Grandparents are the hardest people to buy for and the easiest to please. They have everything they need, and they say so every year. The trick is not to buy them a thing. It is to give them the names.
In short:
- For the tree: the Grandma's Stars Aluminium Ornament, or the Personalised Nanny's Stars Ornament for a Nanny, Nan, Nana or Granny.
- For the kitchen wall: the Personalised Grandparents Print.
- For new grandparents: the Personalised New Grandma or Grandad Mug.
Everything below carries the grandchildren's names or the family's, and each can come from the grandchildren themselves, with a little help. All are printed to order in the UK and sent tracked. The last order dates for Christmas are on our Christmas order deadlines page.
Why names beat everything else
What a personalised gift can give a grandparent is evidence of the family, arranged nicely, in a way a scarf cannot. The best ones list every grandchild, so nobody is left off, and leave room for the next one.
Two practical notes before you start. Agree the order of the names with the rest of the family, because the grandchildren will check. And decide on the title: Grandma or Nanny, Grandad or Grandpa. It matters more to them than you think.
The ornament with every grandchild
The Grandma's Stars Aluminium Ornament is the gift we would buy first. Choose the title, from Grandma's to Grandpa's, add the grandchildren's names, and add the year if you like. The word Stars sits beneath the title, and each name gets its own small star. The design is printed on the front of a shaped aluminium ornament, 1 mm thick, with a brushed aluminium back that catches the tree lights, and it comes with a red ribbon for hanging.
For a Nanny, Nan, Nana or Granny there is also the Personalised Nanny's Stars Ornament: the title in serif with the word Stars beneath, a row of stars, one for each child, and the names along the bottom. Both take up to eighty characters of names. When a new grandchild arrives, you can order a new one and keep the old, which makes a small record of the family.
For the kitchen wall
The Personalised Grandparents Print is for the room they actually spend their time in. Choose a title such as Grandma's Garden or Grandad's Shed, add the grandchildren's names, and add a line of your own if you want one. The names sit in a soft cluster beneath a small matching motif, printed in forest green with a cream background on 220gsm smooth matte fine art paper, in 12 x 16 in (30.5 x 40.6 cm) or 8 x 12 in (20.3 x 30.5 cm), supplied unframed.
If you want to frame it before you wrap it, note that it is slightly larger than 30 x 40 cm (or 20 x 30 cm), so choose a 12 x 16 in (or 8 x 12 in) frame. You could order a new one when the next grandchild arrives, and move the old one to the spare room. It is in our Personalised Wall Art collection.
For the newest grandparents
If this is the first Christmas with the first grandchild, the Personalised New Grandma or Grandad Mug marks the promotion. It reads Promoted to Grandma, or whichever title you choose from Grandad, Nanny, Nana, Granny, Grandpa, Auntie and Uncle, with the baby's name in italic beneath and the date of birth in small capitals if you add it. It is printed on both sides of an 11oz white ceramic mug that is dishwasher and microwave safe, and it is one of the mugs in our Gifts under £20 collection.
It may well become the mug they use from then on, which is the point.
The photo they will actually display
A photo on a phone is easy to lose among the rest. The Family Photo Ceramic Christmas Ornament solves that. Upload this year's family photo and it is printed in a circle on a round ceramic ornament 7.5 cm across, with your family name curving along the base and the year just above it. The same design is printed on both sides, and it comes with a red ribbon for hanging. A square crop with the faces near the centre works best.
Send one to the grandparents each year. It is a small way of sending a photo that will not end up in a drawer, and after a few Christmases the tree becomes an album.
Something bigger, from all the grandchildren together
If the cousins are clubbing together, the Personalised Family Photo Stretched Canvas is the gift with weight. Upload the best photo of the whole family, add a caption and a date if you like, and it is printed on satin-finish canvas with the caption on a cream band along the base. It is a stretched canvas with no outer frame, 12 x 16 in (30.5 x 40.6 cm), and it suits a hallway or the space above a sofa. It arrives with hanging fixings on the back, ready to hang.
Send a sharp, high-resolution photo, at least 1,920 pixels on the shorter side, ideally the original camera file rather than a screenshot or a message download. If the photo is too small to print well, the product page will warn you before you add it to your basket.
Getting the names right
A personalised gift cannot be returned because you have changed your mind, so a minute of checking is worth it.
- Spell every name the way the parents spell it, and check any that could go two ways.
- Put the names in the order the family expects, such as oldest to youngest.
- If the dog counts as a grandchild in your family, add it. The two star ornaments and the print take up to eighty characters of names.
- Choose the title the grandchildren actually use. Nanny is not Grandma.
We print your wording exactly as you spell it, and some designs set a line in capital letters. We do not send proofs, and orders go to our printer within about 10 minutes of payment, so check everything before you pay.
Delivery and order dates
Everything is printed to order in the UK and sent by a tracked service (usually Royal Mail or Evri, chosen by the print partner). Delivery times and charges are on our Delivery page, and the last order dates for Christmas are on our Christmas order deadlines page. If you order more than one item, they may arrive as separate parcels.
Damaged or misprinted? Your right to a free reprint or refund, made easy: send us a photo within 30 days of delivery. The two star ornaments, the print and the mug above, and more for Grandma and Grandad, are in our Gifts for Grandparents collection.
More gift guides
- Gifts for new grandparents and the wider family covers everyone a new baby promotes, from Nanny and Grandad to the older children and the godparents.
- How to fit every name on a family Christmas ornament also sets out the order of the names and what to do when the family grows.
- How to choose a photo that prints well explains which photo suits a mug, a print, a canvas, a blanket or an ornament.