So I don’t know about y’all, but in my family we take Christmas pretty “seriously”. A.K.A. We like to actually enjoy our holiday times and so we strive to protect the entirety of December by getting our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving!
We also always like to think we will get our wrapping done by then too but . . . *looks off into the distance and remembers countless Christmas Eve Eve wrapping parties late at night* 
It doesn’t happen all the time.
My mom was always really good about encouraging her children to give presents at Christmas as kids. It was either Dollar tree items or DIY gifts, but it made giving important in our lives.
Also we would make cookies for our favorite employees at Walmart and other stores and I loved that as a kid and I loved seeing their happy expressions too at receiving yummy cookies.
So DIY gifts have a very special place in my heart. Last year I went on my own for buying Christmas presents for the first time in years. My brother, Sean, and I went in for multiple years together. Pooling our resources and the like. But last year so much happened and I wanted to do it on my own.
So I painted everyone a painting! Here are a few of them . . .
Everyone really loved them as they were tailored to each person’s likes and loves! My uncle—I gifted him a painting of the Hulk rage quitting a video game—actually was speechless and adores his!! Which is extraordinarily hard to achieve, I’ll tell you that much. Anyways, so this year I’m starting to plan my DIY gifts.
I’m also “Elfing” for my brother Sean! I love Christmas shopping and he loves not doing it so I’m getting to do it for a fee . This means that I still get to go Christmas shopping with my mom and my Aunt Tracie next week. I love shopping with them every year because we do it right 
.
We put on Christmas music, make it cold if it’s hot outside, wear Christmas shirts if possible, and we just really get into the spirit of things. We also make sure to have lunch together and it’s a lovely bonding experience we have every year.
—When I was younger and my cousins were small, I would babysit while my mom and Aunt shopped and that was such a wonderful time too!—
Anyways, I’ve rambled enough about my love of Christmas shopping early. I hope you give it a try one year! It can be so much fun and so relaxing when in December you don’t have to worry about buying your presents late.
‘Till next we meet!
~Tiffany Michele
