GIFT GUIDE: Last-minute Christmas presents that still feel personal
In the rush of the holiday season, Christmas shopping can get tedious. There are parties to attend, traffic to sit through, and work tasks that refuse to be a January problem. Before you know it, you have just a few days left before Christmas and the bottom of your tree is still empty.
The Internet steps up in a major way whenever there are issues like this. To make the most out of the worldwide web this season, PhilSTAR L!fe has put together a shortlist of what you can buy online—physical items or digital—if you're pressed for time but still want to get thoughtful, personalized presents.
Food
Among the safest presents you can get someone this Christmas are food items. Just make sure you know about any food allergies the receiver may have to avoid unfortunate incidents.
For loads of choices: The Seven Pantry
Gift baskets from The Seven Pantry don't carry just random food items. Rather, additions to all their gift baskets tell the stories of little-known food businesses whose products The Seven Pantry chose to include in their wide-ranging inventory.
Aside from the familiar, such as buttermilk pancake mixes and barako coffee, the gift bags may also have, for the more discerning foodies, almond and sea salt bark, bacon crisps, and florentines.
Orders can be delivered within two to three business days. Place your orders here.
For exquisite empanadas, and more: Casa Luisa
Serving French-Filipino cuisine, Casa Luisa has many specialties, including empanadas. They have six flavors to choose from: French onion soup, beef rendang, spinach feta bacon, pizza alla Diavola, ham and cheese, and chorizo fundido. A box of six costs P800; a box of 12, P1,550.
Then there are dessert boxes with six pieces per box: ube palitaw at P660; bibingka financier at P1,000; mini macapuno dayap napoleones at P1,000, and mini burnt Basque pumpkin cheesecake pie at P1,100.
Tucked away in an ancestral house in San Pedro, Laguna, Casa Luisa offers full meals daily, as well. Place your orders here.
For comfort foodies: Antonio's
Ranging from premium cuts of meat and jams to pastries, baked Filipino favorites, and ice cream, Antonio's offers baskets of goodies grouped according to taste. Insulated deli tote bags carry deli meats, pasalubong baskets have baked Pinoy goodies, gift boxes offer jams, nuts, spices, granola, and other items that fit the bill, and bags carrying pints of ice cream, whose flavors you get to choose.
Prices range from P500 to P7,200. Find their holiday catalogue here.
Material gifts
For leather aficionados: Katré
Katré is a homegrown brand established in 2009 that offers leather bags and accessories that match many of life's milestones. The unique thing about the brand is its monogram service. A personalized leather bag, airplane tags, or a coin case won't feel last-minute at all.
Take your pick from minimalist totes to crossbody bags, geometric shoulder bags to pet carriers, beauty pouches to currency cases.
Find your gifts here. Orders within Metro Manila can be delivered within three days; a little longer for the provinces.
Alternatively, if you're in the area anyway, Katré has pop-up shops in SM Megamall Fashion Hall until Jan. 1, 2026 and in Greenbelt 5 until March 2026.
For zero-waste advocates: Maginhawa Eco-Store
Maginhawa Eco-Store in Quezon City offers a variety of items minimalist environmentalists will love. Their items—from tea leaves and spices to liquid detergent, and bamboo toothbrushes—are all stored in zero-waste containers and shipped the same way. They also sell books by Filipino authors.
They can customize gift orders, too. Simply share your budget range and they help curate a custom eco-gift set. The store can also help arrange deliveries through J&T and LBC for orders from outside Metro Manila. But for orders within Metro Manila are made within the store's open hours and coursed through Lalamove, they can arrange delivery within the day.
Find Maginhawa Eco-Store on Facebook and Instagram. Their brick-and-mortar store is at 16 Maginhawa St., Teacher's Village, Quezon City.
For lovers of all things crochet: Gantsilyerista
Gantsilyerista offers both ready-made crocheted items and customized orders.
They have household items, such as glass cozies, book covers, pouches, even plastic bag dispensers. But they're more known for custom-made items, such as dog hats, baby rattles, cardigans, bag charms, beanies, and whatever else you may think of that's possible to crochet.
Operating purely online, Gantsilyerista can send orders coursed through their Lazada shop within a week, three to five days if through other couriers, and within the day if via Lalamove, Grab, etc. Orders are packaged using sustainable materials and arrive with care instructions.
Send your orders through Lazada, Facebook, and Instagram.
Digital gifts
For gamers: Gift cards or in-game currency
Unless you already know, vouchers may not come as a surprise for gamer recipients since you'll have to ask them which platform they play their favorite games on. For example, ask them if they play on a PC, Switch, or PlayStation. If you'd rather make it a surprise, Steam gift cards would be a safe bet as the platform covers a wide range of games.
You could also get in-game currency for games using their own ecosystem, such as Fortnite, Valorant, League of Legends, Mobile Legends, Roblox, and Genshin Impact.
Purchase the gift cards or in-game currency directly from each game's website.
For film buffs: Digital vouchers for e-commerce platforms
Similar to physical gift certificates, e-vouchers or gift cards allow the receiver to buy items they prefer. There's no danger of disappointment with this type of gift.
Gift cards for Lazada, Shopee, and GCash, for example, are available in the apps themselves, in some bank promos for certain financial products, or platforms like gifted.ph. These cards may be valued from P100 to P1,000 and contain voucher codes. When loaded onto the receiver's digital wallet, these will translate to cash, which can then be used to shop.
For loved ones with specific interests: Playlists or experience vouchers
Many establishments sell gift certificates or vouchers for their products and services.
If anyone in your circle a self-care advocate, gift them with wellness cards from The Spa, for example. These cards can entitle the receiver to a single Barre3 class, foot massages, facials, aromatherapy sessions, and other services.
How about a voucher for an online course in cooking or coding? Maybe a pottery class at Tahanan Pottery or an intro dive with PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors)?
Here's one that won't cost you anything if you and the receiver both use the same streaming platform: a personalized playlist. Log into your preferred platform—Spotify or Apple Music, for example—and put together a playlist of all your loved one's favorite music. Then share the playlist link with them.
If you're truly pressed for time and have no more opportunity to get on these websites and book that class, order those items, or purchase that voucher, simply write a nice note promising such a gift for whenever your loved one is ready to redeem it.
