12 Days To A Clean Christmas
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It’s here, the Christmas Season! This year I have created a curated list of a few of my favourite everyday items, some homemade, some from small businesses, in hopes that you can find a gift that leaves you and your recipient feeling inspired!
Gift giving hasn’t always been a huge part of my Christmas experience. Growing up Christian, our family focus hasn’t been on gifts and they were not the highlight of our Christmas morning. Once I reached highschool my family almost entirely threw this concept out the window. We were always guaranteed a curated book selection from my mom and a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, plus a real orange(balance is key), from my dad. Sometimes we would bring in a few other treats like magazines and new socks but a tree full of gifts wasn’t a thing for us. I do remember however, a few years where I only bought second hand gifts with serious intention, such as a giant stuffed Sting Ray for my sister who had been stung the year before ;) It was fun to search out unique gifts that made everyone laugh, or were actually quite useful and second hand- also gave us something fun to open and kept in my very low budget!
Over the years my family has added a few things and with kidlets and spouses joining the family, change is always welcomed. I do have a lot of fun selecting a few key items for my secret santa’s each year and try to buy as conscious as I can , considering where I am spending my money and how I could better my choices in an affordable way! I get it believe me, Amazon is affordable and makes getting gifts across the country much easier! But in case you haven’t heard, it' makes it pretty hard for those smaller producers. As I now officially run a small business, I am truly understanding the work that goes into each and every aspect of operating a business, and many of these small producers depend on Christmas sales!
Gift-giving can be unavoidable with parties and families, so instead of rejecting the idea entirely, I have created a curated list of some of my favourite gift ideas. Each gift had to fit into at least 1 or 2 of my categories
Locally Made/Small Business
Conscious of Environmental Impact
Homemade
Educational or Supportive of a Good Cause
I hope that with this upcoming ‘Clean Christmas’ list, you can discover and be inspired to create some beautiful gifts for your friends and family. And hopefully in the process you can support a small business, educate on a cause you care about, learn a new skill or recipe and of course remember the reason for the season (surprise-it isn’t gift giving).
I call this my ‘Clean Christmas’ list because it’s catchier than ‘list of items that make you think before you buy’ but mainly because the items I am focusing on, encourage us to choose ‘clean’ based on the list above, but really do make us think a little bit before we buy! Each of these gift ideas are items I use daily, hit one of the categories that I consider to make it ‘clean’ and are also USEFUL as in the recipient will actually use this gift and may even create new healthy habits!
Each day over the next 12 days I will be sharing a gift idea that is near and dear to my heart and will support you in whatever your holiday needs are. Whether you are on a budget and want some homemade gift ideas, or are looking for a gift that is practical and will be a welcomed addition to your recipients daily routine, this list has all sorts of great suggestions!
Stay tuned for the next 12 days to discover some fun and fruitful gift ideas! Happy Holidays!