Well, it is officially time to break out the gift wrap, ribbon, and tape the season of giving is upon us. We are having a small Christmas in terms of giving this year, since we are also in the process of moving to a new city and my hubby is graduating for graduate school two weeks before Christmas. We will still be giving gifts to our loved ones but we have had to make them intentionally smaller than we have in years past. Last year I made all but two of the gifts I gave for Christmas, and did a gift basket theme where I made different themed baskets filled with homemade products and treats.
While I am not going all out with DIY stuff this year, as most of my supplies are in boxes, doing an all DIY year followed by a small gift year has given me a new perspective on this time of year. On the Friday after Thanksgiving this year I spent my morning in my PJs in the kitchen talking with my mother, in the afternoon my family loaded up the car and drove through the snow covered Appalachian mountains to go cut down a Christmas tree, and in the evening we enjoyed a wonderful meal in honor of my father’s birthday. There was no shopping, no crowds, no lines just fun filled memories of family time and love. Memories worth a lot more than a discounted TV set.
I have also found that by intentionally changing the standard of what Christmas gifts look like, I ended up lowering the stress I was putting on myself and others. I have now spent two years free of the burden of stressing over the affordability of the gifts I am giving others and instead have enjoyed the spirit of the gift and the time spent with each friend and family member and in return others feel less of a sense of obligation to return the gift in kind, especially if it is over their budget.
This isn’t to say that if someone in your life truly desires something that happens to have a larger price tag you shouldn’t give it to them if you can, I am a big fan of having people go in together to get larger gifts and I am one of the few Christmas babies who allows people to combine my birthday and Christmas presents when I desire something pricier. Rather, my point is to consider removing the arbitrary expectation of spending a lot of money on gifts and rather focus on the spirit of giving and the quality of the time you spend with your loved ones this holiday season because those two things will last much longer than any physical gift.
Here are a few great ideas for DIY Gifts to get you started this holiday season!
DIY Christmas Gift Roundup:
