Christmas Gift Ideas for Everyone on your List

If you are like me, you have a hard time figuring out what presents to buy for certain people. It seems the two most difficult questions I have to answer each year are:

What to buy for my Husband?

and

What to put on MY Christmas list?!

So I’ve been hunting around for ideas for what to put on a Christmas list – for just about anyone in your life. These are just some awesome ideas to get you started – all under $50. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with creativity, function, and gifts that make life simpler. So here are some gift ideas that do just that!

(Hint: You might want to pass it along to that “hard to shop for” person to see if it sparks some ideas for them as well!)

Christmas List Ideas:

For Kids:

A LEGO Rental Subscription

You can read our Pley LEGO rental review here.

Personalized Story Books

What kid wouldn’t love being the hero of the story?

ALEX Toys Bathtime Fun Water Flutes

These are just cool.

For the kids/but actually for Mom:

LEGO Storage Bricks

These large LEGO® storage bricks also work as stackable blocks.

For the Fashionista:

A Stitch Fix Gift Card

Stitch Fix’s personal stylists will handpick a selection of five clothing items and accessories unique to the recipient’s taste, budget and lifestyle. You can buy what you like and return the rest!

I have tried this service and really, really enjoyed it. I recommend giving at least a $50 gift card since that will likely be enough for one of the items in the box.

For the Health Nut:

Procizion Vegetable Spiral Slicer

Makes spiral cut vegetables for vegetable pastas, salads, fancy garnishes, casseroles and noodle dishes.

For anyone who needs a break in the kitchen:

eMeals Meal Plan Subscription Gift Card

Give the gift that keeps on giving – a break from meal planning. Starts at $59 (so this one’s a little more than $50).

For Kindle Owners (By the way, Kindles are also a brilliant gift idea!)

Kindle Books

Kindle books can be sent as a gift when you select “Give as Gift” at checkout. You can even schedule a date for an email to be sent to the recipient.

Anker Portable Stand for Tablets

I LOVE mine. Makes using my Kindle to watch movies or look at recipes so much simpler!

For the runner/biker/hiker:

PRASM Zipper Pocket Wristband

Size: “A” – (this size can hold keys, cash, etc.)

Size: “B” – (this size can hold bank cards, keys, cash, etc.)

For the social media butterfly:

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card

Send photos from your camera to your phone, Wirelessly! If this is something that you are looking to buy someone, but are not sure on what SD card to buy, you could always check out sites like hereon.biz to hopefully make your decision process a lot easier.

For Him:

Man Crates

Gift packages for men that come wrapped in a crate – how cool is that? Prices start at $24.99 plus shipping.

For the fitness fan:

Kangaroo Water Bottle with Storage Compartment

For the techy:

USB Surge Protector for Charging Devices

One outlet = two chargers = brilliant.

For the family of techies:

Anker 5-Port Family-Sized Desktop Charger

Never fight over a charger again.

For the Shower Singer/Phone Talker:

Wireless Bluetooth 3.0 Waterproof Outdoor / Shower Speaker

Waterproof Bluetooth shower speaker that lets you jam out or chat on the phone – while in the shower.

For the student:

Cocoon GRID-IT! Organizer Case

Organizes your gadgets. Doubles as a mouse pad.

For anyone who likes pineapple:

Pineapple Corer Slicer

Get one for yourself too – these are awesome!

For everyone else:

A Custom T-Shirt

Say anything. Or choose from Sun Frog’s wide selection of t-shirts.

These are great quality shirts too!

Local Experiences

Experience gifts are always awesome – and even better at a discount!

Shop Groupon Local to find experience gifts near you – or near the recipient!

What other Christmas gift ideas would you add to the list?

Advent:

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of me letting out my breath with a great big sigh of RELIEF.

Remember when I said that my secret to a Stress-free December was November? Well, let’s just say that I think I’ve squeeeeezed just about as much stress out of November as possible. There’s not a drop left.

This girl’s brain is tired.

And I am longing for some peace on earth and a foot rub – know what I mean?

But that’s just another reason that I love December. While the world is hustling and bustling and shouting “Do this! Buy that!” our family pauses to take a rest from the busy-ness and ponder Advent – the longing for the coming, the arrival of peace and joy in this world.

It wasn’t always like this though. 

For years, I struggled to pinpoint the best way to celebrate the Advent season with my boys. We enjoyed counting down to Christmas with daily activities, and had created some fun Christmas traditions along the way.

But the celebration of  Jesus’ Birth – the Reason why I celebrate this Season – often became overshadowed by all the activity and chaos, rather than celebrated and honored.

And then there was last Christmas.

I splurged on Ann Voskamp’s Advent Wreath last year. I’d been eyeing for quite some time. If this isn’t in the budget, a simple candle is a lovely addition to nightly reading. 

Celebrating Advent with the Jesus Storybook Bible

I don’t even remember who it was – but someone mentioned to me that they use The Jesus Storybook Bible as their Advent reading each night. We LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible. Its beautiful full color pages and engaging telling of the story of Jesus throughout the Bible never gets old. So this sounded intriguing to me, but I didn’t understand how it corresponded with Advent.

And then I read this post that pointed out the fact that there are exactly 24 stories from the beginning of the Bible to the celebration of Jesus’ birth –  twenty one stories presented from the Old Testament (which “whisper Jesus name”) and then the Christmas story is presented in three stories.

24 stories = 24 readings = 24 nights that our family celebrates Advent together before the celebration of Christmas Day.

I’m not sure if this was even intended by the author, but it’s brilliant either way.

And then it got even better.

My sister is delightful. And out of the goodness of her delightful heart, she took it upon herself to create clay ornaments for our ‘Jesse Tree’ that correspond with each of the stories we read each night with the boys. Each night one of the boys pulls out the ornament that is intended for that night’s story and hangs it on our “tree” (which for now is a piece of twine hanging on their wall with some clothespins.

Here is a picture of what she created:

Delightful, right? (Here are some instructions on how you could make something similar. I really should have my sister write a post about that, shouldn’t I??)

And that is how we celebrate Advent. It’s simple and meaningful and I love it.

At the end of a long day, when we pause, light our candle, gently pick out that day’s ornament and just listen to the story – it all comes together.

This is what it’s all about.

More Helpful Advent Resources:

Ann Voskamp’s Printable Jesse Tree Ornaments (More info here.)

Homemade Jesse Tree Ornaments Exchange

DIY Jesse Tree with Magnets

Jesse Tree Ideas

My other sister (who is also delightful) writes a lovely and thought-provoking Advent series on her blog each year.Read it for more ideas and inspiration on how to honor the season of Advent.

Does your family celebrate Advent? I’d love to hear how!

Want to enjoy a Stress Free Christmas this year? I want to help. Click here to learn more.

Daily 20 Minute Missions for November

For the past couple of years, I have challenged myself to take 20 minutes a day in the month of November to tackle an item on my Christmas To Do list. I call it 20 Minute Missions and it has made Christmas so much better for me. I am very excited to invite you to join me in these Missions this year!

The goal? To accomplish enough in November that we can actually savor the holidays in December. 

A few things I’d like to highlight before we begin: 

• I know that everyone has a different schedule. For some, it would actually be easier to set aside an hour or two one day to tackle the missions for that week. That is great! Set yourself up for success and consider what times/days will work best for you.

• I also know that not everyone has the same Christmas To Do list as me. I’m offering my 20 Minute Missions calendar as a guideline. I encourage you to switch out any of my To Do’s with your own.

• Some of the tasks listed could definitely take more than 20 minutes. If you only have 20 minutes, then tackle the task that day with gusto and finish only what you can. If you have more than 20 minutes, then great! Remember – everything that we accomplish is one less thing to do in December. So every minute counts!

• I like to set aside a chunk of time on the weekends for the bigger tasks, that’s why you’ll find that the Missions on Saturdays will likely take more than 20 minutes. Feel free to change that up if another day is better for you.

Are you ready?

Here is a printable 20 Minute Missions Daily Calendar for you! Click here to print it or you can also just bookmark it on your computer and reference it each day.  I will be posting reminders each morning on The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page so be sure to LIKE it so we can keep each other accountable!

You can also view the schedule below with a few more details:

[Read more…]

In my never-ending quest to Do Christmas Well, I’d like to invite you to join me this week in my own personal challenge: 3 Days to an Organized Christmas.

Today is Day 3! Let’s organize our stuff today. 🙂

Last year, I created my very first Christmas Wrapping Station. With $12 and a few hours, I had a very practical new system for storing gift bags and boxes, wrapping paper, and supplies that completely simplified my Christmas wrapping process.  It helped eliminate the stress of trying to hide all of my supplies and gifts in my closet as I had done in the past. It was one of the BEST ways that I have ever prepared for Christmas.

Whether or not you have space for a Christmas wrapping station, ask yourself today “Can I simplify my Christmas wrapping process?” You might want to consider stocking up on gift bags at the Dollar Store or even using pillowcases to wrap gifts like my Mom taught me to save time on Christmas wrapping. I also recommend checking out this post with Gift Wrap Storage ideas.

Or maybe you LOVE wrapping gifts and want to be even more creative this year. May I suggest taking a look at my Mom’s Gift Wrapping Ideas series? She is full of super fun and simple tips to add a little pizzazz to your gifts.

Either way, take today to check your supplies and make a list of any items you need to buy.

Supplies: 

-Scotch Tape

-Wrapping Paper

-Gift Bags

-Gift Boxes

-Tissue paper

-Gift Tags and Labels

-Ribbons

-Bows

-You might want to take time to consider any supplies you’ll need for handmade gifts this year as well.

As for me, my Christmas wrapping station needs a little TLC as it has collected a few random items since last Christmas. I’m going to tackle that today and add a couple new touches to pretty it up a bit. I’m excited!

Are you ready to wrap?

I’ll be sharing my gift wrap station progress via Instagram and The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page and I’d love for you to join me! I’ll be using the hashtag #MerryLittleChristmas if you’d like to do the same.

Here’s the rest of the series in case you missed it: 

3 Days to an Organized Christmas: Dreaming and Planning (Day 1)
3 Days to an Organized Christmas: Beautiful Budgets (Day 2)

In my never-ending quest to Do Christmas Well, I’d like to invite you to join me this week in my own personal challenge: 3 Days to an Organized Christmas.

Today is Day 2! Maybe beautiful isn’t the word you would use to describe your budget – but let’s organize ours today anyway. 🙂

I’ve heard from SO many of you that you do NOT want Christmas to be about the “stuff” this year.

Me too!

Of course, Christmas IS about giving, so a budget is still important. But no matter how much or how little you have to spend, I encourage you to consider ways to simplify in this area this year.

Most importantly, please don’t spend money that you don’t have. But even just as important is this – don’t let society tell you what you HAVE to give. That is a personal decision that each of us need to make.

To be quite honest, I’m not sure who decided that MORE is better at Christmastime, but I’m pretty sure more is just MORE.  Like the year we almost didn’t have a Christmas tree, my desire is to embrace the LESS this year and I invite you to join me.

To help me with my budgeting, I’ve created a Christmas Gift Budget Tracker that has worked wonders for me in tracking my gifts and budget each year.  If you’d like to use it, I’m giving it away free to all of my Christmas Deals Newsletter subscribers. If you already a subscriber, you should have received an email this morning with this and my Christmas Gift Pocket Planner printable as my gift to you.

If you aren’t a subscriber yet, click here to sign up. After you activate your email address, the goodies should arrive in your email box right away! Then be on the watch for one email a day from me with all the best Christmas deals that I’ve found – just one more way to stre-e-e-e-tch your dollars!

If you’d prefer to track your budget and gifts via an app, you can check out some of the apps that were suggested by our Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook community here. Let me know if you have any other favorites!

My challenge to you today? 

Take some time to look at your Christmas budget. Determine how much you want to spend and begin to track your spending via the planner that you choose.

Are you ready to start dreaming of a Merry Little Christmas (on a budget)?

I am!

I’m sitting down with my budget tracker, gift pocket planner and yes – a cup of coffee – in a bit and beginning to budget!  I’ll be sharing my progress via Instagram and The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page and I’d love for you to join me! I’ll be using the hashtag #MerryLittleChristmas if you’d like to do the same.

Click here to sign up to receive your free Christmas Budget planners!

In my never-ending quest to Do Christmas Well, I’d like to invite you to join me this week in my own personal challenge: 3 Days to an Organized Christmas.

Today is Day 1! Let’s organize our brains today. 🙂

One thing that I’ve discovered in my thirty-mumble-mumble years on life is that if I write something down, I am about 10 times more likely to actually follow through on it. If I don’t write it down, it’s likely to get filed away in that “Wishful Thinking” section of my brain.

So if I want to really have a Merry Little Christmas, I think it just makes sense that I need to take some time to write down how I’m hoping and wishing our holiday season will turn out.

So made this handy little planner:

The planner asks a few questions to help us start dreaming and planning together.

#1. My focus area this Christmas:

Don’t try to do it all. If you want to Do Christmas Well, you’ll be completely overwhelmed if you try to change everything at once. What area would you like to improve this year? Gift giving? Traditions? Decorations? Write it down.

#2. One way I want to simplify this Christmas season: 

I think most of us would agree that Christmas gets more stressful than it needs to be. What is the area that you find most stressful about Christmas? Write it down.

#3. One way I want to make this holiday season more meaningful: 

Christmas isn’t about the presents, friends. For me, it is a very meaningful holiday. It is a day to celebrate my faith in Jesus and I want to honor that through the entire season. No matter your faith though, we can all find ways to make the season more meaningful as we think of ways to bless others.  Write down a way that you want to do that this year.

#4. Specific ways I can plan to make more time to savor Christmas: 

If we want to make this Christmas season merry, we are going to need to find ways to cut back on the busy-ness of life. How can you do that this year? Ask a friend to watch your kids while you wrap gifts? Limit your time on the internet or watching TV?  Clear your calendar during certain days so you are free to enjoy the season? Write down your ideas.

There is a second page in the planner that is blank. That’s for you to do with whatever you’d like. Make your Christmas list, begin jotting down Christmas cookie ideas, make a Christmas Bucket List. Use it however you’d like! Make as many copies as you need! Have fun with it!

Please note: The planner is in color, so if you’d rather print it in black and white be sure to change your settings before you print.

Are you ready to start dreaming of a Merry Little Christmas?

I am!

I’m sitting down with my planner, a pencil, and a cup of coffee in a bit and beginning to dream. I’ll be sharing my progress via Instagram and The Merry Little Christmas Project Facebook page and I’d love for you to join me! I’ll be using the hashtag #MerryLittleChristmas if you’d like to do the same.

Click here to print your planner and start dreaming!