Christmas Gift Ideas for Your Husband

Husbands are famous for saying they are fine, which leaves you guessing every December. A good Christmas gift for your husband is either something he will use every week or something that shows you have been paying attention. The ideas below cover both, from about $30 to a real splurge. Our top pick is a song about him, because it is the gift he will not see coming.

Hear what a Songbond song sounds like

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

12 Christmas gift ideas for your husband

1. A song about him ($39.90). You tell us how you met, what he is like on a Saturday morning and the things he says that make the kids roll their eyes. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. A proper pan or knife for the cook. If he makes breakfast on weekends, a heavy cast-iron skillet or one good chef's knife will last him decades. Usually $40 to $150.
3. The tool he keeps borrowing. A cordless drill, a socket set, a solid toolbox. Ask the neighbor what he has lent your husband this year. Usually $80 to $200.
4. Tickets to a game, with you. His team, decent seats and you in the one next to him. Usually $60 to $250 a seat.
5. A leather wallet or belt with his initials. His current one is probably held together by habit. Usually $40 to $120.
6. A heated jacket. For the man who shovels the drive, walks the dog before sunrise or stands on the sidelines at youth football. Usually $100 to $250.
7. A small-batch hot sauce or coffee sampler. Something to taste his way through in January. Usually $30 to $60.
8. A day of his favorite thing. A fishing charter, a round at the course he never plays because of the green fees, a track day. Usually $80 to $300.
9. A vintage print of his hometown. An old map or a postcard view of the town where he grew up, framed properly. Usually $40 to $90.
10. A barbecue or smoking class. A Saturday learning brisket from someone who does it for a living. Usually $80 to $150.
11. Slippers that are not falling apart. Leather or sheepskin, with a hard sole so he can take the trash out in them. Usually $50 to $120.
12. A signed book by an author he reads. Many independent bookshops sell signed copies. Usually $30 to $100.

How to choose his gift

Watch what he does with his free time, not what he says he wants. The gift that fits usually shows up in how he spends a Sunday afternoon: in the garage, at the stove or on the couch with the game on.

• If he is handy: the tool, the heated jacket or the slippers for trash runs.
• If he lives in the kitchen: the pan or knife, the sauce sampler or the barbecue class.
• If he is quietly sentimental: the song or the print of his hometown.

Start a Christmas Eve gift for the two of you

Many couples open one gift each on Christmas Eve, after the kids are asleep. It is the right slot for the gift that is just for him. Christmas morning belongs to the children and the in-laws. Christmas Eve belongs to you two. Pour a drink, turn off the TV and let him open it without an audience watching his face. If you are giving the song, play it then. The first listen with the tree lights on and the house quiet is one he will think about next December. Once you have done it one year, it tends to become the part of Christmas you both look forward to most.

Make his Christmas song

Create a Christmas song for your husband. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour if Christmas Eve has already arrived.

Also in the Journal: why a personalized song makes a good Christmas gift and romantic Christmas songs for couples.