We love giving heartfelt, homemade gifts, or gifts purchased from small family-owned or local businesses. Whether you want to make your own gifts or buy them this year, here are our best suggestions for Christmas gifts for the homesteader in your life.
Christmas can either be a highly stressful time, with a lot of pressure and obligation, or it can be an enjoyable time spent with family and friends, free from obligation and stress.
The choices surrounding Christmastime will be what determines if it’s an enjoyable or stressful season. Check out this Pantry Chat on how to enjoy stress-free Holidays.
If we’re not careful, commercialization can steal the true joy of Christmas. It’s so important to remember “the reason for the season,” which is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.
There have been years in the past where we’ve tried to buy presents for each person in our family from every person in our family. If you do the quick math, that’s over 100 gifts for our immediate family alone. Not including Grandmas and Grandpas!
A handful of years ago, we started a new tradition where each person draws one name and makes or buys one special heartfelt gift for that person. We set a budget and give each child about a month’s worth of time. Everyone receives a gift, but just this one shift meant the gift-receiving was no longer what drove the holiday.
Each child had the opportunity to think hard about what the receiver would love and to take the time to craft something special for that individual. The time and thought put into these gifts was precious, and we noticed a huge shift in focus from gift-receiving to gift-giving.
Rules for Gift Giving Made Simple
- Simplify – You don’t need to give every single person a gift.
- No Junk or Tchotchkes – Instead, we want to make or find gifts that are practical, useable, or edible.
- Give Experiences – If you do a significant “family gift,” try giving an experience that will last the whole year. Something like a season pass to a local theme park, museum or zoo. You can also give experiences to children such as horseback riding lessons, music lessons, or something else they’re interested in.
- Use Sustainable Wrapping – We like to keep our wrapping simplistic. No need to break the bank just for a pretty package that’ll be ripped to shreds in minutes! We like to keep it simple with some shipping paper (or fabric), cotton string or jute twine, simple gift tags, and some pretty evergreen tree clippings and cinnamon sticks (see photo above). Everything we wrap our gifts with can typically be tossed into the compost pile, shredded to use as bedding for the animals, or reused (such as a mason jar).
- Work Toward Homemade Gifts – This isn’t an end-all rule, but it truly is special when a gift is homemade and heartfelt from the giver. Especially if it’s something the receiver truly needs/wants. You know a hand-knit scarf had a lot of thought put into it from the color to the time. Every time the giver worked on that project, they were thinking of the receiver, and every time the receiver wears that scarf, they’ll think of the giver. Those are the gifts that keep on giving!
- Support Small/Family-Owned Businesses – Remember, the goal is to simplify, and sometimes, making a homemade gift just isn’t simple! When this happens, we love to help support small or family-owned businesses (especially when we’ve tried, used, and LOVED the products ourselves!)
If you’d like to see our homemade gift guide, you can check out that post. But now we’ll share our favorite products from small, family-owned businesses. Knowing you’re supporting a family with your purchases makes the gift that much sweeter.
Family Owned & Small-Business Gift Ideas
Although we love giving homemade gifts, we also love to put together an assortment of our favorite products in a little gift bag.
Thankfully, many of these products go to help support small, family-owned and operated businesses (and we even have some discounts that we were able to get for you. Be sure to use the codes mentioned at checkout, where applicable!).
Farmhouse Teas
Check out our Homesteading Family Favorite teas, coffee alternatives and herbal remedy kits.
Grab one or grab a few and share with your friends.
Homestead Iron Tools
These are generational tools that you’ll leave to your kids one day. They are high-quality, and we love them.
Use code “homesteadingfamily” for 10% off your order.
Smalltown Kids
Help support young entrepreneurs “earn their own way.” Shop their soy wax candles, hand-crafted soap, and all-natural hard lotion bars.
Use code “homesteadingfamily” for 15% off your order.
Clyde’s Garden Planner
From late winter to mid-summer, we’re always reaching for our Clyde’s garden planner.
Use code “HOMESTEADINGFAMILY.COM” for 10% off your planner.
Roo Apron
This Roo Apron makes hands-free harvesting a breeze! I never go out to the garden without it.
Use code “HOMESTEADI” for 10% off your order.
Riverwood Trading
Check out these incredible hand-carved wooden spoons and spatulas. They’d make a great addition to any homestead kitchen. (Free shipping on orders over $50.)
MadeOn Skincare
Grab this incredible gift set of five mini Bee Silk lotion bars and five lip balms. Complete with gift bags and gift tags!
Use code “HOMESTEADINGFAMILY” for 15% off your order.
American Blossom Linens
These sheet sets will forever change how you sleep. We’ve had our sheets for a couple of years now, and they just keep getting softer!
Use code “HOMESTEADHOLIDAY” for 20% off your order.
Cuddinio Toy Hammock
Snag this adorable toy hammock to keep all your children’s stuffed animals cozy (and your kid’s rooms a bit more tidy).
Use code “HSHOL23” for 10% off your order.
Homesteading Family’s Favorite Books
We have an entire blog post listing our favorite homesteading books. But here are a few others that might make a great Christmas gift for the favorite homesteader in your life:
- Old-Fashioned On Purpose by Jill Winger
- Everything Worth Preserving by Melissa K. Norris
- The Made From Scratch Life by Melissa K. Norris
- Gardening When It Counts
- Milk Cow Kitchen
- The Resilient Farm and Homestead
- Introduction to Permaculture
- Plain Values Magazine
Wrapping Supplies
Don’t forget your gift wrapping supplies like brown craft paper, this cute red and white “candy cane” cotton twine, rustic brown Jute twine, or brown craft paper gift tags.
