Clutter Free Holiday Gifts
Celebrate the season with new meaning! There is something powerful about the holiday season and gift giving. View this site the advent conspiracy and see if you agree!
At this time of year we can teach our children about sharing by how we give gifts. We can unburden others by sharing in a new way. Clutter free gifts can include savings bonds, gift cards for gas or groceries, spa and pampering gifts, museum membership, entertainment tickets to local symphony or Broadway show, movie and a dinner, cooking, fishing or painting lessons, itunes or Starbucks gift cards, or any item that is consumable.
Non-profit gift giving is an alternative too! Give the gift your friend is passionate about by supporting a worthy cause. Consider a cash donation to a charity in honor of the recipient such as cancer research, green living, or supporting underprivileged families. You can find these by reviewing www.charitynavigator.org.
A gift always means more when you give the gift of yourself. Join a friend at an art class, yoga session, book club, or a scrapbooking class. Babysit for friends, nieces, nephews and grandchildren. Take a child to lunch, on a day trip, to the museum/zoo, or to a sports event. You can also make coupon book for those special and every day treats with things you know your partner would enjoy from the practical to the whimsical, such as a back rub, doing the dishes for a week, making a candlelight dinner, grocery shopping or packing a picnic.
Other ideas for sharing the fun include a pirate swap or ”Secret Santa”. The pirate swap is passing out numbers from 1 to whatever for the number of people at the event. Number 1 picks a wrapped gift, number 2 can pick a gift or steal the unwrapped one from Number 1. With the Secret Santa you pick a name from a hat with all the adults in your family establishing a limit for the gift’s expense. Gifts can be goofy, practical, or holiday themed. One client hosts her swap just like Oprah’s Favorite Things show. Guests bring their “favorite” beauty item including lip gloss, face cream or other product and have a swap.
Virtual gifts are easy to make too! Create a family cookbook and give it on a flash drive to family members. Our family created a family cookbook last year to share within our family and with family friends. We use it constantly during the year to find frequently made foods. There are also many online scrapbooks to create with family photos as well. Check out http://www.smilebox.com/scrapbooks.html. Family photos can be shared and cherished in a new way this way.
And finally these is the ultimate clutter free gift which is regifting. There are strong sentiments on this topic! For me it is really about sharing our blessings. Do what feels more comfortable for you. Gifts are about relationships, not about the stuff.
Keep the meaning in your holiday this year. It is not about the perfect gift, it is about connecting with those who are dear. Where are you on the clutter free continuum?
