Lately I’ve got drastically less materialistic. I still love a gadget but I love presents that allow me to make something, pamper myself or a snuggle up with a book. I’m also reaching a point where a season that adds clutter to the house almost fills me with dread. Lately my friends and I have taken part in Secret Santas, where kids and adults all provide one present, allocated at well organised random. The remit of handmade or no more than ??3 has led to inventive Christmas presents which really suit the recipient. I’m always delighted by the personalised presents I receive.
There are some gifts I’ve truly appreciated over the years, especially when we were too hard up to spend money on nice food. When I was growing up, my aunt always sent us a family M&S Christmas hamper. There was much excitement to opening it up, hastily discarding the wine and posh crackers while searching for the chocolate and speciality biscuits, claiming the box for toys; that was as big a part of the bounty as the food! When I got married, my aunt added us to her list and we’ve always loved them; the food is a treat and the baskets hold dolls and train sets in various corners of the house. Very handy indeed. The year the shop accidentally sent out the huge luxury food hamper was even better; I think that basket housed a baby for a while!
Being given naughty foods is great;? if they are bought for you, they just don’t have the same number of psychological calories 😉 Looking through the M&S selection, I’m impressed by range of hampers for different budgets and tastes, from chocolate to cheese and Italian to Afternoon Tea. It’s one way to send something personal while also being an easy purchase. I wonder if they’ve thought of doing a “pregnancy safe” festive hamper for mums to be? 😉
I missed our hamper last year, after changes in our family altered everything; it it always brought our Christmas Cake, I always felt really remembered and thought of my extended family when we nibbled on epicurean yummies and allocated over the basket. This year, with Christmas looking like it will be even busier than normal for our family, I think perhaps it is time I took up the mantle and started being the one who sends them out 🙂 I know just where to look.
What presents really do it for you these days? Is food the perfect gift? Do you like handmade or are you someone who wants a surprise and the bigger the better? How have you changed over the years and do you, like me, quake at the thought of stuff you won’t have a place for in an ever more crowded house?
*This blog post is brought to you in association with M&S. The opinions are my own.
oooh good post 🙂 I have had a think, and my favourite presents are usually those which can be consumed (or used up)…..I actually really like writing sets, toiletry sets and food hampers, because whatever comes in them will save me my own precious money at some point over the coming weks and months. Finding myself very recently jobless means that this year more than ever I am hoping against hope for “consumables”!!!! My absolute dream presents are hampers in baskets….I’ve never yet received one, but my Mum is always trying to win one for me – I’ve hankered after a “hamper” ever since I was a child!! (I have a penchant for whicker baskets and posh boxes!!!!!)
Hand made are lovely, too, as there has been thought and time put into them – both of which are priceless :o) I have a friend who crochets lovely things…for my last birthday he made me a gorgeous handbag – it’s soooo treasured 😀
‘stuff’ I hate. Presents for the sake of I hate. I don’t feel that I ‘need’ anything so am a nightmare generally so I’m told but I really don’t want anything. If pushed I would say the best present is one that gives me ‘me’ time – a day at a spa was the best recently – there is so little time to unwind away from it all that solitude is like the holy Grail.
Homemade? Hmmmm depends on the quality I guess. I’m not a great fan but perhaps that’s because I don’t know anyone particularly talented in that way and have received a lot of dodgy stuff over the years. Yes I know it’s the thought that counts but given I don’t want anything in the first place, having something not very nice and having to make the right noises and find a place for such ‘stuff’ is irksome. I’d rather go out for a nice meal or have a babysitter for the evening (or whole day even better). That sounds ungrateful and I’m not but. I’m afraid it’s wasted on me.
Food is ok, wine if a good one is better. Vouchers I never spend (have been carrying one for monsoon round for at least 2 years now) and clothes I’d rather get myself.
Birthdays and Christmas I hate because of the impending pile of more stuff that accumulates , grandparents being the worst culprits for this. Anniversaries I try not to think about, valentines I ignore. Holidays are good presents and have taken my husband away a couple of times for his birthday (helped by nanny having the children for the week) which is great because I get to enjoy it too!
On rereading it all sounds Bah humbug, and to be fair is probably accurate. Time for a lifestyle change maybe?
The older I get, the more boring I am about presents. This year top of my christmas list is a walking foot for my sewing machine. DH and I are always trying to declutter – and I am more and more of the opinion that it is quality and not quantity that counts with toys. So, to this end, I am focussing on enriching various things we already have e.g. dolls quilts for dolls bed, and some felt food/cup cakes for our dollies tea set, new craft supplies – rather than dramatically adding to the pile. That said, I will always make room for books. I dont think you can have too many – and I love that our children look at books everyday and have many to choose from.
A wise professor I worked with some years ago said that he and his wife had one rule about presents they gave to others – that it should not ‘add’ to household clutter/junk/stuff. So they always gave food or drink. I think that’s a fairly sound rule – and I agree about hampers. They are great – we have had a few in the past from DH’s clients – and are now in good use storing dressing up clothes!
I got a walking foot for Christmas the other year…. it’s FAB!!!
Vouchers I won’t use I advertise to friends and sell or swap on for something I do want, otherwise, I agree, stuff is overrated.
My lovely Uncle has tended to send a box of goodies, I must remind him this is still a good idea even though we are no longer living abroad!
Xc
We have for quite some years now bought or baked foody gifts for most of the family although I tend to knit for small peeps up to about age 4 when they get too big to rustle something up quickly for!
I can remember getting the annual Christmas Hamper at home, ours was from some catalogue company or other and used to come in a very boring cardboard box but the contents were always so exotic in my eyes….. Jellied fruits, Dundee cake, dates and my all time fave (nobody laugh….) tinned ham in those big pear shaped tins!