So that this year's Christmas will be as delightful as always
In times of Corona, not only our everyday life is being put to the test but Christmas as well. Throughout the year, many regulations and exit restrictions have caused to close restaurants and retailers, so that there was little time to prepare for Christmas 2020.
To make jolly Christmas memories this year as well, we have come up with four last-minute tips that you can adopt within a short time. We have put together last-minute tips to create self-made gifts with special gift wrappings, as well as advice on how to serve this year’s Christmas dinner such that you can celebrate a magical party on Christmas day.
You can bring great joy with small gifts. People of all ages are more than happy to receive some small and homemade gifts that come from the bottom of your heart. Since shops are closed and only a few online shops can deliver on time for Christmas eve, you can get creative to craft some beautiful last-minute gifts for your loved ones.
Homemade cookies are small gifts that everyone likes. Because of the many different cookie flavours, there is the perfect cookie for every taste. You can find delicious recipes online, for example, at Vegan Heaven for vegan sugar cookies and gingerbread men or Peta for vegan cinnamon stars and vegan vanilla cookies.
Anyone who likes to bake knows that a lot of effort and love goes into making cookies fresh out of the Christmas bakery. If you want to find out how to wrap up cookies as a gift, keep on reading.
Cookies come in many different flavours, so that there is definitely a favorite for everyone. (Source: The Little Blog of Vegan)
Another gift idea is to gift plants. If you have a plant at home, you can easily split the plant and give it to someone else. To do this, you have to cut the root into two pieces, so that the individual root pieces can continue to grow. Plants such as perennials, flowering shrubs or conventional houseplants are suitable to split. Plants improve the air quality in the room and are particularly important now, as many people are working from homev and spend more time in their apartments due to Corona.
How about homemade gifts made from recycled materials you still have at home? This method is environmentally friendly because you don't contribute to additional consumption. Every household has empty glasses, jars or bottles from which you can make vases or make candle lights by painting them or decorating them with ribbons and paper.
Old glasses can be upcycled into candle lights by using paper, ribbons and other decorations. (Sources: Lavender candle jars: Sustain - My Craft Habit, Snowy Mason Jars: A Pumpkin and a Princess)
You can also easily make Christmas cards yourself. Instead of purchasing a regular Christmas card, a handwritten card is much more personal. With little effort, you can easily design beautiful Christmas greeting cards and send them to your loved ones.
Instead of a present, you can also give away an experience. A gift voucher for an event shows the person that you like to spend time with her. Despite Corona, there are many opportunities like visiting restaurants after the lockdown, enjoying a wellness day, or going shopping together. By doing this, you do not only support local companies but also look forward to going out again after Corona.
A very special gift is a gift membership for an animal godparenthood. This way, you make the animals in the shelter happy, as well as the recipient of the membership. In addition to a personal gift certificate, you also receive pictures of the animals in form of member magazines to see that the animal is doing well.
As retailers are closed now, it is still possible to order from local and independent online shops. For orders within your country, it is still possible to have the Christmas present underneath the tree on time. By doing this, you support small, sustainable companies that dance of joy with every placed order.
Look around at small sustainable shops like ClevrBlends, SassySpuds or our Melina Bucher Shop. You can certainly make your family or friends happy with a sustainable gift. In our Melina Bucher Shop, we put every bag in a high-quality gift box, which will arrive on time for Christmas if you order before December 22nd.
You can also get crafty with alternative gift packaging by using other materials than wrapping paper. Enormous amounts of paper waste are generated every year at Christmas. Every year, around 8,000 tons of paper waste are collected due to wrapping paper – that is the size of more than 7,000 football fields. Instead of wrapping paper, you can choose more sustainable options made of fabric, glass or newspaper to wonderfully wrap the gifts for Christmas.
Small and large gifts can be wrapped in fabric, for example from fabric scraps, an old scarf or a cloth. Wrapping gifts in fabric does not only look fancy but it can also be re-used every year. Other alternatives to paper are either brown recycled paper with the FSC seal or newspaper. There are a number of special folding techniques that can make the Christmas present stand out under the tree.
There are many wrapping paper alternatives that can be used to wrap gifts for Christmas. (Sources: exclusive gift wrapping: Deavita / Pinterest, furoshoki gift wrapping: NgLp Designs / Pinterest)
Another more sustainable option to wrap gifts are gift bags. Gift bags not only make it easier for you to wrap up the presents but arealso re-usable for next year’s Christmas.
Small gifts, such as cookies, jewellery or beauty articles, can be given away in a glass. The glass can then be painted on or decorated for Christmas with natural decorations like pine branches, pinecones or mistletoes.
Nature gives you many beautiful gift decorations, such as mistletoes, pine branches or pinecones. (Source: Stylist)
A study from the UK found that approximately 7 million tonnes of food are being wasted. During Christmas, almost 270,000 tons of food waste is being caused due to the excess of the celebrated holiday. Especially at Christmas, there are a lot of leftovers from the luscious feast.
In order to prevent this food waste, this year the festive meal can be organized more consciously with little effort. Instead of buying new groceries, you can use the stored groceries from the last panic buying to prepare Christmas dinner. The leftovers can then be used the next day by using the raclette grill suchthat everyone can prepare something for their own taste.
Even if the Corona crisis restricts the tradition of Christmas this year, Christmas is something special every year. Let us give ourselves a lot of thoughtfulness, comfort and peace during these hectic times and remember the essential meaning of Christmas: the celebration of love. Despite Corona, we can still enjoy Christmas together in the closest circle with our loved ones, so that, like every year, it becomes a magical memory.
We wish our Bucherbabes a peaceful and conscious Christmas with their favourite people! Even if traditions and old habits have to give way this year due to Corona, we hope that you remain optimistic and enjoy the little things. Stay healthy!
