As the holiday season approaches, Christmas tunes start playing on the radios again, stores are packed with shoppers in a hurry, and everyone starts to get into the holiday spirit. Of course, Christmas is one of my favorite holidays because it’s a great time to spend with family and friends, and I love the food and music (and sometimes the snow). But my absolute favorite part of the holidays is giving other people gifts.
Ever since I was little, I loved just buying small gifts for people from the dollar store with whatever chore money I could scrounge up. As I’ve gotten older, I obviously started making my own money from jobs and it allowed me to buy even more meaningful gifts. I know it makes me sound like Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas, but Christmas is a time for giving and spending time with loved ones, not always materialistic things.
Throughout the years, I’ve found that these gifts are the easiest and most affordable to get others while still being super meaningful. These can also apply for Hanukkah, Kwanza, or any holiday of your religion.
Soap
To some, this sounds like the worst and cheapest gift ever, but I’ve received this before for Christmas and nearly cried tears of joy. I adore local soap shops that make different bars of soap, and I think that giving this to someone you love in their favorite scent will bring more joy than you may think.
ornaments
Getting new ornaments to put on your Christmas tree every year is such a sentimental thing. My personal favorite is getting a “new baby” ornament for family members that has a new addition in their family and gives the new baby an opportunity to be a part of the tree. My favorite place to get different, unique ornaments is Kohl’s because you can get anything from ornaments for new home owners to one in the shape of a football.
Slippers
A new, comfy pair of slippers, especially in the winter, is always the best and easiest gift for someone that you’re stuck on finding something for. They’ll definitely be grateful.
“52 Reasons i love you”
When I was younger, I made this gift for my great grandma and she absolutely loved it. Now, I can’t take full credit for this (thank you, Bethany Mota in 2013), but it’s a great gift to make if you love making DIY crafts. You take a deck of cards, some plain white sticker labels, a hole puncher, some fun markers, and ribbon. Place a label on each card and write out 52 different reasons you love that person. Punch 2 holes on the side of each card and weave the ribbon through it. You’ll have a mini book of a bunch of reasons you love someone and they will 1000% appreciate the effort you put into it.
air tags
This is a great gift for someone that loses their keys often and you can purchase them on Amazon for under $30. Trust me, they will thank you next time they run around the house trying to look for their keys.
car air freshner
I’ve seen a million different air fresheners to hang from your rearview mirror all over TikTok shop. You can find really unique ones or even just the Little Trees brand. A few months ago, I got myself a customized air freshener for my car with my dogs face on it and I’m obsessed with it. You can find any customizable air freshener website and submit a photo of their dog to make it into one, or better yet, their face! Because how funny would that be to open up your gift on Christmas Day and it’s an air freshener of your face?