Adult Gift Ideas [that you'll actually use]

This post is sponsored and all opinions are my own.

My thoughts on gift giving as a married adult with kids…

Give me the things I was going to buy anyways. I know this is a highly debated topic and I am all for fun gifts, non-necessities and splurging for birthdays and holidays but if there’s something I want and a birthday or Christmas is coming up, you’d better bet I’ll be asking for that item as a gift.

I’m married with four kids and we share a bank account and share all money that each of us earns so it feels like I’m spending my own money anyways so why not make it something I was wanting or needing or going to buy at some point anyways?

But I digress.

Either way, it’s HARD to come up with a list of things I want for Christmas. There are so many gift guides for adults I’ve browsed through over the years but it all just feels like stuff to me. And I’m in my “get rid of all the things, major purging” era so if you’re anything like me (or just need some adult gift ideas), then this quick little gift guide is for you!

I own all of these items and love all of these items and some of them were actually gifts from my husband or stocking stuffers I bought for myself (well, Santa brought them to me) but every single item is something I’ve owned for a long time and continue to love. And it’s all so darn useful… my cup of gifting tea.

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Gift Ideas for Adults

1. Caraway

Before I get into it, Caraway is going to be ON SALE for 20% off and this doesn’t happen often so if you’ve been wanting something from their site, now is your chance! And I can almost guarantee things will sell out so fast fingers on October 27th (early access ends 10-30 and code ends 11-28).

Fun Fact: Our Caraway pans were the first kitchen item we had in this new home when we moved here to Utah a little over two years ago and the moving truck was somehow “lost” for 2 weeks (aka never left California but they couldn’t find it) and the next day we had the most beautiful set of Caraway pans on our doorstep and we’ve been loving them every since! So basically, we had no belongings except what we had packed in our suitcases for the two day drive and these non-toxic pans. And I must add, they’re so darn beautiful which is always a plus for me!

We LOVE the pots and pans set for every day cooking (no toxic materials like PFOA, PTFE, other PFAs, lead, cadmium, or toxic metals), we have all of the bakeware which is also used just about every day, I love the mini set for crepes, sauces, etc and then we just got their new stainless steel set which I have not yet tried but I am so excited to do so!

And lastly, their food storage is all we have - we got rid of everything else! It’s just the perfect set with some mini food storage containers, a couple smalls, a medium and a large. It’s all you need and it’s far prettier (and a lot less overwhelming to look at) than my cupboard used to look.

Remember, I’m in my simplicity era and it’s working wonders on my mental health.

So moral of the story - If you’re in need of new pans or you’ve just been wanting some non toxic cookware, everything Caraway is a great adult holiday gift idea. And don’t forget to use that 20% off link up there to save!

2. Pebble Ice Machine

Oh my beloved pebble ice machine that has become so trendy this year. Frank got this as a gift for me last year on my birthday (or maybe Mother’s Day?) but this has been the gift that keeps on giving. I know pebbly ice machines have gotten really trendy this year (I see everyone pushing them) but from someone who owned one before that big rush, I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. It’s probably the top used item in our kitchen… with the exception of our pans.

We have the GE Opal Pebble Ice Machine (click here for our model) but there are so many cute ones with great reviews on amazon too!

3. Nespresso Machine

So we used to own a Keurig and truly, there was nothing wrong with it. It served it’s purpose and worked great for us for years and years and years. And then last year it finally died and I just wanted to snag something up real fast at Target and this Nespresso machine just so happened to be there and in stock. I had heard great things about it (but I’m no coffee connoisseur) so I snagged it and I will NEVER go back.

Like… it’s unreal. It makes the perfect frothy top in every cup, I use the decaf cups and Frank typically likes the dark and the espresso pods but my goodness there’s just something about the smell and the texture and all of it that Keurig didn’t provide and I had no idea what I was missing all of these years. And that’s from someone who doesn’t truly like “coffee”… just “a whole lot of sugar filled” coffee is more my style but this machine is incredible.

4. Frother

I know I mentioned that our nespresso machine auto froths our coffee so why would I need a little frother, you ask? Because I mix everything with it - greens, flavored water, Frank makes fancy dessert drinks and puts froth on top and my mind is kind of blanking right now but I swear I use this little $10 gaget all the time. And it makes such a great adult stocking stuffer idea!

5. Meat Thermometers

Speaking of stocking stuffers and little kitchen gagets, I may have been late to the game but for years we made the worst chicken. It was terrible. Why? Because we were scared of under cooking our chicken. We would cut it in half to check it (with our eyes), then keep cooking because we weren’t too sure so wanted to be on the safe side, cut again, check again with our eyes and then come out with way too hard chicken every time.

I finally snagged a little meat thermometer and no longer make bad chicken. Heck, I make incredible chicken, steak, you name it and use that little thermometer every single time. It’s the best and also makes a great adult stocking stuffer idea.

But recently I bought Frank the Meater that you can stick inside of your meat on the barbeque and it’ll actually notify you to your phone when your meat is ready, you can view the temps from your phone and we haven’t used it a ton yet (because truly we just didn’t want to read the directions for a while… #lazy) but this is a great gift idea for the men out there you love to barbeque. Or the women… I’m pretty great on the barbeque myself.

There are so many other little kitchen gadgets that are perfect adult gift ideas or stocking stuffer ideas - egg slicer, grape cutter, strawberry de-stemmer - but lots of those things I’m sure you already have so I’ll leave it there, short and sweet, with my favorites.