Christmas Gifts for Neighbors: 15 Inexpensive Ideas (Not Food)

Best for: the house that hosts game night

Why it fits: The breakout card game of the last two years costs under $10, cheap enough to leave one on every porch on the block. Grown-ups like it as much as the kids do.

Best for: the neighbor who likes a quiet evening

Why it fits: It costs about as much as a nice card and gives a neighbor a few slow December evenings with colored pencils. The pages tear out cleanly, so a finished drawing can go straight into a frame.

Best for: one for every door on the street

Why it fits: Volcano is the Capri Blue scent people know from Anthropologie, and the gold tin looks wrapped before you add a ribbon. Tins are sold one at a time, so ordering one for every door takes a single click.

Best for: a porch that needs a soundtrack

Why it fits: Woodstock was founded in 1979 by a Grammy-winning musician, and its chimes play real notes. Every breeze reminds the neighbors who gave it to them.

Best for: neighbors who eat outside all summer

Why it fits: Café lights for the porch or the fence that need no outlet and no extension cord. They go up for the holidays and stay for every summer evening after.

Best for: a street that loses power in every storm

Why it fits: The practical one on the list: the light that comes out when a winter storm cuts the power, then moves to the porch table in summer. Luci is the well-known inflatable lantern, now made by BioLite.

Best for: a family with young kids

Why it fits: Rounds are short enough to squeeze in between dinner and bedtime, and up to eight people can play at once. This 2024 edition comes in an eco-sleeve.

Best for: a family with kids 12 and up

Why it fits: An evening project for the family next door: parents and older kids build it side by side, and the finished piece holds the middle of their table until New Year’s. Its brick flame is the one candle in the house nobody has to blow out at bedtime.

Best for: kids who want a garden of their own

Why it fits: Two projects in one box: painting the pots over winter break and planting them in spring. By summer the kids have cosmos, nasturtiums and basil of their own on the porch or the windowsill.

Best for: the neighbor who keeps the feeder full

Why it fits: For the neighbor who keeps the feeder full all winter. It works from January 1 and keeps a small thank-you on the wall for the whole of 2027.

Best for: a view from the kitchen window

Why it fits: A handmade wooden feeder looks like a present from the first day, and it brings the birds right up to the kitchen window. Pair it with the Audubon calendar for a neighbor who already feeds the birds.

Best for: the quiet week after Christmas

Why it fits: A project for the dining table in the quiet days between Christmas and New Year’s. The pieces are big and easy to grip, so anyone who walks past the table can stop and add a few.

Best for: a neighbor of many years

Why it fits: A year-dated ornament marks one more Christmas on the same street and goes back on the tree every December after. It suits a neighbor of many years and the family that moved in this fall alike.

Best for: three neighbors from one box

Why it fits: A French pharmacy brand for under $20 looks far pricier than it is. Give the set to one neighbor, or split the tubes between three doors at about $5 each.

Best for: the dog that greets you on every walk

Why it fits: Owners are often more touched by a gift for their dog than by one for themselves. One set covers four dogs on the street, one ball each; small breeds need a smaller size.