Welcome to December

The clock is ticking.  25 days until Christmas. 

At this point  no one should really be panicked . I mean it's not like we all wait around and tune in on a random Saturday waiting for the announcement of when Christmas will be.

 It's not as if  lottery balls  float up the tube in a  random pattern to set the date. 

 Can you picture that? 

Some overdressed fake blonde, with a symmetrical set of twins at her disposal, turning the number balls to the front so all can see. A cheesy male announcer with over bleached teeth and a microphone he insist on handling like a trophy cackles " The next number is ...., "as Blondie obliges.   And just like that the first number comes out.

 The crowd leans in and BAM there they go.

"A 1 and now a  2. That's 12 !" 

" Nuts that means December. And then it's 2. And a 5!!

 December 25th . Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh this is crazy. " 
Then all of America scrabbles around like its on fire . 

Really?  It's the same date  every single year people !! 

I'm not done shopping but I refuse to make panic purchases. You know the ones that are a gift for the sake of  giving a gift. Or the "I-must-get- a -gift-of-equal-or-greater-value "scenario.  That always results in heartfelt and useful item. :)

We have been trying hard over the past few years to be conscious shoppers. Support our local community,  buy creative and handmade items and purchase from companies with fair labor practices.  Yeah we are still Amazon junkies , but it's not our automatic go to.  We strive to purchase with purpose.  Purpose for the maker, the giver and the reciever.  

What exactly does that look like? Here are a few things we've done so far:

1.Bought a black and white drawing of a human heart from a nephew at an art show to give to my sister who loves weird things like that.  It promoted my nephews skills, contributed to his income, was easier on my wallet and will tickle my sister to have a one of a kind sketch.

2.My mom always gives me a cow or a goat.   Not the kind that live on my land, but one for a family in an impoverished country to make an income. She does it in my name through Heifer International and it suits me fine. The last thing  I need is another random object to dust or of course,as n actual cow in my yard.

I'm over stuff. Please just take me out to lunch some random Tuesday in June and I'm golden . I get that cows and drawings might not be your or your families thing.  I'm going to try and list some great  companies,websites and ideas with unique and purposeful gifts each day until December 24th.

But for today check out the holiday guide at Art of Simple holiday to get you going.

Happy Shopping