New Year gift boxes for the people December got away from
December is a queue. Everything arrives in the same fortnight, half of it is opened in a room full of other parcels, and a good few people you meant to get to never got got to. January is empty by comparison, which is exactly why a box that turns up in it is read properly. Nothing is competing with it.
December is a queue and January is empty, which is why it gets read. I pack every box by hand here in Canada.
Four boxes for the new year, $99 and $119, and the rest of what I pack underneath.
A January gift is not a late Christmas gift. It is the one that turns up when nobody is sending anything.
Ana. December got away from me. Happy new year.
From Luc
Four boxes for the first weeks of the year
Four boxes, from $99 to $119, and none of them has a year printed on it. Three of the four come in two sizes. The larger size of one is that same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked. Two are about slowing down and two are about starting something, which is the only real split in January.
The Goals & Planning Box
- Inside
- about three things. About two more things at $119.
- Good for
- Somebody who is genuinely planning something this year
- Price
- From$99
The Cozy Warm Start Box
the one I'd send
- Inside
- about three things. About two more things at $119.
- Good for
- The slow week between the holidays and real life
- Price
- From$99
The Celebration Toast Box
- Inside
- about three things. About two more things at $119.
- Good for
- A house with people in it on the last night of the year
- Price
- From$99
The Premium New Year Cheers Box
- Inside
- about four things
- Good for
- A client or a family you want to start the year properly with
- Price
- $119
Not quite it? Every box on the site is in one place, sorted by price and by who it is for. Browse all of them and pick something else for January.
About the date
There are two windows and they are not the same. A box meant for the last night of the year has to be ordered well before the holiday post gets busy. A box meant as a new year gift is better sent in the first two weeks of January, when nothing else is arriving and a parcel is an event rather than one of six.
I can't promise an exact arrival date, and December and early January are the busiest weeks of the year for everyone who carries parcels. Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and takes 1 to 7 days in transit. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will land. If you are aiming at the thirty-first, order with real room around it.
Other boxes that suit a new year
Each of these is sold here for another reason as well, so nothing on this page renames them.
The Cozy Cup Comfort Box
From$99A warm drink and a mug to keep, for somebody you meant to call in December.
The Autumn Warmth Box
From$99A cup and something sweet to stir into it, for the first quiet week of January.
The Harvest Treat Box
From$99Sweet and salty, out on the table before anybody sits down.
The Celebratory Treat Box
From$99Chocolate, biscuits and something salted, if the year ended with good news in it.
The Cozy Retreat Box
From$99Cocoa, wool socks and a candle. January, essentially.
The Sweet Scent Home Box
From$99A candle and something sweet to spread, for a kitchen in the dark part of the year.
The Cozy Date Night Box
From$99An evening in for two, which is most of what January is for.
The Coffee Routine Box
From$99Coffee and something to carry it in, for somebody starting somewhere in the new year.
The Coffee & Appreciation Box
From$99For the client or the colleague who got you through the last quarter of the year.
If you want to spend more than this
These four stop at what these boxes cost, and I am not going to pad one out because January feels like it should be a fresh start at a bigger number. Eight boxes on the site run a ladder of three sizes instead: $119 for the smallest, $189 for the middle one and $299 for the fullest box I pack.
If you are starting a year with somebody who matters to your business or your family, the two below are $299 each. Neither is a New Year box, so the card would be carrying the occasion on its own. Nothing on this page is a smaller gift for costing less.
- $299Luxury Gift Box for HerScent, skin care and the small things she talks herself out of buying.
- $299Luxury Gift Box for HimGood pieces, for the man who says he doesn't need anything.
Or start from every box I make, sorted by priceThe whole range, $70 to $299, including the sizes between these and those.
The card is where you admit December got away from you
A January gift begs a small explanation, and the explanation is the best part of it. One honest line about the month you had beats anything about fresh starts. You type it at checkout, I write it out by hand on a plain card, and it is the only thing in the box with words on it.
Stuck on the card? People start with something like:
"December got away from me.""Happy new year, properly.""Starting this one better."
There are more lines worth borrowing in my guide to writing a gift card message.
December got away from me entirely. Here is the gift I meant to send, and a better year to you.
From Luc
How to choose a New Year gift
The question is what the box is apologising for, if anything. A gift that lands in January is either the one you meant to send in December, the one that starts a working relationship well, or the one that has nothing to do with the holidays at all. Those read differently and they are not the same box.
If you missed them in December
The Cozy Warm Start Box at $99 or $119 is the one for this. Say it plainly on the card: December got away from you. Everybody knows the feeling, and a box in the second week of January does more than the same box would have done wedged between six others.
If it is for a client or a team
The Premium New Year Cheers Box at $119 is the fullest one I pack for this, and January is a far better month to send business gifts than December, when yours is one of a dozen on a reception desk. There's no price on anything inside the box.
If they are starting something
The Goals & Planning Box at $99 or $119 is for the person who genuinely does plan the year, not the person who says they will. Paper, markers and tea. It is a small, practical gift and it is useless to anybody who was not going to plan anyway.
If it is for the night itself
The Celebration Toast Box at $99 or $119 has two glasses in it to keep and nothing alcoholic. What goes in them is up to whoever is there, which makes it easy to send into a house whose habits you do not know.
The shelves either side of this one
New Year sits at the back end of the gift season and the front end of everything that starts in January, so the shelf on either side of it is often the better one to send from.
If the year ended with something worth marking, the congratulations boxes are for the win rather than the date.
If somebody is starting somewhere new in January, the new job shelf is written for that first week.
And if what you owe them is a proper thank you for last year rather than a new year greeting, the thank you boxes say it better.
You are not expected to send all of them. It is worth knowing the next one is here when it comes around.
Questions people ask me
Is it too late to send a gift in January?
No, and it is often better. A box in the second week of January arrives on its own instead of in a queue of six, and the card can say plainly that December got away from you. The Cozy Warm Start Box at $99 or $119 is the one I would send for it.
What is a good New Year gift for a client?
Something that is clearly a gift rather than marketing: no logo, no printed card and no price on anything inside. The Premium New Year Cheers Box at $119 is the fullest one I pack for this. January also gets a business gift more attention than December does, when every reception desk in the country already has a pile on it.
Is there alcohol in the New Year boxes?
No. Two of these have glasses in them and both sets of glasses come empty, so whatever gets poured into them is up to whoever is standing there. That also means any of these can go to a house that does not drink without the gift making a point of it.
Can I send it straight to them?
Yes. Put their address in at checkout and type your message, and I write it onto the card by hand before the box is closed, so the note from you is the only thing in there with words on it.
Do you ship across Canada over the holidays?
Yes, free anywhere in the country all year. Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and takes 1 to 7 days in transit. The weeks either side of the new year are the busiest of the year for everyone carrying parcels, and I can't promise an exact arrival date, so order with real room if you are aiming at a particular night. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will land.
Can I send a box back?
All sales are final. Every box is food, skin care and other things that can't be sold on once they have left here, and each one is packed by hand to order. If you have a question before you buy, write to me at team@swipegifts.com.
New Year gift boxes, packed by hand in Canada
December is a bad month to be a gift. Everything lands in the same ten days, every parcel is one of several, and the people you most meant to send something to are usually the ones who got missed while the obligations were being cleared. January is the opposite. Nothing is arriving, nobody is expecting anything, and a box on an ordinary Tuesday in the first fortnight of the year gets opened slowly and read properly.
There are four here, from $99 to $119, and none of them has a year stamped on it, so nothing goes stale on a shelf in February. Three of the four come in two sizes. The larger size of one is that same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked. Two are about the slow week, one is for the night itself and one is the fullest, for a family or a client you want to start the year properly with.
Every box is packed by hand here in Canada and ships free anywhere in the country. There's no price on anything inside the box. The message you type at checkout is written onto the card by hand, and for a January gift the best line on it is the honest one: that you meant to send it a month ago and here it is.
While you are here
- Gifts That Ship Free Across CanadaWhat free shipping across the country actually means here.
- Client Gift Ideas That Do Not Feel Like a Bribe (Canada)If the box is going to a client and you want it to read as a gift.
- Corporate Gifts in Canada: A Buyer Guide for Clients, Staff, and Year-EndFor a year-end list you are sending in January instead.
If you are not sure which one to send, write to me at team@swipegifts.com and tell me who it is for. I read every email myself and I answer them.