Buy less crap!
Kazmira Pytlak
Staff Writer
For those of you who curse the emptiness and insanity of holiday shopping, but tend to throw your hands up in the end and buy Mom a JC Penney gift certificate, here are some creative, commodity-less ways to show family and/or friends some love, or at least let them enjoy a good guffaw at your attempts.
€¢ Do some investigating about whomever you'll spend the holidays with, and find out what their favorite dish or food is. Get some wine and cook a big, beautiful dinner just for them, using recipes they know and love or fancying up the classics with some exotic ingredients they've never tried before (I'd recommend Googling some recipes for the latter, unless you're adventurous).
€¢ Pick up some paints or crayons and sit your loved person down for a portrait. All the merrier if you're a terrible artist.
€¢ You're never too old for skits. Get together siblings, cousins, friends, lovers and make fun of everybody else with the art of comic performance. If you've got a video camera, record them and arrange a viewing.
€¢ A charity donation is one of the best non-gift gifts: everybody feels good afterwards. Check out guidestar.org for charity ideas and information on individual organizations.
€¢ Two words: interpretive dance.
€¢ For loved ones who love to pamper themselves, put together a basket of homemade beauty products. You may have seen the incredibly clever recipes in BUY LESS CRAP!!! (Orbis, Oct. 2005), and you can also find some great ones at ultimate-cosmetics.com. Decorate some little jars for your concoctions, and don't forget to label them!
€¢ This will take some more time, but if you don't have one already (that you know of) start compiling a family tree. Interview relatives, go back as far as you can, and present your findings to your folks. They will LOVE it, seriously.
€¢ It's a time for giving, so why not give something you hold dear to your heart already? If somebody's commented on how much they adore that blue sweater of yours, wrap it up pretty and give it to them.
For those of you who curse the emptiness and insanity of holiday shopping, but tend to throw your hands up in the end and buy Mom a JC Penney gift certificate, here are some creative, commodity-less ways to show family and/or friends some love, or at least let them enjoy a good guffaw at your attempts.
€¢ Do some investigating about whomever you'll spend the holidays with, and find out what their favorite dish or food is. Get some wine and cook a big, beautiful dinner just for them, using recipes they know and love or fancying up the classics with some exotic ingredients they've never tried before (I'd recommend Googling some recipes for the latter, unless you're adventurous).
€¢ Pick up some paints or crayons and sit your loved person down for a portrait. All the merrier if you're a terrible artist.
€¢ You're never too old for skits. Get together siblings, cousins, friends, lovers and make fun of everybody else with the art of comic performance. If you've got a video camera, record them and arrange a viewing.
€¢ A charity donation is one of the best non-gift gifts: everybody feels good afterwards. Check out guidestar.org for charity ideas and information on individual organizations.
€¢ Two words: interpretive dance.
€¢ For loved ones who love to pamper themselves, put together a basket of homemade beauty products. You may have seen the incredibly clever recipes in BUY LESS CRAP!!! (Orbis, Oct. 2005), and you can also find some great ones at ultimate-cosmetics.com. Decorate some little jars for your concoctions, and don't forget to label them!
€¢ This will take some more time, but if you don't have one already (that you know of) start compiling a family tree. Interview relatives, go back as far as you can, and present your findings to your folks. They will LOVE it, seriously.
€¢ It's a time for giving, so why not give something you hold dear to your heart already? If somebody's commented on how much they adore that blue sweater of yours, wrap it up pretty and give it to them.