Corporate Diwali gifts fail for one reason: everyone gets the same thing, and the same thing has a logo on it. The box of dry fruit with a sticker. The diary nobody opens. The mug with the company name that goes to the back of the cupboard. The person receiving it knows exactly how much thought went in, which is none, and the gift says so on their behalf.
The fix is not a bigger budget. It is a gift that reads as chosen, at whatever the budget is. Handmade does that by accident: when every piece in a run is slightly different, ten people do not receive one object ten times. They receive ten objects. That is the whole case for this guide, and everything in it is in the studio now, priced at what it costs today.
Decide by early October
Diwali is 8 November. Corporate lists are long, and our pieces are made in runs of a few at a time, so a quantity takes longer to assemble than a single order. If you want fifty of anything, tell us in September or the first week of October. Write to hello@modusandmood.com with the quantity, the budget per head and the date you need it, and we will tell you honestly what we can do. That is also where to ask about invoicing for a business.
Choose a design, not an object
This is the single most useful idea on this page. Instead of picking one product and ordering fifty, pick a design that comes in several colours and let the run do the work.
The Leher stripe plate, ₹599, comes in indigo, mint green, scarlet red, marigold yellow, coral and sky blue. Order across all six and every person on the list receives a plate in a colour, and no two desks have the same one. It is hand-painted, so even two indigo plates differ. The gift is repeatable for you and singular for them.
The same works for the hand-painted mugs at ₹499 (blue hearts, lemon, ribbed cobalt, ribbed tortoiseshell), the oval snacks plates at ₹599 (blue meadow, marigold, sage green, palm print), the felt animals at ₹499 (elephant in three colours, giraffe, sheep, bird stakes in three colours) and the carafe and tumbler sets at ₹1,499 (six colours of glass).
By budget per head
Under ₹500
The whole-office tier, and it does not have to look like it.
- Hand-painted trinket dishes, ₹399. Scattered hearts in red or yellow, or the blue dolphin. They live on a desk holding paperclips, a ring, a lanyard. Flat, light, and they pack in a stack.
- Leaf incense holder, ₹399. In yellow. Small enough to post inside a card.
- Hand-painted mugs, ₹499. The default corporate gift, done properly. Four designs, each one different in the hand.
- Wool-felt animals, ₹499. Soft, unbreakable in transit, and the gift that goes home to a child. The embroidered elephants in rust, red and black and coral, and the giraffe and sheep.
- Cotton cushion covers, ₹399 to 499. Gingham, candy stripe, dune check, indigo. They post flat.
₹500 to 1,000
The team, the clients you see every month, the people who make the year work.
- Leher stripe plates, ₹599. Six colours. The design-not-object gift, and the one we would pick for a team of twenty.
- Oval snacks plates, ₹599. Four patterns. The plate that carries the office mithai and then goes home.
- Ribbed glass highballs, ₹699. Two per person is a small bar and says host.
- Ceramic coaster pairs, ₹799. Blue meadow or sage green. A pair, so it is a gift rather than a set someone must complete.
- Sun Orb glass incense stick stands, ₹899. Pink or yellow. The most Diwali object in the studio, and glass reads as generous.
- Anti-tarnish stud earrings, ₹599 to 699. For a list that skews to people who wear them. Imitation jewellery, gold-toned plating over a brass base, and we say so.
₹1,000 to 2,500
Clients, partners, the handful of people whose gift you would choose yourself.
- Carafe and tumbler sets, ₹1,499. Six colours of glass. Sits on a desk, gets used every day, and is the best gift in the studio for a client because it is generous without being personal.
- Nerikomi figurines, ₹1,499 to 1,799. The reclining cat, the little elephant, the spotted dog, the turtle, the owl. The pattern runs through the clay so no two are alike, which is the gift for the person who has everything. Our nerikomi guide explains the technique, which is worth a line in the note.
- Dune speckled nerikomi bowls, ₹1,499. For a client who hosts.
- The Chai Hour kettle, ₹1,999. The one for the person at the top of the list.
The full run-down of the two bands is in Diwali gifts under ₹1,000 and Diwali gifts under ₹2,500.
What makes it feel personal at volume
Choose the colour for the person. If you are ordering plates across six colours, assign them. The indigo to the person who wears navy, the marigold to the one who brings the cheer. It takes ten minutes for a list of twenty and it changes the gift entirely.
Write the note by hand. A printed card with a logo undoes everything the handmade object just did. One line, in ink, about why that colour or that animal.
Say what it is. A line that it is hand-painted, that the stripe wanders because a person painted it, that it should be hand washed. This tells the person the object is worth looking after, which is the same as telling them they are. Handcrafted versus mass-made is the longer version if you want to borrow from it.
Leave the logo off the object. Put it on the box if you must, or on the card. The moment it is on the mug, the mug is marketing.
What to avoid
One object for everyone. Even handmade, fifty of the identical thing reads as a bulk order. Spread across colours or across two or three designs.
Anything fragile without asking us how it travels. Ceramics and glass are packed to travel and they do, but if your list is going to fifty addresses rather than one office, tell us, and we will say which pieces we are happiest sending that way. Felt and cushion covers survive anything.
Anything that needs a wall. A hanging piece is a lovely gift for a home and an awkward one for a desk.
Sets that must be completed. Four of something someone will feel obliged to make six. Give a pair, or give one good one.
Deciding in November. The runs are small. Decide in October.
How to order a quantity
- Write to hello@modusandmood.com, or use the contact page, with three things: how many, the budget per head, and the date you need them by.
- Tell us whether they ship to one address or many.
- We reply with what is in the studio now in that band, which colours we can spread the order across, and what we can do on invoicing for a business.
- You choose, we confirm, and the order is placed.
Shipping is free on every order with no minimum, and that includes a quantity to one address.
Common questions
What is a good corporate Diwali gift under ₹500?
A hand-painted mug at ₹499, a trinket dish at ₹399 or a wool-felt animal at ₹499. Spread the order across the designs so that no two people receive the same object.
Can you put our logo on the gift?
Not on the object, and we would talk you out of it. A logo turns a gift into marketing. On the box or the card, ask us and we will tell you what we can do.
How many can you supply?
It depends on the piece and the date. Write to us with the quantity and we will tell you honestly what is possible, rather than guess here.
Can you ship to many addresses?
Tell us when you write, and we will confirm which pieces we are happiest sending that way. Felt and textiles travel to anywhere. Ceramics and glass are packed to travel and do so well, but a single office address is simpler.
Do you provide an invoice for a business?
Tell us it is for a business when you write and we will confirm what we can do on invoicing.
What is the deadline for a corporate Diwali order?
Early October is safe. Diwali is 8 November 2026, our pieces are made in small runs, and a quantity takes longer to assemble than a single order.
Is a gift under ₹1,000 appropriate for a client?
Yes, if it is chosen. A stripe plate in a colour picked for them, with a handwritten line, lands better than an anonymous hamper at three times the price.
Is the imitation jewellery real gold?
No. It is imitation jewellery, gold-toned plating over a brass base. We say this on every product page and you should say it in the note.
