Sentimental gifts for your boyfriend

Why is a mixtape CD a good sentimental gift for a boyfriend?

A mixtape CD is a sentimental gift he can hold: you choose 18 to 22 songs from your relationship and their order, and he keeps it in the car for years. People have been saying things with mixtapes since the cassette days, and he can play this one on the drive to see you.

What to put on it

• The song that was playing on your first date, or the first one you both knew all the words to.
• The song he sent you early on, before either of you said anything out loud.
• The one you sing badly together in the car.
• A song from a trip you took, a concert you went to, or the week you moved in together.
• A few songs that say the things you find hard to say. Our list of love songs for him is a good place to start.

A single CD holds about 18 to 22 songs, so you’ll have to choose. That’s the good part: cutting a song you like for one that means more is what makes it a mixtape and not a playlist export. Our guide on how to make a mixtape covers the order, which songs to open and close with, and how to keep the middle from sagging.

Make the packaging part of the gift

Put a photo of the two of you on the cover and print the tracklist inside. Give it a title; our list of mixtape names has ideas if you’re stuck. If you want to go further, write one line on a card for each song saying why it’s there.

Have the songs but no burner? Send us the playlist and we’ll burn it to a custom CD mixtape for him, with your photo as the cover if you like.

What are other sentimental gift ideas for your boyfriend?

Other sentimental gifts for a boyfriend include a handwritten letter, a photo book of your time together, a framed print of where you met, and your first date recreated. Several of them pair well with a CD.

A letter he can reread

Write it by hand. Say what you noticed about him when you met, what changed, and something specific you’re looking forward to. One page is enough. If he’s away a lot, a stack of “open when” letters (open when you miss me, open when you can’t sleep) stretches one gift over months.

A photo book of your time together

Phones are full of photos nobody looks at. Pick the best 30 or 40, put them in order, and write a caption under each with the date and one detail he’ll have forgotten. It takes an evening and lasts for years.

A print of a place that matters

A framed map of the neighborhood where you met, the street of your first apartment, or the trail from your first trip. Mark the spot. It goes on a wall, which means he sees it every day.

Your first date, recreated

Same restaurant, same table if you can get it, same order. If the place has closed, do your best version at home. Play the mixtape on the drive there.

Tickets to see a band you both love

An experience you share beats an object he stores. Put the tickets inside the CD case and fill the disc with the band’s songs you expect them to play, so the gift starts weeks before the show.

A box for the things you’ve kept

Ticket stubs, wristbands, notes, the receipt from your first dinner. Put them in a box with a label and a date, and leave room for more.

What should you get your boyfriend for your anniversary?

An anniversary gift for your boyfriend should look back at the year, and a mix of your year in songs, in the order they happened, does that well. Put the song from the first month first and the song from last week last. Our anniversary song list has picks for every stage.

If it’s your first anniversary, the traditional gift is paper. Our guide to paper anniversary gifts has ideas that fit, from letters to map prints to a CD with a printed tracklist. If the two of you are apart for it, the long distance relationship gifts guide has ideas that travel well, and for December there’s our Christmas mixtape gift guide.

How do you make any gift more personal?

To make any gift more personal, write down why you chose it and use details only the two of you know. These habits turn an ordinary present into one he keeps:

• Write down why. A note that explains the choice (“this is the song from the parking lot in March”) does more than any engraving.
• Use the details only you know. His order at your coffee place, the nickname, the joke from the first week. Specific beats grand.
• Pick the moment. Some gifts are better given quietly at home than opened at a table of people.
• Don’t overdo it. One thoughtful thing lands harder than five. A CD and a letter is plenty.

If you’re making the mix yourself, the playlist length calculator tells you whether it fits on one disc, and the free CD cover maker will give it a front.