Grandma, Uncle Tracy, Aunt Alyson and Dad

There are 32ish days until Christmas.  And two things are certain; the days will pass faster than you expect and no matter how much you plan, this season isnt going to be perfect.

Every year instead of focusing on what Im gonna do, I first focus on what Im not going to do.  Somehow it helps me feel a little more focused.  This year, I wont put up lights outside {but my boys might} I wont make teacher gifts, I wont send Christmas Cards, I wont enter a mall in a frantic search for the perfect gift,  I wont say yes to things because I feel guilty for saying no.  My no got a good tune up and is running just fine thank you.

I will do less and be more.

Every Christmas for the past few years DaySpring has sponsored a post here at Nesting Place about that very thingdoing less and being more.  Kind of odd for a company that sells cards--dont they know that sending Christmas cards is the first thing to go?  I always try to make sure they know what they are getting themselves intoso you are ok with me encouraging people to do lesseven if that means they might rethink their buying habits?yes they say in their gentle, confident way.  They remind me of that Santa at Macys on Miracle on 34th Street.  I mean, they sponsor a post and then I ramble on and on about how I wanted to move an armoire 2 inches to the right and then before you know it, Im rearranging the entire downstairs.

So, back to me, since clearly Im making this post all about my big self,  there are also things I do DO every single Christmas season.  We get a live tree, we watch Elf and of course, we give gifts.  We give gifts to celebrate the gift we have been given.  That photo up there of my Grandmother?  She made our childhood magical with the living room full of gifts each year.  She loved giving.  Im not even sure she understood the real meaning of Christmas until the end of her life but, she understood the love involved with gifting.  Her home looked like it could be featured on a Christmas episode of Hoarders if there were such a thing of a hoard of beautifully wrapped Christmas presents precariously stacked on top of each other  in layer after glorious layer of shiny wrapped thoughtfulness.  Christmas at Grandmas was the highlight of my childhood.

Prints by Jones Designs my post all

I love gift giving and I want to be intentional with the gifts we give.  Id love it if every gift we gave was Meaningful, Beautiful, Handmade, Personal and Useful.  But realistically, if I can hit one or two of those with every gift I give, I feel pretty good.

One thing DaySpring is really good at is providing us with Meaningful Beauty to keep and to gift.  They told me I could just link to the sale page to keep this post simple and to honor my love of doing less but, I wanted to show you a few of the super sale items because there are some things that weve talked about here before, things Ive used in my own home, things my mom and friends like, things I think could make good gifts for people you love. And, you can avoid a crowded mall.  Its truly a win win.

Here are some of the mind boggling sales on a few things Ive used in my houseIll link to the posts but, the giveaways are closed for these old posts, if you are new here:

Lightweight Indestructible Grace Wooden Bamboo Tray

Wood Blocks

Wooden Caddy {a post about setting up a buffet shows how I use my caddy

Silhouette Nativity that you can remove the silhouettes and use year around

And because DaySpring is fun and generous, they are giving a whole slew of meaningful beauty.

One winner per 100 comments will win a few of my current favorite gifts to give: Sarah Youngs Jesus Calling and the flip calendar and my sisters book Grace for the Good Girl along with a By Grace Alone necklace created by Lisa Leonard.  Great gifts to keep for yourself or to give away.  DaySpring even let me pick what I wanted to give away {I mean, they are giving it away but I got to pick because they are nice like that}.  These are the two gifts my husband and I gave away the most this past year.

And one super lucky person will pretty much get their Christmas shopping done.  One Grand Prize winner will get one of every item featured in the Super Salethats over $530 worth of prizesall that stuff in that photo collage above and more.  And did you notice, that caddy is only $9!?

Similar Posts:

• Moments of Life
• A Painted Coffee Table
• Day 29 :: Edie
• De-Seriousfy-ing My Home
• Happy to Be Home – Are You?