
I know it's only October, but this is the time to think about what you want to give this holiday season. Whether you need to bring a hostess gift for Thanksgiving or looking to get your Christmas presents purchased early, here are some wonderful gift ideas for the holidays. Some of these require planning and others are quick last-minute gift ideas.
6 Amazing Ideas for Clutter-Free Gift Ideas
Create a gift that recipients can eat.
This gift requires planning. I have several nieces and nephews and over the years, created several theme gifts for them. Here are some of the theme gift ideas I did.
Cooking tools: Purchase herb mixes, tools, and make a small basket.
Homemade rub mixes: Get the ingredients for your favorite made from scratch rub mixes and include a grocery store or butcher gift card. You can buy a cookbook of rub recipes and make them in batches for several receipints.
Mason jar cooking gifts: Mason jar cookie mixes can be made or you can buy them already made. I like to make them myself to customize it to each person.
Homemade pasta: We have made pasta from scratch and gave it out as favors with tomato sauce. Here's one I love to give as a gift with a bottle of homemade tomato sauce. HOMEMADE GNOCCHI RECIPE LIKE MOM MAKES
Homemade cakes: We made a small panettone cake recipe (an Italian fruit cake) and gave them as gifts. I added a link from a Food Network recipe.
Wine and Beer: Customized for each person or make your own wine and beer and give it as a gift. Check out the beer bread DIY gift idea: A GREAT GIFT IDEA FOR MEN
Give the gift of the food of the month club memberships.
This gift idea is great for those last-minute decisions for the loved one who has everything. This is fun for anyone who wants to give a gift all year around. I wrote a post solely about this, click on this link. Here's another article I found online that talks about what food of the month clubs you can give as gifts. 15 Food Of The Month Clubs To Gift Your Food-Loving Friends (So, Everyone)
Give Donations to Nonprofits on behalf of the loved one.
This is a great last-minute gift idea. This is great for people who don't like gifts and don't want them. It shows you care but they don't need to receive anything but a piece of paper that says what you have done. Here are some great places to donate do this: Heifer International: dedicated to fighting world hunger and Habitat for Humanity: dedicated to helping the homeless. Here's an article for more information: Need a last-minute gift? Make it a charitable one
Give Experience presents.
This can be a last-minute gift idea and many require planning as well. These are gifts that the recipients can go and do something instead of adding clutter to their homes. Here are some suggestions for this type of gift:
- Movie tickets
- Restaurant tickets
- Take out restaurants
- A Hotel stay
- A Moms night out
- A Girls night out
- A Boys night out
I hope this post gave you some no clutter gift ideas for the holidays. Now you need to organize your holiday gifts, here is a post I wrote about just that. It includes a free checklist to help you manage your gifts.
Now it's your turn. What do you like to give that doesn't create clutter in the recipient's home? Please leave thoughts below.
Please note the link above is affiliate links through Amazon and at no additional cost to you, I will receive affiliate fees if you click through and decide to make a purchase.


Karen Grosz
My favorite is experience gifts if you know the person well. Don't give something if you don't know them. They could be offended at worst and just not use it as the least. Know the person so you can pick something for them to do they would enjoy.
Jill Robson
A great post Sabrina, I remember one year we gave my husband's grandparents the gift of our time. We gave them a coupon of a few hours of our time to do any tasks that they would like us to do for them.
Sarah Soboleski
Great suggestions, Sabrina! The last couple of years I've been hosting a cookie swap with friends and I use the cookies as gifts. I know my favorite kind of gift is an edible one!
Autumn Leopold
Brilliant post Sabrina! Is there any way you could make a printable of this? I would love to have one on my fridge to remind me and to even take with me while I shop! 🙂
Hazel Thornton
These are great ideas, Sabrina! In addition, I'm still a fan of gift cards, but the more specific to the recipient's tastes, preferences, and habits the better.
Phoenicia
Yes to this! As Christmas approaches I advise family and friends to buy small gifts. We simply do not have the room. I go through my children's toys periodically and store or discard of those they no longer play with.
Janet Barclay
It's not very imaginative, but I tend to give gift cards or cash so the person can choose what they like. I love to make my own gifts too, but don't usually plan far enough ahead of time to make it happen.
April R.
I love the idea of Experience gifts. My favorite quote is "The most important things in life aren't things". Stuff is just stuff, but experiences create memories and bond relationships!
Seana Turner
Love giving something that the recipient doesn't immediately need to figure out how to store!