Christmas Gift Ideas for Your Grown Daughter

Once your daughter has her own home, her own work and maybe her own family, Christmas shopping for her gets harder. She buys what she needs, and her taste has moved on from what you picked when she was twelve. The best Christmas gift for a grown daughter either helps the life she is building or reminds her where she came from. Our top pick does the second: a song about her, from the parent who watched her grow up.

Hear what a Songbond song sounds like

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry her name and your stories.

12 Christmas gift ideas for your grown daughter

1. A song about her ($39.90). Share the moments you still think about: her first Christmas play, the year she insisted on leaving carrots for the reindeer, the day she moved out. Songbond turns them into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. The ornaments she made as a child. The salt-dough star, the paper angel, the popsicle-stick frame. Wrap them in tissue in a proper ornament box so she can hang them on her own tree. It costs almost nothing.
3. A heavy pot she will use for 30 years. A cast-iron pan or an enameled Dutch oven, the kind of thing people rarely buy for themselves. Usually $60 to $250.
4. Money toward something she is saving for. A house deposit, a trip, a course. Put it in a card with a note that says what it is for and why you want to help.
5. Her baby book, finished. Many parents stop filling it in after the first year. Fill in the blanks now: first words, first friends, what she was like at five. Then give it to her.
6. A print of her street or first home. An illustrated print or a framed photo of the place she lives now. Usually $40 to $120.
7. A good work bag. Leather or canvas, big enough for a laptop, plain enough to last ten years. Usually $80 to $250.
8. A weekend of babysitting. If she has children, give her and her partner two nights away while you take the kids. Write the dates on the card.
9. The class she keeps mentioning. Pottery, a language, a wine course. Pay for the whole term. Usually $50 to $150.
10. A really good winter coat or boots. Grown daughters often wear the same coat for years to save money. Usually $100 to $300.
11. Two tickets to a show, for her and a friend. Not for you and her. Sometimes the kindest gift is a night out with people her own age. Usually $80 to $250.
12. A home toolkit. A cordless drill, a stud finder, a level and a proper set of screwdrivers, so she can hang her own pictures. Usually $60 to $150.

How to choose for where she is now

Think about the stage she is at, not her age. A daughter in her first apartment needs different things from a daughter with two children and a mortgage. The best gift meets her in that stage and makes it a little easier.

• If she has just moved into her own place: the toolkit, the Dutch oven or the print of her street.
• If she is a busy parent: the babysitting weekend, the coat or the class.
• If she misses home: the ornaments, the baby book or the song.

What to write in her card

A grown daughter keeps cards from her parents longer than you might think. Skip the usual Merry Christmas and a signature, and write three short lines instead. One thing she did this year that made you proud. One small memory from when she was little that still makes you smile. One thing you hope for her next year. Keep it plain and in your own handwriting. She will read it more than once, and probably not in front of everyone.

Make her Christmas song

Create a Christmas song for your daughter. Tell us about her and her song is ready within 24 hours. Nothing ships, so there is no cutoff: express delivery gets it to you in about an hour, even on Christmas morning.

Also in the Journal: a personalized song as a Christmas gift and songs for a graduating son or daughter.