The handmade Christmas: simple gift ideas

The news is rife with stories of the sour economy and upcoming "lean" Christmas. As I hustled and bustled with the best of them at 6 a.m. at Toys ‘R' Us for the after-Thanksgiving sales, I took stock of the situation. Judging by the carts and carts laden with gifts, a lean Christmas might mean 15 toys per child under the tree instead of 30.

Painful indeed.

My children and I are reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

I know, I know. We all pine for a simpler time, but imagine this scenario from Christmas morning, when the children found their gifts:

"In each stocking there was a pair of bright red mittens, and there was a long, flat stick of red-and-white-striped peppermint candy, all beautifully notched along each side.

"They were all so happy they could hardly speak. They just looked with shining eyes at those lovely Christmas presents."

It's an excerpt that causes me to shift uncomfortably. Would my kids look with shining eyes if they received such presents on Christmas morning? Well, maybe, but then they'd want to know where the rest of Christmas had run off to. However, I'm not sure it has to be that way.

What if we shift our paradigm, and try to avoid the stores this holiday season? Perhaps this is the year to go back to some simple, handmade goodness. Think, just think what it would be like if we spent the month of December knitting and writing stories and perhaps editing a family movie instead of hobnobbing with shoppers cramming the stores. What if we pulled our children into the gift-making as well, encouraging them to hand-make presents for family members and friends?

Of course, we can't avoid the stores entirely, but ... what if we spent just a few more evenings in the glow of the Christmas tree rather than the glow of fluorescent lights at the department stores? In the end we would all save money and bring away a bit more of the gift-giving spirit. The great thing about a handmade gift is that you think about the person you're giving to the entire time you're making it. Love is woven into every stitch and every minute.