The holidays can be rough.
You have to coordinate family
plans with pesky relatives,
decorate your house (in 30
degree weather no less) and
still keep your sanity through
the hours upon hours of commercialized
“tradition” and
“holiday music.”
You could say it’s a difficult
responsibility (yes, it’s a terrible
holiday music pun). But
the worst thing one would
have to worry about during
the holidays is buying the
gifts; gifts for your friends,
gifts for your family, even
gifts for “that-one-personyou-
really-don’t-like-butyou-
give
them-a-gift-anyway-becausethey-
would-be-horribly-offended-
if-you-didn’t.”
It truly can be hard on you
(and your wallet) to get gifts
for everybody.
So, in the spirit of good
cheer and magnanimity, here
is a small list of inexpensive
gift ideas that can work for
just about everyone on your
shopping list this year.
1. Cookies/Baked Goods:
Sweet, simple and full of
love, cookies are perfect for
the holiday season. You
would be hard pressed to find
a single person who doesn’t
like cookies- or a college student
who would turn down
free food. Spend a few bucks
on cookie ingredients and
some colorful bags and you
can make a batch of cookies
to distribute among your
friends and family for the
holidays.
2. Sentimental crafts: This
is a gift for a close friend or
family member. Got a picture
of you and your best friend?
Decorate a frame and give
that to them for the holidays.
Good at drawing? Draw
something for a loved one.
They say gifts from the
heart are the best kind and in
both belief and practice,
nothing is further from the
truth.
3. Jewelry: You are probably
thinking jewelry is way
too expensive! Yet before
you close this article in disgust,
there are a few ways to
find or even make inexpensive
jewelry.
There are multitudes of craft
stores that sell pendants and
beads that people can use to
create their own jewelry. You
can even go digging around
in bazaars and local markets
and see what kind of deals
you can find.
4. Bargain stores: There are
a lot more bargain stores than
the world would like you to
think. It may take a little
searching- both to find the
store and to find the dealsbut
once you do, there are
tons of great gifts to be found
for loved ones.
Try and look past the expense
of the bigger gifts and
look towards simplicity for
the holidays.
5. Time: This is about as
free as you can get folks.
Spending time with others
during the holidays can
sometimes be the best gift of
all. You really can make a
friend or family member’s
holiday by just spending a
day with them.
Watch a movie, bake some
cookies or just sit around and
talk about nonsense; it can
really show how much you
care about someone and what
they mean to you. After all,
that is what the holidays are
all about, right?
With the powers of commercialism
and our capitalist
economy, it is kind of hard to
focus on what really got the
holidays started in the first
place. Holidays are meant to
be relaxing and celebrating
what matters to us.
For some, it is true that gifts
do matter, but it is also good
to keep in mind the “joy and
good will towards man” aspect
of it all too (just don’t
tell that to Black Friday
shoppers). In the end, the
holidays are all about what
you make of them and although
the stress is unavoidable,
the rewards of giving
and receiving during this
time of year can make all the
difference.