We all want to have a spiritual, meaningful and fun Xmas with our family and friends but the culture of buying massive gifts has stolen the Xmas spirit for many of us. Are you one of the people who already have little peace of mind at Xmas knowing that a major credit card bill will hit as a nasty hangover straight after New Year’s Eve? For most families this year of financial turmoil was stressful enough, but the upcoming holiday season will present another real test for many people. Although many people already feel that they should give up on their spendaholic ways and finally nip Xmas Consumerism in the butt, for both financial and environmental reasons, it might feel hard to break that gift buying habit.
However, everybody can easily opt out of the Xmas present craziness that is strangling people financially, results in millions of unloved Xmas presents and trashes our planet, if you just learn how to. Did you know, that according to Time magazine, the average British woman spends, besides a small fortune, 255 hours on Xmas shopping, only to find 1/3 of presents sold onto eBay later?
If you are interested in spending a (financially) stress-free Holiday season by making your own unique eco-friendly presents that show the recipient that you care about them and the environment, then keep reading. While there are many reasons and motivations for doing your own home made Xmas presents, here are 10 real good ones that should entice even the most skeptical of readers.
1.?Beat the Credit Crunch and Save Lots of Money
Do you want to be part of the $ 450 Billion Xmas shopping spree again, during which every US consumer is expected to spend on average $832.36? (Source: 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey). For a fraction of this cost you could make all (or most) of your presents and avoid the nasty credit card blues that is bound to hit you otherwise in the New Year. If you think DIY has to look cheap and nasty than you are sadly mistaken – great designer presents can be made by people with very little designer skills – if you just know how to!
2.?Lower your Carbon Footprint and Make a Tangible Contribution to the Environment
Imagine being able to make a meaningful contribution to the environment this Xmas by avoiding loads of packaging and rubbish, simply by making your own homemade gifts. There is a real hidden cost to Xmas and the statistics about the additional trash produced during Xmas are outright scary, so I won’t go into detail in this article. Just think of this one item, with a life and enjoyment span that can be measured in minutes, the humble plastic ribbon: Americans alone will use more than 38,000 miles to wrap their presents this year – that is a distance that will get you around the Earth more than once!
By staying at home to make your gifts in the peace and quiet of your own home, you will also reduce your carbon emissions, because this year you won’t be cruising around town forever in the search for that “perfect” present.
3.?Believe it or not – Making your own Gifts could save you lots of Time
While at a first glance, it does not seem to make sense that making your own presents will save you time, it might very well do so. British women spend on average 255 hours or over 10 full days on Xmas shopping and commuting (source: Time Magazine). Imagine how many presents you could create in all that time?
4.?Give something Meaningful, Unique and Personal
You might think that breaking the gift buying habit will cause you embarrassment and create some hard feelings for the recipients, but I suggest you will be pleasantly surprised how many people respond positively to your opting out of the increasingly expensive gift exchanges that are now common place. DIY gifts are by their very nature unique, personal and a lot more meaningful and the recipients will love the fact that you have applied yourself and put your own time and effort into making the gifts and will treasure them a lot more than any commercial product.
5.?Introduce & Refocus on old Xmas traditions
Most adults have fond memories of their childhood when making homemade Christmas decorations and gifts were common place. Remember the tradition of the family sitting together around the table with mulled wine or hot chocolate to create small and personal gifts, baubles and Christmas tree decorations made from pine cones, cranberries or popcorn garlands? Why not reclaim those traditions and pass them on to your kids – they certainly beat go shopping in loud and overcrowded shopping malls.
6.?Have fun while making your own gifts and enjoy the sensation of having created something with your hands (again)
The fun factor has definitely gone missing for many people when it comes to Christmas, but making your own gifts can easily return the fun to you!When did you last sit down and gave yourself permission to have fun making something with your own hands? Buying a gift is at best a very brief reward of feeling good for a few minutes, quickly replaced by the sick feeling that arises from the ever increasing credit card balances. But making a unique environmentally friendly gift is fun while you make it and will give you great satisfaction when your loved opens the gift!
7.?Challenge Yourself to Try something New
Are you one of the people that would love to do try new things, but never finds the time to do it? Here is your chance, because Christmas gifts “got to be done” at some stage, so you are much more likely to give yourself the time to do them! Surprise yourself and loved ones with unique presents that you never thought you could do.There are many great tricks and tips on how to make Xmas so that they look amazing and professional. You just need to know where to look!
8.?Teach an Important Lesson to your Kids
For many people consumerism is well and truly a part of everyday family life already – wouldn’t it be great if at least Christmas could be free of it? You could influence the life of your kids early by teaching them what the important aspects of Xmas are, be it spiritual or religious connections, family relationships or whatever else is truly important to you. Does that mean there should be no fun and gifts? Of course not, giving and receiving (small) gifts is an important part of Christmas, but it does not have to be the main focus.
9.?Break the Cycle of Expectations and become Stress-Free
The expense of buying huge gifts and last minute shopping in overcrowded , overheated shopping malls makes ‘Tis the season to have a complete nervous breakdown’ for many people. According to a recent study by Roy Morgan Research, around 60% of Australians distinctly dislike Christmas shopping, and 75% often return home without a single gift purchased. So why are they doing it? Because a life time of ever increasing consumerism (including the associated stress) make it hard to break that habit. If you want to break out and be stress free at Xmas, it helps if you can be open and honest with your family and circle of friends what your motivations are to opt out of consumerism. If you let people know that celebrating the personal relationships is more important in your life than giving large gifts, most people will understand and respect your sentiment. If they don’t, don’t worry, it is their problem, not yours. Just imagine how well and liberating it will feel to have taken away the sometimes nasty feeling of having to compete with the big spender amongst your family and friends.?/p>
Other than being financially stress free just imagine how relaxing it is to actually spent time in the peace and quiet of your own home, making Xmas presents, maybe with your kids and other family members. If you ask me this beats a shopping spree anytime…
10.?/i>Feel good about having done the Right Thing by your Family Budget and the Environment- and spread the Good Vibrations – it’s Contagious
Once you have enjoyed a stress free holiday season by having created gifts for your family and friends, you will feel so good about yourself because you have actively done something for the environment and your budget at the same time. The only thing you might regret is that you have not arrived at this point many years earlier. Why not spread this liberating feeling of being relieved from the shopping obligation amongst your friends, you will see it is truly contagious!
Are you finally convinced that making homemade, unique and environmentally friendly gifts is a great way forward to have a stress free holiday season?I personally have been lucky enough to grow up in a family that always held onto the tradition of making (almost) all our own very personal and unique Christmas presents. No crazy shopping before Xmas for us and no painful credit card hangover after Xmas in my family, but lots of small gifts that were really appreciated.To this day I am still making all my Christmas gifts for my family. However, my main motivation is to create eco-friendly and meaningful presents that show the recipient that I really do care about them and the environment. Whatever your motivation is to get out of the Xmas craziness, get started today with looking for your specific DIY gift ideas. You just have to know where to look! If you want to get 50 eco-friendly DIY Xmas gift ideas with step-by step instructions, and lots of Xmas card, gift tags and voucher freebies go to www.diyecofriendlyxmasgifts.com
Hi there,
I am a recycled scientist, a mother of two young kids and consider myself a practical greenie. I have written my PhD about the effects of climate change on coral reefs at a time when it was still considered a minor crime to even suggest that climate change might be a real phenomenon. I enjoy combining a green lifestyle (greenlifestylehouse.com) without spending heaps of money (livegreen-savemoney.com)
I am now embracing writing about green living, while saving money, as a kind of third “love child”. My life-long passion for green resourceful living is underpinned by in-depth knowledge of the underlying scientific issues. I hold an Honours degree in Chemistry (James Cook University), a Masters degree in Marine Toxicology (University of Hamburg), a Doctorate in both Chemistry and Marine Ecology (James Cook University) and have worked many years as a researcher.
I have been lucky enough to grow up in a family that always held onto the tradition of making (almost) all our own very personal and unique Christmas presents. No crazy shopping before Xmas for us and no painful credit card hangover after Xmas in my family. My main motivation to an eBook on DIY green Christmas gifts together, however, is that I want everybody to feel as good as I do about creating eco-friendly and meaningful presents that show the recipient that I really do care about them and the environment. If you want a great resource on DIY Eco Xmas Gifts go to: http://www.diyecofriendlyxmasgifts.com
Tags: $, Christmas, DIY, ecofriendly, financial crisis, gift, gifts, green, present, save, save money, xmas