Okay. Before you throw something at me, YES, I know today is just the first day of September and most of you aren't ready to talk about Christmas yet. (Hope you haven't been to Hobby Lobby lately. They've been talking Christmas for a few months now!)
But you know me: I like to plan ahead. I need to plan ahead. And today I need to process out loud/get your ideas. Help a girl!
If you've been reading here for a while, you know that I have a pretty small family. Immediate and extended family are all pretty much the same, and there aren't many of us no matter how you categorize it. So we've always done Christmas gift exchanges in a very traditional sense. Everyone buys for everyone because there aren't a lot of everyones.
And then I got married.
I'm pretty sure Ryan is immediately related to a quarter of the world's population. And then you add the "immediate extended" and it goes up to half the world's population. There are a lot of people to consider come Christmas!
He still has living grandparents, while I do not. He has twice as many parents as I do. He has more siblings and way more nieces and nephews. And then there are all the aunts, uncles, and cousins! Granted, we don't exchange gifts with all of them, but we have still been doing the gift exchange thing with most!
Two things are pushing today's brainstorm.
One is that for all the people we exchange gifts with, clutter is becoming an issue. On my side of the family, everyone is established. We all have homes and for the most part, we have all we need. And truthfully, I think all of us are trying to scale back on stuff just a bit, so there's no real need to accumulate more things. On Ryan's side of the family, all of the above is true for the adults, and the kids are becoming overrun with stuff. Their parents are asking others to gift less because there's too much to appreciate or enjoy. And believe me, I get it. If we did have kids, we would probably have a severely limited gift policy for that very reason. Clutter, clutter everywhere.
Secondly, money's tight all around, right? It's not just that we're a single income home, but it's that there are many to buy for (and growing) and we have to ration our funds responsibly.
We have been trying to figure out what to give Ryan's nieces and nephews that would be something fun and different and not a thing to clutter the house. We have considered gifting an experience, but even that can be pricey. (Some places have a $30-$50 admission price and that's more than we have budgeted per child. Seems rude to only admit one kid! Ha!)
I know there are also other options: drawing names, donating the money to charity, doing a group activity in place of a gift - and those are all good ideas, but in some cases, they won't work for the people we have.
You know I love a good creative challenge. Any of you ever get any particularly fun gifts that were memorable and thoughtful without breaking the bank? (I'm talking for adults and kids here.) We're open to suggestions if you have any to throw our way!
Help a girl out! I ONLY HAVE SIXTEEN FRIDAYS LEFT BEFORE THIS CHRISTMAS!!!!
1 hour ago
9 comments:
So in our family (and a lot of Jewish families) once you're married you don't get gifts from family anymore. So my aunts and uncles might give to the boys but not to my sister and brother-in-law. I guess that helps with the budget!
But check out one time "boxes" like kiwi crate - maybe give a meal delivery box thing to an adult?
For the families with kids host a movie night and sleepover for the kids and the parents get a free night. Win - win, as long as you're up for it!
We have gifted the kids in our lives with magazine subscriptions, especially if there are multiple kids in a family. We gave our animal-loving godson a year of NatGeo Kids. "Highlights" is a classic and always a favorite and I think they may even have a version for the preschoolers/non-readers. I've loved your "alphabet date" series - what about gathering the information for alphabet dates for the non-local family members? You could research places in their area and compile it together in a fun notebook (maybe even include a gift card or two if the dates are food-related?). I'm sure that no matter what you do, the gifts will be given in love which to me, is the most important part!
Something I like to give kids that is fun & cheap - a snowman making kit. When that good snowman-making snow comes, you need to be prepared! I bought some wooden grilling skewers and hot glued them to oversized buttons, black poof balls for eyes & for making mouths. I made a carrot out of felt & stuffed it & glued it on a skewer as well. Cut a little scarf from felt. You get the idea. Lots of different hats could work. The skewers are important because they really make it easy to make the items stay on the snowman, which is often a challenge, esp with younger kids. You can find lots of ideas along this line on Pinterest. You could make traditional snowmen, silly snowmen, themed snowmen - or women! :) I know your brain is spinning now! Put it all in a little bag or box of some kind to be saved for the perfect snow day. Doesn't take up much space. Cute & creative. Encourages outdoor play. Depending on what pieces you use can cost only a few dollars. Optional: embellish the gift with more snow day themed items. Hot chocolate with a cute kid mug. A fun hat & mittens. A winter themed kids book - check Scholastic for $1 book options. I've done a snow painting kit where you give them koolaid packets and little squirt bottles. (also check Pinterest for this).
p.s. I just saw the idea to use golf tees instead of skewers, which makes sense, b/c you don't have to snap a bunch of skewers into shorter pieces.
My kids love Focus on the Family Radio Theatre CDs and listen to them over and over. Our favorites are Anne of Green Gables and Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place. Also, what about making up your own "themed box or basket" personalized to each family's interest..... some ideas are Family Game Night (include a board game or a card game, hot chocolate mix, brownie mix, popcorn, etc)..... or a Spa basket..... or gardening basket. The ideas are endless. And I am so with you on the excitement of preparing for Christmas. I have been making gift lists already :)
I know giving cash is not always a favorite idea for some, but I like to gift it with a creative twist - I have bought Reese's trees candy (a two pack inside works best vs the single candy), i type on my computer and print out the line "Sometimes money DOES grow on trees!".
I cut it out with decorative scissors to fit the length of the back of the candy wrapper, and smaller than the width of the wrapper.
I tape money on to the back of the candy wrapper (usually a $10 or $20 bill, but choose your value).
Sometimes I use decorative themed or scrapbooking type tape, sometimes I use green painters tape on the 4 corners of the bill just so it's secure and won't fall off in the unopening.
Then I tape the printout "Sometimes money DOES grow on trees" over the cash, so the money is showing and doesn't get overlooked. . I don't want the cash or candy bar to get lost in the excitement of gift opening frenzy, so the idea isn't to hide the money under the paper, but a way to uniquely or creatively "deliver" a gift of cash.
Now, to help disguise/wrap the $ gift (I don't really enjoy using gift bags because there's so much cute holiday gift wrap to choose from), starting around late September, I save many of my empty cardboard food boxes, like granola bars, cereal, crackers, pasta, etc. once the contents are used up. I end up with a variety of sizes.
I put the gift cash/candy bar wrapped in tissue inside the empty food box and wrap with holiday paper.
The recipient opens the gift and is at first kind of confused because they think they are getting cereal or cheez-it's or some food item. Ha! I always enjoy watching their puzzled looking face.
Then they open the box and find the candy bar within the tissue paper, and it might still take a moment before they find the cash & saying taped to the back. Then they smile big when they finally get it all figured out!
If you don't want to do candy, I've done a similar idea with a bag of Chex Mix. Tape money on the front. Type-print out and tape over the money (again with the money peeking out under the printout) this saying -"To help you "Chex" a little something off your wish list"
Or another idea -
A box of red vines licorice with a movie gift card attached. (You'll need to find out their local movie chain)
Going to the movies as a family can be so pricey now, so a movie card for the kids helps the parents from having to spend $$ just to see a movie together. And it's an experience/outing so no clutter!! Win-win! Happy gift giving!
I love the idea of giving group gifts: a date to couples or outings to families. Last year my dad (at my suggestion) gave us a one-year family pass to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. (No dusting or picking up or losing small parts! No accumulation of stuff!) We all love the family time away together...especially when it's paid for...and each time we go, the boys remember how much their grandparents love them. Price-wise, it cost less than if he had gone out and bought individual gifts.
Or....go with something different this year. White Elephant gifts all around!
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