Yep, I am starting Christmas on the blog.
Sorry, I can’t help it! I did warn you on my ‘about me’ page 🙂 It gets FESTIVE around here, maybe a little early for some of you. But I will keep it light on Christmas for the next couple of weeks but come December I am not sure I will be able to talk about anything else!

So firstly I thought I would share our gift giving guide when it comes to the kiddos. I love seeing what other people do in the gift giving department and often am asked about what we do so here it is :o}
This is a pretty common ‘gift guide’ for Christmas. I saw it somewhere a long time ago and we’ve been doing it for a few years now. 

Most years it has helped to keep us in check. Last year though I did a lot of ‘buying through the year’ when I saw a special or a good deal. When Christmas came around we had too much! I actually saved some gifts for their birthdays.

This year I didn’t do any buying through the year, and I am happy about it! We have always had a budget but when I would buy something here and there through the year it was too hard to keep track of. Also I feel like I am not just buying something they ‘might’ still like in so many months time.
I really like this guide because I think it is enough for our kids. Hubby and I give them these 4 gifts {want, need, wear, read} and they still get a gift each and a gift to share from Santa. They also get a stocking full of little bits and pieces {I also have a ‘guide’ for that, see below}. 

We also take them out to choose a small gift for each other. It is so cute to watch them pick out a gift they think their sibling will enjoy 🙂

They will then receive a gift from their grandparents also so when you put it all together it is a lot. 
I know some kids will get more, some will get less {not trying to tell you what you should do for your kiddos, every family is different!}, but for us I think this amount is just right.

I try to choose gifts that just add on to what we already have for the most part. This keeps the amount of storage required down as we can just add to existing buckets and baskets.


The kiddos also get a stocking filled with little bits and pieces. I often hear people are stuck on what to put in stockings so if you’re looking for ideas this is the guide I use :o} I keep the things little and not too expensive as it can easily add up. 

I want the things in here to be a little more on the useful and smaller side and try to stick to one gift for each ‘category’ though sometimes will add an extra book or group things together like a hairbrush with some hair ties and a new toothbrush with some toothpaste.

Here are some ideas for each category:
read: we love love books here so we always pop a book (or two!) in the stocking
watch: a dvd 
play: a small toy or two to play with, musical instrument, match box car, bath toys, magnifying glass, wooden food, little animals
learn: something that is educational such as flash cards, reading eggs, info books or guides, activity books 
create: something that will be used creatively such as crayons, pencils, chalk, sketch book, craft kits, paint, playdough
eat: their favourite treat or one they don’t get very often
use: something ‘useful’ like toothbrush + toothpaste, new towel, hairbrush, hair ties, hair gel,
wear: pyjamas, underwear, socks, new swimsuit, flip flops
I hope that helps! I am so excited about Christmas, it really is my favourite time of year and I can’t wait to share a whole bunch of other stuff with you including some of our Christmas traditions, advent cards, crafts, and of course printables! :o}
x

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