Something to think about this Christmas

[Nai]

Certainly does give you something to think about and also some good practical ideas! I love getting local hand-made stuff and vouchers for experiences rather than plastic rubbish.

Another good idea is a hamper of local produce, wines etc to support the local farmers and vineyards.

[Tuesday's Child]

There are some great ideas there.

[lilima]

Instead of christmas light, buy colored paper bags, fill with sand and put a candle in them. Line your driveway and light on Christmas eve. We do that here.

[Starfish]

Great ideas.

Another thing you can do is go to a local art gallery and buy some original local art (or make it yourself). One of the best gifts that DD ever got was from one of my friends who gave her two paintings that she had done herself. They are still up on DD's wall .

[Maruschke]

We rarely if ever do Christmas gifts, because I HATE commercialism, local or not. But then again I hate commercialism every day of the year. We often buy second hand items for birthday gifts, about 90% of the time.

Our Christmas "gifts" to each other, for as long as I can remember now, have been events rather than items. It's about building relationships and memories for us. It's how we aim to live our whole lives... we will never strive to have the best stuff, or the most stuff, or the biggest etc... we will aim to be a loving supporting close knit family. I'm not saying they can't go together, just that this is where our focus is. Family togetherness IS Christmas for us.

[Starfish]

But then again I hate commercialism every day of the year. We often buy second hand items for birthday gifts, about 90% of the time.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that does this. I like finding unique gifts in op shops. So much nicer than just going to a dept store and buying something off the shelf.

[tinkerbelle]

Love some of the ideas in there..
But what about.. having a Christmas without presents.. (sorry I love Christmas, but I just can't stand the consumerism part of it, and the fact that it is drilled into us all from such a young age..).. it is so hard, but I would love to see people challenging the idea that they even need to go out and buy a tonne of unwanted presents..
There is always oxfam or the like too..
Im no saint and am guilty of the consumerism too, but lately within our family we've just all been exchanging gift vouchers, and then they are used on things that we really do need throughout the year.. so its almost pointless as we are just exchanging gift voucher for gift voucher, but at least we are not wasting money i suppose, we used some of our vouchers towards our food bill this year..