From now until Christmas, every Monday I will be giving suggestions of Christmas tips, tricks and ideas on Maisonmrs for you to make it to and THROUGH the holidays with a little more sanity than normal (or what is normal, right?) The holidays are a time to reflect on our blessings and how we can help others. It’s my hope that with a little encouragement with the Merry Monday posts is you will find some more merry and less hassle in the holiday season. Learning to give out of joy and abundance and a grateful heart is far more fulfilling than hitting Black Friday sales slugfests of the retail season. Try some of these ideas this year and ENJOY!
The first of our seven MM’s (Merry Monday) is a way to give for 24 days before Christmas. I don’t care what anyone says, even adults like to be on the receiving end and here is a great idea just for that! I just love this time because I LOOOOVE to give presents! I always feel like presents are a way to let people know you were(are) thinking about them at a certain time. I love it so much that I like to celebrate before and after the big holiday! And knowing what goes on to “make the magic happen” is half the battle! We all know that presents can be uber costly, but they don’t have to be and can have as much impact as big ticket items with a little thought and effort. And if you start now, you won’t be so cramped the closer you get to the big day! After all, who WOULDN’T love a present a day for 24 days?
And it isn’t for kids anymore. How about an Adult Advent calendar?! So I have come up with some ideas to help you smooth out the “most giving time of the year” so it doesn’t kill you OR your budget!
I like the thought of wrapping each up somehow and presenting the Advent calendar in the form a basket or box, something for the ‘someone special” can reach into every day and take the time to open and enjoy! Just a thought, but you can be creative on your part and present the gift in any way…there are many ideas for presentation.
Here is a list of different gift ideas for the days of advent I came up with, I am sure there are more but these are just a start:
If they are a foodie:
- High-quality pasta (e.g. Martelli, Setaro, De Cecco)
- Vinegar (balsamic, pomegranate, raspberry, quince, etc.) store bought or homemade
- Olive oil, pumpkin seed oil, sesame oil, truffle oil, etc.
- Specialty mustard
- Nutcracker
- Oyster knives
- Flambé torch
- Other kitchen accessories (ravioli or pizza slicer, ice cream scoop etc) with attached recipes
- Coffee / espresso beans(specialty types)
- Miniature milk foamer
- Bottle opener / wine opener
- Spices (curry, cinnamon sticks or vanilla beans, saffron, etc.)
- Pudding to make yourself
- Jam – homemade
- Salsa (e.g. jalapeño, chipotle, mango), also homemade
- 1 can of ravioli, 1 packet Miraculi
- Walnuts, edible chestnuts or hazelnuts (one can also gather them in
nature)
- Pesto – you can also make it yourself…
- Wine or homemade flavored infused vodka
- Ingredients for mulled wine. You can also distribute the ingredients over
three days, and combine it with a movie night at home.
- Ingredients for eggnog
- Truffles (store-bought or homemade – one can distribute them
throughout a few days)
- Peanut brittle (also homemade)
- Chocolate fudge (also homemade)
- Toffee popcorn
- Chocolate-dipped candy canes (also homemade)
- Ferrero / Rondnoir, Mon Cheri, Hershey’s kisses, Raffaelo
- Chocolate milk mix (individual portions)
- Chocolate Santa Claus
- Marzipan, marzipan hearts, marzipan potatoes, etc.
- Cookies (homemade?)
- Roasted almonds
- Gingerbread heart / gingerbread man
- Mini fruitcake
- Ribbon candy
- Fortune cookies from a Chinese food store
- Mini gingerbread house…(homemade)
- Walkers biscuits – Scottish shortbread
- Spiced nuts (also homemade)
- Homemade cheese crackers
- Savory dips and spreads
- Cheese log with herbs
- Pretzel sticks / mini pretzels
- Party mix
- Chips (mini bag)
- Tortilla chips
- salsa
- Specialty crackers
- Cashews / pistachios / peanuts / macadamia nuts
- Spiced nuts
- Olives
And it doesn’t even have to be food! There is so much out there to make “non-food’ Advent Calendars/baskets. Or, include them along with the edibles for the recipient. Here are some of those ideas:
- Sudoku, as a booklet or printed Sudoku puzzles online
- Crossword puzzles, either from the internet or homemade
- Mini brain teasers
- Riddle or brain teaser books
- Wellness day
- Cinema / theater / zoo
- DVD evening
- Reading aloud (a book, poems, stories)
- Mulled wine / waffles at a Christmas market
- Mixing a cocktail
- Sunday breakfast in bed
- Vacuuming, washing up, etc.
- Homemade dinner / candlelight dinner
- Recipe with a gift certificate for cooking
- Getting fresh rolls on Sunday
- Homemade cookies / cake / dessert
- TV Joker (that person can decide which TV shows will be watched for the
evening)
- Pool game
- Ice skating
- Build a snowman
- Amazon, iTunes, etc. gift certificate
- Sledding
- Margarita-making evening
- Fondue
- Massage oil, including gift certificate
- A car wash
- Scratching ice off of the car windshield (perhaps include an ice scraper?)
- Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol ” (the text is available for free
online, e.g. on Project Gutenberg or Amazon Kindle)
- Clement Clarke Moore, “The Night Before Christmas”
- J.R.R. Tolkien, “Letters from Father Christmas”
- O. Henry, “”The Gift of the Magi”
- Truman Capote, “A Christmas Memory”
- David Sedaris, “Holidays on Ice”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, “The Little Prince”
- Write your own story, write a sequel for each day
- Book by a favorite author/ from a bestseller list (Spiegel / Amazon)
- „Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus“: Correspondence between
Virginia O’Hanlon and Francis P. Church in 1897. Until the last print run of the Sun newspaper in 1950, for over half a century the correspondence was printed on the title page every year (story can be found online.)
Writing your own poem is fantastic! But, if you don’t feel so inclined or feel you don’t have the talent, borrow a couple of these and use a free online website to design it like Wordle:
- The Night Before Christmas, by Clement Clarke Moore
- Christmas Bells, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- The Three Kings, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Christmas Trees, by Robert Frost
- Christmas Carol, by Sara Teasdale
- The Boy who Laughed at Santa Claus, by Ogden Nash
- Christmas Eve, by Robert Browning
- The Eve Of Christmas, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- Christmas Comes But Once a Year, by Thomas Miller
- A Defective Santa Claus James, by Whitcomb Riley
- A funny video from Youtube / Vimeo (e.g. „the funniest video of all time”
- Bookmark
- Scratch card / filled out Lottery ticket
- Key chain
- Ice scraper
- Door de-icer
- “I love you because…..” cards
- Vacation photo / portrait photo / wallet photo (funny?)
- Sparklers
- Mini board games, skill games or card games
- Post-its
- Long matches for Christmas tree candles
- Description of a nice hiking trail in the area, for example an online route
- Tickets for a museum in the area
- Magazines
- USB charger for a car
- Travel accessories: luggage tags, reading light, travel pillow
These are just SOME ideas; but you get the point! I like mixing it up and giving food and non-food items! Get busy now picking up things and doing research if you are in creation mode. Don’t wait. The beauty if this gifting is to be creative and not have it cost a lot of money so you can spread MORE joy to others, thus capturing more joy for yourself!
The holidays are only a couple of days actually. But the spirit of giving is available 365 day a year. Start with 24 and watch the magic happen!
Join me next week as we Merry Monday and look at idea no. 2 together. Another great holiday tip/trick or adventure to create long lasting memories for years to come without taking a HUGE bite out of your budget!