A hearty Thanksgiving to my American friends who are celebrating Thanksgiving today! Although I am Canadian, I believe that Thanksgiving is the official kick-off in the US to everything holiday, and now the run up to Christmas begins. However, many of us may be feeling that we are not quite ready for the season. Be that as it may, as soon as the calendar turns to December, we start to anticipate, contemplate, and plan our upcoming seasonal holiday time. When we start to think about the holidays, often these thoughts are cluttered with so many events, dinners, and perhaps the one thing that may weigh on all of us - GIFTS. AAARRRGGGHH What to get who, where to get it, who to get for…We all love getting and receiving gifts but today I want to talk about decluttering this gift giving.
Lets start with host gifts, which personally, I find delightful to both give and receive. If you like to be organized and always have these on hand, decide on something that you personally love to receive and then just go for it - buy a bunch. The one thing about gifts is, if you would not want to receive it yourself, DO NOT buy it for someone else. Shitty gifts? You know the stores I am referring to - avoid these places. Invest in some quality gifts for your loved ones - a beautiful bottle of champagne, an incredible kitchen item that they will love and use. There are so many ideas but when we simply buy crap items we contribute to unnecessary clutter everywhere, so give these host gifts lots of thought :) If you are a real keener, you can even wrap each one with some lovely tissue and ribbon and have them ready to go - simply a grab away!
Turning to other gift buying, when you start to assemble your list of people that you are planning to buy gifts for, the same principles apply. I know for Christmas there is something to having many items under the tree, but I promise you, people would rather have one great gift than 5 so-so ones, so simplify and keep the ‘less is more’ adage. You may be wise to really go over your list and focus in on those that buying for makes sense; if something does not make sense then maybe move on.
PERSONAL PET PEEVE ALERT - Ok, I am just going to say it. I HATE THOSE UGLY GIFT BAGS!!! There is a great saying that we eat with our eyes - the more appealing our food is the better it will taste. Well I think the same applies to gifts - when we receive a gift, the presentation is really important. Don’t jam your lovely and thoughtful gift into a re-used or ugly gift bag - buy some gorgeous tissue/wrap and ribbon and you will have a beautiful item to give to your loved ones. It makes such a difference and is so easy to achieve - you may also give someone something that they can re-use and thus not contribute to excess wrapping clutter!
The goal with gift giving is in line with decluttering - keep it simple and beautiful and I promise you, you will have a wonderful holiday that is not only fun but maybe even stress free!
