Unique and Thoughtful Christmas Gift Ideas for a Boyfriend

When you buy a Christmas gift for your boyfriend, you want it to be special. You want it to be an experience, not just a moment where you stage surprise as he opens the iPod he already picked out on a website and emailed to you. There are ways to make Christmas exciting and meaningful without spending a lot of money and without knowing everything he specifically wants or needs. You can come up with a thoughtful and unique Christmas gift experience just by knowing his interests. How you put it all together can be the most thoughtful part of the gift and make it memorable no matter what it is. Also, it helps with the gift buying process if you have a theme in mind that would help give you ideas of what to buy to follow that theme.

Start by thinking about things he likes or has mentioned to you over the last year. Recognize a theme in those comments or items; or if he's the sentimental type, maybe think of a trip, movie or date that you experienced together.

If you took a trip somewhere together this past year, you may want to consider making that into a theme. For example, lets say you went to Marti gra this year in New Orleans. Online or at your local grocery store you could find some excellent mixes for Jambalaya and dirty rice. You could also get a picture frame that matches the style of The Big Easy and put a picture of the two of you from that trip inside it. Research movies filmed about/in the area like "The Big Easy" with Dennis Quaid or "The Skeleton Key" with Kate Hudson. If he likes Jazz music, find a CD that reflects the sounds of Bourbon Street. You could wrap it all up in a basket with Marti gra beads strung around inside for decoration. This could work with almost any vacation that you've taken together. Foreign Countries make even better themes. You can have a lot of fun creating a set of gifts to bring back all the fun and memories of that time together.

Another idea is to recall things he's said about things he's done. If he mentioned that he used to love putting together model cars with his Dad when he was a boy, that's a great gift idea. It can be a great date night, creating fun memories building it together.

If you're having a hard time coming up with your own theme, here are some. Tailor the theme to fit the interests of your boyfriend.

• Seven Deadly Sins (Gluttony, Sloth, Pride, Envy, Lust, Wrath, Greed)

• Five Senses (Smell, Touch, Sight, Sound)

• Color theme (Don't forget there are many colognes that have the names of colors in them.)

• Four seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, if you're daring you could even include a note about how you look forward to the next year together and include items that foreshadow that, i.e. a stocked tackle box for a fishing trip upstate together in the summer)

• Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water)

It's not hard to come up with a theme if you think about it. It makes for a very unique and special gift that you'll both never forget!