My brother recently turned 50 so we put together a fun birthday present for him. 50 things you’ll need now you are 50. It made a fun gift and is one you could adapt for any age and anyone.

Some of the things we included are silly, some are actual proper gifts. We gave everything a label of explanation and put it all in a box.

If you do this for a loved one you'll pick things relevant to them of course but 50 things is actually quite a lot and it takes A LOT of ideas so here are some to get you started:

• First, easy peasy, we added a few favourite sweets and cakes from our childhood - all labelled as 'a blast from the past'.

• I printed out a few old photos, the more embarrassing the better and added hilarious captions (I think I'm hilarious and therefore my captions were hilarious - my brother may not agree!) 

• There were some jokes, rolled up and labeled as 'ways to stop you turning into a grumpy old man'.

• I also typed up a couple of family favourite recipes - 'to pass on the traditions'

These are some of the other items that we included:

• 50th birthday glass - for a well deserved drink

• Bacardi - to go with the coke (Bacardi and coke is his favourite tipple)

• Coca Cola - to go with the Bacardi

• A puzzle book - to keep your mind sharp

• Ear plugs - for peace and quiet when the kids are too noisy

• Denture cleaning tablets - just in case

• Muscle Rub - for the inevitable aches & pains

• Over 50's vitamins - you have to look after yourself now

• Men's face cream - to stop those wrinkles

• A name badge - just in case you forget

• Hot pepper sauce - to keep life spicy

• Reading glasses - you know how useful they are

• Cord for putting glasses round your neck - a essential for the older man

• A football rattle - to help you enjoy the game

• A comb - in case you want to try a comb-over

• A bulldog clip - to help you hold it all together

• 10p in coppers - so you'll never be completely broke

• Post it notes - so you can leave yourself handy reminders all around the house

• A notepad and pencil - because writing things down is an essential now

• An "I am 50" birthday badge - no explanation needed

• A Birthday Balloon

• Energising herbal tea - to keep your energy levels up

• Socks - always a classic gift

• Chilli Chocolate - for grown ups only

• A Star Wars Mystery Egg - one of those little plastic eggs with a surprise gift inside - a little mystery in life is always good (my brother is a huge Star Wars fan too)

• A apple - to keep the doctor away

• Slippers (we just had some we ‘acquired’ from a hotel) - to go with the pipe

• A pipe - to go with the slippers

• Printed out Bingo game - much loved game for the older generation

• A cotton handkerchief - an essential for the older gentleman

• A eye mask - a good night’s sleep is important

• Sunscreen - got to take care of your skin

Men can be notoriously difficult to buy gifts for so I was pretty pleased with myself for coming up with so many ideas. If I’d had a sister I think this would be much easier! If you are looking for unusual gift ideas for men you might want to check out Manly Man Co.® especially if the man you are buying for is a bit of a meat lover. They have a range of really fun meat based gift ideas like beef jerky bouquets, bacon roses and meat hearts which would go perfectly in a 50 things for someone who is 50 box like this. They do hampers too if you just don’t have time to put a box together.

All the gifts went into a nice cardboard box that I happened to already have.

Confession time - I finished this gift in a bit of a rush on the day of his birthday so I didn’t have time to take any nice blog worthy photos. So I borrowed the box back afterwards to take these shots. It’s got a bit battered, it did look fancier before honestly!

I decorated the top with a bit of fancy hand lettering - just so he knew what was inside. 

It was a bit of work to put together but lots of fun and totally worth it.

I don’t know if all of these ideas I’ve listed make sense in all countries, sometimes jokes don’t translate very well. In case you don’t know:

• Coppers are 1p and 2p coins

• A football rattle is a hand held thing that you twirl and it makes a loud noise; very traditional at football (soccer) games

• A combover is a hair style when bald men try to cover the bald patch with hair from the side

• ‘You’re ready for your Pipe and slippers’ is a traditional jokey expression here when someone is acting much older than they are.

Is there anything else that doesn’t make any sense due to language barriers? Just ask in the comments below.

Update: Although I meant them as a bit of a joke apparently the reading glasses and the cord to hang them round his neck have proved “really useful’ - that’s a direct quote!

Of course there is nothing stopping you doing 40 things for someone turning 40, 30 for 30 or even 60 things for someone whose 60. Any more than that and I think would definitely run out of ideas! 21 things for someone turning 21 would be an absolute doddle!

I’ll be sharing this idea at these link ups.