Hey Last Christmas by Wham just came on the radio as I started typing! My very favourite Christmas song ever – Thanks Radio 2!!
It’s Christmas Guys! Cue Sleigh Bells!
We like to lead a simple life over at Chez Wright, but the tradition of Christmas still includes the exchange of gifts for us.
As I said we keep it simple, that includes how we do gifts. I call it my “Christmas Box” system. This is how we do it for the adults in our close family. Our Kids get a visit from Santa 
(The Hubby and I don’t exchange gifts – Santa drops off one small token for each of us so that the Kids get to see us open a gift on Christmas morning)
This is how my ‘Christmas Box’ system works:
- One box per person
- In that box there is:
- Something to eat (normally chocolate)
- Something to drink (normally alcohol)
- A pair of socks (well it wouldn’t be Christmas without socks would it?)
- An experience (gift voucher for those that shop, a theatre/event ticket for those that like to be entertained, a book or DVD for those who prefer a physical specific item)
This year the plan was to make each box by taking a used box and sticking pieces of Christmas paper to it and gluing over. However on one grocery trip to Home Bargains (affectionately known as Bargo’s at Chez Wright) I spotted this:
A bargain (that’s why they are called Home Bargains!) at £3.99 for a large great quality box that can be used by the recipient time and time again.
Then it just got better, as I opened it, I discovered 3 other boxes contained for the price.
How could I resist? (I’m partial to browns and creams – have you noticed the decor in the background?)…
These boxes are part of the gift themselves and can be reused. Next year I will be making all the boxes but will allow a little more time (one box can take three days to complete including drying time!).
The Kids and I have made a couple of our own decoupage boxes… First-Born’s teacher is the recipient of one.
Hats off to Home Bargains (Bargos) once again… This gift cost less than £5!
This system works for me because we do exchange gifts at Christmas but I hate shopping. It’s simple to get all the consumables in one trip when I get my groceries (even the socks can be purchased from most grocery retailers). The vouchers, tickets, books and DVD’s can be ordered online. All items are contained in one box so it looks neat and is very easy to hide away from my Kids prying eyes as I store them before the big day.
When the gifts are exchanged there isn’t hours of opening presents, and when the recipient takes them home they are all contained in one box. Very simple in my opinion!
The added bonus is I’m not cluttering anyone up, 50% of the items can be consumed, the socks are a usable item, and the experience can be taken at their leisure after the holidays. The beauty of gift vouchers is that everythings reduced in the New Year so it’s better value for money for those who like to shop!
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I’ll be doing another post on card-exchanges (we don’t send cards we make a donation to charity instead). There will also be photos of the completed gifts as it is still to be wrapped up (ribbon, twine and home-made gift tags) – pardon the pun!
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Don’t forget I’m updating daily on Facebook! Yesterday I even found time to take this photo (to upload) as I sat waiting for Mom and Big Sis to join me for another of our Christmas traditions – a pre-christmas pub lunch:
Over on my Facebook page there’s also a video message I received from Santa this morning… see even if you believe in a simple Christmas there’s still room for a little of Santa’s magic 
