Sentimental Christmas Gifts for Your Husband

Plenty of men say they do not care for sentimental gifts, then keep every one of them in the top drawer. A sentimental Christmas gift for your husband connects him to the people and places that made him: his father, his kids, the life you built together. It does not need to be soft or flowery to count. Our top pick is a song about him, because it tells him in plain words what he means to you, and he can listen to it alone in the truck.

Play a song one family made

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

11 sentimental Christmas gifts for your husband

1. A song that says it for you ($39.90). Share the stories: how he proposed, how he is with the kids, the phrase he says every time he leaves the house. Songbond turns them into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. His father's watch or tools, restored. If he inherited a watch that stopped or a hand plane gone to rust, have it serviced and cleaned so he can use it again. Usually $50 to $200.
3. A shadow box for his old jersey or patches. The high school number, the service patches, the fishing flies his grandfather tied. Usually $40 to $90 to frame properly.
4. A bottle from the year you married. A wine or port with that vintage, to open together on a big anniversary. Usually $50 to $150.
5. A deck of reasons. Fifty-two cards, each with one reason you love him, one for every week of the year. Around $15 to $30 printed, or free on index cards in your handwriting.
6. A pocketknife engraved with a date. The day you met or the day your first child arrived. Usually $40 to $120.
7. Tickets to the team his father took him to see. Same stadium, same section if you can find it. Usually $60 to $200.
8. A jigsaw puzzle of a family photo. Something to do together over the slow days between Christmas and New Year. Usually $30 to $50.
9. A leather journal with the first page written by you. Write the first entry about your year together, then leave the rest of the pages for him. Usually $30 to $70.
10. A keychain with the coordinates of your first home. Engraved on metal so it rides in his pocket every day. Usually $20 to $60.
11. The first photo of him holding your first child. Print it large, frame it and write the date on the back. Usually $30 to $60.

How to choose a sentimental gift for him

Think about who he is proud of. Most men get sentimental about the people who shaped them and the people they are raising, far more than about objects.

• If he talks about his dad: the restored watch or tools, or the tickets to his father's team.
• If he is a family man first: the photo of your first child, the puzzle or the song.
• If he keeps things in his pocket: the pocketknife or the keychain.

How to give a sentimental gift to a man

A lot of men freeze when a room full of relatives watches them open something emotional. Give this one privately. Slip the box to him before anyone else is up, or save it for the drive home from his parents' house. If you are giving the song, send it to his phone with a short text and let him hear it alone first. He may say very little. That usually means it landed. Ask him about it a few days later, once he has had time to find the words, and do not be surprised if he has played it more than once.

Make him a Christmas song

Create a Christmas song for your husband from the stories only you know. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: anniversary song ideas for your husband and romantic Christmas songs.