Christmas in my family is a huge deal. We exchange presents on Christmas Eve, for our Secret Santa during dinner. Then on Christmas morning everyone gives everyone a present. We plan the dinner for months, and we know that even if Mom and Dad are hosting dinner and both my SILs ask what can they bring, and Mom will tell them that they need not bring anything, one of them will show up with an appetizer and the other one will bring dessert and a salad dressing. And every year Mom will say that "this year I won't put up a big Nativity Scene" she'll put up a little one at the start of December but two days before The Dinner she'll put up the big (and I mean BIG one). You know, all those little things...
This year, however, Mom asked all of us not to get presents for everyone, cause money is really tight. If I know my brothers they will show up laden with presents, albeit not as big or spectacular as other years. Little old me, however, is SO broke that I'm going the eco route: I'm making/upgrading/recycling my presents.
Here's what I've got so far:
For my two nieces and my daughters I've made cloth dolls, all but the wigs made with materials I already had, and recycling a kind of gruffy looking jacket for some of the clothes.
For my three nephews: I've got tons of old magazines so I'm making each of them a ball shaped papier mache piggy bank, one painted like a base ball and two like soccer balls with their favorite teams logos painted on them.
For my two SILs, I've booked them for manicures and pedicures at my cousin's salon (she's great at it) and got a great rate !
For my three brothers: I got them each a wine bottle, and for two of them I got a deck of cards and game chips, that cost me $15 for each. For my other brother, who doesn't like to play cards, I want to look up some early Disney cartoons DVD's (he loves the look of vintage cartoons of any kind, and this way I can later borrow them! Lol!)
Now... I have to figure out what to get my husband and my parents!!! Have any ideas Of eco and budget friendly presents???
Enviado desde mi oficina móvil BlackBerry® de Telcel
8 comments:
Sounds like you are still going to give great presents no matter what. I always appreciated the handmade, thoughtful gifts the most. Dolls and piggy banks. You can't go wrong with those.
xxxx
Those are great gifts, CT! Actually, those are the kinds of gifts I think people should give. It shows how much you know them, even if it didn't cost as much as other gifts in the past.
I'm passing my mom ideas so she can spread the word. As an adult, sometimes my family doesn't know what to give me because they don't see me very often. (Besides my parents, all of my family is at least 2 hours away).
Once my aunt, a home ec teacher and master seamstress, gave me a small box of sewing notions: interfacing, pins, covered button maker. That was the best! She could have gotten it from her own stash, and I didn't care. :-)
If I come across other ideas for you, I'll let you know.
Abrazos,
Libby
p.s. And yes, those recipes sound great. Can't wait.
Uhm, sorry peeps, the first sentence was supposed to be a question but I dumbed out. And from my phone I cannot edit my posts.
Kar, thanks! I've usually tried to get stuff I know they will care about. Have you any special tradition at Xmas??? I really am curios to know all of you way better!
Libs: that sewing notions box is such a darling idea! It shows that your aunt is a great teacher when she has ideas like that! Actually I was telling Ale the other day that I suspect I would be very happy if I became a home ec teacher. Too bad there's no such thing here in Mexico. Each grade teacher gives ALL the subjects including a sort of craft class. What are you getting your family?
You're very creative and clever. I like what you've come up with so far. I'm sure you'll think of something for the rest.
sounds as though you'll have a wonderful time !
My immediate family doesn't have a traditional "tradition" so to speak. We have a church service at 10 A.M., then my family has dinner together. We sometimes give gifts to each other, but it's not required or necessarily expected. We try and surprise each other throughout the year, according to our income. Christmas has become very commercial and my family doesn't want you to feel like you have to go broke trying to buy expensive gifts for that one day. But still, gifts are nice.
My mom, a retired librarian, ALWAYS gives books. ALWAYS. It's so neat because you'll find some book in your seat at the table when you're not looking. And the book will always reflect something you love. She's a good listener like that. Somebody else's gift might be to do something for you, like clean your car with no complaint.
After we have our own Christmas, we go to visit our extended family. Remember all of my family is far, so we either go to my dad's brothers' houses on the way to my mom's mom's house or vice versa. That trip takes about 4 hours or so one way. When we make stops, we don't get to my grandma's until really late, so we often miss a lot of people and have to make up for it on the next major holiday.
We give gifts to my extended family because they wouldn't understand our "tradition." lol My grandma gives you either a pack of socks or a pack of dish cloths. She keeps giving you the same gift until you tell her to switch. hee hee hee. Mom gives books to everybody. Dad gives gifts like bags of nuts or a head of collard greens. Cousins usually give candles or fragrances. Sometimes candies or gift cards. Sometimes music. Once a cousin donated money to the AIDS in Africa project in our names.
No matter what though, we always have lots and lots of food! Everybody's loud. There's lots of laughing and singing. And meeting new people.
HTH! :-)
Your Christmas plans sound wonderful. Thanks for dropping in to say hello. I've missed you too!
Make a quilt from your daughters' skirts etc for your parents. It doesn't have to be fancy. Just cut up squares the same size. The quilt can be tied rather than quilted and with each tie (get the whole family involved) have everyone pray for your parents health.
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