Are you joining us for Christmas? Tell us how you intend to create Christmas instead of buy it. Then, tell us to whom you are donating the difference. If you want to get really nuts, tell us the amount of difference you are donating. Perhaps, when this is all over, we’ll have quite a large number to show the world.
It started as a simple gift.
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Grab the official button for MLP, created by Lisa, who won Inspired Bliss' contest! 
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MLP inspired by My Wife
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I am giving the mother letter project to my wife for christmas, in addition to a used book or two.
Who knows how much I will save to donate to the little village, but we’ll see when this is all over.
I am creating Christmas for my grandparents and extended family… using my crockpot and steam canner and my own 2 hands to make delicious (I hope!) goodies that are good for them.
I don’t know how much this will save, but I hope to use it to establish a scholarship for young Ethiopian girls who age out of orphan care to be trained as nurses and become self-sustaining.
This christmas I am donating 12 meals from dinner a’fare and giving them to my co-workers mother who is suffering from depression and anxiety. I hope this will ease some of her concerns for finances over the holiday and bring a warm smile to her face when we drop them off.
Last year my husband and I gave the amount we would spend on each other to a family that had adopted a special needs child. We are praying about who to give it to this year. God is faithful to show us each year. We just got sick of all the pressure and materialistic focus wrapped up in buying the right gift for each other.
Last year we made scarves and a yummy breakfast for some folks. Then we left our house and drove until we found them on the streets that are there homes. The year before, we put our money together and bought items from the World Vision catalog in honor of our family members. This year, so far I’ve delivered homemade canned jam from berries I picked myself and hazelnuts I helped harvest from our church property. We don’t yet know what else we’re going to do this year, but whatever it is, it has to be meaningful, and it has to have Jesus’ handprints all over it.
We don’t usually buy the children Christmas gifts- they get enough stuff from relatives. Instead we use the season to do even more family-togetherness activities ranging from baking cookies to visiting museums- things we dont get to do everyday.
I’m working on paintings for my family and friends as gifts, and we’ll be using the money we save to continue our contribution to World Vision (and our sponsored child in India).
We’re also using money we save to give gifts to those who are a little “down and out” due to certain circumstances (lay offs, disabilities, etc).
My children and I have been making one fleece blanket a month to donate to the homeless. I have a ladies brunch every first Saturday of Dec. It is potluck but we always have too much food so I assign some of the ladies to bring something for charity instead. I always try to do something, bring food for the food bank, make quilts etc. This year we will add to the # of fleece blankets we will have to donate.
My son (8)recently learned how to make loom hats at school and wants to make some for the homeless even wanting to set up a “company” for charity. We’re running out of time this year, we’ll see how much he can do.
We are baking cookies and/or meals for the neighbor’s that live nearby us and instead of buying restaurant gift certificates for friends as we usually do, we are making a donation (in their names, at their urging) to several projects - Smile Train (http://www.smiletrain.org/site/PageServer) and Love 146 (http://www.love146.org).
Our 4 children are living on their own now and as the “something you need” part of their gift, we are giving them meat (beef from our farm, chicken from the Hutterite colony, and a frozen meal or two) for their freezers. Their grocery dollars are stretched to the max these days. I am sewing teatowels and bags to use for wrapping and my red pepper jelly and homemade crackers are going to our friends.
Here is an idea for the gentlemen…and you cannot go wrong because I don’t know one lady that wouldn’t love this gift. And it costs absolutely nothing.
All you need is a sheet of paper and a pen. Simply title the paper 101 Things I Love About You. And start listing. It may seem a bit difficult at first, but once you start, you probably won’t be able to stop listing!
When you have 101 things, sign the bottom. Tie with ribbon. Present on Christmas Day. Hand the special woman in your life tissues.
I'm creating Christmas by making gifts for family. We're using the money we would have spent to adopt a single mom & her two kids for Christmas.
We'll spend about $400 on useful items for that family instead of accumulating more "stuff" in our own home!
I created a scrapbook, called Snapshots of love, for my family. I made layouts with photos of past and present memories. My grandmother called me to say this was the best gift she has ever received in her 80 yrs of life.
The money saved went to a local charity in Toronto.
We are making more than half of our gifts this year & are using our "extra" funds to sponsor two children's Christmas, as well as to make a donation on GlobalGiving.com, FeedMyStarvingChildren.com and to a food pantry!
Feels good! Great to hear others are doing something similar!