Too many toys, not enough time, and a gift nobody was sure about. Sound familiar?

Over a school year, party after party means shop trips and last-minute orders. Around 28 million toys are thrown away in the UK every year, and a child can end up with more presents than they can open in one sitting. Six in ten parents I asked agreed there are too many gifts at children's birthday parties.

Many parents would welcome one shared gift - but nobody wants to be the first to break the norm.

I'm a parent too. At a family birthday party in 2018, I asked guests to give one gift together instead of bringing presents. It worked, but it took courage. Picture My Gift is here to make that first step easier - simple, low-pressure, and done in minutes.

It is designed for parents who organise a party through a group chat (WhatsApp, Signal or similar): you create the invitation here, share it in the chat, and guests RSVP with one tap.

It grew out of my master's research at the London Interdisciplinary School.

🌱 A friendship garden
Each guest brings a small plant or seed packet. Together, everyone plants a friendship garden - a living reminder of the people who came to celebrate.

📚 A book swap
Guests bring a favourite book and take one home from the birthday child's collection. Stories shared, stories discovered.

🔧 Toy repair workshop
Guests bring a broken toy. A repair expert helps children fix and upcycle them - creativity, sustainability, and a lot of fun.

Your privacy. This is a trial, so we keep very little. We save only what the invitation needs: the child's first name and age, the party details, the gift wish and the host's payment link, plus guests' replies (a first name, yes or no, and how many children).

Anyone with the invitation link can see the party details, so share it only with the parents you would invite anyway. Only the host can see the replies, using a private host link.

We never save surnames, photos, phone numbers, email addresses or card details. Payments go straight to the host's own payment link.

Everything is deleted automatically 4 weeks after the party, or sooner if the host presses Delete on the host page. Questions, or want something removed? Write to hello@picturemygift.com.