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Organizing Your Christmas Gift Buying

Christmas shopping season is upon us, and I know that many people absolutely dread this time of year simply because they feel overwhelmed by the prospect of buying a lot of gifts in a short span of time and on a deadline. 

I know exactly how you feel--I love buying gifts for people, but there's something about the Christmas season that is particularly strenuous even for the most avid gift buyer. 

Actually, not only do I buy gifts for people on behalf of myself but I also buy gifts on behalf of others. You know that job title "personal shopper"--I would love to do that full time for a living! 

Here's how I organize buying gifts for a lot of different people with the least amount of stress possible:

1 - Set up spreadsheet

You can do this in Google Docs or Excel. Here's how mine looks:

I like the spreadsheet because it reduces a lot of stress--you don't have to wonder, "Now, what did I get for Gina?" or "Am I forgetting anybody?"

You know what you gave, how much you spent, when you ordered it, and when you received it. 

2 - Email folks asking them for Amazon wish lists or gift suggestions.

The Amazon Wish List is amazingly helpful if you can get the people on your list to create one. They just need an Amazon account, and then they go to "Wish List", usually found in the upper right hand corner on Amazon.com

The people on your list don't have to choose items at Amazon--they can put items from any website on their Amazon.com wishlist. 

Then, all they need to do is give you the link to the wish list they've created for themselves, and you don't have to even think of what to give them--they've already done the thinking for you! 

3 - Shop online.

Probably the biggest hassle with Christmas shopping is dealing with the crowds. There's an easy way to get around that--just shop online. Most major stores have online shopping. You can place your order any time of the day or night, and it's delivered to your house. It couldn't be easier!

4 - Be decisive.

When I try to help people with their Christmas shopping, one common source of stress is the fear of "not knowing what to get" and not giving a good gift. It seems like the pressure of coming up with a "good gift" creates a lot of stress in some people. 

My strategy is this:

• First, ask people to provide specific gift suggestions. 
• If they don't give that info, then I try to think of something general that they would like, such as a gift card to a sporting goods store, a clothing store, or a restaurant. If the person likes to read, a Barnes & Noble gift card is always appreciated. 
• Make the decision and stick with it--don't buy something and then second guess yourself and consider returning it. Just get a gift receipt (if it's something other than a gift card), and the recipient can return it if he or she likes. 
• Realize that there is no perfect gift. You could spend hours trying to find "the perfect gift", and the person you're giving it to may end up returning it anyway. Even if they keep it, how long witll they remember that individual gift? Most of us can't remember every gift we received last year--we just remember that a particular person gave us something. It's truly the thought that counts. 

So, don't feel under a lot of pressure--the idea is to get a thoughtful gift that is within your price range that the person will most likely enjoy. You can discreetly provide a gift receipt in case they would prefer to exchange it for something else. 

The important part is that you gave something--you could even make something and have it be really special. That you even thought to give the person a gift is what will make them feel warm and fuzzy inside, not the actual gift itself. 

Christmas shopping can be fun if you keep things simple, lower your expectations for yourself, and communicate with the people you're giving gifts to. The sooner you're done shopping the better--then you can just relax and enjoy the really memorable parts of the Christmas season: spending time with your family, baking cookies, and whatever other family traditions you have. 

Personalized Calendars: A Great Christmas Gift Idea

For the last two years I've created personalized calendars for close family members as a way of savoring some special moments we shared through the year.

This is one of my favorite Christmas gifts to give, and it's really rewarding to see the person I gave the calendar to enjoying it throughout the year. 

The first year I did this I took photos from a beach trip and made them into a calendar, using Shutterfly's calendar creation tool.

This year I made my sister's new baby the centerpoint of the calendar, since everyone in our family can't get enough of baby Henry. 

The calendars are cool, not only because of the big picture from your real life that goes along with each month, but also because each person's birthday is indicated by a photo of the person's face. That way, you can see at a glance who has a birthday in a particular month.  

 And, you can personalize the front cover of the calendar. Here's what mine looks like:

 

In case you're wondering what this photo is of--it's his chubby baby hand and arm. Too cute! 

 At Shutterfly, there are various design templates you can choose from. I went very minimalist using the them called "Photo Gallery", but there are lots of others that are very colorful and theme oriented.

You can even choose how many photos to have on one page and there are different layouts depending on how many photos you have on a particular page. You also have the option of including captions.

The best part about this is that making the calendar requires no creative or technical ability--it is all set up so that you just need to plug in your own photos. 

It took me some time to create mine, but that's because I have a lot of birthdays to put in, and I had a gazillion baby photos to go through to pick which ones to use in the calendar. 

I decided to order 3 of them--one for my mother, one for my sister who had the baby, and then another for another sister. So, with the work I did on the calendar, I was able to "kill 3 birds with one stone" gift-wise, so to speak.

That's not a bad deal--3 customized gifts that I know the recipients will enjoy, with one burst of work. You might want to consider that too, as buying multiples of the same calendar gets a discount. 

Here's the link to Shutterfly's calendar creation page. You can choose from desk calendars, wall calendars, and calendar posters (one big image on a page with all the months). It's nice to think that whatever work you put into it will pay off throughout the year. 

Christmas Shopping In October...

It's October, and I've already started Christmas shopping, but not because I'm trying to be all "Martha Stewart" organized or anything. 

Last year I just got so fed up with the holiday season that I decided to make changes to the way that I do things. For anyone who is in charge of buying the Christmas presents for a bunch of people, you know what I'm talking about--the holiday season can be a time of extreme stress, rather than one of joy and fun. 

The consequences of this are:

• feeling like Christmas comes up too soon and is over too soon--not getting to fully enjoy the season
• feeling pressure to get certain Christmas-y things in before December 25, feeling rather rushed during December
• not fully enjoying all the special events and family things that happen during the holiday season (school plays, baking cookies, parties, decorating) because of the stress and time constraints. 

Last year, I was hearing people say "If I can just make it through Christmas...". I totally know what they mean, but at the same time I thought, "If that is what we're saying, then something is wrong..."

I do think that all the pressure around Christmas has gone overboard. It can feel like a frantic race, like you've got this deadline and you have all these things to do and buy, and you want to make people happy and give them something they'll be excited about. It can be really stressful. 

So, I decided that this year I would change things so that Christmas would be a time of peace and celebration, rather than a time of stress. Here's what I'm doing differently:

I have extended the Christmas season through January. It usually starts the day after Thanksgiving and ends on December 25, but for myself I have extended it so that it goes all the way through the end of January. That takes away the December deadline. It also makes it so that not so much pressure is put on that one day for meeting with family and exchanging gifts. I can get together with people in January, and at least in my mind it will still "count" as having spent Christmas together. 

I have decided to excerise some restraint on the decorating--keeping it simple. Sometimes it can almost feel like a competition with the decorating--who has the most impressive lights or the prettiest wreaths. This year I'll just do a wreath on the front door and a Christmas tree. 

I'm getting a real tree this year. I have an artificial tree that I usually use that is falling apart . That is my excuse for ditching it and switching over to buying a real tree, one that smells like the woods and fresh air! 

I used to dread putting up that artificial tree--it is painstaking and tedious to put it together. Worse than that is taking it down and getting it back in the box. 

So, no more fake tree. I'm getting a real one. 

I'm getting my tree close to Christmas--maybe Christmas eve. In the past I've just felt that after all the work associated with the Christmas season, the actual Christmas eve and Christmas day were anti-climactic. Saving the tradition of decorating the tree for Christmas eve is one way to slow things down. At least it's one thing I'm trying in hopes that it will slow down the approach to Christmas and also lengthen the time after it. I'll leave the tree up as long as it looks good. 

I am going to have an advent wreath be a part of my Christmas season. I've talked to some friends who were in the same situation as me (feeling stressed and rushed at Christmas), and they suggested using the advent wreath as a quiet way of re-focusing on the birth of Jesus. 

Early shopping: I hope to get all my shopping done before Thanksgiving, so that I can just sit back and enjoy December. It also gives me plenty of time to make any handmade gifts. I don't give everyone handmade gifts, but this year I've made a couple throw blankets for some special folks. Starting this early, I can just take my time on the things I'm making.

I'm doing as much shopping as possible online: That way, I just place the order, and it is delivered to my house. That makes it so much easier.

Give giftcards to people who are hard to shop for. I used to put a lot of effort into getting each person a gift that I picked out especially for them. With some people that is appreciated, but other people just returned the gift I spent so much time picking out. So, now I buy special gifts for those who I really know well and who appreciate a real gift, and everyone else gets a gift card. 

Give a family gift, rather than one for each person in the family. I have a lot of kids in my extended family, and buying 6 gifts for each family gets to be a lot after a while (and then they just turn around and return the gift anyway!). So, last year I just bought one family gift. I was pleasantly surprised that my gift of a Cheesecake Factory gift card was greeted with excitement and appreciation. Even though it was one gift to be shared by the whole family, they enjoyed going out to the Cheesecake Factory and getting a slice of cheesecake, my treat. And that was so much easier than trying to buy 6 individual gifts. 

This is my first year trying this new way of approaching the Christmas season--we'll see how it goes.