonderfully sentimental 70th birthday gift that you can have framed or reproduced on any number of smaller products, such as phone cases, pillows, throws, watches, backpacks, mugs, and more.
To achieve this effect, you need to take each photo separately with each person holding an empty frame (except the person who will be in the smallest photo at the end of the sequence). Amber Moose from Moose Photography has created a tutorial here with some great tips for how best to to take the photos.
Once you’ve taken the photos, you just need to combine them into one image using Photoshop. If you don’t use Photoshop, you can email them to one of these guys here to do it for you for around $5.
Once you’ve got the final image, check out this site here for lots of ways to turn it into canvas, framed, or mounted wall art.
Alternatively, there are lots of other photo gifts that you can print the image onto, such as phone cases, watches, backpacks, pillows, and lots more.
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REASONS WE LOVE YOU
I came across a number of these types of photos online, where people are photographed holding up individual signs to express different sentiments, which are then combined into one grid-style image.
Often they’re used for school photos, such as “When I grow up I want to be…” or “We think teacher Stacy is….”, but I think this could also make a really special 70th birthday gift, along the lines of “70 reasons we love you…” or “What I love most about you…”.
You don’t even have to get friends and family members together to produce this. Instead you could ask each person to take their own and send it to you to arrange.
Just remember to give everyone the same instructions if you want the final image to have some consistency e.g. the type of background they should use, what color of sign, whether it should be a full length photo (which would give you more freedom to crop to size later) etc.
To combine all the photos together in one final image, you can email it to one of these guys to do it for you for around $5.
Once you’ve got the final image, check out this site here for lots of ways to turn it into canvas, framed, or mounted wall art. Alternatively, there are lots of other photo gifts that you can print the image onto, such as phone cases, watches, backpacks, pillows, and lots more.
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SPELL IT OUT
Another variation on the above idea is to spell out a birthday message by having each person hold up a sign with one letter or word on it. It could be “We love you Mum” or a simple “Happy 70th Birthday”.
While you could upload the final image to a site like this to create a unique birthday card or have it framed, I think these type of sentimental and thoughtful photographs are a bit wasted just on cards.
If you’ve made the effort to create something special like this, have it reproduced on something the birthday boy or girl will get more use out of, such as a phone case, pillow, throw, or mug. See here for more photo product ideas.
![Portraits of twelve children each holding a letter thats spells out "Thank You, We [Heart] You"](https://party-ideas-by-a-pro.com/wp-content/uploads/70gifts-s3a-300x300.jpg)
![Three portraits of a young man holding a card which spells out 2I [heart] Daddy"](https://party-ideas-by-a-pro.com/wp-content/uploads/70gifts-s3b-300x300.jpg)
![Composite image of 10 young people holding a letter that spells "Grandkids [Heart]"](https://party-ideas-by-a-pro.com/wp-content/uploads/70gifts-s3c-300x300.jpg)
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70 REASONS WHY WE LOVE YOU: TYPOGRAPHY
Another variation of the 70 Reasons we Love You idea is to have friends and family contribute one or two reasons each, then collect them all together to be typeset professionally in a beautiful artwork that you can then have framed as a gift.
My favorite design is the one with the red square pictured below (although this can be any color) which is available here, but there are other designs, like the ones below, available here.
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70 REASONS WE LOVE YOU: PHOTO CANVAS
Another way to reproduce the 70 Reasons We Love you sentiments is to have them arranged around a photo of the birthday boy or girl.
The examples below are from weddings, where couples have reproduced their vows, but I think this idea would work really well with a nice portrait of the person surrounded by all the reasons they’re loved by friends and family. Check out the different canvas options here.
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READ ME WHEN….
Nobody writes letters anymore—which is what makes them so special. This gift box of “Read Me When…” letters would make a wonderfully personal 70th birthday gift.
The pack comes with nine cards and envelopes for different scenarios such as “Read me when I don’t listen to your advice” or “Read me when you need a laugh”.
Just fill in the blanks in the situation-specific letters to add your personal thoughts and messages, seal them in the corresponding envelopes, and present the box to the birthday boy or girl so they can enjoy these thoughtful notes at different moments throughout the year. It’s a great way to be there in spirit when you can’t be there in person.
Options include “Letters to My Incredible Dad”, “Letters to My Wonderful Mum”, “Letters to My Very Best Friend”, and “Letters to the Love of My Life”. Check them out here.
For a more handmade feel, this version (available here) allows you to write your letters in advance then email them to the designer who will reproduce them in an elegant script before sealing them in decorative envelopes with a personalized wax stamp featuring the recipient’s initial.
All the letters and envelopes are then presented in a kraft box also sealed with a personalized wax stamp. I think this is a lovely way to make this gift look and feel even more special.
If you prefer to hand-write the letters in full yourself, check out this option which allows the gift-giver to fill a small box with letters, jokes, photos, voice messages, artwork and more for future opening. You can even include a recordable voice card to include a person message in your own voice.
The recipient gets to open their box to find the best gift ever: their loved one’s encouraging words, laughter, voice and more whenever they need them the most.
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LETTERS TO MY DAD / MUM / BEST FRIEND ETC
A slightly different take on the “Read Me When” letters above, these letters celebrate aspect of your relationship with the recipient.
Each letter starts with a prompt, such as “A special memory I have of you is…”, “From you, I learned the importance of…”, “One thing I’m glad we share is..”, “I always think of you when..”, ” I love that our family is…”, “One thing I admire about you is…”, “The best adventure we’ve had together was..”, “I’ve always wanted to tell you…”, “Thank you for…”, “In the future I hope we…” plus there are two additional blank letters for you to create your own topics.
Different options are available for Dad, Mum, Friend, Love, Daughter, and Grandchild. Check them out here.
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My life story so far
This journal gives the birthday boy or girl prompts for recording their life’s experiences, relationships, and hard-won wisdom.
Beginning with “The Early Years,” it’s organized into nine sections, each containing thought-provoking prompts to capture memories of first dates, lifelong friendships, meaningful stories, and pearls of wisdom gathered along the way.
There’s even a section dedicated to list the things they hope to accomplish next. Check it out here.
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A DAY TO REMEMBER: The NEW YORK TIMES BIRTHDAY BOOK
These coffee table style custom birthday book from The New York Times are a great way to celebrate a milestone birthday.
There are a few different options available, such as one that starts with The Times from the day the person was born, followed by every birthday in their life, or another containing the headlines, articles, photographs and advertisements that appeared in the paper on any chosen date since 1851. It’s made even more special with a personalized premium linen cover. Check it out here.
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A DAY TO REMEMBER: HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS
If you prefer a different, more local, newspaper, check out the range of historical newspapers available here, such as the San Francisco Chronicle or The Dallas Morning News.
In addition to the “Day of Birth” newspaper, there’s also a nice “This is Your Life” option with a newspaper from every special date of the recipient’s life, or a collection of front pages and articles from historical events, such as World War II or the sinking of the titanic.
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PERSONALIZED SCRABBLE BOX FRAME
These personalized scrabble box frames are a cute way to communicate admirable qualities about the birthday boy or girl, or to create a combination of family names. Check them out here. Alternatively, these ones here let you include photos and a quote.
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LEGO FAMILY BOX FRAME
If you’re a family member of the birthday boy or girl, these custom Lego family box frames would make a cute gift. Alternatively, they’d work just as well to celebrate a group of friends or simply just the birthday boy or girl recreated in Lego. Check them out here.
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MOTHER / DAUGHTER / GRANDPARENT / GRANDCHILD LETTER BOOK
These treasured passages, a letter book between a mother and a daughter, includes 70 cards meant to be sent, shared, and treasured.
Mom acts as the “keeper of the book” and fills in some pages herself. She then uses the cards provided to spark additional commentary from her daughter. The cards include hundreds of personal prompts that encourage mother and daughter to share facets of their personality that family otherwise wouldn’t see. Once the daughter completes her part of the card, she mails it back to her mother to be included in the book.
Think of it as a scrapbook with two authors that’s rich with sentiment and a meaningful way to honor the mother / daughter bond. There’s also a version available for grandparents and grandchildren. Check them out here.
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LONG DISTANCE FRIENDSHIP LAMPS
These long distance friendship lamps connect you to those you love when you can’t be there and would make a wonderfully sentimental 70th birthday gift.
Each person sets up their lamp via WiFi, then whenever they want their loved one to know they’re thinking of them, they simply touch their lamp and both light up—regardless of how far away they are. Loved ones can then respond by touching their lamp too. Check them out here.
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PERSONALIZED STAR MAP / CONSTELLATION CHART
These personalized star maps / constellation charts can be customized with a specific date and location for one or more people or events.
For example, a double location star map could represent a mother and daughter’s date and place of birth, a triple location could indicate key dates for couples such as date met, date engaged, date married, whereas a quadruple location could represent four different family members’ birth dates. Check them out here.
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MESSAGE IN A BAG
These handmade leather purses and bags would make for a truly unique 70th birthday gift that’s tailor made to include a personal message, favorite quote, or meaningful song lyric on the inside lining. Check out the full range here.
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MY FAMILY COOKBOOK
Pass heirloom recipes on to the next generation with this customizable cookbook.
Whether it’s grandma’s secret pasta sauce or the cakes mom used to make you as a child, the birthday boy or girl can work on filling in the pages with family or ask loved ones to contribute their favorite dish, ready to be passed down to their own children. Check it out here.
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SONG LYRIC / POETRY ART
These artworks are often created for couples with their wedding date sitting atop of their wedding vows, a love letter, or the lyrics of the song used for their first dance.
However, I think this could work equally well as a 70th birthday gift but using the person’s date of birth laid over some meaningful song lyrics, a piece of poetry, or significant passage from their favorite book.
Alternatively, write your own form of ‘love’ letter expressing what your relationship with the birthday boy or girl means to you. Check them out here.
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PERSONALIZED POEM
What could be a more unique and thoughtful gift than to have a poet create a bespoke poem all about the birthday boy or girl?
Simply fill in a questionnaire with details about the person and that information will be use to create a unique poem filled with details about their life. These can be presented as scrolls, framed, or combined with photographs. Check out all the options here.
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HOW DO I LOVE THEE FROM A-Z
A great way to remind a loved one of all the reasons you love them, this fill-in book includes 26 prompts laid out in an old school typewriter font that will encourage you to speak from the heart and reflect upon memories made together. Check it out here.
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A YEAR OF GRATITUDE
This thoughtful gift is a great reminder of the importance of expressing gratitude. Whether it’s the opportunity to reconnect with someone from your past, or to brighten the day of someone who feels taken for granted, this set of 52 thank you cards—one for each week of the year—reminds you to be conscious of, and appreciate, both the big and small things in life.
The set also includes tips for writing more meaningful thank you notes and a guided journal to record things you’re thankful for. Check it out here.
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TYPOGRAPHY PORTRAITS
The great thing about these personalized text art portraits—created from a photo of the birthday boy or girl—is that you can also choose your own text to highlight all their notable qualities. Check them out here.
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PERSONALIZED WORD ART
These word art collages are another way to celebrate the birthday boy or girl by placing more emphasis on the admirable qualities that define them. These can either be framed or reproduced on a pillow. Check then out here.
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A life in pictures
These personalized photo prints are a great way to illustrate the recipient’s journey up to their latest milestone birthday through photos. From baby or childhood photos of the birthday boy or girl, through graduation, or their wedding day, the photos can either spell out their name or age in words.
Another great way to use these is to create a family photo print, spelling out their surname and featuring photos of all the members of their family.
Alternatively, you could create a family tree of photos with each letter containing a photo of a different generation of their family (as seen in the “Orton” examples below). Check out all the options here.
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PERSONALIZED REEL VIEWER
This is fun and unique way to celebrate a milestone birthday with a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Chart the birthday boy or girl’s life in pictures by creating a personalized reel filled with favorite memories and milestone events for them to pop in the retro viewer. Check it out here.
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TEAM FAMILY T SHIRTS
These T shirts (below left) can be personalized with any team title, e.g. Daddy, Grandpa, or the family name, and up to 20 other names of team members so you can include kids, grandchildren, or any other family members. Check them out here.
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WISHING BALL
This hand-blown glass ball by artist Jill Henrietta David comes with 52 slips of paper for the recipient to pause once a week throughout the year and record wishes, dreams, messages of hope, or thoughts of gratitude. These are then inserted into the wishing ball to become a permanent part of the display. Check it out here.
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VINTAGE CITY MAPS
These museum-quality reproductions of historic maps and lithographs dating back to the 1700’s provide an incredible level of detail with all well-known and recognizable landmarks easily identifiable. Surprise the birthday boy or girl with a vintage map of their home town. Check them out here.
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02 FUN & GAG GIFTS
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custom puppet
For the person who has everything, have a custom Muppet-style puppet made of the 70th birthday boy / girl.
Prices vary depending on the level of customization and detail required (e.g hair, facial hair, glasses, tattoos, clothing, shoes, etc) but the makers are happy to provide an estimate prior to purchase. Check them out here.
This is a truly unique and personal gift idea that is guaranteed to bring a smile to everyone’s face.
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custom portrait tree ornament
A quirky and unusual 70th birthday gift idea, these hand-crafted custom portrait wooden dolls with moveable hands and legs make fun personalized Christmas tree ornaments, although the combination of a string for hanging and a magnet on the back means they can also be displayed year-round on car rear-view mirrors, fridges, and mirrors. Check them out here.
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CUSTOM COMIC BOOK
What a great gift for a 70th birthday; a personalized comic book! You can have the birthday boy or girl transformed into a superhero, star alongside their favorite character, or just be the star of their own story. If it’s for a friend or partner, you can use it to tell the story of how you met—or any other story you want to tell. Check out the options here.
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CUSTOM BOBBLEHEADS
These custom bobbleheads, made from a photo of the birthday boy / girl, are a fun gift for a 70th birthday. Check them out here.
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CUSTOM PLUSH DOLLS
As seen on Shark Tank, these 16″ personalized plush dolls would make a fun milestone birthday gift. Check them out here.
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MAIL A MINI-ME CUSTOM PINATA
Surprise the birthday boy or girl on their 70th birthday by mailing them one of these 12″ ‘Mini Me’ custom pinatas. Just upload a photo and they’ll create a custom pinata in their likeness (or they can create them from photos of a favorite pet). Check them out here.
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CARTOON PORTRAITS
This artist can create custom cartoon caricatures in a number of different styles, including these fun Simpsons style ones. Check out all the different options here.
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Experiences
Another way to give an original gift is to buy them a unique experience—perhaps something you know they have expressed an interest in but have never actually done, such as race car driving or cage diving with great white sharks!
Some examples include:
Unfortunately, not all activities are available in every city, but to check availability in your area and to book places, click on the link above, then change the city / state in search box at the top to enter your chosen area.
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MILESTONE BIRTHDAY T-SHIRTS
These 70th birthday T-shirts make great gifts, but as I’ve mentioned previously, avoid the corny ones that just poke fun at their age and pick ones that celebrate it. This site has the best range, but it’s also worth browsing here too for some other cool designs.
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FOR GEEKS AND NERDS
Check out this site for loads of really original 70th birthday gifts for geeks and nerds.
There’s everything from Han Solo in Carbonite mini beer fridges, Star Trek phaser TV remote controls that let you blast your TV to change channel, and cloth-bound box sets of A Song of Fire and Ice (Game of Thrones) books, to tech gadgets such as this retro mechanical wireless keyboard for tablets or computers.
They have unusual products for all the big movie and tv shows, such as Star Wars, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Marvel, DC Comics, Breaking Bad, etc.
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CUSTOM MINI FIGURES
Turn the birthday boy or girl into their own Lego-style mini figure with a 3D printed head created from photos of them. Check them out here.
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Gag gifts
For smaller or gag gifts, check out this site for lots of fun and unusual products.
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03 GIFTS FOR BOOK LOVERS
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CLASSIC BOOK FLOWER BOUQUETS
A perfect gift for book lovers, these paper flower bouquets made from the pages of classic books are fully customizable so you can send the birthday boy or girl a bouquet from their favorite book or sheet music. Much more personal than traditional flower bouquets. Check them out here.
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BOOK SCULPTURES
These beautiful and incredibly unique works of art will make you look at books in an entirely new light and would make really special 70th birthday gift for a book lover. There are two different artists that create these, check out the first one here and the second one here.
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BOOK ART
This folded book art—which is fully customizable—is another great way to give a unique gift to book lovers. Check them out here.
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LITERARY CANDLES
These candles, inspired by classic works of literature are just so clever!
My favorite is the Green Light candle, inspired by The Great Gatsby, with it’s smell of ocean air, musk, and earthy vanilla—you can just imagine standing at the harbor’s edge staring longingly over the bay at the green light blinking on and off, day and night.
.There’s also the Moonlit Moors, inspired by Wuthering Heights, Wild Huckleberries & Sage, inspired by The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Pemberley, inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Check out all the options here.
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LITERARY SCARVES
Whether they love Shakespeare, Jane Austen, F.Scott Fitzgerald, or Edgar Allan Poe, there are lots of chic literary scarves to choose from that will allow them to get wrapped up in a classic story—literally. Check them out here.
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LITERARY TABLET CASES
This range of beautiful handmade covers for Kindles, ereaders, and tablets, inspired by classic Penguin paperbacks, is a cute gift for book lovers and they’re fully customizable with your choice of book title, author, and interior message. Check them out here.
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BOOK LAMP
This unique and stylish reading, desk, or night stand lamp in the style of a wooden book unfolds into an accordion and can be either laid flat in a half circle or completely open to form a sphere. Both sides can be engraved or full color printed to make this a really personal milestone birthday gift for book lovers. Check it out here.
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04 FOOD & DRINK GIFTS
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MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY KITS
Go on….play with your food! This do-it-yourself molecular gastronomy kit for beginners includes everything you need to create spectacular dishes such as mint caviar beads that burst in the mouth, chocolate spaghetti, lemon foam or tzatziki spheres! Check it out here.
They also have cocktail kits that fuses basic molecular gastronomy techniques with traditional mixology to take homemade cocktails to the next level with burst-in-your-mouth spheres and drinks topped with beautiful, airy foams.
Add orange pearls to Champagne and upgrade a classic mimosa, deconstruct your mojito into floating mint caviar, or turn cosmopolitans into a sphere that will explode in your mouth—there are plenty of possibilities. Click the same link above for more info.
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WINE OF THE MONTH CLUB
Treat wine lovers to a Wine of the Month club subscription for their 70th birthday. You can choose from three, six or 12 month subscriptions and there are lots of different themes to choose from, such as the Rosé series, Pinot Noir series, Bordeaux series, Napa series, Vintners series, and the Limited series. Check out all the options here.
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WINE COUNTRY GIFT BASKETS
As an alternative to a monthly subscription, a fine wine gift basket is another great option for a milestone birthday gift. These are beautifully presented and you can choose by grape type, region, or vineyard—such as the Ferrari-Carano exclusive basket below right. Check out the full range here.
