I know, I know… Christmas is over for some but the jollity is still going on over here and this is one post that we traditionally post after Christmas… for obvious reason. We are not overly big on christmas gifting… but there is one particular gift that means the world to our kids and that is the gift that they make and create for each other. At the beginning of December our children pick a sibling’s name out of a hat and they have a little while to think and contemplate what they would like to gift each other. The gift has two requirements really: The gift must be mostly home made, we don’t have a special Christmas budget, but they may “shop the shelves” at home and they do dip into our crafty supplies a fair amount. Also, it must be something the recipient would really want – no making something that you hope will be returned to sender!!!
This year along with Christmas tree hunting and lots of crafty decorating, we kind of left our sibling gifting to the day before Christmas as one does. But everyone appeared to have a plan and a totally doable one too… so here is a gallery of this year’s Secret Sibling Christmas Gifts…
- Hood #1: Received a t-shirt drawn by his youngest brother… honestly, the cuteness (!) I would love that t-shirt!!!
- Hood #2: For the gamer amongst us… a logo-t-shirt.
- Hood #3: Received a smash book kit – for the gal that loves collaging and writing and creating…
- Hood #4: Our athlete who is always in training, wants to keep an exercise log – seems like the perfect gift for him.
- Hood #5: Received a carefully thought out fingerprint kit… powder, ink, cards and contact paper…
- Hood #6: The maker in our family received a peg-doll kit… really easy to put together, with things we had lying around the house. A couple of pegs, fabric squares, pipe cleaners, sequins and beads… project glue if she wants to keep her dolls permanently attired or little elastics in case she wants their outfits to change from time to time.
- Hood #7: Who loves playing games, was introduced to rock dominoes.
- Hood #8: And a slightly older sibling filled an entire notebook with activity and colouring pages – a personalised colouring book, that has already been loved completely.
That’s our secret sibling gifting, until next year. We hope you are enjoying the holidays!!!
Oh my gosh, I love this idea!!! love the personalised colouring book and the smash book 🙂 SO CLEVER!!!
I think I should let mine make rock dominoes on Tuesday – they’re having friends over so it’s a nice outside activity!
Such thoughtful and meaningful gifts. Love love love love!!! We also aren’t big on gift exchange which most people find weird! Growing up christmas was about wearing our new dresses, church, mandatory after church ice cream cone, eating yummy food and going around the neighbourhood for more food and playing with friends!!!
We do something similar at Christmas, but not all of the gifts are home-made. I have some crafty children who will enjoy begin inspired by your children’s gifts.
Hay Marcia, this is our favorite Christmas tradition by far… our kids work really hard to create something the other child will love. It is always a surprise to see what they come up with!!! Sending love from sunny Cape Town…
Mrs FF your childhood Christmases sound very like ours… we always head for church and then we go for an amble – no-one is about and it is fun to be out walking when everyone else is busy busy… My kids swap their gifts in the afternoon and then they cook their own dinner – this year they had a braai in the rain!!! It is all about spending time together!!! We see our grannies on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day… but we have always kept Christmas day simple and for our immediate family. Lots of love from sunny Cape Town…
Hy Sharlene, My kids love gifting each other, they plot and plan very carefully for ages… fun times!!! Happy to inspire your children!!!