Give The Gift Of An Experience and Have Yourself A ‘Clutter-Free’ Christmas
Looking for non-stuff gift ideas? Here you’ll find some ideas for gifts that are not things and don’t add to the clutter at Christmas.
An abundance of gifts under the tree always looks so “Hallmark” and traditional, bringing up many memories of Christmases past, but after decades of getting more and more THINGS, the items start to stack up and the rooms in your home, start to shrink.
That’s where this idea of decluttering in the New Year and getting and giving experiences, rather than materials items, comes into play... starting with Christmas!
You’re sure to find a "no-stuff" holiday to be a big relief. Instead of freaking out at last-minute holiday shopping, you’ll be able to enjoy the holiday season watching “Love Actually” and baking cookies. Instead of spending hours unloading the trunk of your car after a visit to Grandma’s, you can just chill out and relax. Instead of feeling annoyed that the expensive gadget that your kids just had to have lost its luster after 10 minutes and is thrown in the corner, the whole family can soak in the excitement of future outings, you’ll have. It’s bound to be fantastic!
Research backs this up too. Studies show that experiences, rather than stuff, enhance gratitude. According to researchers at Cornell University, “we feel more gratitude for what we’ve done than for what we have – and that kind of gratitude results in more generous behavior toward others.”
****----**** "Non-Material" Gift Ideas ****----****
--- Classes or lessons
Give a man to fish, and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime.”
Classes or lessons are a wonderful gift to give and receive. Ideas include cooking classes, art classes, craft classes, mechanic classes, music classes, dance classes, woodwork classes, surf school, gymnastics, and circus school.
Of course, we LOVE the idea of some painting classes as the perfect gift for anyone in your life! From a class, you can take with your bffs, to a fun date night idea, and of course, some time with the whole family, these creative events are always a blast! Connect with one another and bond over a creative new experience where you'll leave with a handmade work of art to always cherish!
((or give someone near or far the gift of a class that they can take anytime!)):
*Gift Certificates: https://www....-certificates
Don’t forget you can gift online classes as well!
For kids, after-school activities can take a big chunk out of the household budget. Maybe grandparents (or parents) can help pay for after-school activities like dance classes, swimming lessons or music lessons as a gift.
Membership to a music streaming service, like Pandora, Spotify, or iTunes.
Learning and activity kits like Kiwi Crate innovation kits, Mysteries in Time, and Little Passports, cooking kits like Global Grub and Raddish Kids, or a monthly journaling subscription from Silk + Sonder.
-- Gift cards to local restaurants.
-- Donation to a favorite charity.
-- A pick-a-spot adventure. Find a local map, close your eyes, and pick a spot to explore on an upcoming weekend.
-- A season pass to a state or national park system.
-- Membership to TV streaming services, like Hulu or AppleTV.
-- An escape room adventure.
-- Tickets to a sports event.
-- A Gift certificate to go mini-golfing.
-- Zoo membership.
-- Passes to a local waterpark.
-- Tickets to Disney on Ice
-- Subscriptions
Subscriptions are a great gift that lasts all year.
The obvious choice is a magazine subscription and if you swap or pass around the magazines amongst your friends once read, everyone benefits without the mags creating more clutter.
Or you could gift a subscription to something like Zinio, and stop the stuff altogether (just be sure to check that your local library doesn’t offer this service for free).
Other subscription ideas include online shows channels like Netflix, online audiobooks, software subscriptions like Photoshop, ‘of the month’ subscriptions (Little Passports is a great kid’s one), website subscriptions, wine clubs, quilting fabric club subscriptions, scrapbooking club subscriptions, seed club subscriptions, foodie box subscriptions…there’s a subscription for just about any interest out there.
The key to making sure it doesn’t turn into clutter is to get something consumable (like food or digital movies), or something that you know the person will use (like seeds for the gardener or craft items for the crafter).
-- Event Tickets
Tickets to a play, concert, sports event, gallery opening, or movie tickets – with event tickets, you’re giving memories not stuff.
Think local. A play at the Sydney Opera House might be out of your budget, but for a play buff, the local theatre company will offer an entertaining night for a fraction of the cost.
Check out your local online events guide for upcoming events.
No local events? Consider tickets to online events.
-- Passes
Annual passes potentially offer a lot of value throughout the year, especially if you buy them when discounted (look out for Facebook specials, shop-a-dockets, ads in the local paper, Groupon and Scoopon).
Ideas for annual passes include the museum, art gallery, science center, zoo, theme park, local attractions, swimming pools, Aquatic Centres, and National Parks. If the grandparents are looking for suggestions, you could point them in this direction.
If annual passes are out of the budget, single-entry passes are a great alternative. Other ideas for single passes (other than those above) include play centers, mini-golf, and rock climbing.
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