The holidays have been busy and I’ve loved every moment of it! This year my family celebrated a 100-mile Christmas. We tried to buy gifts made or produced within 100 miles of where we live. Exceptions were things like books, CDs and DVDs, which were to come from locally owned businesses. We also included secondhand items because those things have been recycled.
For my daughter and her boyfriend, I had a local photographer touch up and convert pictures of them into black and white. The photos were printed on canvas and stretched onto frames to make them look like art pieces. The photos were taken when they were two or three years old. He’s on a merry-go-round and she’s on the rocking horse I blogged about earlier this month. They are thrilled with their photos, and everyone decided they were some of the best gifts of the year! Here they are…
My daughter gets top marks for 100-mile gift giving. She found interesting and unique secondhand books for everyone, locally made organic barbecue sauce, cheeses, etc., and she made donations to places that are important to each of us. For me, the animal lover, a donation of kitten formula to the SPCA. Aaawww!
And I received other gifts that can only be described as perfect. A can of primer from my husband, with a note saying he’ll paint the bathroom this week. It’s like one of those TV ads. Paint brush—$1.98. Can of paint—$18.98. A freshly painted bathroom—priceless!
My son gave me a handmade tote bag with a typewriter silk screened on it. Isn’t it fun? I really love it.
I’d like to do the 100-mile Christmas next year. There are lots of positive reasons for it, but the best one was that instead of dashing out to the mall, it encouraged us to put more thought into the gifts we gave. Somehow they were more personal, and that was the best gift of all. And now we have a whole year to plan ahead.
How did you spend the holiday? Did you receive a gift that really touched your heart, or give one that touched someone else’s?
Until next time,
Lee
