Simple Christmas
Christmas for most people is anything but that… SIMPLE. We decided years ago that we would make Christmas about memories and being together and less about spending money we didn’t have on gifts. I’m excited to share some easy ways to make the holidays less stressful, more merrier, and all around simple. These can be applicable whether you celebrate Christmas or another holiday.
A few years ago I shared about our Christmas plans and ya’ll loved it! This was WAY before Remy ever went to the hospital or was even born so I love reading it and seeing how we focused so much on decorating Levine Children’s Hospital and helping the kids. You can read that post here 🙂
Gift Wrapping
I loved this polka dot wrapping paper from Target! They had a few prints but the gold one went perfectly with my next idea, to wrap the boys gifts in blue ribbon and the girls gifts in pink ribbon. You can of course keep the tradition of red and green for Christmas!
Gift Giving
The first thing we did when we started this “new” simple Christmas was being HONEST. With friends, family, neighbors, etc. We simply (pun intended) explained our ideas of not going into debt for Christmas and putting to rest the stress and anxiety that the holidays brought on… not to mention the stress of paying off credit cards for years to come. Everyone loved it. Since then, we ask others to not give us gifts (some insist and that’s ok!)
We limit our kids gifts and allow most to be given by grandparents which is special to them. Santa brings 1 gift and we then buy a few things, usually keeping it around $100 for each child which I think is a big splurge. I once read a story about how a teacher saw students coming back from break and it would hurt her to see her students process how “Santa” would bring one kid very little and the next kid a new xbox, bike, etc. It got me thinking that Santa shouldn’t be getting all the credit for these gifts and also it would help protect other kids less fortunate if we didn’t go so over the top in the name of Santa.
Here are some of the things I found for our kids that I know they will play with over and over! If ya’ll need any ideas, here is my girls, boys, and toddler list!
DECORATING
I know I usually keep my tree white and my colors blush and blue, but this year, I loved the traditional stockings! I added little ornaments as characters for each stocking for the kids! They love them! I also got these stockings from Target with the ornaments. Stocking stuffers are fun for me so I always find cute socks, a craft, and a bath toy for them!
SIMPLE
The best part about a simple Christmas is that it’s December 10th and I am ready to go. Bought, wrapped, under the tree. I spent the afternoon making gingerbread houses with the middle kiddos and get to enjoy this time of the year and how slow and restful it can be! I hope you can find a few simple ways to enjoy your holiday!
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