Useful Christmas Gift Ideas 2021

I know that it’s too early to start talking about Christmas gift ideas…but hear me out. If we can get a bunch of gifts knocked out NOW, it will make the holiday season more enjoyable! Plus, when we’re not feeling behind, we can put more thought into gifts and make them more meaningful!

Or watch this video on YouTube here!

Mercy House Global Gift Box

Mercy House exists to engage, empower and disciple women around the globe in Jesus’ name. They provide for the rescue of pregnant girls in Kenya and provide a home for them. They empower their families and many others with dignified work so they can redeem future generations.

You can have this beautiful gift box shipped to your home or directly to the recipient (you’ll select those options when you check out!). Use the code “MINIMALMOM” at checkout to get $10 off!

Shop Mercy House Global HERE!

Earrings & More from Empowered Goods

Another organization that we love supporting is Empowered Goods. “Through crafting leather products our artisans receive a healthy living wage to help them overcome poverty. Thank you for helping our artisans. You are making a difference and being a crucial part of the change in their lives with each purchase of our lovely products. We hope you enjoy our products, share them, and keep coming back, enabling change each time!”

And they were so gracious to allow us to have our own line of earrings! You can find the Happy Heart earrings HERE!

Meaningful Gift for Parents & Grandparents

StoryWorth is a service that provides writing prompts for your loved one to share stories from their life. Get weekly stories from a loved one, bound in a beautiful keepsake book.

What is included in a subscription?

The standard package includes a year’s worth of story prompts for one storyteller, unlimited recipients (people with whom the storyteller’s stories are shared), and one hardcover book with a black & white interior (and a full color cover).

There are also some neat books and journals on Amazon that ask similar questions:

Locally Roasted Coffee

I just started buying locally roasted coffee this summer — and what a difference it makes! I’ve been purchasing from Driven Coffee in the Twin Cities, but I encourage you to find a roaster local to you!

What a local roaster can offer: “We roast daily in small batches so we can manually control all stages of the roasting process. We roast by hand and maintain strict quality control to ensure a consistent cup each and every time. We pride ourselves on delivering fresh, complex coffees with every order.”
– Driven Coffee

What to pare with a coffee gift:
– Ceramic Coffee Dripper
– Coffee Mug
– Biscotti

New Games

Our kids love getting new games for Christmas and they’re fun to give, too! Here are a few of our new and old favorites:

Happy Salmon card game (ages 6+, fast-paced & EASY to learn!)
Bananagrams word building game (ages 7+)
Rummikub game (ages 7+)
Sequence for Kids (ages 3+)
Code Names (ages 10+, this is a fun game to play with other couples, too!)
Match Madness Puzzle Game (ages 7+)

Consumables for Kids

We also love when our kids receive items that can be USED UP!

Play Doh, bubble bath, craft supplies, masking tape and more, these things provide hours of entertainment and don’t take up huge amounts of space in our home.

Thoughtful Books

Clean Paleo recipe book & measuring spoons

I love getting new books (I just don’t keep them forever!). Books that are especially fun to receive are devotionals, tried and tested cookbooks and favorite novels. Here are a few of our current favorites:

Things to include with your book:
– Favorite Tea or Hot Cocoa
– Magnetic Measuring Spoons
– My FAVORITE Dish Cloths
– Dark Chocolate

Gifts for Tweens

Tweens and teens can be tricky! Never hesitate to get this age group a gift card — they LOVE them! And don’t think they’re too old for experience gifts, they crave time together like we do. (They just probably won’t say that! ;)

Other consumables that our older kids enjoy getting include:

Stationary, journals and the like (DIY Journaling Set)
Nail polish and other items to do their nails
Items to do facials and light make-up
Craft Kits (3D String Art Kit)

They also seem to love things that LIGHT UP, here are a few:
– Fairy Lights with Photo Clips
– Color Changing Lamp & Alarm Clock
– LED Bike Wheel Lights
– LED Strip Lights

DIY Canvas Photo

Print photos with your kids or grandkids and make your own photo canvases.

Paint the edge of a canvas black and Mod Podge the photo over it — it’s that easy!

It looks fancy but you really don’t need a lot of time for this — Tom & I took selfies in the backyard with the kids, and I uploaded them through the Walmart app. Once we picked up the photos, it only took me about 20 minutes to do all four of them!!

Watch my tutorial below on how to make these.

Or watch this video on YouTube here!