Second Hand Gifts

This next suggestions helps not only the environment, but depending on how you go about doing it, it has the potential to also help out your local community or community programs. 

But first, let’s discuss why we should consider giving second hand gifts. 

Of course everyone wants something new when they get it. But the unfortunate fact of the matter is that for both kids and adults, we tend to get bored of our nice, new things very quickly. 

With kids, most of the time they get bored of the toys they get for the holidays. Maybe they play with it for an hour or a week or a month – but eventually, kids generally tend to lose interest fast. So when parents spend a bunch of money on toys and things for Christmas, only to end up either trashing or giving them away halfway into the next year, it not only wastes money, but it also adds to the amount of waste being thrown into a landfill, or worse, the environment. And, it teaches the wrong kinds of lessons to our children year after year. 

With adults, a lot of us get new clothes and games and things, but thinking back over the years, how often do we wear those clothes before we buy new ones, or touch a game again after we beat it, or use that appliance someone got us, or otherwise use those things? How many times has someone given you a gift just to give you something, but you never even touched it? Maybe you even regifted it, or donated it. It’s just a huge transfer of ‘stuff’.

And that is also a problem in itself.  Everyone donates to those thrift stores and donation places, but not enough people buy from them. So what ends up happening to your donations is that they either get thrown away, shipped across the world, or even burned in some cases. 

So, to counteract this, I’m encouraging people to get second hand gifts, such as clothing, books, and toys from thrift stores, instead of buying them brand new. 

Depending on where you go, the quality of these products can be very well taken care of, or at least require a little cleaning – which I would recommend anyway. And, in general, you will be saving a LOT of money.

It might not be the newest or latest and greatest things on the market, but there are always some treasures to find at thrift stores.

I’ve even come across working game consoles, along with video games to go with them on many of my thrifting adventures. Not to mention the movies and books that I’ve come across, from like-new Blu Ray movies to books that would have cost anywhere from $10-20 dollars or more if I’d bought them brand new, but instead got for a dollar! And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about kids, they LOVE books. So no matter what age you’re buying for, you could buy a bunch of books for a great price and I can guarantee you that most kids (and even some adults) would be excited to get them for Christmas. 

And, there are always some great finds as far as clothes go, too. I’ve found name brand clothes in some stores, seemingly from some fashion-conscious person out there that was upgrading to the newest clothing line and got over their “old” clothes, thanks to the fast fashion industry (which you can get an in-depth look at the issue by checking out John Oliver’s episode on it from Last Week Tonight, as well as Hasan Minaj’s episode on the Patriot Act).   

Whatever you might be looking for for your holiday shopping, consider at least checking out a couple thrift stores to see what you can find! 

And, as I mentioned, these stores usually manage programs with some of their extra profits, which work to help your local community, or help with the homeless in your community. That being said, be mindful of what organizations to patron or to be skeptical of. Without naming any particular organizations, there are a few out there that you might not want to give your money to, depending on your stances on certain issues. 

To address this, I recommend either looking into the thrift stores options near you and seeing if you like the company and are on board with its principles and practices, or, find a locally-owned thrift store in your community. 

And of course, you can always buy second hand gifts from exchange stores (like ones that do records, movies, music, and more) and even various online marketplaces available to you. To be safe, make sure that if you’re meeting anyone from the internet to purchase items from, that you meet in a safe place, never in your own home. Most police departments allow people to conduct these types of purchases. 

Whatever your choice, going second-hand can be a great, cost-saving option for your holiday list! 

Hand-made Gifts! 

Next on the list of alternative gifts is to personally make gifts for people! This option has the added element of being much more meaningful because it came from you – you MADE it. You took the time and energy to put something together for someone else. And that is way more special than buying a dime-a-dozen item at a store. It is also cheaper, depending on the materials needed, and what you decide to do.

And this can include many different things, no matter your level of ability – you don’t have to be an artist to do this! 


Art

For instance, you can make art for your loved ones! This can be a drawing or painting, a figurine of some kind – perhaps made of clay or other materials, or even some type of pottery. 

For a couple of years, when I had a lot more time on my hands, I used to make drawings for friends and family of their favorite animals or mythical creatures! Sometimes they were just pen and pencil, and other time they were full page colored drawings. To top it all off, I would then go to the thrift store and pair a matching item with that drawing. So when I drew an elephant for my aunt, I would look for an elephant figurine at the store to gift along with it. 

When I go to her house, I will see the figurines I’ve gotten over the years for her elephant collection, with my art on the wall. So that to me shows how much it meant to her, which in itself is meaningful for me. This, in comparison to the cake-pop maker I got her several years ago. I’ve NEVER seen it, nor have I seen her make cake pops. So take it from me – things you make are worth more to your loved ones than the things you buy.

You can also make a simple painting, and play a little with the different options there, such as acrylic or watercolor. There’s also the opportunity to paint a rock for someone, and that can be whatever you can imagine! My partner’s sister painted a rock for him for Christmas one year with Hei Hei from Moana. And it was one of his most favorite gifts from that Christmas.

If you’re good with your hands or like to sculpt, you can make a figurine of their favorite animal, or some kind of object. If you’re into ceramics, you can try to make pottery for them, like a plate or mug, if you have the right tools necessary to do so. And, there’s always the option of finding one of those businesses where they give you the materials, you make your piece, and then come back for it after they’ve fired it up in a kiln. 

The opportunities are truly endless!

Literature and Music

As I said, you don’t have to be an artist to make something special for people. Perhaps you’re a writer, or are otherwise good with your words. In which case, there are several options that you can play around with this idea! 

You could write a poem! You don’t even have to rhyme, unless you want to. And you can write a poem about the person, about something they like or care for, or anything else you think would be meaningful to them. 

You could also write them a short story, with or without pictures or illustrations added. Maybe you have heard a story of theirs over the years, and want to make a little story book for them about that experience. Or, maybe you can make a story about them and a pet they have, or have had. Or, perhaps a story about them and their kids, or about what they do for a living. 

You could even write them a song – or a rap! Just like with the story idea, you could write a song about something in their lives, or about themselves. Or, if anything, find a song that is already written that matches with the person you have in mind or is perhaps one of their favorite songs, and sing it to them. 

Or, if you don’t like to sing, but you can play an instrument, consider putting together an instrumental piece to play for the person. Again, this can be something you come up with yourself, or play something that’s already written that you think the person would enjoy hearing played from you personally. 

If it’s coming from the heart, the person receiving the gift of your imagination or creation is priceless. 

Photography

For this idea, you can take a picture or a series of pictures of something or someplace you now the person would appreciate, or find a photo of that person, or of you with them and print out the pictures in a well-designed way as a high quality print or collage. Or you can even make a canvas print of the picture! 

Then, complete the package by getting a really nice frame, and maybe even decorating it! For instance, if it’s a photo of the beach or of that person at a beach, you can decorate the frame with seashells or other related decorations. Or perhaps it’s a picture of them with their pets, and you can put paw prints and things around the frame. 

Whatever the case, they’ll be sure to love it!

Jewelry

If you like to put things together, consider making some hand-made jewelry for someone! 

You can make a bracelet, whether it’s simplistic, decorated with charms, or made with beads (if you’re a former or current raver, channel that inner kandi bracelet maker and make some really cool gifts!) 

You can also make a nice necklace with a wide range of possibilities in material and design! Add charms, shells, or any number of things to personalize it and make it meaningful to the person receiving it. 

And you can try to make earrings as well! 

For all of these ideas, you can find tons of videos and websites online that show you how to make these different things, and what you will need to make them. You can more than likely get all the materials from most craft stores in your area. Try to find a locally owned business that sells the things you need and help support your community! 

Coupon Books

The last hand-made gift idea I want to share is personal coupon books! And by this I mean make a small booklet of things that you promise to do for that person when they redeem one of the coupons! 

This is great for parents, significant others, and even kids! 

You can offer the option of taking them out to someplace, perhaps to any movie or restaurant of their choosing; you can offer a massage, whether a personal one or to an actual massage therapist when they need it the most; you can take them on a picnic or a stroll; you can offer to give them a night off and watch the kids while they go out; you can promise to make them a home-cooked meal or have a movie night with them; and really anything else you think that they would appreciate from you! If this is for your significant other and know their love language, you can tailor the options to what their love languages are! 

With kids, you can offer things like a free pass to go to a park, museum, movie, or other place; offer to take them to a place where they can make things, like a Build-a-Bear or a place that let’s kids paint or sculpt things; or offer to set aside some time or a whole day to do whatever they want to do while at home (i.e. watch whatever movie and make whatever they want to eat together). 

Once you’ve thought up all of the things you promise to do for that person, get all the materials you need to make the booklet! 

You can make it simple, with just cut pieces of paper with the coupons written directly on them, or you can go all out and really decorate them! One year I did this for my mom, and got a couple different pages of designed paper including a foam sheet, cut them into rectangles, glued everything together in different layers, wrote the coupons on the top layer, and then sewed the pages into a booklet! My mom loved it, and appreciated the time and effort I put into making it look really nice and durable. 


I promise you that if you are putting your love and energy into it, the people you give things to that you’ve personally made will LOVE it, no matter what. And it will mean more to them than just about anything that you could buy. 

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