Innovative Ideas for Christmas Gifts
This year, we're trying out two ideas – revolutionary ones, I'd say, at least for me and my family – related to Christmas gifts. Two ideas through which we're trying to reduce expenses, waste, packaging, unwanted or unsuitable items… and at the same time, we're trying to ease some of the pressure of gift-buying, which, let's face it, no matter how much we enjoy giving, during the winter holidays, things just get crazy.
In our case, at least… that’s how I felt things have been for the past 15 years. We are a family neither big nor small… But we have brothers, sisters, nephews, parents. And at Christmas, when we usually gather and exchange gifts, we typically meet with about 14-18 people. Depending on everyone's availability, from year to year.
So, practically, every year, each one of us buys, just for Christmas Eve, 6, 8, 10, if not even 12 or 14 gifts. So, in total, on a single evening, dozens of gifts are unwrapped. Not to mention 100. Enormous.
For years, we had a Santa Claus – the same Santa Claus – who came to us on Christmas Eve. And we had a whole production around him. The gifts would gather in the trunk of my car, Santa would arrive, I'd give him all the gifts, and then he'd knock on the door. We always had so many gifts that they wouldn't fit into any ordinary Santa's sack. Not even two. Not even after he got an assistant to help him.
The solution we resorted to over the years was a large, burgundy duvet cover, which looked like a sack and could fit all the gifts. But was that really the problem? That the sack was too small?
Lots of money. Lots of packaging. Effort to search. Effort to wrap. Trips around town. Stress. "I haven't got everything I need." "I haven't had time to wrap," etc. And that's not to mention the children, who received the most gifts, but who no longer truly enjoyed any of them. They didn't appreciate them anymore. They couldn't unwrap one before another one came. And another one…
I didn't like this movie. It wasn't normal. It wasn't natural.
And as much as I love giving, bringing joy, expressing my appreciation, love, and respect through gifts, this path was not right. It was not the way.
So… what did I do?
Idea 1 - Family Secret Santa
This year, I proposed to my family members to try the Secret Santa method. Which is practiced in companies, at school, among friends. Why not apply it in the family?
This method involves making tickets with the name of each participant at the reunion. Each participant draws a ticket. And will only buy a gift for the person on that ticket. Not for everyone.
So you buy one gift, instead of 10.
Of course… it's possible that grandparents might be exempt, if they absolutely insist on getting gifts for all their grandchildren.
Possibly, if you have children, you might have to get gifts for them too, so you'll still get 2, 3, 4 gifts. But that's 4, not 14.
I'm not sure how the idea was received. I don't know if everyone was on board. We'll see exactly if and how it will be implemented. But I could sense a slight hint of relief in their tone. Everyone is overwhelmed by this problem at some point, I believe.
We'll see how it turns out! I'll announce the results after Christmas.
So, this is revolutionary idea number 1. I have another idea, meant to spare us from inappropriate, unwanted gifts, wrong sizes, repetitions, etc.
Idea 2 - Wishlist
The second revolutionary idea, at least for me and my family, is to create a wishlist. An honest, sincere list of gifts we'd like to receive, so we don't end up with useless or disliked items, or clothes with unsuitable sizes, or too much glitter, or… or… or…
And of course it's awkward to send someone a list of what you want. Especially if you implement revolutionary idea number 1, Secret Santa, because you wouldn't even know who to send the list to.
But… I found an ideal app for this. Made by… my husband… who is on a sabbatical after many years in a corporation and is fulfilling several dreams.
And this is one of them. An application to help people make the most beautiful and appropriate gifts.
The app is called Gift Adviser. It's just launched, it's still a beta version, there's still a lot of work to be done on it, but this wishlist thing actually works. I, for one, have made a pretty long wishlist… Not that I expect to receive more than one, but at least someone has options to choose from…
And as a solution for my family, I've given this app to everyone who knows how to work with apps and the internet. Except for the older ones. Everyone has created a public profile, so that Secret Santa, the secret Santa, has inspiration.
Brilliant?
That's what I think too. At least in theory... Let's see if the idea will succeed in practice.
I'll keep you posted!
I want you to remember this: Secret Santa + Wishlist = LOVE
Less waste, less consumerism, less pollution, a smaller carbon footprint, a more sustainable, more responsible Christmas, more focused on what truly matters. Quality time spent together.
