I’m not buying many gifts this year. It’s probably a little late in the season for you to be able to shift gears like this but I strongly encourage you to try this next year. I can not believe the difference it’s made. For the first time in a long time I have been looking forward to, and am enjoying the Christmas season.
I would love to tell you that I’ve made this choice out of some really smart and strong part of myself that knew it would be better for my family if we were less materialistic. I know that and I believe it, but I don’t know if I would have been able to make this choice if it weren’t for the state of the economy right now. It’s easier to tell people you’re not giving gifts when the news is all about people losing their jobs and homes.
I know that as I child we couldn’t wait to open the gifts and probably asked a hundred times when it would be time, but I don’t remember many of the gifts I received. I do remember making cookies with my grandma though, and trying to spy on the adults when we were supposed to be in bed. Those memories are more valuable than the Big Wheel I got. If there’s any upside to the things that are going on with the economy right now it’s that more of us will be collecting memories this year instead of presents.
In this post I have some alternatives to exchanging gifts that you can use with your friends or extended family. My next one will have ideas to make Christmas day fun for your kids with fewer gifts.
WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE
My husband’s family does this. For those of you who haven’t heard of this before, you simply find something in your house that you don’t want any more and wrap it like you mean it. You can bring something funny or useful, it’s up to you. At the exchange the first person selects a wrapped “gift” out of the pile and opens it. The next person can choose to take an opened gift or select an unwrapped gift. If someone takes your gift you get to choose another. It goes on and on like this until all of the gifts have been opened.
That’s how we do it. If you Google “white elephant” you’ll probably find some other variations. It’s free and creates some great memories. You would be amazed at some of the things we’ve all fought over. And I don’t think anyone will forget the year Aunt Florence wrapped Uncle Gabe’s false teeth. He had passed away several years earlier and when they were opened she said, “That’s the last thing I had of his.” That family is sick. Those teeth come back every year.
We do a separate one for the younger kids. We used to have them bring something nice, but last year we let them bring funny gifts, too. They were so excited to see each others faces when someone opened a Barbie with one leg. Just make sure you set expectations so they aren’t expecting something they’re actually going to want.
GIVE
My extended family decided not to exchange gifts among the adults this year and instead chose to donate the money we would have spent to a worthy cause. This is the first year so we’re not terribly organized but I’m sure you can come up with some great causes. One idea is to pool the money, decide on a few favorite charities then let the children decide where the money should go. This gets them involved and excited about helping others.
BEST GIFT AWARD
I know what you’re thinking but no, this is not going to encourage everyone to see who can spend the most money and get the most outrageous gift. This award is for the best cheap gift. It’s probably best for this one if you draw names. I don’t know about you, but it sometimes takes a lot to come up with a really unique, inexpensive gift. I can’t imagine having to come up with something for everyone in our extended family. Because everyone’s idea of cheap is different, you might want to decide on a dollar amount and no gift can cost more than that. I’ve posted some ideas here and will continue to add ideas as I find them.
Make or buy a trophy or some other type of award for the winner, or maybe use a treasured family heirloom, and let the winner keep it for a year. Or skip the award and just all decide to give gifts that cost less than $5 or are free or… the idea is to stop trying to outspend each other.
MARSHMALLOW GUNS
One year my mother in law bought a bunch of little guns that shot ping pong balls. This is the family who re-gifts Uncle Gabe’s teeth every year, remember? Imagine the fun they had with ping pong ball guns. I haven’t been able to find those ping pong ball guns since then, but I think I’ve found something just as good, if not better – Marshmallow Guns. Softer, yummier and fun to make! (Cheaper, too!)
I’ve found several good tutorials.
This tutorial includes instructions for a quick loader. Everyone wants a quick loader, right? I do.
This tutorial has a picture of a PVC cutting tool I like. It’s easier and cleaner than a hack saw.
This tutorial has a nice breakdown of the price for the materials needed.
You may want to pre-cut the pieces and let everyone assemble their own. These can be painted and decorated, too. Have fun! (If you don’t think your family will have fun with these, take a look at the pictures of this family having fun.)
