I feel a bit embarrassed by the number of gifts that get exchanged each year at Christmas within our supposedly minimalistic home. That said, Christmas is our main gift-giving event of the year. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentines? Those often pass by without any cards or presents. We don’t do Easter baskets for the kids. Or grading presents. They live charmed lives and get special things throughout the year but, in general, Christmas is our big hurrah. Even birthdays are relatively subdued in terms of gifts.
This Christmas felt near-perfect with regard to presents. We all got nice, needed things – along with having some special wants fulfilled and a few surprises that were warmly received. A few people have mentioned enjoying/wanting a gift recap post, so here it comes. Perhaps it will give someone a few ideas for Christmas 2024?
ORNAMENTS
Our Christmas Eve tradition is to exchange ornaments – the result is we add a total of four new ornaments to our tree every year…which means we need to get bigger and bigger trees as the years go by! But it also means that the kids will leave home one day with a collection of sentimental ornaments to brighten the branches of their own trees in adulthood.
The kids also opened new-to-them (thrifted) jammies on Christmas Eve and spent the rest of the night (and most of Christmas Day) wearing these comfy clothes.
I didn’t take many pictures of our gifts because it’s tedious and everyone just wants to look at/use their new things, so I will mostly be listing/showing screen grabs of items.
A’s Gifts – Tween Girl
- Snowflake earrings (bought on clearance last Christmas)
- A homemade version of Telestrations (I printed off all sorts of words + used plastic sheet protectors in duotangs).
- A thrifted purse ($4) with a $20 bill to go toward her goal of buying Nike Airs. She isn’t overly careful with footwear, so I want HER to buy them. If she cares about them, great. If not, at least it’s her money she’s spent on them…not mine. *Update: she opted to buy a pair of fake Nikes (Fikes) for $15 at a thrift store. Atta girl.*
- Gorgeous (thrifted!) earrings + cash from my FIL.
- A homemade rug from my mom.
- A custom photo calendar. This is an annual tradition and costs about $30. I buy the extra-large size and pay the $2 upgrade to get glossy paper. She keeps them from year to year and it is one of her absolute favourite gifts to receive on Christmas morning.
- Mascara and eye makeup remover. She asked for makeup and this is where we settled. Mascara seems like a good first step.
- Jibbetz for her Crocs (she kindly shared some with her brother).
- Christmas decorations for her room from L (at set of stacking metal trees) – “purchased” at the holiday bazaar at school.
- Face wash + silicon face-washing pads (both from the Dollar Store)
- A Fitbit (from my sister; we don’t exchange gifts, but someone had given it to her and she didn’t need it so WIN WIN!)
L’s Gifts – Almost Double Digit Boy
- Two sets of Under Armour socks. He goes through socks like crazy and LOVES UA. They were $9.99 for 6 pairs at a local home goods store.
- A homemade pillow – A has just finished a sewing unit at school and she made him a lumbar pillow. It is so sweet and he loves it!
- A digital camera. He was SO excited about this ($10 at a thrift store).
- LEGO Panda Set. $5 at the DollarStore. He loves pandas. It’s just a little set, but lots of fun and he set it up on Christmas morning before dismantling it to make a “custom spider.”
- Pokemon. Way too many Pokemon cards (but we stocked up when they were on an incredible sale), and my FIL also gave him Pokemon cards along with cash.
- The card game Virus (my idea, but from my parents). My brother and sister-in-law introduced this game to our family and L LOVED it, so it was time to own it.
- Pokemon handbook. This garnered a lot of excitement, too.
Kid Stocking Stuffers
- Whoopie cushions (both kids; DollarStore – it’s tradition)
- Art supplies for A (markers, an art kit and a funky fidget spinner pen – all from the DollarStore)
- Notebooks, notepads – from DollarStore/thrifted (for A)
- Pokemon figurines, tins, and other paraphernalia (from DollarStore + thrifted; for L)
- Favourite chocolate treats
- Waterproof waterbottle stickers. These seem to be all the rage at school? I bought a $10 multi-pack off Amazon and just divided them between the two kids according to relevance/style.
- Fuzzy socks (DollarStore; A)
- Stars Wars hat (thrifted; L)
- A huge, fluffy hair towel (thrifted; A)
- Mini-stick + soft puck ($1 for both; thrifted)
- Thrifted books – Horrible Harry for L, Babysitter’s Club for A.
John – Husband/Papa Gifts
- A “family adventure” water thermos ($56 from Amazon). We never seem to have enough water when we go on family adventures and my sister has/loves something similar. The wide opening at the top allows you to add GIANT ice cubes which will keep water cold for days. I gave this to him as a surprise – as in he didn’t request this – but it’s a gift the whole family will use.
- Pine nuts. He loves pine nuts and hasn’t bought any in years…so I purchased a 1 kg bag ($33) and he is loving them!
- Beef jerky.
- A funky Christmas mug from L (“purchased” at the free school shopping bazaar).
- LEGO. Star Wars Lego is a treasured tradition and this year I got him the Yavin 4 Rebel Base set. He truly loves Star Wars and LEGO, and has a big LEGO set-up in our home office which brings him so much joy.
- Car washing brush kit (attaches to an electric drill). I may borrow these attachments to clean my bathtub! ($15 from Amazon).
- A visual compatibility book. A friend (thanks, Elaine!!) texted me a picture of this book last week and I went out of my way to buy it for John. It is hilarious and SO much fun to go through. It was a “gag” gift, but also very much on brand for how seriously we take toilet paper orientation. According to all the comparisons in this book (50+?), we are highly compatible <3.
- Socks. So. Many. Socks. John loves socks. This is wonderful for me at Christmas. I bought him two pair of Darn Tough (his favourite brand) – a regular sock, and then an ankle sock (a first for him via Darn Tough). I also found a pair of socks with famous Italian monuments at a thrift store for a few dollars.
- Hot sauce.
Grandparents
- Custom calendars for my parents + my FIL/MIL.
- Books for my Dad (all but one were free from Little Reading Libraries!). The only thing he really wants at Christmas is reading material. I had wrapped 9 books for his stocking; he opened one, started reading, and basically ignored the rest of his gifts (yes, this is the infamous father who often reads the last chapter first). The one I bought was a book I ordered before my father even mentioned being interested in it (a few weeks ago he casually mentioned this book in passing and said he wanted me to help him order it online; WHILE IT WAS SITTING UNDER THE TREE TEN FEET AWAY WRAPPED FOR HIM FOR CHRISTMAS ALREADY. I’m going ahead and giving myself a giant Daughter of the Year Gold Star for this one.) His excitement and surprise over receiving this gift made my day.
- Folding chair – thrifted for $8; discussed here
- Green bin for groceries ($7)
- Slippers for Mom + fuzzy vest (both thrifted; both under $5)
- Chewy candy for dad; chocolate for mom
- Fuzzy socks for mom (REALLY nice ones; thrifted for $1.50 a pair)
- Coffee for my FIL
- A new winter hat for my FIL
Elisabeth – Wife/Mama Gifts
- A leakproof Stanley. I drink a lot of water and love my Yeti, but not being leakproof is a nuisance for traveling. I already love this and sent John a link to the exact size and colour I wanted – and it matches my new Apple Watch strap ($3) that I had also requested. LOVE. THIS.
- I get new earrings every year for Christmas. Often they’re thrifted or from an equally inexpensive source, but this year John went above and beyond and got me the loveliest pair of pearl drops; my favourite part is they have a little tiny ruby embedded in the backings. It feels like I’m wearing a “secret” every time I put them on.
- A foot warmer. This was a thrifted find by John and a complete surprise. I now have this warming, massaging foot dohicky set up under my office desk! My feet are always cold down there (our office is in the basement).
- Paper sticky tabs for reading. I’ve been using a thrifted set John bought me YEARS ago for…years. I’m on to my last handful of sticky tabs and now have 1,600 new ones!! I think this whole set was about $15, so I don’t have to feel guilt about not reusing tabs (they never work as well the second time). I am so excited about this gift.
- A Tub Shroom. We have two people in the house with relatively long hair that shed like crazy. I am SO excited about this. I saw this at my sister’s place a few years ago and have wanted one ever since! I ordered and wrapped it for my own stocking – ha!
- A plug for our utility/laundry sink. I am disproportionately excited about this $1.25 present because now when I need to scrub dirty clothes in the laundry sink, I can plug it!
- Twizzlers, Brooksides; a Reese’s bar from A
- Sharpie Duo highlighters
- A white cake stand (A – from the school bazaar)
- A genuine – very nice! – leather wallet from L (free from the school bazaar; such a great find!)
- A homemade rug from my mom
- A BODUM milk frother from my FIL. We already LOVE this thing. Borderline obsessed? How did we live so long without a milk frother?!
- A Vespa keychain (another nod from Rome).
- Three gift cards: two from John (my favourite coffee shop + my favourite home goods store) and one joint card from my FIL to our favourite chain restaurant.
- A waterproof pillow for the bathtub/shower – on clearance at a home goods store. I am very excited about this gift!
And that’s a wrap. Phew. A very festive day filled with many gifts – but all items that filled a specific want or need.
Your turn. Favourite gift you gave this year? Favourite gift received? How do you feel about thrifted/second-hand gifts? Would you gift your spouse a book with toilet paper pictured on the front? Funniest gift you’ve ever received? Most memorable (good or bad!)?
J
It sounds like you had great gifts! I love the ornament idea.
The camera reminds me that we bought some underwater cameras (not digital, the disposable kind you get at the drug store) that we bought in Hawaii a couple of years ago…we should get those developed.
We have those mushroom drain things. In case you were unaware, they need to be cleaned pretty often or else they get moldy and gross. Ask me how I know.
Elisabeth
Ohhh – how fun to develop pictures that long after a trip. I hope you do a post all about what you find/see!
Noted about the drain. Thanks for the heads up. I will run it through the dishwasher every week, maybe?
Grateful Kae
Wow, these are great! I love how well intentioned they all are. I love giving great gifts but also find it highly stressful when I don’t really have enough free time to ponder, search, shop, etc (i.e. this year…). I do not enjoy gift giving when I feel I’m rushing or just picking something that only feels so-so (like I’m just giving something for the sake of giving something?) I really need to be better about jotting down ideas throughout the year as I think of things or see things out and about.
Great job all around to you guys!
Elisabeth
I think it really helps that we don’t exchange much outside our immediate family. That really streamlines who I have to think for/about.
Thanks for the encouragement – it felt like a good mix of thrifted/new and wants/needs.
Lisa’s Yarns
You did great on your gifts this year! That Stanley looks great. In hindsight I should have gotten something like that instead of the straw version I got. I can’t travel with the straw one so that is a big downside to it! And I travel so much!
We are gift minimalists, especially for the adults. So I got 2 presents and both were sweatshirts from my MIL. One I basically picked out, the other one was a surprise. Paul’s favorite gift was either the Mario Lego sets we got him or the chess board my MIL gifted to the family. Taco’s favorite gift was anything Paul is playing with. Ha. But in reality he loved his suitcase!
Elisabeth
I am already absolutely smitten with the Stanley and have started using my Yeti for coffee (I’ve used it almost exclusively for water the last 3 years). The Stanley is AMAZING and I definitely think I’ll drink even more water than normal because of it.
It’s hard to go wrong with LEGO. And we have a chess-lover in our household, too <3
NGS
I think I mentioned that my nephew asked for a giant Squishmallow for Christmas. We bought him one and he was so excited. He carried it around with him all day and my SIL has been sending us photos of him with it all week, so it was definitely a win!
You must have much nicer thrift shops than we do because all I ever find when I go are fast fashion clothing and broken appliances. I think I’d have to go farther than I am willing to drive to find nicer thrift places. I am honestly uncomfortably regifting/thrifting presents, but I have done it a handful of times. You seem to have it down to a science!
Elisabeth
Oh – I forgot that each of the kids got $1 thrifted Squishmallow’s too! Small ones. Yes, Squishmallows are a BIG THING and I can see why; how fun and cuddly. I’m so glad your gift brought him so much joy, even if it does fill half a car!
I know more people do NOT like regifting or thrifted gifts; I think it works for us because everyone in our immediate family loves thrifting. As a rule, I don’t give people OUTSIDE our family thrifted gifts! And I don’t tend to regift too many things because most of the gifts I receive I have asked for!
Nicole MacPherson
What lovely gifts! You’ll especially enjoy that foot warmer. What a great idea!
I received so many lovely things. J spent many hours drawing and creating bookmarks for me, which was so special. M gave me a book and a puzzle. The three of them gave me a snowman for my bracelet! I also received books, pjs, slippers, and earrings. A lovely perfect amount of thoughtful gifts!
Elisabeth
Love the bookmarks and the snowman charm. I hope you got your Yule Log, too?
Lindsay
I love your gifts and gifting philosophy! My favorite gift this year was edible; my guy knows the 27 Christmases I spent before we started spending Christmas together, I would end Christmas night at my grandparents’ house in Maine with a chocolate chip cookie and a bowl of my mom’s homemade Party Mix (Chex Mix). I asked him a couple of times the week before Christmas if I should make Party Mix, but never did because it would make SO MUCH and I was SO BUSY… then, when I opened a random box on Christmas, there was a bag of it! I don’t know how he pulled it off; I never smelled it, I never saw the extra cereal stashed away in the basement – but it was truly the best moment (even though I cried) and made my week so lovely <3 thanks for sharing your presents!!
Elisabeth
Oh, Lindsay. That is just so lovely and thoughtful and there are so many layers to this present. That he thought about it, made the time, did things secretly, and went to that effort. Those gifts that show thought and intention are the best.
I know this is a bittersweet time for your family as your mourn the loss of your mom, so I can only imagine how much having this familiar sensory reminder of her legacy and Christmases from the past is a memory you’ll carry with you for the rest of your life <3 Thanks for sharing this special moment with us.
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
I’m just sitting here wondering why we don’t have any Spiderman ornaments…guess I know what we’re getting next year.
Hubs got the boys some “advanced” Lego sets and they were a huge hit. These boys are never going to be too old for Legos.
Elisabeth
LEGO is the most consistent “hit” in my family on Christmas morning. Expensive, yes, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving. L, especially, will often spend hours working on homemade creations in the basement.
Jenny
I love presents! I firmly believe everyone should have presents to open on Christmas! My husband and I give each other gifts that are a mix of fun and practical- like this year I got him socks and t-shirts, at his request (and some other more fun items.) My son’s gifts are VERY practical- this year he gave me a knife sharpener and new bath mats, which I arguably needed. When he gets married I might have to have a little talk with him, as his wife might not enjoy this type of present, ha ha. But honestly- I love all presents. I think you did great with the kids! And, Legos. My son still gets Legos for Christmas! He’s in his room right now building the Lego “Jazz Club” that I got him.
Elisabeth
Fun and practical – this is my strategy, too. Since we don’t really do much with gifts the rest of the year, Christmas feels extra special.
LEGO is the most consistently beloved gift in my household.
Sabine
The Pokemon book looks very familiar (albeit in a translated version). The boy got it as a present for Sinterklaas (main presents event in December in NL). He is reading it constantly…
Elisabeth
Yes! L is reading his a lot too. It seemed like a good investment for a child who doesn’t love reading but is obsessed with Pokemon. You could say I had ulterior motives 🙂
San
For someone who says their home is minimalistic, there were a lot of gifts. Haha. But I know that you explained that you’re very intentional with your gifts and there’s not a lot of “clutter gifts” given. And you’re so smart about thrifting a lot of stuff. I love that everybody received so many things they loved and/or will use! And the ornaments are always fun and sentimental. What a great tradition.
BTW, we have a tubshroom and I LOVE it. For people with long hair, it’s a must-have!
Elisabeth
Yup. A lot of gifts, but we cycled out some things that we had outgrown and a LOT of items were thrifted “treasures.”
I’m loving the tubshroom so far.
Anne
What a sensible approach to gifts – practical, fun, low-cost, and encouraging giving between the kids. 🙂 I honestly don’t get the Stanley craze, but I do appreciate the need for a solid, leak-proof water bottle (since I have one that periodically leaks and… this makes me wonder why I have not yet replaced it??). My immediate family has made the shift to doing donations + (usually) one practical/consumable gift. It works for me, for sure. (Gifts. Not my love language by a mile!)
Elisabeth
I am absolutely loving my Stanley.