Christmas, it seems does'nt come from a store....

Tis the season to buy stuff. In my case that is both financially and morally challenging. I feel like I spend all year fighting against the need for more "stuff". Christmas brings out the worst of me in this regard. If I don't buy,buy,buy I just don't love my kids enough. That is what the retail machine is trying to sell right? Even if I know in my heart that it is not true the bombardment of advertising still eats away at me. I start with great resolve to keep the gifting smaller than the experience.Does that make any sense? We all want to  see our kids who are eagerly anticipating the Santa load super happy when they wake up Christmas morning. I also want them to remember that Christmas is not all about the presents. In the past I have done some homemade upcycled Christmas gifts like homemade stuffed animals and dolls. I don't have much free time this year to do that type of stuff. Besides writing this, running our website and having 5 kids I do daycare and am a contractor to do cleaning services. I started to think about some ways to do the holidays a little more eco friendly while still having fun presents and I discovered a great source of toys. Sales and Swap sights. Chances are if you do a Facebook search there will be one for your area. It is a great free way to sell items you no longer want or need and you can find some great deals on gift worthy toys. This year I found an awesome deal on a Thomas the Train table and a huge box of trains, tracks, etc. very similar to this.

 

 It is hundreds of dollars worth of toys that a little boy got a little too big for. His mom said he has moved onto being into Legos. He was a super sweet little boy who even helped pack up his old toys. I thanked him for being so generous. His twin sister helped out too. I would never have been able to buy all of this stuff for new retail price.

 I also picked up a Wheelies car ramp and two cars for $10.00 like this.

 I found the same one on Amazon for $69.95. My little guy already has some super hero wheelies that will work with this. Honestly I think giving all of it at one occasion would be too much for one kid a Christmas so I will probably set aside a few of the things for future birthday gifts. I love that we are not just buying into the cycle of producing more stuff plus the money stayed local. I sold a bunch of baby stuff that we don't need anymore as well. My other loved source of present is Etsy. I love it soooo much. If I had tons of money to spend in one place Etsy would be it. Of course that one place it thousands of individual little shops full of handcrafted and vintage stuff. I ordered some really cute twirly skirts for my girly girls for about the same price that you would pay for a standard Wal-mart or Target skirt. I would rather have my cash go to a lady who sews at home than a giant sewing factory in some far off country. I can't wait to get them. I also love the saving a bunch of trips to the store. I think I may actually hate big box store a Christmas. I don't like to throw hate around but it might be the right word in this case.

I would encourage you to check out the FB swap sights, Craigslist is great too but be safe. I schedule meetings in public places and have never run into any situations that seem shady but I am from a very small town that is generally pretty safe. I also like to snoop in their FB profiles to make sure they seem legit.