Gift-Giving for the Holidays

Gift-giving is my favorite part of the holidays!  I am a listener.  What I mean by that is, I listen to people during the year and make notes of things they mention that they would really love to have.  Then, if I am able, I love to give them something they had mentioned during the year.  It is almost always a surprise to the recipient.  Generally, the mentioned item has been forgotten about, so the recipient thinks I am a 'brilliant' gift-giver.  Well, I can assure you I am not brilliant; but, I like to give the unexpected.  It really goes against my grain for folks to dictate a list of what they want (expect) for any gifting occasion.  I think gifts should be from the heart and should be special.  Just going and purchasing expected items from a list takes the 'specialness' out of gift-giving. 
     With our family, several years ago, we began a tradition of giving three gifts to each child at Christmas, representing the 3 gifts the Magi brought to Jesus.  We generally give something educational, something practical, and something fun.  We also work together to make huge quantities of homemade gifts to give to friends and neighbors.  Last year I got on a sewing kick and made coaster sets and baked potato bags to all of my female relatives and to any hostess we visited.  It was a lot of sewing, but it was so worth the effort.  We have made all sorts of gifts over the years.  Some of our favorite gifts to make are homemade mixes (hot chocolate and potato soup are the most popular); other food gifts (like cookies, cinnamon rolls, caramel corn); and bookmarks.  I think homemade gifts are wonderful because they show the recipient that they are special enough for us to take time to make them a gift.
     My Pinterest page is full of gift, cooking, and craft ideas that I have been 'squirrelling away' for Christmas ideas.  Feel free to have a look and follow me -- I am listed as Sarah Dugger.

     To read other blogs about gift-giving for the holidays, click on the links at the end of this post. If you would like to be entered in the giveaways for this 5 Days of Preparing for the Holidays series, visit my giveaway page.  Knowledge Box Central has graciously donated 5 fabulous products for me to give to my readers this week!