Jeannie’s family loves Christmas. LOVES it. They are close and love the chance to spend time together, laugh, sing and eat (we love that too). But Christmas these days looks vastly different to 5 years ago.

Back then, the aftermath of the Christmas morning unwrap was epic. Piles of wrapping paper, cards, envelopes, packaging, and in amongst the quality gifts, plenty of junk, stuff that was well-intended but never to be used. Things for that “so hard to buy for” person, destined for a dark cupboard, the op shop, or worse still, landfill. Her family was never going to give up gift-giving altogether, but they have made huge changes.

A few years ago, they agreed on a family “Secret Santa”. They use a Gift Exchange platform called Draw Names https://www.drawnames.com.au which allows them to secretly pick a name, and on their own profile, they can make a Wishlist of experiences and needed items. They decided to make the upper limit generous (as they are only buying one gift now) and all this means they can buy a quality gift that will be valued, and the “surprise” of the day is finding out who has whom!

Once they had that bit nutted, Jeannie’s sister got her seamstress on and made simple, large calico bags, one for each family member with their names embroidered on. Now part of the ritual is grabbing the bag that belongs to your person and placing their gifts inside. No more gift wrapping!

Christmas morning looks, different now, but it honestly feels better, more fulfilling, and is free from the guilt of overspending, overconsuming, and creating so much waste!