I admit, one of our traditions is to switch things around. One year we might pull names, though with only 6 of us (adults), I found that one a bit difficult. I want to wrap something (however small) for everyone. So some years we added 'stockings' to that, with or without a monetary limit on the items. I have found the limits helped to not go too overboard, but I regularly broke rules. After all, I'm the mom. I can.
Some years we insisted that everything must be handmade. It could be purchased at a craft fair, so you didn't have to be super-crafty. One year when we were all tired of trying to stretch our dollars to fit the budget, we set a $20 limit per person. The girls always insisted this was the funnest year of all - we got terribly creative, and shopped at second hand stores, etc, to get the most out of our money. And there were no expectations... the gift opening was just fun... and when there was actually a gift someone liked a lot, that was a bonus. Several times we have had the rule that the gifts had to be second hand, not new, unless we made them ourselves. All in an attempt to decommercialize our Christmases and focus on the real reason for Christmas.
So this year, when I said 'no rules' - I added that we weren't doing a lot this year. Our big move was costly, I'm not working outside of the home, so we couldn't afford a lot. It was perfect. Our youngest daughter isn't usually the crafty one, but this year, she made a hand-painted sign for Haley's room, and watched a tutorial on 'Rosemaling' - a Norwegian form of art, in order to paint a birdhouse for me. Both are just beautiful! The others got books, which every member of our family loves. Our other daughter and son-in-law bought us a game. She knew we liked "Ticket to Ride" and found the Scandinavian version for us. Again, a perfect gift.
My big project this year was to sew Quiet Books for the grandkids. I read up on several blogs for inspiration: http://craftychiclyric.blogspot.com/2009/07/girls-quiet-book.html and others I didn't bookmark. Then I decided to do it on my own. I'm sure I would do the next one a bit different. I was going to add a way to close the book, and forgot when I sewed the cover together. I think I would next time, and could still add that to my grandkids books. I will add more details and pic's of the books in a future blog.
For our kids, I used Blurb.com to put together Coffee Table Wedding Albums for them. Acid free pens were included so they can personalize them with names and details. You can see the by going to the links. I would love to get into creating books like this for those who do not enjoy the process of putting these books together, but would love to have the finished product with their own photos. http://www.blurb.com/books/1836642
http://www.blurb.com/books/1836808
Although that may have been enough, I also had a few things I had bought throughout the years... sometimes specifically for one of them, but mostly just generic gifts that I was tired of having sitting around. It wasn't even all new. Some tupperware that I no longer need. Among other things. I wondered how much of it would stay here, but not much did.
I'm grateful that our kids put up with my quirky gift-giving ideas. Once more we had a wonderful day of relaxing, playing games, eating good food, and being grateful for the people that God has placed in our family and in our lives.
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