Every year I absolutely LOVE and loath getting gift guides sent to my inbox. And actually, even in publishing my own toxin free gift gift guide, it can be a bit of both love and hate. I absolutely love coming up with fun gifts for those on my list — but the execution and finding those gifts can be a whole other story. That’s when the overwhelm sets in and I become a little loathsome of holiday shopping.
Here are a few things that have helped me over the years to make that feeling of overwhelm disappear:
- Time is Your Best Friend: the more time you have to thoughtfully pick out a gift, the less stressful it will be
- Keep Notes: Throughout the year, I jot down my own ideas or items that others mention in a document on my phone so I won’t have to be racking my brain a few weeks before Christmas, trying to remember the idea I had for a gift
- Homemade Gifts on Repeat: Every year we try to find a small homemade gift to make and hand out to neighbors, teachers, friends and coworkers. One year it was small plants, another year it was candied pecans. But making things once and repeating is a great way to reduce the stress of coming up with new ideas
- Thingless Gifts: Giving an experience, a membership or even time with you is one of my favorite gift ideas. These often don’t require shopping and if you’re someone who waits until the last minute, you can still give these types of gifts.
My hope is that this year’s gift guide will spur some good ideas and give you trusted places to shop that are low toxin and high quality.
And if you’re still looking for more ideas or something super specific, these low toxin shops are my absolute favorite places to shop for gifts:
- Thrive Market
- Pact Apparel
- MightyNest
- NakedPoppy (Code HEALTHYHOUSE for 10% off)
- Healthier Homes (Code AMANDAKLECKER for 15% off)
- Rugs by Roo (Code HEALTHYHOUSE15 for 15% off)
GIFT GUIDE FOR MOM
GIFT GUIDE FOR DAD
GIFT GUIDE FOR FRIENDS, AUNTS & UNCLES
GIFT GUIDE FOR GRANDPARENTS
GIFT GUIDE FOR LITTLES
GIFT GUIDE FOR OLDER KIDS
- Classes (Art, Dance, Sport, Music)
- Memberships (Museums, zoo, etc)
- Magazine Subscriptions
- Event Tickets (concerts, shows, movies, musical events)
- Experiences (trampoline parks, climbing gyms, maker space studio, etc)
- A Special Day (an outing, a day trip, etc.)
- Organic Cotton Scrunchie Set
- Cards & Card Game Book
- Fjallraven Kanken Backpack
- State Park Checklist Print
GIFT IDEAS THAT AREN'T THINGS
- Services (yard work, cooking, etc.)
- Memberships (Thrive, Costco, etc.)
- A Meal Out
- Experiences (ghost tours, brewery tours, rent a boat for a day, etc.)
- Event Tickets (orchestra, concerts, plays, etc).
- Classes or Lessons (brewing, art, music, sports, cooking, etc)
- National or Local Park Pass
- Time with You
- Services (cooking, cleaning, etc)
- Flowers & Plants
Wishing you and your gift-givers a merry shopping season as you do your best to find low toxin and intentional gifts for everyone on your list.
