Buying for coworkers is its own art: the gift should be personal enough to feel thoughtful, but not so personal that it's awkward, and it has to work at a desk. Light-up gifts tick all three boxes, and none of the ideas below need a flame. Here are 8 ideas, from the desk of your favourite colleague to the office gift exchange.
1. A lighted birch tree for the desk
A white birch tree with warm fairy lights on every branch brings the season to a desk without taking it over. It runs on USB or batteries, so it works with or without a socket nearby.
Shown: lighted birch tree, 24 LEDs (about 60 cm / 24 in tall) or 144 LEDs (about 63.5 cm / 25 in).
2. A tree with a train for the desk that has everything
For the colleague who already has a mug and a plant, a little light-up tree with a train circling its base is the gift that brings visitors to their desk. At about 19 cm tall, it fits next to the screen, and it runs on batteries.
Shown: light-up Christmas tree with rotating train. More ideas: 8 ideas for a Christmas tree with a train.
3. Photo clip lights for team photos
Clip the team's photos, the Christmas cards from clients or the kids' drawings onto a string of warm light above the desk. It runs on a battery box, so it hangs anywhere, and the clips slide along the wire.
Shown: photo clip string lights, 2 m with 20 LEDs, 5 m with 50 or 10 m with 100.
4. Their initial in lights
A single marquee letter with their initial is personal without being too personal. It's 22 cm tall, runs on two AA batteries and stands on its own on a desk or a shelf.
Shown: light-up marquee letters, A to Z plus a red heart and an “&”.
5. Flameless candles for offices that don't allow flames
Many offices don't allow real candles, which is exactly why flameless ones make a good gift. A set of three pillar candles flickers like the real thing, and the remote's timer switches them off after 2 to 8 hours and on again at the same time the next day.
Shown: flameless candles with remote, sets of three in white, ivory or smoke gray.
6. USB firecracker lights for the desk
Firecracker lights are little bursts of warm-white LEDs on a fine silver wire. Fill a glass jar with the short set, plug it into a laptop or a USB adapter, and the desk glows all December. The remote changes the mode and the brightness.
Shown: firecracker fairy lights, 1.5 m with 50 LEDs or 6 m with 200 LEDs, USB powered.
7. Mini disco balls for the office tree
If the office has a tree, a pack of mini mirror disco balls is a gift for the whole team. They throw little sparkles around the room as the lights flicker, and afterwards they move straight onto the New Year's Eve party table.
Shown: mini disco ball ornaments, packs of 10, 20 or 30.
8. A funny ski mask for the gift exchange
Every office gift exchange needs one present that everybody tries on. The Snowmug is a thin balaclava printed with a hyper-real elderly face, in three versions, and in a white elephant swap, expect it to be stolen at least once.
Shown: the three Snowmug face ski masks. More ideas: funny ski mask ideas.
Before you buy for the office
- Office rules: many workplaces don't allow candles with a flame or extra plugs at desks; everything here is flameless, and most of it runs on batteries.
- Batteries: the letters take 2 × AA each, the photo clip lights 3 × AA and the candles 3 × AAA each (not included); the firecracker lights' remote takes a CR2025 coin battery (not included).
- USB: the birch tree and the firecracker lights run from a USB adapter (not included), and the firecracker lights also from a laptop.
- Delivery: free tracked shipping, dispatched in 1 to 3 business days and delivered in 7 to 12. Order by 10 December to have it in time for Christmas.
- Not quite right? Unused items in their original packaging can be returned within 30 days of delivery.
More ideas
- Decorating your desk too? Here are 8 office Christmas decoration ideas.
- Drawn a name for a gift exchange? Here are 8 Secret Santa gift ideas under $20.
- Shopping for your friends? Here are 8 fun Christmas gifts for friends.
Looking for a present? Browse all our Christmas gifts.
Playing the stealing game? Here are 8 white elephant gift ideas under $25.