The hectic Christmas season has descended upon us, and I have a few tips to save you time and sanity this month.
1. Instead of winding your Christmas tree lights around and around the tree, visually cut your tree in half vertically, and wind the lights from bottom to top, covering only the left side first, then the right side. (What a cool tip! I didn't invent it; I just heard about it.) Saves time and frustration, especially if you have a big tree. Or don't put up a tree this year and just enjoy everyone else's for a change. You can skip a year (or two, or twenty). You can still celebrate the birth of Christ without a decorated tree, you know.
2. If you haven't stored your summer clothes yet, and if you live where it's cold and snowy (like me), now is the time to throw out the worn, torn, dirty, or ratty summer items, and then store the remaining warm weather clothes somewhere away from your cold weather clothes. This will make room in your closet and dresser(s) for winter clothes and boots. More room means fewer wrinkled clothes, without your typical morning tug-of-war as you aggressively extract a long sleeve blouse from the crammed clothes hanging rod. Plus, you'll have more room for hiding Christmas presents in your closet.
3. Don't give clutter. Clutter is stuff that won't be used or enjoyed by the recipient. That pretty much describes 90% of the stuff on your shopping list. Pitch the list in the trash and start over. Think of only NON-CLUTTERING gifts: consumable gifts, really useful gifts, and things the recipients have actually expressed a desire to own.
4. It's kinda late to start early, so don't beat yourself up about not being so organized this Christmas, with your card list, or gift list, or (lack of) twelve dozen cookies cooling on your countertops. The traditions that Americans have created to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ are astoundingly complex. And most of them were set when women stayed home all day, caring for kids and (a small) home, without working outside jobs, commuting in maddening traffic, battling the daily onslaught of advertising messages to "buy buy BUY!,"or having to deal with the insanely complex life we call "the new millennium." Meh. Let it go. Jesus is more concerned with the state of your heart and spirit than with the state of your door wreath or gift list. Time to declutter your life of unreasonable expectations: the ones you have of yourself.
Have a blessed pre-Christmas week!
Showing posts with label Gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gifts. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Saturday, November 21, 2009
HOW TO GIVE BLESSINGS, NOT CLUTTER
'Tis the season to shop for useless gifts that the recipients will pretend to like and hide in a high closet shelf once the holidays are over.
That about sums up America's holiday gift-giving frenzy, which officially kicks off in six days.
But it doesn't have to be that way this year...or ever again, as far are you are concerned. It's time to declutter your gift-giving, starting this season. Here are some great ideas for giving smashing gifts the recipients will adore:
1. Ask them what they want! This is by far the easiest way to ensure that the recipient loves the gift you give her. After all, she picked it out.
2. Look at their hobbies and interests for clues. If your best friend loves the cinema, give her a gift card to her favorite cinema and one for a coffee shop afterward. If your mother collects bells, pick one up to add to her collection. Basic idea, but it's amazing how few people actually follow this anymore because it seems so boring or predictable: The old "give dad a tie" kind of gift. Hey, if your dad wears ties, what's wrong with giving him another one?
3. Give gifts to honor their values. Make a donation in her name to her favorite charitable cause. No clutter, much love, and the world becomes a better place instead of a more cluttered one.
4. Give the gift of time spent together. Take a child to go ice skating or to the zoo. Bring a friend to see The Nutcracker. Take an angst-y teen to a movie and buy him the huge bucket of popcorn and an extra-large soda. Take an elderly person to see the ice sculpture contest or garden Christmas light display. Drive the carpool for a bunch of friends to attend a craft show and bring along a few mugs of hot cocoa and iced sugar cookies.
5. Give a disposable or consumable gift. Things such as cut flowers, a plate of gingerbread cookies, a tin of fudge you made yourself, a poinsettia, a jar of exotic preserves or jelly, or a fresh evergreen door wreath will still honor the recipient and leave no trace of clutter after the holidays.
6. Make something. We have become a nation of consumers instead of producers. This year, try making just one of the gifts you give. There are so many ideas out there, and more inside that creative brain of yours. Here are just a few ideas to get your creative gears in motion: a set of six handmade greeting cards, a small scrapbook, pumpkin bread, fresh salsa, a quilted wall hanging, a wreath from trimmings in your yard, a plant you started from a cutting, a beaded necklace, a silk screened scarf, a photo you took and framed yourself, a hand-bound journal, pressed and framed botanicals, felt beret, knitted or crocheted scarf, hand-poured candles, a CD of photos, a wind chime, a 12-month calendar you designed on your computer, and a bird house you hammered together yourself.
7. Subscribe. Purchase a year's subscription to a periodical based on the recipient's interests (bass fishing, gardening, simplicity). There are thousands of periodicals in this country covering almost every conceivable topic. Or purchase a subscription to a magazine you BOTH enjoy, and that will give you more to talk about each time you see eachother.
8. Give a service. Pay to have your brother's house cleaned since the arrival of his first child this year. Arrange a massage, pedicure, or hair cut and style for your best friend. Repot all your mother's scraggly plants. Take your husband's car to get the oil changed (not very romantic, but most busy men will secretly love the fact that they don't have to crawl under their car and do it themselves for a change).
9. Give a party. Truly, the easiest way to celebrate your friends' presence in your lives is to give them a holiday party. Make it an open house on a Saturday like I do, and people can drop by when it's convenient for them. Serve hot cider and cocoa, gingerbread cookies, crudites, and some savory little treats, and bless all your friends in one delightful afternoon.
This holiday season, give gifts of blessings, not clutter! Merry Christmas!
That about sums up America's holiday gift-giving frenzy, which officially kicks off in six days.
But it doesn't have to be that way this year...or ever again, as far are you are concerned. It's time to declutter your gift-giving, starting this season. Here are some great ideas for giving smashing gifts the recipients will adore:
1. Ask them what they want! This is by far the easiest way to ensure that the recipient loves the gift you give her. After all, she picked it out.
2. Look at their hobbies and interests for clues. If your best friend loves the cinema, give her a gift card to her favorite cinema and one for a coffee shop afterward. If your mother collects bells, pick one up to add to her collection. Basic idea, but it's amazing how few people actually follow this anymore because it seems so boring or predictable: The old "give dad a tie" kind of gift. Hey, if your dad wears ties, what's wrong with giving him another one?
3. Give gifts to honor their values. Make a donation in her name to her favorite charitable cause. No clutter, much love, and the world becomes a better place instead of a more cluttered one.
4. Give the gift of time spent together. Take a child to go ice skating or to the zoo. Bring a friend to see The Nutcracker. Take an angst-y teen to a movie and buy him the huge bucket of popcorn and an extra-large soda. Take an elderly person to see the ice sculpture contest or garden Christmas light display. Drive the carpool for a bunch of friends to attend a craft show and bring along a few mugs of hot cocoa and iced sugar cookies.
5. Give a disposable or consumable gift. Things such as cut flowers, a plate of gingerbread cookies, a tin of fudge you made yourself, a poinsettia, a jar of exotic preserves or jelly, or a fresh evergreen door wreath will still honor the recipient and leave no trace of clutter after the holidays.
6. Make something. We have become a nation of consumers instead of producers. This year, try making just one of the gifts you give. There are so many ideas out there, and more inside that creative brain of yours. Here are just a few ideas to get your creative gears in motion: a set of six handmade greeting cards, a small scrapbook, pumpkin bread, fresh salsa, a quilted wall hanging, a wreath from trimmings in your yard, a plant you started from a cutting, a beaded necklace, a silk screened scarf, a photo you took and framed yourself, a hand-bound journal, pressed and framed botanicals, felt beret, knitted or crocheted scarf, hand-poured candles, a CD of photos, a wind chime, a 12-month calendar you designed on your computer, and a bird house you hammered together yourself.
7. Subscribe. Purchase a year's subscription to a periodical based on the recipient's interests (bass fishing, gardening, simplicity). There are thousands of periodicals in this country covering almost every conceivable topic. Or purchase a subscription to a magazine you BOTH enjoy, and that will give you more to talk about each time you see eachother.
8. Give a service. Pay to have your brother's house cleaned since the arrival of his first child this year. Arrange a massage, pedicure, or hair cut and style for your best friend. Repot all your mother's scraggly plants. Take your husband's car to get the oil changed (not very romantic, but most busy men will secretly love the fact that they don't have to crawl under their car and do it themselves for a change).
9. Give a party. Truly, the easiest way to celebrate your friends' presence in your lives is to give them a holiday party. Make it an open house on a Saturday like I do, and people can drop by when it's convenient for them. Serve hot cider and cocoa, gingerbread cookies, crudites, and some savory little treats, and bless all your friends in one delightful afternoon.
This holiday season, give gifts of blessings, not clutter! Merry Christmas!
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