Monday, May 8, 2017

Ten Clutter-Free Gift Ideas

When you raise 4 daughters you get a lot of gifts over the years. My house is full of treasures made by little hands, especially around Christmas. These are the riches I wouldn't trade in for anything. They hold memories of the childhood of each daughter. There will never be a time I won't cherish these gifts.

There is such a thing, however as overkill when giving some gifts. I have received a Christmas ornament, Santa related musical, and nativity set every year for the last 33 years. The lovelies have received the ornaments and musicals as well from their first Christmas to the present day. To say we have an overabundance of Christmas ornaments/musicals/nativity sets is an understatement. The lovelies have certainly appreciated their Christmas themed gifts when they had their own homes the first time and were able to fully decorate their trees and homes without shopping. But there comes a time when these things become too much of a good thing.

What I've ended up with in the last three decades is a house full of dust catchers and cabinets/closets/an attic overflowing with items I never use. These things are taking up space and I've been purging as many as I can for the last year. Because of this overabundance of spoils from well-meaning gift givers, I have a list of gifts I like to give and/or receive instead of things that will add to the clutter.

Ten Clutter-Free Gift Ideas:
  1. Digital Scrapbooks. These things are not only fun to make, people love to get them as gifts. We've been known to give the parents and grandparents digital books of special family events and they cherish these books. I make one for myself every single time. 😀 
  2. Gift cards. Say what you will, most people appreciate a gift card. They don't have to come from a big department store. Finding a quaint little out of the way shop is nice. There are several places downtown Charleston like this. I've even given grocery store gift cards that were met with huge appreciation. I've also given gift cards to online shops that were well received. 
  3. Tickets to a show/performance. My dad and step-mother LOVE this. We usually include a gift certificate for dinner at a restaurant close to the venue. 
  4. Outdoor plants. This is especially nice for someone who loves plants or someone who has just bought a house. Along the same line, how about a gift certificate for a landscape maintenance crew to come mow and weed?
  5. Books for their Kindle or other digital reader. We gave my mother a Kindle a couple years ago for Mother's Day and we are always getting her new books. She LOVES it!
  6. Framed pictures. I'm talking about the WiFi digital frames. You can take a picture and send it to the frame immediately allowing the recipient to see the pictures. This is perfect for grandparents and great grandparents as well as other family members who live far away from their loved ones as it enables them to 'watch' their little loves grow. 
  7. A bottle of wine or three or their favorite tea/coffee and some adorable coasters (wink, wink). You could do a themed dinner basket with the wine/coffee/tea. Just don't forget the adorable coasters!  ðŸ˜‰
  8. Make their favorite dessert and take it in a unique dish they can keep. Yes, please! 
  9. Make a donation in their name to their favorite charity. Deanie and DrummerBoy donated to the ASPCA in my name and I loved it! 
  10. Complete a chore or project they can no longer do for themselves. Does a room need painting? What about all the dust that gathers under furniture? There are so many chores and projects that we can no longer safely do for ourselves when we hit certain ages. This is a lovely gift (though we should probably be doing it more than once a year for our older relatives.) You could even just go pick up the person you're gifting and take them out to lunch, shopping, sight-seeing... Sometimes just taking the time to spend some time means more than anything. 

What's on your list of clutter-free gifts?


Speaking of gifts...
Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles!
Mother's Day will be here soon!
AND there's a 20% off sale! 


36 comments:

  1. I love these ideas and may borrow some if them from you.

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    1. Great! Feel free to use any of them. And share if you think of more! :)

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  2. What lovely ideas. I need to do some of these since, some of the kids are decluttering so they can live our of a travel trailer for a year. You always have the best ideas.

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    1. Can you even imagine living in such a limited space? For a whole year? At the same time, how wonderful to be doing that! The sights they will see will be amazing for sure! Thank you, Kim!

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  3. oh. I thought of some of these and I have done a few of them but it had never occurred to me to hire someone to finish a project for my parents. That would be the gift of taking away the stress of both finding someone and getting it done. Brilliant!

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    1. Do you have any others you can share? I'm always looking for more. :) So glad I had one you hadn't thought of! Thank you!

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  4. I notice I am more particular as I get older and really would like to buy my own stuff but tickets or a service or consumables I enjoy like would be great! Terrific ideas.

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    1. I'm the same way about buying my own stuff and so are my parents which is why I try to get creative for their gifts. :) Thank you so much for visiting and commenting!

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  5. All great ideas! Oh my, we so need to declutter here. And how about those grown kids we have who brings things to our house that they want us to keep for them? Yeah, keep cluttering up here and your places all look nice and neat :) Thank you Pam for attending the #WednesdayAIMLinkParty. I shared your post.

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    1. I know all about the junk that belongs to our grown kids. Drives. Me. Nuts. I told them they better get it all out though. The Kidney Foundation is coming Wednesday to pick up all the attic stuff I cleaned out and I'm sending their stuff too. LOL Thank you for commenting and sharing!

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    2. Good idea! Thank you Pam for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I shared this post.

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    3. Thank you so much for doing this every time!

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  6. You had me at "clutter-free." I've just right-sized my way from a house in the suburbs to an apartment in the city and so many gifts and treasures that never got used--or used only once--did not make the move. SO thanks for your suggestions since so many of us face a right-sizing future.

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    1. I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've only recently learned this lesson and have been purging the house like crazy- even the attic which hasn't been empty in 28 years. Now, I'm hoping for no more unnecessary things. Thank you!

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  7. I love your clutter-free gift suggestions, Pam. I hope that some of my friends and loved ones read this post!
    Thanks for sharing this at: #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty.

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    1. Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like the ideas. Thank you for commenting and sharing, too!

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  8. Great tips. We all seem to have way to much. Thanks for sharing your wonderful posts at Over The Moon Party.
    See you next week.
    Hugs,
    Bev

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    1. We really do. And getting rid of it is so liberating! :) Thank you!

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  9. I love experience gifts, and of course, good food is always welcome! I hadn't thought of doing chores as a gift, but that's an excellent suggestion. Thanks for linking up at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I've shared this post on social media.

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    1. Me too! Especially the food. :) Thanks for visiting and sharing! And commenting!

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  10. So many great gift ideas!
    Thank you for sharing at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty

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  11. Great ideas! We do want to cut down on the clutter. These gifts show thoughtfulness without producing more clutter. Thank you for linking up at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I'm sharing your post on social media.

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    1. Thank you! I've gotten to the age where clutter makes me crazy. :) Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing!

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  12. I love this list of ideas and I agree with every one of them! I know that I am at a place that I want to get rid of all the "stuff". Our houses are filled with it; I'm turning into more of a minimalist. These ideas are perfect. Thank you for sharing at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, I've got to get it out of here or I'm going to go crazy. Thank you for commenting and sharing!

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  13. Great ideas. I need to pass this list on to my daughter. Thank you for linking up at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I shared this post.

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    1. Thank you! I hope my girls read it. LOL Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing!

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  14. Doing chores would be a great gift and also I would love tickets to a show. Thanks for sharing your ideas for clutter-free but thoughtful gifts with us at #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. I'm sharing.

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    1. My dad and step-mother love getting tickets to a show every year. Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing!

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  15. Congrats Pam! Your post was featured at the #BloggingGrandmothersLinkParty. See here: http://grammysgrid.com/blogging-grandmothers-link-party-16/

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  16. Brilliant ideas! Every Christmas for the past half-dozen years, I have told my daughters (2) that we all have enough...enough of everything. I want to start making holidays about making life-long memories and not about giving gifts. Love the ideas you suggested. Pinning this post.

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    1. You are too sweet! Thank you! I'm the same way- I either have enough or too much. I've even tried to give stuff away. LOL So glad you liked the post!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It makes me feel connected to everyone even though we may live far apart! Have a wonderful day!

 
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