Can You Think of a Christmas Gift that YOU can GIVE that is a lil piece of you but won't cost much? ?

dartagnon, i absolutely love and support what you are doing here...opening others to new possibilities. i am especially against rampant, insidious commercialsim and the obligatory gift-giving that so many indulge in, not to mention the self-interested expectation of receiving a gift, which somehow clouds the spontaneity and natural motivation for giving something to

i certainly have done my share of overindulgence in that department, creating lavish Christmas mornings for my family over the years when we were still a family...but that was awhile ago, and i have since looked back at the senselessness of it all. i think of the money blown on big ticket items, the necessity for multiple gifts to give a feeling of abundance to each family member, the Christmas clean-up waste that is created and that can't be recycled, the false sense of "sharing" that substitutes for real relationships, etc.

In my later years, i only give gifts to my grandsons, and i don't wrap them either...and i might not necessarily give them on Christmas Day.

i would love to see people giving love and service and time to one another instead of goods. Every "thing" we give, generally speaking, misses the point of connecting with another. Time spent helping others in ways that they uniquely need help with, words of love and caring written to express gratitude for the relationship, sharing a memorable and fun-filled outing, etc., have a warmth and sincerity that things can't convey in quite the same way. Though when at a distance, as many are, i can understand wanting to give a token of love and remembrance to them.

And i love your idea of using natural things (and with a sense of humor, to boot)..now this is really environmentally involved. Rocks, in fact, happen to be one of my favorite things, and i love to hold them to let them speak to me. i also love the idea of so creatively decorating the Christmas tree as Keau describes. Now that is NOT buying into the conditioned commercialism that's been crammed down our throats. We have become slaves to advertising, slick magazine articles, newspaper reports of doing our part for the economy, TV commercials, etc. Surely we are not a nation or world of robots (though we are treated as such by the Corporate puppet-masters)...rather we are are compassionate, loving, caring, heart-motivated beings who can give and receive without succumbing to all the Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Birthday, Halloween hype that snares us in a loop of mindless, obligatory spending.

The question is, what are we teaching our children about becoming genuinely authentic beings? Rather than a heap of presents, why not a family outing tailored to the interests of the family? Or a family service day for someone who has little or nothing or is in one kind of need or another. Surprise a shut-in with a Christmas meal on wheels, but include your family to share it with them & bring joy to a lonely one. It is all about connecting and including, not about selfishly accumulating.

We are one family, after all, and the more basically we can express that, the more authentic we all become.

i am Sirius

I have so many ideas and can't seem to focus on just one idea. Being a multi-media artist is tough. I will probably give away some of my clay pieces that I created at the Art School I attended in September, October and November, otherwise, I will paint some small pictures and frame them. I also use oil pastels and will include something unique to that person in the picture. Dried flowers are also a great way to make a picture. Use oils for the paint with a fast drying medium then add real dried flowers to the picture with by gluing with the drying medium.

Wow, I better get started.

Thanks Darty.

Many times I have given baked goods; cookies, pies, cakes, etc. I have a cookie recipe that I won a bake contest with a few years ago. When done in Love, food feeds more than just the body. I also have written poems, made sculptures, & even paintings & have given them as gifts. One year I did crochet projects for everyone; throws, scarfs, caps, & book covers. The doing of that project became like a meditation for me, hands busy & the mind is free to go else where. In some really lean years I have given coupons to Loved ones good for back rubs, foot rubs, house cleaning, even baby or pet sitting to be redeemed on demand. Those are fun & they usually end up being things someone may need but always hates to ask for or simply can't afford otherwise.

This is a wonderful question & thank you for adding inspiration to a gift giving season when purchased gifts just may not be possible.

Blessings!

Dartagnon, I fear the high desert air is getting to you or perhaps you accidentally bumped your head on something very hard. In any event, I have an idea for a gift that would cost nothing, be greatly appreciated by anyone who received it, would bring great joy and happiness to a multitude of people and if everyone would give this gift then our world would be so much better.

Pledge Honesty and become Honorable in everything you do in life. Refuse to succumb to Greed and instead, search for ways to share what you have with anyone in need. Place every ounce of emphasis you can muster to insure that everything you do is done at your very natural best. Remember the old saying, "If you can't find something nice to say to someone then just say nothing" and stick to it or Truly look and you will find some good in everyone. Stop being rude of disrespectful to people especially to strangers and instead treat each person you encounter in the exact way you would like to be treated. Be delighted in giving compassion and understanding to those who are troubled and are suffering and finally, Pray for the people who treat you wrong.

Happy Holidays. Peace and Joy on Earth. Good Will to all. Amen.

I bake a Polish bread called Strucla. It is a traditional Christmas food in poland. It has a yeast dough and is filled with crushed walnuts and sugar syrup. It takes all day t make and the only recipe I have makes twelve loaves about 18 inhes long.

It looks beautiful, tastes better and is made woth so much love, wine drinking and christmas carols playing in the background that it just brings joy wherever you take it.

For two years I collected and set aside the State Quarters to create a collection for my granddaughters. This year is the last year that the State Quarters will be issued. From the 99 cent store I have clear sheets divided to be used to hold business cards with side holes to place into a note book (also from the 99 cent store) to hold the individual coins. I created the labels (State name and issue year) to go inside with the coin and to be used as an index list.

Well I went to new orleans the other week with my closest friends couple weeks ago... I've always been creative with cards and I'd rather have something out of the ordinary than something, well what people call the same, or the normal... birth cards are the most creative lol... But anyways I'm thinking about snaping a few branches off from the tree (or I might go to Wal-mart and buy one of those cheap plastic xmas branches and glue it to poster paper)... print out mini photos of our pictures from the trip and hang them as orniments... lol last year or I think it was two years ago our tree was made out of beer bottles lol that was damn awesome... Lights and all... I think the year before it was coconut tree leaves with candy wrappers as our orniments... The trees look damn sweet like you think it'd look like crap, but nope it was sweet... there's loads of ways though.. just gotta be optimistic...

oh yeah and the other year I I gave everyone on lil pineapple plants lol and they were all lit with lil LED lights and all as cards atleast lol... that was weird lol...

I was thinking about making bookmarks and laminating them, I think personalized bookmarks would be neat. I have alot of popsicle sticks and I have some wood cut out stars and hears and I got some wood glue and im going to make a picture frame! :) I have an old white T shirt ive never worn and im going to tie dye it, cut the sleves off and sew up the head opening and arm openings and buy some cotton from the craft store in town and stick it in then sew the rest of it up. Then im going to sew on letters saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS CHRIS" and give it to my bestiee!

Good homemade gifts could be Cookies, Jewerly, Scarfs, a coupon book ( a little booklet you make and decorate with diffrent pages saying one free car wash, one free back rub) and that person can use it when ever!

Photo collages seem to be popular or a lovely framed photo. I have seen my three daughters put together beautiful collages for friends that they adored.

Remember, it's the thought that counts. Happy holidays to you, your friends and family.

PS You wrote beautifully, I'm impressed.