Gift ideas
Christmas gifts for your boyfriend: a mixtape for the stocking
A CD slips into a stocking, plays in the car on the drive to see family, and holds a whole year in eighty minutes. Here's how to make one the gift they remember from this Christmas.
Short answer
A custom mixtape CD is one of the most personal Christmas gifts for your boyfriend, husband or girlfriend. It fits in a stocking, plays in the car, and holds your year in songs. Order early in December, and check the estimated delivery date on the Etsy listing before you buy.
Christmas gifts for a boyfriend tend to fall into two piles: the expensive thing he could have bought himself, and the stocking full of things he’ll lose by February. A mixtape CD sits between them. It’s small enough for a stocking, and personal enough to be the gift he talks about.
Christmas gifts for your boyfriend or husband
A mixtape of your year
The songs from your year together, in the order they happened, burned to a CD he can keep in the car. Put a photo from the year on the cover. Our love songs for him list helps fill the gaps, and the guide to sentimental gifts for your boyfriend has more ideas in the same vein.
Made the playlist already? We’ll burn it to a custom CD mixtape with a printed tracklist or your photo as the cover, ready for the stocking.
Tickets for the new year
A show in the spring gives him something to look forward to in the long stretch after the holidays. Tuck the tickets into the CD case.
A letter about the year
One page about what this year was like with him in it. For a Christmas gift for a husband, try a letter about the year and a line about the next one.
Christmas gifts for your girlfriend or wife
The same ideas work the other way. A few that suit Christmas gifts for a girlfriend especially well:
- A mix of the songs from your first winter together, or the songs she sings in the kitchen. Start with our love songs for her.
- A photo book of the year with a CD tucked into the back cover.
- A plan: a weekend away in January, written on a card and put in the stocking.
What to put on a Christmas mixtape
Your year in songs
Go month by month through the year and pick a song for each moment: the trip, the move, the concert, the song stuck in your heads in October. End with one for the year ahead. Twelve to twenty songs fit easily on one disc.
The songs from your first winter
For a new relationship, the music from the weeks you met. It’s a short list, and that’s fine; fill the rest with songs you’d want to hear on the drive home for the holidays.
A Christmas mix
A holiday disc for the car gets played every December. Mix the classics you both like, such as Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”, Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and Wham!’s “Last Christmas”, with the less obvious ones from your own family’s traditions. Our mixtape guide covers the sequencing, and mixtape names has title ideas.
Stocking stuffers for him
A CD in a paper sleeve or a jewel case fits most stockings. A few small things go well beside it:
- His favorite snack or candy, the specific one, not a gift set.
- Good socks. Still a cliché, still used every day.
- A disposable camera for the holidays, to develop in January.
- Guitar picks or strings if he plays.
- A handwritten note with a date night plan.
For music-loving relatives, our guide to gifts for music lovers sorts ideas by type of fan, and nostalgic gifts covers the 90s and Y2K crowd.
How to wrap a CD
- Use sheet music, an old map or a page of newspaper from a date that matters, and tie it with ribbon.
- Write the tracklist on the gift tag, or on a card tied to the outside, so the first song is a surprise until they read it.
- Print your own sleeve with our free CD sleeve template and slip it in with the disc.
- Skip the paper entirely: leave the CD in their car’s player and let them find it on the next drive.
A mix CD as a secret santa gift
A mix CD makes a good secret santa gift when you know even a little about the person. For a coworker, a Christmas mix is safe, and it can go straight on at the office party. For a friend, a disc of songs from their favorite decade feels personal. Keep it clean if it’s for work.
When to order a custom CD for Christmas
Order early in December, and earlier still if you’re sending it across the country. We make each CD by hand and ship in 1 to 3 business days, but holiday mail is busier than the rest of the year. The Etsy listing shows an estimated delivery date for your address before you buy; check it against the day you’re giving the gift, and leave yourself a margin.
Questions people ask
What should I get my boyfriend for Christmas?
Something personal he'll use after the wrapping paper is gone: a mixtape CD of your year in songs for his car, tickets to a show for the new year, or a letter about your year together. A small personal gift beats an expensive generic one.
What are good stocking stuffers for him?
Small things with a personal touch: a mix CD in a paper sleeve, his favorite snack, good socks, a disposable camera for the holidays, guitar picks if he plays, or a note with a plan for a date in January.
What do you put on a Christmas mixtape?
Either a holiday mix of the Christmas songs you both love, or your year in songs: the music from this year, in order, ending with something for the year ahead. About 18 to 22 songs fill one CD.
When should I order a custom CD for Christmas?
Order early in December, or earlier if you can. Each CD is made by hand, and holiday mail is busier than usual, so check the estimated delivery date the Etsy listing shows for your address before you buy.
Is a mix CD a good secret santa gift?
It can be, if you know a little about their taste. A Christmas mix is safe for a coworker; a mix of songs from their favorite decade works for a friend. It's small, cheap to wrap, and more personal than most office gifts.
How do you wrap a CD as a gift?
Wrap it in sheet music, a map or newspaper instead of standard paper, tie it with ribbon, and write the tracklist on the gift tag. Or skip the paper and leave it in their car's CD player as a surprise.