9 Mindful Gift Ideas For Humans

If you’re like me, I still have about, ummmm, like 90% of my Christmas shopping to do. I don’t know what happened this year, but I am not as organized as I normally am. The good news, is that we are both cutting back on how much we are giving and receiving gift wise and we are taking our time to come up with thoughtful, mindful gifts for our family and closest friends.

If you’re still needing some ideas and want to be more sustainable in your choices, I have created a little gift guide with ideas and suggestions that would work for the humans in your life. I say humans, because I’ve also done away with the whole gender thing with gift giving. For her, for him..who cares! These are lovely gifts for the humans that receive them.

• The gift of experiences. Giving someone an experience is a perfect way to make a gift last longer than that initial opening. A few ideas that come to mind are movie tickets, your babysitting services, house cleaning service (so good for new parents), or dinner at a fave restaurant. If you don’t want to wait until Christmas day, there are so many wonderful events happening you could treat friends or family too. My Twins will be turning three this weekend, and we plan on going to Glow Vancouver for the first time. Seeing them experience all the holiday magic will be the best gift ever!

• The gift of time. This does kind of tie in with the first one, but seriously, time with loved ones is such a gift. We have some very good friends that we usually exchange gifts with every Christmas. This year I suggested we plan a night to all hang out together instead. Order in food, play some boardgames, and let the kids hang out. They loved the idea and plans are in the works!

• The gift of a bath done right. We all wash ourselves at some point. (Some less than others. What? It’s a mom thing.) Lush is one of my all time favourite places to shop for Christmas gifts. Their products are natural, vegan, and earth friendly. My kids love bath bombs, so you know they will be getting some under the tree this year. Just check out their awesome gift options here.

• The gift of beautiful play. I absolutely adore wooden toys for my kids. In fact, we purchased some for Lily and Sabrina for their upcoming Birthday. Wooden toys have such a beauty and charm to them and Mother Earth likes them a whole lot better than their plastic counterparts. We have a pretty good variety of Melissa & Doug toys at our house now (which we pass on to friends once we have outgrown them). I am also in love with all the dreamy Instagram posts The Wonder Cabinet shares of their wooden toy collections. I’ve also seen some beautiful wooden board games for adults too. They can make a functional piece of decor.

• Gift some Thrift. Is it acceptable to gift secondhand items? Yes! Absolutely. I do believe, however, that can be a right way and wrong way to do it. DON’T gift items that are dirty or in poor condition or you found laying around the house in a last minute panic. And do not actively try and pretend that you purchased the item new if you did not. Christmas shouldn’t be about lying. LOL! If the item is nothing you would want to receive, you shouldn’t be passing this off as a gift. (And yes, I am speaking from experience as this unfortunate gifting experience happened to us.) DO own it if you are gifting secondhand. Attach a little card with the gift that explains it’s secondhand, and perhaps why you chose it, or any significance it may have. My sister and I have decided to only buy secondhand gifts for each this Christmas. My oldest daughter just had her sixth birthday, and my sister and brother-in-law gifted her some money along with a secondhand book that was in impeccable condition. Maddie loved it! I also love the idea of finding a pretty, thrifted, picture frame and filling it with a family photo or your child’s artwork (great gift for grandparents). Or, perhaps a thrifted vase with a new bouquet of dried flowers.
• The gift of secondhand but new. Ok, what? I can explain. I have become a lover of shopping for secondhand gems on Poshmark. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a fantastic app where you can buy and sell secondhand decor but mostly apparel. They have loads of items available listed as NWT or New With Tags. These items are in new condition, have never been worn, have tags on them, but are a secondhand purchase as the initial purchase didn’t work out for the first shopper. I recently got a NWT long, wool, beige, coat that I have been looking for for a year. It fits, I love it, and it was a secondhand purchase. Perhaps a handbag or wallet that is NWT would be a great place to start.

• The gift of something old made into something new. Yes, I’m talking Upcycled items. BC shop Elizabeth O. Vintage has created the cutest upcylcled throw pillows from preloved button up shirts. The pillow on the inside is new, but the cover is a secondhand piece that has been given new life. Pop over to her site here to see all her pre-loved and upcycled treasures.

• The gift of a Christmas Shave. Did you catch the movie line reference there? I recently made to switch from a conventional razor to a safety razor. Mine was gifted to me from the Lovely Ladies of Well Kept. I have been interested in making the switch for a while and I’m so happy I have. Not only is it a better shave, it is also a great sustainable alternative. Pop over to their site, here, to read more about safety razors and to see their lovely assortment of goods. You can get 15% off any of their products using my code JEN15.

Do a little DIY. Thanks to the Well Kept Ladies, I also learned how to make a jar of beautiful bath salts. Save those jars! No need to go out and buy new ones, save your jam jars and fill them with a homemade bath mix. I plan to add natural sponges with mine to complete the gift.