Being an adult is complicated. Tiresome. A lot of work. Just think of what Christmas was like as a child: the pinnacle of the year. A guaranteed shower of presents. A glorious blur of lights, plays, crackers, cookies, nuts and FUN. I remember being shunted out of my bedroom to sleep in my parent’s room on Christmas eve. Sleep? Please you must be kidding me. I would lie awake half the night, my tummy churning with anticipation about the Stocking from Santa which I knew would await me in the morning.
My brother would wake me up, we would have our morning fight. We fought a lot. We would wake up our parents and I can recall sneaking down the passage to check out what was at the bottom of the tree and it was always loads. We would pick up boxes and rattle them to try guess what was inside. We would beg BEG our parents to let us open “just one”.
Now, it’s not quite the same. Now it’s December and your Christmas bonus isn’t as big as you thought it was. Now it’s December and you aren’t the recipient of the tree of presents, you have to buy a tree’s worth of presents. Now it’s December and you suddenly realise that Great Aunty Pam is coming for Christmas and bringing all her children and you are going to need to get them all gifts. Gulp. It’s terrifying, we understand.
Before you throw away all your Christmas cheer and phone the bank for a loan, relax. Here are some thrifty Christmas gifts ideas.
Hot Chocolate – the nice kind, ok? Not Nestle in a twisty red tub. We’re talking a decent brand that comes in some pretty packaging. You can’t go wrong with hot chocolate, and if they don’t like it they are bound to have some guests who will. Bingo.
Cookies in cellophane – So you haven’t opened the oven in 4 months and there may be half of an old potato stuck on the grid – it doesn’t matter buy yourself a cookie mix and get creative. Add some nuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles. If you wrap your cookies nicely they will look just as nice as something from the store, for half the price.
A good wine or 10 – you can never have too many back up bottles of wine for gifts. Forgot to get a gift for Henry? Pull out a good bottle. It’s the standard adult gift, and unless they don’t drink it’s probably an easy go to. Especially for the guys, because as we know they are 1000 times more difficult to get prezzies for.
A gift card – yes it’s boring. But wait, is it really boring. I mean the recipient can select whatever they want. It’s the quickest and easiest way to get into the shopping mall and back out again without trooping all over the place to try find something specific. Plus you can get the same thing for all the cousins without worrying.
A jar of sweet treats – Mason jars are all the rage. People are using them as lemonade glasses at their weddings, vases at tea with Gran and what do you know, they can be made into a Christmas present too. Here’s how it works. Go to a wholesale store and buy multiple bags of cheap sweets. Buy a pretty ribbon. Layer the sweets in the mason jar and tie a ribbon around the top to secure it.
Buy someone dinner. I guess this may fall under the gift voucher category but also it may not as this can be wrapped up in quality time. The lucky recipient of this gets to have a whole evening with you and you pay for it. Actually, this is a great way of building a relationship which needs some work or alternatively just showing someone you love them enough to foot a bill and stare into their eyes for hours.
Hey if all else fails, there are always socks. Everyone wears socks and now days the options are endless. Embrace the tiresome adultness that comes with having to buy all the presents, be shopping smart and you’ll find maybe you’ll be a little bit excited on Christmas day too.