Christmas presents solved

[discouraged]

Being broke, I didn't even want to go to the family Christmas event but I have to for my son. He is divorced, thankfully, from the woman from hell and she would not give him any of the pictures of their daughter from when they were together. So I put together a collage of the pictures I have and a photo album (which I already had), most of them with the two of them together so they can look at them when he has her and she can SEE the good times they had together.

Then, my brother's house burned down and I found pictures of events throughout the years - and put together an album (again, one I had) for him.

My mom was easy, she lives in sweat suits and I found a cute outfit at a thrift store. The rest are all getting things; candles and/or coffee mugs with hot chocolate that I got at the dollar store. So the entire monies spent was under $20 and yet, they are good things for all of them. And I won't feel like a loser at the gift giving.

[lrprn]

It truly is the spirit of giving that matters, not the price of the 'stuff'. Your gifts are thoughtful and personal - just what great gifts should be. Good for you for not allowing having less money to get the best of your holiday spirit. Your family is very lucky to have you in their midst!

[AngelinaCat]

Those picture albums will be more treasured as the years go by, more than you probably realize now. 'Hub was just gifted a bunch of family pictures of his father and paternal g-parents that he has never seen, and 'Hub is 66. As he is scanning and viewing them, he is reliving his father's childhood, and his gaining a whole new appreciation for that side of his family.

Thanks for sharing, and Merry Christmas to all of you.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Mrs. and LRPRN are right. I never saw the pictures that my brother's Ex had sent me. He also has not seen them, but he is a bit lazy and those things don't interest him. I was AMAZED at what I learned within those images. I had NO IDEA of some of their past. There is no one alive that could have told me of what those pictures meant.

As LRPRN said, it is not the "things" we need. It is the love and intent of the gift. If it is only "obligational" what is the meaning? Your idea to post together bits of history, means more to those than any Chinese piece of stit you give them from WallyWorld. 'Hub

All: Please remember the reason for the season. Peace on Earth to men of good will. It is a season of love and care.

[discouraged]

Thanks to all of you for your responses. Yes, for both my son and my brother, losing those pictures - being able to look back and see the children growing up - those losses were devasting. I even had pictures of my brother's kids in front of the house (which was our grandparents) and those are irreplacable. I know he will really appreciate it. I even had a picture of him and my son from when my brother was in his 'long hair days'. I doubt if anyone else has that and I know he will treasure it.

It allowed me to go back through the years too and brought many good memories. So it is a double present - one for them and one for me.

[Exployer1234]

I think those are great gifts to give!

i think people get so wrapped up in buying all these expensive gifts that they forget that Christmas is not about how much you spend.

I live in one of the states where the "longest yard sale" runs through. The road I live on actually is part of the yard sale. I always find really great gifts for Christmas during that time. I save about 20 dollars per month and use that during the yard sale. The library also has there annual book sale on Labor Day. i stock up on book collections during that time. I went home this year with 50 books for 5 dollars. I make sure I pick collections from various authors.

This year I also made a calendar for a friend of mine using pictures of her dogs for each month. She hasn't opened the present yet, but I am sure she will be so happy to have that gift, because it is something she can keep and look back on. She has no children and her 3 dogs are her children.

Even without spending much money you can still come up with some great gifts. Now only if I could figure out how to make dog toys for cheap! If anyone has any ideas let me know.

[chicagoannie]

The best gifts are those given in thoughtfulness and love. 'Can't buy that in ANY store, at any price. I think your gift ideas are wonderful!

[discouraged]

Update: The albums and collage went over great! I didn't expect it, but they both had tears when they saw the pics. My son was very overtaken, which I didn;t expect. I didn't know that he didn't know I had pictures of him holding his baby girl right after she was born. He loved them but it made him tear up because he doesn't get to see her often enough and it brought back a lot of memories.

With my brother - he'd been a professor at San Francisco State before he retired and came back to MN. I had pictures of his old home and of Ocean Beach, where we spent so much time. Also the zoo and, as I said before, pics of the house that had burned, with his kids playing in the yard, etc. HE teared up too. Thought he'd never see those pics again.

His kids really surprised me. They were thrilled to get cups with a hot chocolate assortment and small candy canes surrounding the HC. You never know. I thought they would think I was cheap. They thought I'd read their minds. (They're 14 & 15 so it surprised me they would actually love what I did).

All in all, it went great.

[oregonpilot]

ahhh discouraged that is sooooo cool.

I felt kind of cheap giving my son a tape measure for christmas. He's in the middle of some construction and all his tapes were "pathetic" , He was thrilled with it. He's 32 and has been a great support to me thru all this. He knew that getting a tape was a stretch for me and was a gift from my heart.
This was my first christmas ever, at least probably since my 20's, that christmas wasn't a plethora of credit card bills.
What a great feeling.
Last christmas i flew back to MN (OR to Denver To Chicago to MSP. shuttle to Duluth. then drove 60 miles more to the north, Surprised my mom for 'Christmas. I spent the week painting and changed out a 40 yr old dining rm chandelier (with help on the phone from my sweetie). thats all she still talks about.
she said it was the best gift she could have ever received.

[discouraged]

Having bought a fixer-upper, I know just how valuable a good tape measurer is! You were not cheap - you were very thoughtful and observant of what he needed. He's probably thrilled that you took the time and showed you cared about what he is doing. I think it was a great gift!

[dneil]

After my father died, my mother lost his income along with her ability to pay all of her bills. She had to let her home go in to foreclosure. She was hit by a drunk driver prior to all of this and has since been on disability. She now lives in an apartment but after paying all of her bills she is flat broke every single month.

For Christmas, she took canning jars and put sweet thoughts, memories, quotes and wise words from her. There were 365 pieces of paper in that jar. I love that gift. I take one out each day but I always put it back in the jar. I will never forget this Christmas present she gave me. It was so thought out and done with love. I feel bad for what she has been through, but she has grown from every difficult step. Home made thought out gifts are priceless. Absolutely priceless....

[mommi2many]

All of your stories are beautiful! I love homemade gifts. It's the thought behind it and those kind of gifts are priceless. I wish everyone thought like that because Christmas is just too commercialized.

[fslady]

I love your stories and the memories involved. My mother hated my paternal grandmother (her mother-in-law). I asked my mother for pictures of me with my grandparents but she was always "going through them" and would always put me off. After she died, I discovered that, in her alcoholic/dementia, she had destroyed/thrown away all the pix of me with my Grandma and my Grandpa who died when I was 7. But I did find one that she missed with me at about 2 years in my Grandmother's arms. It is very treasured.