Christmas gifts for your best friend (that prove you actually know them)

Buying for your best friend should be easy. You know everything about them: their worst ex, their go-to karaoke song, the thing they said at 2am that you've never let them forget. And yet every December you end up buying them a candle. Again.

I'm Luis, and I sell a lot of best-friend presents from my stall in Covent Garden. The secret is simple: buy the joke, not the object. Here's how.

The best-friend gift rule

A best friend gift should make them laugh, then make them say "oh my god, this is SO me". If it does both, you've won Christmas. If it does neither, it's a candle.

Think about: - The phrase they always say. There's probably a print for it. - Your shared joke. The night out, the holiday, the disaster. - Their actual personality, not the one on their Instagram.

For the friend who's basically royalty

Hey Queen is the one. I'm Fabulous With a Twist is for the friend who's fabulous, but in a slightly chaotic way. Too Fucking Fabulous is the ruder sister of both.

For the party friend

The one who's still standing at 4am and somehow at brunch by 11.

Please Don't Do Cocaine in the Bathroom is my signature piece and the most-quoted print on the stall. Please Bring Your Own Cocaine is its cheekier cousin. The champagne prints are for the friend who considers prosecco a food group. All £20.

For the friend who's had enough

The one who sends you voice notes from the work toilets.

Fresh Out Of Fucks is the most honest present you can give. It Is What It Is is the clean version, for the friend who's calmer than the rest of us.

For the fashion friend

Jesus Wants Me to Have a Birkin is a print and a hint. The totes are £25: designer energy, high street price, and much funnier than the real thing.

Under £15: friendship group presents

Buying for the whole group? Notebooks are £12 each, so you can get one for everyone without remortgaging.

The Random Crap Notebook is for the friend whose bag is a black hole. There Is No Plan is for the one who organises the group holiday the night before.

Make it personal: a commission

Your friendship has a phrase only you two understand. I can paint it. A commission is a one-off piece in your words, your colours and your size, and it's the kind of present that ends up being talked about at their wedding. Ask early, because December books up.

Long-distance best friend?

If your best friend lives miles away, a print is the perfect posted present: flat, light and protected in the post. Add their address at checkout and it goes straight to them. Then video call while they open it, so you can watch them laugh. I deliver across the UK and to Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada and Australia, with the price shown at checkout.

How to give it

1. Wrap it flat so it doesn't crease. I wrap by hand on request.
2. Add a note with the story. "Remember Ibiza?" is enough.
3. Give it at the pre-Christmas drinks for maximum audience.
4. Frame it if you want it on the wall by New Year. See how to frame art prints.

The rude print check

Before you buy a sweary print, ask one question: would they say this out loud in front of their mum? If yes, buy it. If they live with their mum, buy it anyway and enjoy the drama. If you're unsure, the clean jokes like Ha Ha Ha No and Not Today Satan are just as funny. More in funny art prints UK.

Christmas timing

Prints are in stock and post quickly in the UK: £1.75 a print, free over £80. Totes and notebooks are made to order (7 to 10 days), so order early in December. In London? Come to my stall at Jubilee Market Hall, Covent Garden, any Saturday or Sunday, and take it home the same day.

More ideas: Secret Santa gifts under £20, funny Christmas gifts and the full Christmas gifts collection.

Best friend gift questions