Be a Gracious Giver (31 days to Love the Home You Have)

This post is part of a 31 day series – 31 days to Love the Home You Have.  I am blogging through the 31 day challenge in the back of the book “Love the Home You Have” by Melissa Michaels of The Inspired Room.  You can read all the posts in the series so far here.  And to make sure you don’t miss a post you cansign up to have every post delivered to your inbox , or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, PinterestorInstagram to get even more home decorating ideas and inspiration to help you fall in love with your home.

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You may be reading the title of this post and thinking how does this apply to me loving my home more?  Giving gifts to others has nothing to do with MY home?  I don’t know if you have noticed as we are more than halfway through this series that honestly we haven’t done posts on you need to fix this and this about your house or go out and buy all new this or that… in fact I remember as I read Melissa’s book and browsed through the 31 day challenge in the back that it wasn’t exactly what I expected either.  I think I had this mindset about my home that if XYZ was better/nicer/newer that I would love my home.  But does it usually work that way?  No… because maybe if we do change that one room or piece of furniture to be better/nicer/newer then the room or piece of furniture next to it needs an upgrade too. 

Instead the 31 day challenge in the back of the book “Love the Home you Have” and the theme of this series has been to change your mindset – to help you look at things through a different perspective – and honestly to make you love your life and family and in doing that you will also love your home.   That may be just my perspective but I know that is how my heart was worked on as I read and re-read the book and have been working through this series.

So being a gracious giver… how do you feel when you give a gift to others?  Especially if it was a random, out of the blue, no special occasion gift?  If you are anything like me, you walk away from that with a smile on your face and in your heart that lasts all day as you think about it.  How do you feel if a friend randomly gives you a gift or does something special for you – just because?  We feel special!  We feel loved, we feel like our life matters because we just made someone else’s day a bit better!

One way I have made it easier to give little spur of the moment gifts is I organized my gift bags in a better way and put them in an easy accessible place.  We have a weird closet hat goes under our stairs that I utilize for Christmas gift wrapping stuff but it is awkward and hard to get to.  So I took out my non-Christmas bags, tissue paper, and wrapping things and put them in an under the bed box under my bed.  Now it takes literally 10 seconds to pull out and grab a bag and tissue paper and much easier to give a gift.    I love some of these wrapping ideas I rounded up last year.  Many of these by just changing the color on the ribbon could be used year-round.

Gifts absolutely do not have to cost a lot.  If you know the person you are gifting to well, you may even be able to pick up something you know she would love at a yard sale or a thrift store.  If you are crafter you could make a fall wreath or a special Christmas item for just a few dollars using some things you have on hand and your crafting skills.  I have blogged all about lots of gift ideas in past posts and series:

• Pumpkin crafts
• Fall wreath ideas
• How to keep gifts simple
• 25+ Homemade food gifts in a jar
• Non-food gifts in a jar
• 15+ homemade teacher gifts
• Neighbor gift ideas
• DIY Infinity Scarf
• Frozen cookie dough gift
• $10 or less DIY Homemade gifts

You can browse through my 31 days of fall inspiration series or my 31 days to take the stress out of Christmas series for a ton of ideas. 

As I have been cleaning out my house I have found things that I put in a gift bin that are perfect to give just a simple item to help cheer someone’s day – a new jar candle I never used, a scarf that I just don’t have anything to go with but my friend might love, something I cleaned out of my décor stash like a lantern or tray or pretty basket.  And you can watch for good deals at stores too – Bath and Body Works sales can be amazing for picking up fun soaps and lotions for $2-3 and I love the $3 or 2/$3 bins at Michael’s too for picking up little note card sets or soaps or lotions.

And your home can be a gift as well… to a weary traveler who needs a place to stop for the night on a long trip.  Or to a friend who is lonely who could use coffee and cookies around your table as you visit and chat with each other.  And it can be a gift to your family as well – a place where they can come after school/work and know they are loved and cared for and have a place of belonging. 

Challenge for today: Find someway to give something to someone around you.  Whether that be an encouraging note dropped in the mail, a small gift to a friend who might need some encouragement, or maybe the gift of time and your home to someone who could use that in their life right now.   Think about how you feel after you give that gift.  And then look around your home and realize you have a gift right there – and make the best of it that you can!