Gifts for a clutter-free Christmas

Learn or share a skill together

If you are a master baker, knitter or decorator and you know your friend always admires your handywork, why not gift them a ‘voucher’ for your time to share some of your skills? Alternatively, if you’ve always both said how much you’d love to learn a particular skill like a language or how to dance, then you could arrange for a few lessons for you both to get you started. Either way you’ll be creating a connection by spending quality time together, and learning something new is also a great way to support your wellbeing (see step 4).

Take your seats

Another good option for spending time together with your recipient is getting tickets to see a performance together. The big London theatre shows can be pricey, but check out your local venues for comedy nights, magic shows, open mic nights and more. You could even just pick a movie to see together to keep things really simple.

Gift a favourite recipe 

Edible gifts are generally always appreciated as they can be enjoyed without needing to find a long-term home for them! Even better, write or print out a favourite recipe you think your recipient will enjoy and fix a date to make the dish together. This still works even if you’re in different locations –cooking via Zoom can still work just as well as you compare “hmm, does your sauce look like this as well?”. Whether you decide to cook together or remotely it is another great chance to fix a date to spend time together.

Join the club

If you don’t find yourself with much time to do these kinds of activities together, you can still give your recipient something they love by investing in a subscription or membership. Museums, galleries, zoos, even theme parks offer annual passes, so your recipient can spend time across the year doing the thing or going to the place they love best. Alternatively, magazine subscriptions for a hobby they would like to grow would give them a happy little monthly reminder of you each time the magazine lands on their doorstep (just remind them that they can recycle the past issues once they’ve read them 😉).

The gift of time

And if all of these options feel like they take a lot of coordinating and research, there is still something very special about receiving a home-made gift voucher for time to go for a walk together, have a picnic, or have a coffee and cake morning at your local café. Alternatively you could give them a ‘voucher’ for some time back in their week by picking up some chores for them, like a week of walking the dog, doing the dishes, making dinner, or picking up the shopping. 

Time is so precious for most people, why not give it as a gift?