We are attending a 90th birthday celebration of a couple TODAY. They have lots of “stuff” and we don’t want to add more clutter to their lives. Suggestions of a nice gift? They are physically frail and quite forgetful.
If they have a yard, you can give a minor landscaping or yard maintenance gift certificate. Recently, 8 family members spent an afternoon cleaning up grandparents yard. Minor home repairs. Basically any chores or work that they are unable to do.
They do hire help to do many of these things, but thanks for the thought.
Gift certificate for hair salon / barber shop they use?
That is about all my mom needed (or used) after age 90. The flower-of-the-month and fruit-of-the-month gifts became a source of stress for her in her later years, so we asked generous grandchildren to stop sending them.
10 more years?
Echo Dot if they have wifi? Pick it up at Whole Foods! They might enjoy talking to Alexa, asking the weather and news, and perhaps it can be programmed to do reminders (I’m not sure of all the capabilities).
Something temporary and disposable, like a small planted flower arrangement - my mom even enjoyed the ones sold at grocery stores with a few small decorations. Of course in Hawaii that might be redundant.
How close are you to couple? Take them to lunch or bring lunch and spend a little time with them. That’s all my 92 year old mom values as a gift.
Or you could make a donation to a charity in their name.
Yes, maybe H and I will take them out and donate to a charity in their name. I think they just go to Supercuts periodically for big occasions or when they can’t stand their hair.
Best gift any of my kids gave my mother was an afternoon out and it was a blessing to me, too!
Flowers and cookies.
Gift cards to some restaurants that deliver maybe or offer casual eating? My parents are about 5 years younger but they eat out more and more despite being good cooks because of the energy and effort of cooking these days gets old for them on a day to day basis.
Another idea is flowering plants. I like to give multi-stem orchids because they last awhile and are beautiful and a little showy.
I may be wrong but I don’t think gift cards are good at this age. Especially if they are forgetful.
I know the cookie suggestion may be trite but honestly any real sweet treat has always been appreciated by my parents. Special candy and cookies always take them back.
If they can see outside from a window then a small birdfeeder, bird bath or garden statue is nice. A special solar light for the garden is nice too.
We celebrated the 90th BD of a relative by each bringing something small accompanied with a story of how it reminded us of them. The item was inconsequential. The story was the important part. But that would need to be coordinated by the host, so all were part of the celebration.
Food, of the treat variety. Fancy cookies or candy were always a hit with my parents. Dad said he loved chocolate as he got older because as his sense of taste and smell diminished, the relatively strong taste of chocolate was one of the few things that was still really delicious to him.
If they can’t eat sugar, maybe some fancy cheese?
I welcome all the suggestions, too, because my mom’s 90th birthday is one week from today.
A 90-piece box(es) of chocolates or similar treat.
I think you can get something that commemorates the year of birth, maybe even the day you were born. Maybe I’ll see if I can find something more specific after the movie I’m watching ends.
Alternatively, my wife gave me a really cool book that tracked my favorite baseball team’s history through a collection of newspaper articles (the Baltimore Orioles, although I expect one could find the same for other teams and other sports).
My grandfather would get cold easily, even when he lived in Florida. He was happy when I got him a pair of angora bed socks.
Maybe a warm throw blanket for the couch or soft lower back pillow?
Ok, got them a nice box of dark chocolate Godiva chocolates in gold gift box—something most wouldn’t buy for themselves but a nice treat to enjoy, especially as the male is a chocoholic. They often have company and can eat it and offer it to their frequent guests as well. When it’s done, it won’t add to their clutter.
Best of all, I got it in exchange for returning a gifted Macy’s Tommy Hilfinger polo shirt that shrunk to be above my belly button after only ONE wash and drying! In my eyes, it was free. 
Good news—they opened and seemed very pleased with the chocolates and all the gifts they received. :x Several others also brought chocolates and other edibles.