Christmas Gift Ideas for Your In-Laws

Buying for your in-laws means finding one gift that works for two people you may still be getting to know, often with your spouse's opinion in the mix. The best Christmas gift for in-laws is something they can enjoy together that also says you are grateful for the family you married into. Here are 12 ideas across every budget. Our top pick is a song about the family they built, made from your spouse's stories and your own.

Hear a Songbond song

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry their names and your stories.

12 Christmas gift ideas for your in-laws

1. A song about the family they built ($39.90). How they met, the house your spouse grew up in, the grandchildren now. Songbond turns your stories into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. A family photo session. Book a photographer for everyone, in-laws included, and give them the prints. Usually $150 to $400.
3. A dinner out, just the two of them. A gift card to a restaurant they love, and an offer to drive them there. Usually $75 to $150.
4. Their old slides and home movies, digitized. Boxes in the basement become something the whole family can watch together. Ask your spouse to help pick the reels, and play the first one on Christmas night. Usually $50 to $200.
5. A cooking class for two. Pasta, bread or a cuisine they love. Usually $100 to $200 for both.
6. A bottle of something good and two glasses. Wine, whiskey or sparkling cider, with two glasses to keep. Usually $50 to $120.
7. A video doorbell, installed by you. It lets them see who is at the door without getting up. Set it up on their phone before you leave. Usually $60 to $150.
8. A garden bench. For the spot in the yard where they sit on summer evenings. Usually $80 to $250.
9. The grandchildren's drawings, framed. Pick three and frame them as a matching set. Usually $30 to $80.
10. A coffee-table book about their hometown. Old photos of streets and shops they remember. Usually $30 to $60.
11. A weekend at a bed and breakfast. Somewhere an easy drive away, with breakfast they do not have to cook. Usually $200 to $400.
12. A picnic set for two. Plates, cups and a blanket in a basket, for spring days at the lake or the park. Usually $40 to $100.

How to choose for both of them

Think about what they already do together. If they cook together, give them cooking. If they sit on the porch, improve the porch. Your spouse knows their routine better than you, so ask, then pick the gift yourself so it is from you too. If they have very different tastes, choose something that is about the two of them as a couple rather than trying to please each one.

• If they love going out: the dinner, the cooking class or the bed and breakfast.
• If they are homebodies: the garden bench, the doorbell or the hometown book.
• If they are all about family: the photo session, the home movies or the song.

Keep it fair between both sides

If you also give to your own parents, keep the two gifts at a similar level. Not identical, but close. Parents on both sides notice when one gets a weekend away and the other gets a candle. Agree on a budget with your spouse before either of you shops. If one set of parents lives far away, a gift that does not need shipping, like a song or a booked experience near their home, keeps things even without a race against the post office. If your spouse's parents live in two separate homes, treat each home as its own side and keep those even too.

Make their song

Create a Christmas song for your in-laws. Share your stories and the song is ready within 24 hours. Nothing ships, so express delivery gets it to you in about an hour, whatever the date.

Also in the Journal: anniversary songs for parents and a personalized song as a Christmas gift.