Christmas Gift Ideas for Your Girlfriend

A Christmas gift for your girlfriend has one real job: to show her you pay attention. Price matters much less than proof that you listen, remember and know her. The best Christmas gift for a girlfriend is one built from something only you know about her, or about the two of you. Our top pick is a song about your story, because it turns the small moments you share into something she can play again and again.

Hear a Songbond song before you choose

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

12 Christmas gift ideas for your girlfriend

1. A song about the two of you ($39.90). Where you met, the first thing you noticed about her, the joke only you two get. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. A map print of where you met. The street, the café or the town, framed with the date underneath. Usually $30 to $80.
3. A weekend away, fully planned. Book it, sort the details, make the dinner reservation. The planning is part of the gift. Tuck a printed plan in her stocking so she can open the trip on Christmas morning. Usually $200 to $500.
4. A necklace that means something. Her initial, her birthstone or a small charm tied to a place you have been together. Usually $50 to $250.
5. A cashmere sweater. In the color she always reaches for. Usually $80 to $200.
6. The thing she mentioned once in October. If you noted it down, now is the time. Nothing says I listen like remembering something she forgot she said.
7. Twelve dates in a jar. One planned date for each month of next year, written on cards. Make the first one in January so it starts right away, and put the jar somewhere she will see it every day.
8. Concert tickets. Her favorite artist, even if it is not yours. Usually $80 to $300.
9. A silk pillowcase and sleep mask. Small, soft and a little bit of everyday luxury. Usually $40 to $90.
10. A photo book of your year. Your trips, your dinners, the blurry selfies. Usually $30 to $70.
11. Her favorite dish, cooked by you. Buy the ingredients, learn the recipe and cook it for her on Christmas Eve, candles and all.
12. An evening at a Christmas market or ice rink. Hot drinks, lights and one small thing bought together to remember it by. Usually $30 to $80.

How long you have been together changes the gift

A first Christmas together and a tenth call for different gifts. Early on, keep it thoughtful but not heavy. Later, you can go bigger and more personal without it feeling like too much.

• If this is your first Christmas together: the market evening, the pillowcase or the concert tickets.
• If you have been together a year or two: the map print, the photo book or the date jar.
• If it is serious and long-term: the necklace, the weekend away or the song.

How to give her the song

Do not bury it under the wrapping paper. Wait until the other presents are open and the room has settled. Hand her your phone or a pair of headphones and tell her there is one more, and this one is about the two of you. Stay next to her while it plays. If you are apart for the holidays, send it at a time you agree on and call right after. Either way, she will want to hear it twice. If you feel nervous about the moment, that is normal. You do not need to explain anything. Let the song say the big part, then tell her one thing you love about her in your own words.

Make your song for her

Create a Christmas song for your girlfriend. It is ready within 24 hours. If Christmas has crept up on you, express delivery gets it to you in about an hour, with no shipping and no cutoff date.

Also in the Journal: songs for your first Christmas as a couple and romantic Christmas songs.