As a family, we are hoping to give handmade gifts this year - whether handmade by us or by someone else. My daughter was invited to the birthday party of a classmate today. This friend is a great animal lover, and is particularly passionate about horses right now. I made a little horse out of felt and wool. It is adapted from a pattern in "Feltcraft." Miriam made the barn out of cardboard she cut from old cereal boxes. I love the little gate. We also included the book "A Field Full of Horses" which someone had given my kids a while back. My kids had shown no interest in the book, so we thought we would pass it on. I think this is called re-gifting.
At one time I would have felt uncomfortable giving someone something used, but I've come to see that it is a fine option, socially and environmentally. When I was pregnant with my daughter, a midwife colleague gave me several recycled gifts that had been her daughter's. One was a CD of lullabies by Judy Collins that helped me get through a month of collic-filled evenings. The fact that the CD had not come to us wrapped in plastic in no way decreased the pleasures we derived from it.
It takes a while to rethink traditions and begin to "break" the rules in terms of our material consumption, but it seems to me that our planet deserves better treatment. By giving handmade, vintage, used, or repurposed gifts, we can tread a little lighter on earth. And, we can avoid all that irritating packaging that comes with new items. I'm sure I will continue to buy my fair share of new things this year, but I am going to go about my purchases mindfully. If you are feeling particularly radical, try and image not buying anything for a year except basic necessities (i.e. toilet paper). I read a book, "Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping," last year. I really liked the book and think it brings up a great number of important points about our consumption habits.