This year, I’m very focused on consumable Christmas gifts for our family. Let me explain why!
As most of you know, we had gotten to a point in life that we’d traded our gifts of toys and snuggly jammies for gifts like video and music equipment. I only kept a few toys around that I felt were worth saving for our future grandkids. AND THEN. Then God brought us more babies.
Woohoo and wow. The past two Christmases we have enjoyed building up our toy supply again. And not only that, for the first time ever, some of those toys are of the GIRLY variety.
Yeah, yeah, yeah – I know we shouldn’t put a gender label on toys for kids, but listen. My big boys never asked for a dollhouse for Christmas. Nor did they request baby dolls and lip gloss. Last year though, all of our little kids (both boys and girls) got a dollhouse. With a pink roof. The girls play lovingly with the dollhouse dolls and furniture. Meanwhile, the toddler boys strip the dollhouse dolls naked and send them sailing down the dollhouse staircase to see how far they’ll fly. Fun is had by all, so yes, dollhouses can be gender-neutral. But anyway…
This year, we don’t need many more toys.
As we’ve accumulated toys the past few years, we’ve also accumulated even more children. There are a lot of people living in our house – currently, ten to be exact. Lots of people take up lots of space, and so do their shoes, backpacks, clothes, and naked dollhouse dolls.
Also, our 7 and 6-year-olds struggle to share, put things away, and get mad when their “really important toy” that they leave out on the floor gets chewed on by a baby or hurled across the room by a toddler. I don’t want to give them more “stuff” that will ultimately create more conflict. So between that and the fact that – did I mention we have a lot of kids – this year, I’m very focused on:
Consumable Christmas Gifts
Am I only wrapping food and putting it under the tree this year? Nope! Not that kind of consumable. Though food and drinks definitely make great gifts and there will be some of that for sure!
As I’ve been planning for Christmas this year, I’ve been excited about how many items are really fun to open but can be used and not accumulated! Like craft projects. Office and school supplies. And yes, food and drinks.
DON’T TELL MY KIDS! But here’s what they’ll all be getting this year. It’s both fun and practical, and woohoo, not terribly expensive! Each person will get:
- Something to Make
- Something to Bake
- Something to Do
- Something to Chew
- Something to Drink
- Something with Ink
- Something to Wear
- Something to Share
Here are a few more details to help you understand what I’m planning:
- Something to Make -craft kits and supplies for the littles plus the adult girls, kitchen/foodstuff for the guys
- Something to Bake – fun muffin, cookie, or cake mixes (we almost never buy things like this so it will be a real treat for the kids!)
- Something to Do – a book to read, a game to play, a puzzle to put together
- Something to Chew – favorite snacks
- Something to Drink – hot cocoa, coffee, Martinelli’s, tea
- Something with Ink – new pens, markers, or sharpies
- Something to Wear – anything from clothes to gloves to socks, depending on what they need
- Something to Share – something they can use with the whole family (littles) or with friends at college and beyond (bigs)
There will be 14 of us at Christmas this year with Matt and me, all of our kids, plus the oldest two boys’ wives! I am having SO MUCH FUN putting all of these gifts together!!!
Tell me who you’re shopping for and what your gift plans are. This is so much fun!!!
Some more consumable gift ideas:
We go through cases of applesauce pouches at our house. But these Brainiac snacks are a step above and would make a great stocking stuffer that your family would consider a great treat! Get free shipping on orders over $35, which makes this even better!
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Our friends at MadeOn skin care have been helping people fix their dry skin with their 3-ingredient Beesilk lotion bars for years. I LOVE using their products, and all of my kids do too. That’s why I put several lotion bars and lip balms in all my kids’ stockings. I’m going to buy them anyway, might as well use them as gifts, right?!
THIS LINK will get you $3.00 off the regular-sized lotion bar. Plus use the code: HH10 for an additional 10% off your entire order!
