Finding meaningful and stress-free Christmas gifts is often the most stressful part of the Christmas season. However, I have found that focusing on gifts that “give” throughout the year can be some of the most thoughtful and most appreciative presents that a person will receive. Also, gifts that introduce the recipient to something “new” are the most memorable and cherished.
36 Stress-Free Christmas Gifts
Below are some stress-free Christmas gift suggestions that I’ve collected throughout the years. These holiday gifts are usually “hits” with all ages, including seniors, young people, and even children. The good news is most of the gifts below are available with just a click of your mouse and from the comfort of your own home.
1) Subscription to a health magazine (List of Health & Fitness Magazines here)
2) Lessons in a particular craft or hobby
3) Spa treatment gift certificate
4) Gift card to Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, etc.
5) Organic Fruit Of The Month clubs
6) Membership in Organic wine club
7) Healthy restaurant gift certificate
8) Organic/Natural skincare (Purely Ageless Natural Skincare is a personal favorite!)
9) Certificate for a free make-up lesson
10) Movie gift passes
11) Stress relief organic teas and essential oils
12) Gift certificate for classes in Pilates, Yoga, Fitness Club
13) Professional maid for a day
14) Organic tea sampler
15) Gift certificate to Whole Foods
16) Homemade gift baskets. (Possible themes – spa, manicure/pedicure, movie night, sewing, gardening, homemade cookie mix, wine, gourmet coffee, candles, baking supplies, tools, organic soaps, essential oils, flavored and seasoned salt gift jars)
17) Homemade gift baskets for children. (Possible themes – cars & trucks, baby doll accessories, movie night, skating, my first garden, fairy garden, sports, CDs)
18) Drawing lessons (Local or Internet)
19) Musical instrument lessons (Local or Internet)
20) Dance lessons
21) Fishbowl and fish (If for a child, be sure to get parent’s permission)
22) Handmade gifts such as recipe-in-a-jar, personalized picture frames, personalized notebooks, personalized recipe notebooks, etc.
23) Begin a tradition of giving grandchildren a unique ornament each year. When they are ready to leave home, they will have a nice collection, not to mention memories, connected to each ornament.
24) Health/Nutrition E-Books
25) Gift coupon for baby-sitting (great for grandparents to give to new parents) (free printable coupons here and here)
26) Gift coupon to your spouse for a night out (meaning that YOU make all the arrangements when the recipient is ready to “redeem” it.)
27) Gift coupon to children for a whole day with Dad/Mom
28) Gift coupon to an amusement park, water park, zoo, etc.
29) Library card
30) Use family trinkets (old jewelry) and treasured hardware odds and ends to decorate a personalized picture frame and box.
31) Give a book and a homemade bookmark. Find some great ideas here
32) Make up some “paint chip” (paint chip samples from hardware stores) bookmarks for that book-lover friend. Instructions can be found here
33) iTunes gift card
34) Healthy Recipe Cookbook
35) Purchase one-of-a-kind, unique gifts. These can be found easily on Etsy, and you are supporting small businesses.
36) For more quick and thoughtful Christmas gifts, go here
One Last Thought…
Even without buying Christmas gifts, December can be a difficult month. More people deal with depression in December than any month of the year. December seems to bring out the best and sad parts of our lives. It can become crazy and thus difficult and stressful. The constant blast of TV and other media commercials for the newest toy, computer, digital devices, etc., brings excessive stress, especially for parents. We are the target of the most elaborate, sophisticated, and well-funded marketing campaigns of most companies.
Stress-Free Christmas Tip: Try not to put shopping for gifts and gift wrapping off until the last-minute which is a known recipe for stress and that bah-humbug feeling. As soon as you purchase a gift, either have it professionaly wrapped or wrap it as soon as you get home. Make sure you have the correct size of batteries on-hand. Wrapping presents and trying to find batteries for toys on the night of December 24th creates a perfect recipe for stress.
This year how about doing your shopping from a stress-free point of view? Try a few of the suggestions above. You may very well find that giving stress-free Christmas gifts cuts your stress level in half and are much more appreciated by the recipient. And you will find that you have much more time to enjoy the real meaning of the Christmas season with family and friends. So let’s change our focus to giving stress-free Christmas gifts. Did you know that you can be an encourager of others by the gifts that you give? So go ahead and step out of the commercial-gift-giving-frenzy this year.
