The older I get the more I struggle with Christmas shopping. The idea of buying unwanted stuff for the people I love in order to show love and share joy at Christmas feels heavy. When I see novelty gifts and Christmas themed everything I can’t help but see landfill. Instead, I take great pains to shop with local stores and makers, buy books, clothes and other necessities, buy toys that will last, and handmake as many gifts and decorations as I can.
I have been focusing on a handmade Christmas for the last few years. I really appreciate keeping it simple - sticking with a few traditions that aren't overwhelming, leaving time for family and making considered purchases. I discovered the 'something they want, something they need, something to wear, something to read' gift mantra for children when my firstborn was a baby and have followed it ever since. I handmake gifts for family and friends, shop at beautiful stores like Biome, and bottles of wine are a trusty go-to gift. When family members ask for gift suggestions we include experiences first, like family passes to a zoo or museum.
I admit I used to go overboard with decorations, adding more tinsel, glitter and baubles every year. This year it felt good to bring out a few treasured items and then make ornaments with the children instead - like the aluminium embossed decorations, and the orange and clove slices above. I brought beeswax off a friend who keeps bees and made wax dipped candles as gifts for my Mama friends. The children made orange and clove pomanders as teacher gifts. We will decorate brown paper as gift wrap that can go straight into the recycling once its job is done. We plan to make our own bonbons too, using recycled cardboard tubes and replacing the plastic novelties and jokes that get cleared away with the mess at the end of the day with chocolate and quotes.
I like how this kind of gift giving and making feels.
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