Minnesota Parent turned to its friends on Facebook and asked the question, “What’s your holiday gift giving philosophy?” Here’s what you had to say.
The holidays have always been a stress for our family in terms of gift giving. My husband has seven siblings, and I have five. We have three kids and don’t make a lot of money. From early on in our marriage, we decided we would do a four-page family newsletter to keep them updated about our lives, and include many photos. We have done that for 10 years. Not sure we will do it this year, since we now connect on Facebook, but we still feel the holidays should be more about giving expensive gifts.
— Leticia Snow, Le Sueur
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I am trying not too purchase too much, but instead make some keepsake gifts for my kids. I plan to make story blocks, puzzle blocks, block stilts, sock monkeys, and a hopscotch mat for the kids. I am even creating art for my husband’s home office and a miniature one for his work office as a present from me. [I] also plan to make handprint towels for the grandmas and silhouette pictures for the grandpas.
I am trying to put meaning back into the holidays rather than
a pricetag.
— Jessica Shallow-Miller
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I loathe the stress of gift giving and work hard to make it non-stressful by making our own presents or giving gifts that are well thought out!!!
— Quendy Raymond
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We love to give thoughtful, homemade gifts to our closest friends and family. For the past several years, we have made photo books (via MyPublisher or iPhoto) for everyone on our list. We take a lot of photos during the year and arrange our favorites in a beautiful hardcover or paperback bound book. They are incredibly easy to make, just drop the photos into a layout, add a few captions and hit the print button. The books are a big hit and fun way to share family photos.
— Heidi Brandenburg Pierson
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I’ve moved to gift cards. That way they can get what they want, when they want and that way I won’t run into it at the thrift store in six months!
— Krista Boston
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We also give photo books (we love Shutterfly — they usually have great promotions for discounts/shipping) — the grandparents, uncles/aunts love them and it is a great way to remember the year. As a family, we also make a different Christmas ornament every year to give as gifts (ex: used white recycled paper pulp in angel molds, dried, then painted with glitter glue) and always bake an assortment of cookies/treats to give to family/friends.
— Kathleen Karl Taylor
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