What is a Minimalist Christmas and why Should YOU have one?

Maybe you are a minimalist like me. 

You prefer jeans and a t-shirt over dressing up and wearing heels. The only makeup you own is mascara and some chapstick. MAYBE a killer shade of red lipstick. You have a purse, or two, and they have seen better days. Fashion doesn’t show up on your radar because you have better things to do like go for a hike.

And maybe you aren’t at all like me, so why would a minimalist Christmas concern you, and what IS it exactly?

First of all- you don’t have to consider yourself a minimalist for this to work for you. For me- I define my minimalist Christmas as gifting to my children and hubbie (and myself) a gift in each of these categories:

Something you want, something you need, something to wear and something to read. 

Here’s a little background: Earlier this year, I got fed up with “stuff”. We down-sized dramatically to move back to CA. We had to fit 3,800 sqft of house into something we could afford here which ended up being 1,800 sqft. So the girls sold most of their toys or gave them away before we moved. We went through every single toy as they realized that there was no attachment to these toys. They never actually played with them much longer then a few days. It made me feel pretty dumb for spending so much money on all these toys and things that end up being just a pile of plastic! We also collectively took a good look at the “stuff”, (clothes, accessories, extra everything, etc.) that was filling up our lives and ended up purging a lot of it. 

Once we realized that life is easier with less stuff taking up space, it was easier to embrace getting “less” for Christmas. We are focused on gifting experiences this Christmas and are less concerned with adding clutter to our home. 

Some might think that 4 gifts “isn’t enough”. For our family, this works! In your family, it may not, and that’s ok! I am simply expressing what our family is doing. In addition to the 4 gifts listed in our categories, we still plan on doing a traditional stocking for each of my girls and an additional, bigger ticket item from Santa. This works for us for so many reasons.

1. It saves money.
2. You become more intentional about the gifts you are giving. 
3. Your house isn’t filled with stuff that the kids don’t keep interest in!

We also understand that others who want to give us gifts might not understand what our goals are. We do not plan to say no to incoming gifts from friends or family, because we are so grateful for the though of receiving gifts! However, we will try to encourage “experiences” and spending time together for the holidays over getting gifts. After all, spending time with your loved ones is the best gift of all!

As I search for gifts that fit our minimalist style this year- I have compiled a few ideas that fit into each category to share with you! These gift ideas are meant for girls only (sorry moms of boys), but the categories can easily be implemented for the little men in your life!

Pictured for girls:

Want category: Bing Bong Plush Toy, Fuji Film Instax Mini Camera (and maybe some extra film in the stocking), Mermaid Tail Blanket.

Need Category: Full/Queen Comforter set, iHome Bluetooth Color Changing Dual Alarm Clock Radio , USA Puzzle.

Read Category: Shel Silverstein Books, (any will do!) and for the aspiring writer in your life, Write Your Own Book, and one for every girl, The Daring Book for Girls.

Wear Category: Carter’s Boots, Shopkins purse pocket tee (and maybe put some shopkins inside the stocking), Cat and Jack Unicorn Jammies.

These are just some ideas, (and a few things I am getting my girls) and some of these links are affiliate links to help our blog stay online.

What are some of your ideas? Will you be adapting the minimalist Christmas this year?