The past couple weeks when I’ve walked into stores not only have I seen Halloween decorations but a little bit of Thanksgiving and even Christmas popping up here and now. For someone that likes to celebrate one #holiday at a time this annoys me and also my sister Debbie who is the same way and Charlie to.

The sad part is I’ve found plenty of new things I would like to purchase but I have way to many decorations for this tiny apartment. Charlie says no, more decorations until we get rid of some of the ones we have and I agree with Charlie.

It’s time to purge because when we think about Christmas, it can be easy to think we need to go shopping. New decorations. New ornaments. New signs. New table decorations and decorations for outside too.

Before we know it, we have spent money on things we may already have sitting in a box in the closet. But what if decorating for Christmas could be an activity instead of a shopping trip?

As part of our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide, I’ve decided to invite families to try something a little different this year: host your first Christmas decoration swap! I will be posting a notice on our bulletin board inviting my neighbors.

Then instead of buying everything new, I will be inviting my friends, neighbors, and family members to bring Christmas decorations they are no longer using or simply don’t plan to use this year. Then everyone can swap, share, and find something new-to-them without having to spend money.

This activity is to bring friends and family together while going through decorations, sharing, visiting, and making memories all rolled into one Christmas activity. Make sure to bring your entire family because kids like to decorate as well.

For those of you wondering what Is a Christmas Decoration Swap? A Christmas decoration swap is exactly what it sounds like. Everyone looks through their Christmas decorations and chooses items they are willing to share.

Maybe you have three boxes of ornaments and only use one. Maybe you have a Christmas sign that doesn’t match your decorating style anymore. Someone else might love it! Ask your friends, family members, and neighbors to do the same thing. Then get together and swap decorations.

You might go home with a few new-to-you treasures, while someone else gets to enjoy decorations that have been sitting unused in your home. And the best part? You don’t have to go shopping and spend money you might not have.

This doesn’t have to be a big party. You could invite a few neighbors over for an afternoon. You could invite your children’s friends and their families. You could even make it a family gathering.

Ask everyone who comes to bring a few Christmas decorations they would like to swap. And don’t forget to tell everyone to bring their favorite Christmas snack or beverage to share with everyone.

Now you have a decoration swap and a little Christmas get-together all in one! Someone might bring cookies. Someone else might bring hot chocolate. Another family might bring their favorite Christmas snack.

You don’t need to spend a lot of money. The purpose is to share what you already have and enjoy time together. Look Through Your Own Christmas Boxes First Before you start asking other people to bring decorations, look through your own Christmas storage.

You may be surprised by what you find. Maybe you have ornaments you haven’t used in years. Maybe you have decorations that don’t fit your current Christmas theme anymore. Maybe your children have grown and there are decorations they no longer want in their rooms.

Instead of throwing those things away or letting them sit in a box for another year, bring them to the swap. One family’s unused decoration can become another family’s favorite Christmas treasure.

If your #Homeschoolingh your children let them join in because this can become a Lesson in math, reading and so much more. It’s also a wonderful family activity and a way to meet the nieghbors.

Now, its time to get busy gather the children and have them help sort through Christmas decorations, decide which things they are willing to share, and help organize the swap and keep track of who’s bringing what.

If your children are homeschooling you could talk about budgeting, recycling, sharing, generosity, organizing, decision-making, and the difference between wanting something new and finding a creative way to use what you already have.

Older children can help make invitations or a sign for the event. Younger children can help sort decorations by type. Everyone has a job. And if your family loves including your pets in the holidays, they can be part of the fun too—as long as everything is safe for them.

Maybe your dog gets to wear a Christmas bandana while everyone decorates. Maybe your cat supervises from the couch. Just remember that small ornaments, ribbon, tinsel, hooks, cords, and certain holiday plants can be dangerous for pets, so keep anything unsafe out of their reach. Sometimes our pets become part of the Christmas memories we remember most.

If you want to know what my favorite part of a Christmas Swap is it’s not having to create a Christmas Shopping list because Christmas deocrating doesn’t have to begin with a shopping list and spending money.

Look around your home then look around your neighborhood. Look at what your friends and family already have. There may be plenty of Christmas decorating treasures available without spending another dollar.

And if you don’t find exactly what you were looking for, that’s okay too. The purpose isn’t to get everything on your decorating wish list. The purpose is to share, create, reuse, and enjoy the people around you.

After everyone has swapped decorations, take some time to decorate together. Let the children choose where some of their new-to-them decorations will go. Try something different and move an ornament to a different room.

Create a little Christmas corner or decorate a mantel, shelf, bedroom, table, or even a child’s reading area. You might discover that something you never would have purchased in a store looks absolutely perfect in your home.

Now, if you’ve been around Greatful Moments for a while, you know I believe in one holiday at a time. I’m not normally ready to start Christmas music and Christmas movies before Thanksgiving is over.

But I also believe that sometimes you can bend a harmless family rule if it helps create a special memory. If you’re cleaning and decorating during your swap and Christmas music makes everyone smile, turn it on.

If the children want a Christmas movie playing in the background while everyone works, make it part of your afternoon. Rules that keep us safe and healthy are important. But some of our little family rules can occasionally be bent when we’re making memories together.

Don’t Forget Your Interactive Christmas Gift Guide Ticket! This decoration swap isn’t just another activity in our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide. It’s an opportunity to earn Christmas activity tickets!

If you participate in the Christmas Decoration Swap, you can earn 1 Christmas Activity Ticket. And there’s another way to earn tickets while you’re at it. If you read for at least 10 minutes that day, you can earn 2 additional tickets toward our 30-Minute Reading Challenge.

That’s right—just 10 minutes of reading earns 2 tickets. And if you’re having a really good reading day, don’t stop at 10 minutes! Keep going and work toward the full 30 minutes of reading for the day.

You could even create a cozy little Christmas reading spot using one of the decorations you found during your swap. We’ve also created a Christmas Decoration Swap Printable to go along with this activity.

Use it to plan your swap, keep track of what you already have, see what you find at the swap, and make a list of things you still need. There is even room to keep track of snacks and beverages everyone brings to share. And, of course, don’t forget to mark your tickets:

☐ 1 ticket — Participated in the Christmas Decoration Swap

☐ 2 tickets — Read at least 10 minutes toward the 30-Minute Reading Challeng

Remember Christmas doesn’t have to be about how much we buy when you think outside the box the best Christmas activities are the ones that cost almost nothing. A decoration swap gives us a chance to open our homes, invite people in, share what we have, and discover something special that someone else no longer needs.

And when the afternoon is over, you may have a few new decorations. But hopefully you’ll have something even better: A few new memories. So look through those Christmas boxes. Call a neighbor. Invite a friend. Ask everyone to bring a favorite snack or beverage.

Let the children help. Let the pets supervise safely. Swap decorations. Decorate together. Read for ten minutes. Earn your tickets. And remember that sometimes the best gifts aren’t things we buy at all.

And because no Christmas get-together is complete without something fun to eat and drink, we’re adding a couple of easy recipes to our Interactive Christmas Gift Guide too! When you plan your Christmas Decoration Swap, ask everyone to bring their favorite snack or beverage to share.

It doesn’t have to be fancy, expensive, or homemade. The idea is simply to have everyone contribute something small so you can enjoy a little food and fellowship while you’re swapping decorations and decorating together.

We’ve created two fun recipes to go along with your decoration swap:

🎄 Christmas Tree Snack Mix

This is an easy, festive snack that children can help put together. It is perfect for putting into little bowls or a cute little Christmas Treat Bag for everyone to enjoy while they look through decorations, make their swaps, and start decorating.

We’ll have a printable Christmas Tree Snack Mix Recipe Card you can use with your family or share with your guests.

☕ Christmas Hot Cocoa Bar

Set up a simple hot cocoa station and let everyone make their own cup.

You can have fun toppings such as marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, crushed candy canes, chocolate pieces, or whatever your family already has in the pantry.

Children will especially enjoy creating their own Christmas cocoa! We’ll also have a printable Christmas Hot Cocoa Bar Recipe Card so you can keep the recipe with your Christmas activities.

🎁 And Don’t Forget the Printables!

This Interactive Christmas Gift Guide activity comes with more than just an article. We’ll also have printables to help you plan and enjoy your Christmas Decoration Swap, including a decorating checklist, a place to keep track of what you already have and what you find at the swap, a guest and snack sign-up, recipe cards, and your Christmas Activity Ticket Tracker.

Remember: Participating in the Christmas Decoration Swap = 1 ticket.

Reading at least 10 minutes that day = 1 additional ticket toward the 30-Minute Reading Challenge. So you can decorate, enjoy a snack, sip some hot cocoa, spend time with friends and family, find something new-to-you without shopping, and earn tickets along the way. That’s what makes this more than just a decoration swap.

It’s an Interactive Christmas Gift Guide activity designed to help us make memories without making Christmas more expensive. So invite someone over, ask them to bring a decoration and something delicious to share, turn your afternoon into a little Christmas celebration, and see what happens when we stop worrying about buying something new and start enjoying what we already have.

Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed. They are the moments we make together.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates