Clutter-Free Gifting: Guide to Giving Organized and Practical Gifts
It’s often said that staying organized is a lifestyle, but nothing proves this to be true like the holidays. The holidays are a wonderful time for giving and appreciating the people in your life, but this abundance of joy can also bring an abundance of clutter. Whether you’re shopping for a large family or discovering you’ve found the perfect gift for someone more than a couple times throughout the year, it can be easy to accumulate before the holiday season even starts. Clutter-free gifting is a way to keep the holidays special while really focusing on giving more meaningful gifts.
Clutter-Free Gifting: Subscriptions and Digital Gifting
When looking at what gifts to give your loved ones, it can be tempting to get typical gift objects - and typically, those are objects. Whether it be toys, decorations, or clothes, many advertisements consider gifts to be things that you can physically hand someone and that take up a lot of space. Gifts don’t have to be that way. When thinking about what someone likes and what kind of gift you want to get them, it can be helpful to pick a theme or two and look at what unique options are available for gift giving. If you know someone is interested in learning about new cultures, you might get them a food subscription box or an annual Duolingo subscription. If someone loves books, you might get them a gift card, an e-book, or an audio book. These methods can help reduce the items you’re both storing and giving away, while continuing to show your thoughtful knowledge of their interests.
Experiences vs. Things: How to Gift Memories Instead of More Stuff
Another opportune way to avoid clutter while gift-giving is to give the gift of memories. Perhaps you’re searching for a gift for your parents or a family you’re friends with. Providing an opportunity to create memories not only is a gift that isn’t a thing, but is a gift that will last with someone forever. Gift cards to movie theaters and restaurants are a great way to provide memories; you might make travel plans with someone or buy tickets to their favorite museum. This is a gift that can be tailored to your availability, proximity, and budget, while foregoing any of the large packages and odd-shaped items falling out of the closet.
Tips for Clutter-Free Gifting for Children and Teens
Giving gifts to children and teens can be a unique challenge. For children, many of the gifts and interests targeted at their age group are toys and other items that take up more space than the average adult gift. For teens, their interests can vary widely and be a bit more specific than adults. Both age groups can benefit from clutter-free gifting too, though. For teens, this is the perfect time to utilize gift cards and/or memory-based gifts. Teens will be happy to have control over the specifics of what they choose to collect and are old enough to remember the adventures and memories built through gifts. For younger children, finding gifts that will last past the holiday and fuel their current interests can be a great way of avoiding clutter while still giving them the joy of a gift that is attuned to who they are.
Creative Ways to Wrap Gifts to Reduce Waste and Clutter
Finally, once you have all the gifts together, it’s time to wrap. Wrapping paper often winds up as its own collection; you forget you have it and before you know it, you’ve got three half-used tubes in different parts of the house. If you’re using wrapping paper, keep it in the same place as other holiday decorations to avoid accidentally buying more before you need them. If you want to avoid wrapping paper altogether, you can reuse gift bags, reusable grocery bags, and even decorated paper bags as a means of reusing and up-cycling for the holidays. This is a great way to be creative and get kids involved and excited about the gift-giving process too! If you’re wrapping something small, you can even utilize an envelope or use print or lined paper as a wrapping tool.
Gift giving, like staying organized, is a skill to be honed. They can work together to help create a holiday season that’s organized, chaos-free, and enjoyable for everyone involved. Use this holiday season as the chance to put your organizing skills into practice and you’ll be ready for all the holidays to come.
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