Surprise gifts to give on a birthday: touching birthday ideas

Flash mob at an izakaya

Birthday Flash Mob Completed Version AKB48 Namida Surprise

Flash mobs—where people you thought were just ordinary bystanders suddenly spring into a surprise performance—have become pretty well-known these days.

How about doing one at an izakaya? If you get your friends and your partner’s friends involved and celebrate in a big way, they’re sure to be thrilled.

Just don’t forget to give the staff a heads-up!

Homemade bento as a present

How about a heartwarming surprise with a homemade bento? The contents can be anything, but it’s nice to tie them to a birthday or to the person themselves.

For example, you could recreate a birthday cake in the style of a character bento, or pack it full of their favorite foods.

This is a surprise you can pull off either by yourself or with a group of friends.

Beforehand, don’t forget to tell them, “Don’t bring a lunch tomorrow!” Alternatively, you could focus mainly on desserts.

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home-cooked meal

I worked hard to make a full-course dinner for my wife's birthday!

As you might expect, eating out is great for a birthday, but some people probably prefer to relax at home and enjoy a home-cooked meal made by their partner or family.

I don’t think there’s anything better than a table full of your favorite foods.

If their favorite happens to be something that’s hard to serve as homemade—like ramen or dishes that need to be simmered forever—you could always make a cake or sweets from scratch instead.

Making two cakes so you can do a face-smash cake moment is a fun option too!

Flash mob at the movie theater

Flash mob surprise proposal at a movie theater

Many of you are probably familiar with the flash mobs that have been making waves lately.

A flash mob is a setup in which a large number of people posing as ordinary passersby coordinate to deliver a surprise performance.

This example took place in a movie theater.

Combined with the on-screen visuals, the emotional impact when it succeeds can be quite significant.

Because the theater must effectively be reserved, the venue fee tends to be relatively high; however, unlike doing it on the street, you don’t have to worry about inconveniencing other passersby, which is a notable advantage.

picture book

A Picture Book for Adults: A Surprise Birthday

Since it’s a special birthday, how about giving a one-of-a-kind picture book? You can easily edit the customizable parts—like the name—and leave the rest to the company.

It’s a rare experience to receive a printed item with your own name on it, so it’s perfect as a conversation starter, too.

Marshmallow cracker

It’s an activity where you replace the contents of a party popper with marshmallows, set it off, and catch them in your mouth.

It’s pretty tricky, but after a few tries you’ll get the hang of it, so why not give it a shot? It’s sure to be a hit.

Presents planted in various places

The footage shows a moment from school life.

First thing in the morning, the person arrives at school and checks the places they always look—like their locker and desk—only to find an overwhelming number of presents planted there.

It’s a surprise designed to make a strong impact by sheer volume.

Blindfolded Disneyland

[Serious] If I kept hiding in Disneyland after closing, how long would it take before I got caught?

A bold surprise: blindfold them, put on headphones so they can’t tell what’s going on, and take them straight to Disneyland! If it’s a long way to Disney it can be pretty tough, but try using public transportation cleverly to pull off the surprise.

Birthday card

How to make a birthday card (house mouse birthday card)

If you go to a stationery store, you can find all kinds of birthday cards, but since it’s a special occasion, why not give a handmade card? In this video, you can see in detail how stamped images are colored with Copic markers and how various patterned papers are used to create a vibrant card! Why not use it as a reference?

Cute wrapping

10 Ways to Wrap Christmas Presents / 10 Life Hacks for Christmas / I bought almost everything at the 100-yen shop

When giving a present, you want to get creative with the wrapping too, right? This video introduces 10 cute and unique wrapping ideas.

They’re all easy to make and don’t require any special materials.

Definitely give them a try!