The Best Christmas Card Alternative Ever

Like all normal people, I spent a good 3 or 4 weeks this fall envisioning a very important aspect of the holiday season.

Christmas Cards

Normally I would log in to Snapfish.com, plug in a few pictures and send professional looking, adorable cards to all our friends and family.

But I wanted to change it up this year. 

I wondered, how can I be more intentional about our Christmas cards? How can I make it so that my Christmas cards are...

• Free (or affordable)
• Paperless
• Homemade
• Personal
• A frame-able family picture
• Environmentally friendly
• Christ-honoring
• Awesome

The (Almost) Best Christmas Card Alternative Idea Ever

I decided to send an email including:

• A newsletter summarizing everything that's happened to our family this past year (We had our second baby, moved to Michigan, celebrated Evelyn's 2nd birthday, pursued my new passion in teaching natural childbirth, and bought our first house!)
• Our most recent family picture for those who need a copy to print out.

It was personal. It was free, saved paper, had a picture, was environmentally friendly.

But it wasn't homemade. And it wasn't very personable. Or religious.

The (Actual) Best Christmas Card Alternative Idea Ever

• My initial idea
• + mailing homemade, sewn ornaments
• + mailing a card with Luke 2:11 printed on it reminding our friends & family of the simplicity & real "Reason for the Season"

It hit all the marks. I couldn't wait to send everything out!

But, it didn't happen.

I seriously slacked at completing my ornaments and by my original (goal) deadline of December 1st, I had completed 3. Out of 50.

And a week later I had 4 completed.

I spent two or three days kicking myself for not being more organized, telling myself I HAD to make it happen. This was the best idea ever.

Then I started receiving our first few Christmas cards in the mail. And I was mad that ours weren't out yet. So I logged onto Snapfish and said, "Forget it! I'll do something fancy next year!"

My first homemade Christmas failure.

If at first you don't succeed...

I battled with myself about spending $30 on Christmas cards when they weren't really necessary at all. I didn't need to send them just because everyone else was.

So I didn't. I saved the money.

And decided to go onto Plan C. And I had Evelyn "paint" some ornaments to send to everyone.

(By paint some ornaments I mean paint a few sheets of paper which I then cut up in the shape of a tree and strung with yarn.)

Are her painted, yarn strung ornaments as cute as my festive sewn ones? As a mother, I'm obligated to say yes, they are the cutest ornaments in the whole wide world... even though mine were reeeeeally cute... all four of them... 

Oh well, I still plan to use the ornaments I made on top of a few presents and maybe I'll be more organized next year.

By the way, it's finally snowing here!

Linking up with Frugal Days, Works for Me, Barn Hop, and Raising Homemakers!

Thank you following along on our journey to simplicity & contentment. Please be sure to learn about our family, like our page on Facebook, and visit the right column to subscribe to future posts!

Our First Advent

We never celebrated advent growing up.

The only people I knew who celebrated advent were Catholic. We were Baptist. So I always assumed it was a Catholic tradition.

But recently I learned what advent really is. It's about the anticipation, preparation, and recognition of Christ's first coming at Christmas. It isn't just about getting a piece of candy out of a box everyday, it's a time of readings and teachings to prepare us for His second coming.  This totally applies to us too!

Several of my fellow bloggers shared The Truth in the Tinsel with me.. It's an ebook designed for families with young kids.

Each day has story, scripture, lesson, and craft (ornament) planned to help your family focus on the advent season. Most of the crafts can be whipped up based on what supplies you already have (the crown ornament above was supposed to be decorated with plastic jewels or flat marbles.. we only had mini-pom poms but it works!)

I hope this will be a great opportunity for us to practice part of what (I envision) homeschooling will be like - having a devotional and craft to do each day with Evelyn (from now until Christmas!)... and all I had to do to prepare for it was print the ebook and gather supplies!

I might post some pictures of our crafts and a summary of our lessons once a week (more likely I'll probably post them on my Facebook page).

Do you have any special advent traditions? Are you doing Truth in the Tinsel with your young children?

Full Disclosure: If you buy Truth in the Tinsel through my affiliated link, then Amanda will throw a couple cents my way... maybe I'll end up getting my copy for free :) Okay, I'm not that popular.. but any discount rocks, so thanks! You will love it!

Linking up with Frugal Days, Works for Me, Barn Hop, Raising Homemakers, 25 Days of Christmas!

Thank you following along on our journey to simplicity & contentment. Please be sure to learn about our family, like our page on Facebook, and visit the right column to subscribe to future posts!

I'm not buying a single gift this Christmas

Christmas gifts.

I have the unique situation that I share my birthday with Christmas Day. So of course I've always expected gifts (and my parents were very good to make sure I receive them for both occasions).

But over the past few years I've felt really challenged in this area. Even though receiving gifts isn't one of my love languages, I still feel the natural pull to give seriously awesome gifts to everyone at Christmas time.

Which makes striving for simplicity and contentment during this season a challenge.
I'm thankful God is making a huge change in my heart for the desire to consume, consume, consume "just because" it's the holidays. 

But how can I fulfill this desire to give and bring joy to others through presents... If I want them to be filled with contentment and appreciation for God's love too?

And how can I personally celebrate the holiday simply if everyone is expecting a fancy gift? And how can I express my contentment so that people don't feel the need to give me more?

This has been the conversation in my head for months leading up to the holidays.

And a big part of that conversation was me asking myself, "Why do we give presents at all? Well, Jesus was God's present to us. And the three kings brought him presents. So should I give everyone gold and essential oils? Do I buy them a Bible? Do I buy them nothing?"

The Compromise

Most would agree that America has succeeded in building up this traditional, historical holiday and making it less about Christ's birth and more about having the biggest decorations, the biggest gifts, and the biggest party to celebrate it all.

Let me preface by saying I love the Christmas season. I love the decor, the parties, the celebrations, the music. (Umm, I decorated my house before Thanksgiving)

What I don't love is the sense of entitlement, greed, and discontentment that I have seen in my own heart.

That's not the mindset I hope to pass on to my children. I want them to cherish this holiday as the celebration of Christ's birth, family, and giving out of love, not to receive. 

Contentment. No big presents? Perhaps no presents at all?
Simplicity. No big decorations? No big parties?

This does not sound fun at all.

How can I continue to change my heart to celebrate Christmas to honor the birth of our Savior without being completely radical and making our friends and family think we are crazy ungrateful cheapos...?

I have to give gifts. 
Well, I want to give gifts.

I want to share what we've been blessed with with our family and friends.. but, I don't want to give to impress. I want to give to challenge people. 

Challenge them to think about what they are truly celebrating - God's holiday? Or the world's holiday?
I want to challenge them about what they're expectations are and what ways they are searching for fulfillment, because in the end, they aren't going to get true fulfillment in any Christmas gift.


So now I've found the message I want from my gifts and my reasons for giving them. I'm not giving gifts just because "it's what you do" and because "I want gifts back". I hope my gifts will be received with a special message.


And to try and create that message, 
We decided to make all of our gifts this year. 

Not just a one or two. Not a handful. Every. Single. One.
And you know what I love the most about making homemade gifts?

1. No Money

Money is tighter right now, I'm being honest. We just bought our first house and are still adjusting to the unexpected/additional expenses that come with maintaining a home. (Almost) every material we are using to make our gifts we already own (or have been able to find for free from family members and Craig's List).

We are spending less than $100 total (but I think closer to $50... and a lot of that is on stamps!) for over a dozen gifts (and 50 mini-gifts).

We know making our own gifts won't make them less adequate for the person receiving them, but they will allow us to keep a larger "cushion" in our bank account if, say, we end up needing (another) unexpected $850 repair...

2. No TV Time

When we moved into our new house, we chose to not have cable anymore. This literally gives us hours every day that we used to waste watching random sitcoms and HGTV reruns. Having projects to work on has given us something to do in our "down time" (and it forces me to spend time doing something I enjoy... which is easy for us moms to skip!)

3. Teachable Moments

Spending time cutting, pinning, painting, designing, and sewing gives me plenty of opportunities to talk to my toddler about gift giving - and have her help! Even if it's just scribbling on envelopes or stuffing fabric scraps into a bag.

Is making homemade gifts 100x times more work than buying them? Absolutely.
Are there meaningful store-bought gifts out there? Absolutely.

But instead of dreading to fight the crowds and have my recipients 
potentially use their gift receipt, I'm preserving materials, saving money, and making something unique.

It's simple. And it makes me feel content. And thankful for the opportunity to bless others.

Do you have any unique traditions for gift giving?

Linking up with Frugal Days, Works for Me, Barn Hop, Raising Homemakers, Penny Pinching Party! 

Thank you following along on our journey to simplicity & contentment. Please be sure to learn about our family, like our page on Facebook, and visit the right column to subscribe to future posts!