Make Christmas Shopping Simple
Posted by Kevin McKee on December 20, 2011Holy crap! Christmas is [insert number of days until Jesus' birthday] days away and I haven’t gotten anything for [insert distant family member that you probably shouldn't be buying a gift for, but feel obligated for some reason] yet!!!
Sound familiar?
I’ve done it. You probably have too. Christmas shopping is hard.
But it doesn’t have to be.
What if I told you that there’s one present that is good for about 97% everyone you know? Except in rare circumstances, you will be completely prepared for Christmas, birthdays, and any other occasion where you find yourself needing to give a gift.
This is going to blow your mind, so make sure you are sitting down…
Make Christmas Presents for Everyone
Remember when you were 6 years old and you wanted to give someone a present but you didn’t have any money? What did you do?
You made one.
I remember nailing five pieces of scrap wood together into a “breakfast in bed table” that I gave my mom. I gave it to her with breakfast and everything one day and she pretended to love it. Heck, maybe she even did love it. But the point is I gave her a present and didn’t have to buy anything.
Now obviously no one wants a crappy piece of furniture made from scrap wood (especially if it comes from an adult), but you can still make presents for everyone. And the best part is you can make everyone the same present.
Find a Hobby You Can Give Away
About a year ago I had this brilliant idea. I’m going to learn how to make homemade soda. I bought all the equipment, purchased some ingredients, and found myself a homemade soda recipe book. I used all that stuff to make a gallon of root beer. It was absolutely terrible.
I was so discouraged that I haven’t tried again since. But imagine if I had kept trying. Imagine if I actually came up with a homemade soda recipe that was actually delicious. You better believe I would be making tons of it, bottling it up, and giving it away as Christmas presents.
photo credit: flickr.com/rockinfree
I could spend a few bucks and create a homemade label with my face on it. Then I’d make the soda, slap on a label, and give everyone a six pack of Kevin McKee’s Sassafras Specialty.
It would be fun to make, cheap, and (as long as it’s good) something people actually enjoy.
Homemade soda is just one option. There are lots of homemade drinks (wine, beer, interesting combinations of Kool-Aid) that you can give away. If you have a hobby of making crafty stuff that doesn’t look like it was made in a 2nd grade art classroom, you can give your arts and crafts away as home decorations or ornaments. Maybe you make super-delicious cookies and you can give those away. Anything you can make that doesn’t suck is fair game.
It doesn’t really matter what it is. Just learn to make something kinda cool, package it up to look pretty, and give it away to everyone. It removes all the stress out of, “What should I buy for [someone]?”
You’re welcome.
This is the truth. My wife gives wine to people every Christmas (well the ones who drink wine). She makes it at her part time job (at a winery). She is actually getting really good at it. It also helps that she GETS PAID to make this wine.
The winery wants all their employees to be knowledgable in the entire wine making process so they pay them to make wine. Its a win-win.
Along with wine we usually give cookies or some other “candy” type thing we have made.
It always seems to go over well, of course there is alcohol involved so that may help!
I’m rocking the homemade presents this year – except one (a cool helicopter for my nephews that I hope I get to play with). It’s an easy way to save a lot of money.
Do you still have all the soda equipment? If you do, keep trying for next year. Also, root beer is really hard to master – try something easy like grape or orange, and make sure all your equipment is super clean. Hope that helps.
I took painting courses in college and one Christmas I gave everyone still-lifes that I made, and they all now have them on display. Best Christmas ever. Free for me, well-appreciated gifts for them. If I had the room, I’d keep painting!
I made all my gifts this year! It was sooo fun, it kept me in the holiday spirit all month, and it kept me from going out and spending money because I was always at home crafting and drinking warm drinks and watching holiday flicks.
My favorite art supply find this year was at my local comic book store, where they were selling surprise bags of comic books, 10 books for $5. I have decorated everything from hand mirrors to magnets with the one surprise bag that I got!
(I also found a bunch of awesome recipes this year… My coworkers were thrilled that I tried the treats out on the office before committing to the candies I made for my family.)
This year and last year, I put together a Hannukah themed ornament for several members of my (culturally diverse) family. Each year, I put my son’s handprint on the felt and spent a few hours sewing up the star or dreidel. My gentile relatives have been putting them on their Christmas trees, and my Jewish relatives have been hanging them in the windows. It’s been a fun and easy gift to send out and I hope in a few years my son will be interested in working on it with me.
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Thank you for sharing with us. Keep it up