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Oooookay. Last week we talked about getting the house ready for the holidays. Hopefully you’ve gotten a start on that. I started thinking about it. That counts.

This week, let’s think about gifts. Yup, I just mentioned Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa gifts in early October. Hey, I saw a mummy standing next to the Christmas tree display at the store over 2 weeks ago. Ridiculous, but true.

Annnywho. The first thing I do to get ready for gift-giving season is to make a list of all the people I need to buy/create/steal for. Having a list helps me stay calm, remember everyone, and come up with a coherent plan. It also helps me save money because I’m getting things deliberately instead of impulse shopping.

Just kidding about the stealing thing.

Since we’re starting so early, now is a good time to consider making gifts. There are several levels of “making” gifts, by the way. For example: I could go to the fabric store and purchase fabric to sew all the nieces and nephews a new suit or dress. [Insert maniacal laughter here.] Or, I could go to the fabric store and purchase fleece to make all the nieces and nephews a new blanket (there are even kits). Or, I could go to my local super mart and purchase a fleece blanket and pair that with a coordinating pillow case and call that an official Snuggle Kit for Kids.

The point is that since we’re starting so early, there’s time to get creative and be economical at the same time. In today’s financial climate, economical is a good thing. About.com has a long list of resources for gifts in the 101 Great Gifts article. Family Education.com has a decent list of Hanukkah gift ideas. If you’re looking for a Kwanzaa theme, check out Family Education’s Kwanzaa page here.

A big bonus to the gift-making is getting the kids involved. Time spent together creating can strengthen parent-child relationships.

Something else to consider is what’s known as a Clutter-Free gift. Those of you familiar with the Fly Lady will recognize the term. The basic idea is to give gifts that people will actually use rather than just sit on a ledge somewhere collecting dust. I’m thrilled when relatives give my kids gifts that can be worn or consumed. Toys don’t get played with for very long and around about March they’re often broken or forgotten. I’ve seen my boys wear favorite shirts or snuggle with new blankets year-round. Gift cards allow them the freedom to choose something they really want and they allow the boys to save up for more expensive items. Something else I’ve considered is buying a family membership to a zoo or museum. There’s a long list of clutter-free gifts on the Fly Lady site (scroll down a bit to find the appropriate list).

Take a few minutes and write down all the people you’re planning to get gifts for. Don’t forget teachers and co-workers. Try to put down a gift idea or two for each person, and then keep the list handy for revisions as ideas pop up. Bring the list with you on shopping trips and look for sales. It can be helpful to buy things a few at a time over the next several weeks rather than all at once.

So how about you? Any neat gift ideas or tricks that you can share with the group?

by AmyL

Photo graciously provided by jek in the box, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved