The second group of people who receive gifts that I have not made myself is that group who don’t want or don’t appreciate home made items.

There are many who compare a home made quilt to a quilt purchased at Target.  They have no idea the difference in price, material quality, nor workmanship.  If you can buy a quilt at a local retail outlet or online for $69.00, and they don’t know any better, why should they value the one I made for $150.00 and spend several weeks of my time putting together.

Then there are those who simply don’t value anything.

I am not requiring my recipients to love, cherish and display in an honored place any items I make for them.  I just don’t want to waste my time, effort and money on things they really don’t want or don’t understand.

It just works out better for everyone if I get them something they would rather have.

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Some people fit into the “buy something at the store” list.  Most of these are our parents and offspring.

My kids and grandkids have given us wish lists.  There is rarely sewn by grandma item on any of those lists.

However, as I am brainstorming for the more mass-produced projects, I will generally make up enough gifts for those we buy larger, more expensive gift for.  My handmade gifts are supplemental.

I also sew for these recipients all year round.  When my kids, grandkids or parents make a request during the year, I generally sew it and present it to them even if there is not a gift occasion applicable.

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After determining who is actually on my Christmas gift list and who is off, I need to figure out who receives “store bought” presents.  Very few recipients fall into this category.

Because my Christmas gift list is so large, there is a lot of thought that goes into things like budgets and timelines.

My gift list is large because I want it to be.  My budget is specific because even a small amount per person adds up quickly.

Balancing those two considerations can be a bit tricky.

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Changes in life circumstances often have ramifications that go beyond the obvious

My husband had a job change this year.

That will result in huge changes to my Christmas gift list.

People for whom I have been making gifts for years are suddenly and sadly off the list and new folks that I don’t know and have no idea about their interests are on.

A bit of investigation will hopefully help me with this year, but I am going to have to make a real effort to get to know more about these new friends.

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This year has been one of many changes in the people in our lives.

There have been births and deaths.  Such is the nature of life, its true.  But, when evaluating Christmas sewing, the emotions all come back.

I put a lot of energy, love and thought into the Christmas sewing projects.  As a result, erasing names is a bit painful.

On the other hand, adding the names of those who have joined our family is wonderful.  This year brought us one baby and two “significant others”.

It will take a bit more thought for me to personalize for these additions.  I will need to get to know them.

But, in the end, my Christmas sewing gift list will codify into the standard that next year’s decisions will be made from.

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When my Christmas gift list doesn’t change from one year to the next, I have one less step to go through in my overall evaluation process.

I keep a pretty thorough list from year to year.  Because there are so many groups and individual people inside each group, a list is a necessity.

I generally start with family.  Listing oldest and their offspring, oldest to youngest, it is easy to develop a great chart of relatives.

Then I go to friends that receive gifts.  Neighbors, old friends, my kid’s in-laws, etc. each vie for their chance to make the cut.

If there are no changes from last year’s decisions, I am frees me to create gifts and not lists of people.

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Looking at the list of Christmas gift recipients, I determine, in general categories, who I will include and who I will let go.

I usually err on the side of inclusion.

Because I make most of the gifts I give and because I am very careful of the price per item, I have the luxury of making for a large number of people.

It is fun.  It stretches my imagination.  And it definitely gives me a huge sense of satisfaction.

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After having my notebook all set up and ready for use, the next step in my preparations for Christmas sewing is determining who exactly is on my gift list.

Has my list from last year changed?  That is the big question.

To determine the volatility of my Christmas gift list, there are several considerations.  Most of them I ignore.

The ignored ones generally consist of changes in the “rules”.  The rules are often decided on by a committee of extended family members or work place members who don’t want to give so many gifts any more.  Have we decided that adult children are no longer on given gifts?  Are we picking names from a hat?  Are we only giving to our immediate family?

I understand the concerns.  In my opinion (and everyone in my circle knows my opinion), give to those you want to give to and don’t give to those you don’t want to give to.  I also think that money has little to do with it.  Very, very low cost gifts can be put together with a little bit of thought and effort.

Isn’t that what it is supposed to be about in the first place?

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It was suggested that everyone would benefit from an after Christmas debriefing.   I have included a debriefing page.  This is your opportunity to evaluate what is working and what is not.  Taking control of the Christmas experience and eliminating those aspects that aren’t serving you or your family.  On the other hand, figuring out what is working is just as important.  Figuring out what you want to prioritize, what you want to emphasize and what you don’t want to get lost in the Christmas craziness will make the holidays more enjoyable and meaningful.

That, at least is the theory.  Even though I always include the debriefing page, I have never actually used it.  I think that I am so done with the whole thing that I just want to put all of the stuff away until next year.

That said, I do believe that it would be a beneficial exercise.

Bringing the best and worst into focus can make going forward better.  Maybe I can focus long enough to get through the final page of my Christmas Notebook this year.

Now if I can just get the notebook to put up and take down decorations!!!

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I included a section for Christmas cards in my Christmas Notebook.  The part of it that I use the most is the addresses.  In fact, this has become my go to resource for addresses all year round.

Christmas card lists include family, friends, clients and others.

As with the gift page, there is more information than is obvious.  I do have names and addresses.  I also have space to document that the card has actually been sent, whether I received a card in return (not a requirement for next year’s card) and, since I do reference this all year, a phone number.

I spend a number of years fully intending to send out Christmas cards.  All that was accomplished was that I felt awful that I missed cards AGAIN.

Having a simple system for scheduling and documenting my Christmas card project made it possible for me to actually send them out.

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