Turning tips into memories

The best online gifts and care packages to send

By Lucy Brooks on 6/5/2020

As social distancing continues we are missing birthdays, weddings, baby showers, anniversaries – but most of all we are missing being able to see our loved ones. Send something thoughtful online to mark a special occasion or simply brighten up someone's day when you can't see them in person... Because nothing soothes the lockdown blues like an act of kindness.

We share the best pick-me-ups and care packages to send online – from classic flowers to more unique gift ideas.

Decorate your own doughnuts

With all the fun of decorating, none of the faff of baking and guaranteed delicious doughnuts at the end of it, these DIY kits are sure to raise a smile. Each kit comes with four freshly baked doughnuts and all the toppings, sweeties and icing options to make them fun, flavoured and oh-so-Instagrammable. The sweet simplicity makes these decorating kits a great treat for kids (and big kids).

£20 - £22 – buy here

COOK Vouchers and Care Packages

In tricky times, practicality trumps style. Soothe the stress of juggling WFH, home-schooling, cleaning and cooking all the meals by sending a care package or gift card for gourmet, homemade frozen meal company, COOK. Like a virtual helping hand, it will ease the burden for exhausted new parents and frazzled multi-taskers. Eating a wholesome meal is a form of self-care, and regaining the extra time that would have been spent shopping, prepping and cooking is the ultimate luxury.

Gift Cards from £10 and Care Package Food Boxes range from £14 - £80 – buy here

Seventeen Minutes: artisan products for mums

The average mother gets just 17 minutes to herself each day, and you can bet it's even less during lockdown. Designed especially to make the most of this precious time, Seventeen Minutes curates artisan brands and indulgent products with tired, time-poor mums in mind. Starting at just £8, the charming gift boxes are an affordable way to send a little cheer.

Gift boxes, from £8 to £23, with the option to create your own – buy here

A Funny-Coz-It's-True Card From Thortful

A funny-cos-it's-true card from Thortful

What do you say to a couple who have spent months and £££££ creating a perfect wedding day, only to have a global pandemic come along and scupper their plans? Well, Thortful has a perfectly tongue-in-cheek selection of cards for this exact occasion. It's a cheap and easy way to make them laugh and let them know you're thinking of them on what will be a bitter-sweet day. You can have the card posted to you, to write in and post on, or just type in a message and have it posted directly to the recipient.

Cards, £3.29, plus 79p postage – buy here

A moment of zen from Ivory Gloss

Treat your favourite yogi to an Ivory Gloss Gold Gift Box, to provide Grounding, Home Blessing, moments of Meditation or even to target different Chakras. Along with different selections of crystals, sage burning kits, herbal smudges, spiritual jewellery and aromatic organic cosmetics, each box contains a step-by-step meditation practice to help guide the recipient towards enlightenment.

£25 - £37 plus £3.99 postage – buy here

Drinks by the Dram tasting experiences

When you cannot be physically with someone, an experience you can enjoy together virtually is especially valuable. We love Drinks by the Dram's tasting sets, which come with miniatures, tasting notes and a gift sleeve with an optional message. Send them to a few friends and voila, you have a virtual whisky tasting night. Or make up for a missed hen party or birthday party by hosting a Zoom gin tasting party or rum sampling session and getting to order a tasting kit in preparation. The simplicity of all having the same samples to hand makes it easier to create a shared experience, which is all too rare right now.

Tasting sets, from £19.95 – buy now

Say it with Flowerbx

Nothing beats a bunch of flowers, and Flowerbx's single-stem bouquets are our go-to for elegance, quality and reliability. Make the most of peony season with big, blowsy blooms or try ornamental orchids, fragrant lily of the valley or classic roses. Delivery and gift wrapping is included in the price, for super-simple gifting.

Flowers from £30 – buy here

Personalised Champagne and chocolates

Just because you can't be there to toast a special occasion, doesn't mean there shouldn't be Champagne. Put somebody into a celebratory mood by sending a personalised bottle and a box of chocolates from Fortnum & Mason. Even if they choose to consume it in their PJs on the sofa, it will add a little sparkle to a lockdown birthday, graduation or engagement.

£76.50 – buy here

Afternoon tea at home from Cutter and Squidge

Tea, cakes and jam make everything a bit better. Treat someone to afternoon tea with all the trimmings, courtesy of luxurious London bakery Cutter & Squidge. With scones, cake, brownie slices, clotted cream, jam and loose-leaf tea, it's a mini feast of fresh bakes, all packaged beautifully in a gift box. You can choose options for two to five people, making it a great option for couples or families alike.

£29, plus £9 delivery within the M25 – buy here

Easy listening with Audible Gift Membership

If someone is floundering on furlough, feeling lonely or struggling to find motivation for their daily walks, give them the gift of literary enrichment with an Audible membership. With thousands of audiobooks narrated by top actors, it's a great way to get sucked into stories, which provide solace and distraction from real life – and welcome respite from Netflix binges. The gift membership system is easy to buy and to redeem: choose from one, three, six or 12 months without the need for direct debits or subscriptions.

Gift membership from £7.99 - £69.99 – buy here

Build a balloon arch

If they must spend their birthday stuck inside, you can at least help create party time at home by sending a DIY balloon arch kit. It's the ultimate Instagram-ready setting for all those birthday pictures and lasts long enough to liven up their Zoom backdrop for weeks to come.

£21 – buy here

The ultimate bacon sarnie kit from Le Swine

Let the other friends send alcohol and cake – you can be the hero who cures the inevitable hangover with cured and carvedmeat. Le Swine's bacon sandwiches have a cult following, with queues snaking from their Spitalfields stall every weekend. Thanks to the Bringing Home the Bacon DIY kits, we can all recreate the magic at home. With old-fashioned middle bacon, Clarence Court duck eggs, bacon butter, the signature milk and onion buns, fresh sage and homemade ketchups, it makes for an extra-special breakfast. Plus the kit includes a voucher for a Le Swine bacon sandwich when London is open again.

Kit for two, £12.99; kit for four, £24; ultimate Brunch kit for four, £35 – buy here