Ten Clutter-Free Gift Ideas

When you raise 4 daughters you get a lot of gifts over the years. My house is full of treasures made by little hands, especially around Christmas. These are the riches I wouldn't trade in for anything. They hold memories of the childhood of each daughter. There will never be a time I won't cherish these gifts.

There is such a thing, however as overkill when giving some gifts. I have received a Christmas ornament, Santa related musical, and nativity set every year for the last 33 years. The lovelies have received the ornaments and musicals as well from their first Christmas to the present day. To say we have an overabundance of Christmas ornaments/musicals/nativity sets is an understatement. The lovelies have certainly appreciated their Christmas themed gifts when they had their own homes the first time and were able to fully decorate their trees and homes without shopping. But there comes a time when these things become too much of a good thing.

What I've ended up with in the last three decades is a house full of dust catchers and cabinets/closets/an attic overflowing with items I never use. These things are taking up space and I've been purging as many as I can for the last year. Because of this overabundance of spoils from well-meaning gift givers, I have a list of gifts I like to give and/or receive instead of things that will add to the clutter.

Ten Clutter-Free Gift Ideas:

1. Digital Scrapbooks. These things are not only fun to make, people love to get them as gifts. We've been known to give the parents and grandparents digital books of special family events and they cherish these books. I make one for myself every single time. 😀 
2. Gift cards. Say what you will, most people appreciate a gift card. They don't have to come from a big department store. Finding a quaint little out of the way shop is nice. There are several places downtown Charleston like this. I've even given grocery store gift cards that were met with huge appreciation. I've also given gift cards to online shops that were well received. 
3. Tickets to a show/performance. My dad and step-mother LOVE this. We usually include a gift certificate for dinner at a restaurant close to the venue. 
4. Outdoor plants. This is especially nice for someone who loves plants or someone who has just bought a house. Along the same line, how about a gift certificate for a landscape maintenance crew to come mow and weed?
5. Books for their Kindle or other digital reader. We gave my mother a Kindle a couple years ago for Mother's Day and we are always getting her new books. She LOVES it!
6. Framed pictures. I'm talking about the WiFi digital frames. You can take a picture and send it to the frame immediately allowing the recipient to see the pictures. This is perfect for grandparents and great grandparents as well as other family members who live far away from their loved ones as it enables them to 'watch' their little loves grow. 
7. A bottle of wine or three or their favorite tea/coffee and some adorable coasters (wink, wink). You could do a themed dinner basket with the wine/coffee/tea. Just don't forget the adorable coasters!  😉
8. Make their favorite dessert and take it in a unique dish they can keep. Yes, please! 
9. Make a donation in their name to their favorite charity. Deanie and DrummerBoy donated to the ASPCA in my name and I loved it! 
10. Complete a chore or project they can no longer do for themselves. Does a room need painting? What about all the dust that gathers under furniture? There are so many chores and projects that we can no longer safely do for ourselves when we hit certain ages. This is a lovely gift (though we should probably be doing it more than once a year for our older relatives.) You could even just go pick up the person you're gifting and take them out to lunch, shopping, sight-seeing... Sometimes just taking the time to spend some time means more than anything. 

What's on your list of clutter-free gifts?

Speaking of gifts...
Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles!
Mother's Day will be here soon!
AND there's a 20% off sale!