Christmas In October
Every year I think I will have Christmas presents wrapped and labeled in July.
Isn’t this a beautiful sight?
I’m not sure why I’ve hung onto this optimistic thought through so many years. But this is the year I will make October my new Christmas goal.
In our home, we celebrate St. Nickolas Day. (I’ll share more as the time gets closer) It’s such a big deal for us that I’ve had kids who knew they couldn’t make it home for Christmas that will try to make it home for good old St. Nicks. As the kids have moved beyond being happy with Dollar Tree items in their stockings, I’ve had to get a little more creative. Having a large family and limited budget I’ve settled on a few things everyone gets in their stockings and the kids are so great looking forward to the excitement and good feelings that come with this season.
Here is my list of usuals
A Toothbrush
A Pair of fuzzy socks
Chocolate coins plus more chocolate
an orange
A Christmas Book
a Christmas coffee mug
and then one additional item
My house does not look like these pictures! I wondered why everyone’s houses were so gorgeous.
My budget is $100 for the whole family and that’s pretty doable because I forget to keep track throughout the year : -}
All year when I am on the lookout for clothes for the kids at second-hand stores, I’ll peruse their books for both Easter and Christmas. The kids like to go to Half-Price Books for birthday presents so I’ll also look for Christmas books there as well. I have a box in my closet that I keep them in until I’m ready to pick who gets what and see how many more I need to buy. I’ve found some great books that way. One year, I found a beautiful Christmas book written in German for my daughter who is a German major and when I can find Jan Bret or Tommie dePaola books, I feel like I found the pot at the end of the rainbow.
The kids really love their Christmas books and they take them with them when they leave the house to start their own homes.
The toothbrushes have become something they look forward to as well. Seems a little underwhelming but I buy a big pack of bamboo toothbrushes from Amazon. I buy more toothbrushes than I have mouths in the family so that I will have extras for overnight guests or when someone needs a new one before they get one in their Easter baskets (ha ha). I buy Christmas socks in bulk from Amazon and I’ll pick up some during the after-Christmas sales. I try to not spend more than $3.00 for a pair of socks. If I save up the points from our Amazon card then I can get the toothbrushes and socks for free. This year, the kids are also getting tea. Ever since two of my daughters lived in England for a couple of years we have turned into tea conesouers. I found some bulk tea boxes that I will divvy up between them. Last but not least, I will get Christmas coffee mugs at second-hand stores when they are on sale for $1.00 apiece. Back in the day, I could buy them for .50, but those days are long gone. If we happen to have Grandbabies in the house for St. Nicks I’ll add some little fun things to their stocking as well. Last year I found a bucket of bath fingerprint, soup, and color bombs that I split up between them and I still have some of that left.
For the last additional item, last year, my husband found knife blades for really cheap, and then the kids were able to go to his shop and whittle handles. One year I gave the girls earrings. I’m always on the lookout for things in bulk and then figure out how to split them for each of the kids. We have also had overnight guests during our St. Nick celebration and with the extra things I have, I’m able to throw a stocking together for them as well which is really special and fun.
So my $100 budget that I’m not really sure equals $100 but for a family with 11 children in the house right now (well 2 of them live in town but they show up for St. Nickolas day and their stocking) I’m pretty happy with it but also happy to have new ideas. Whether you celebrate with stockings on St. Nicks or on Christmas day what are some of your favorite, inexpensive things to put in them?
