Are you ready for the holidays yet? Are you? ARE YOU??!? Well if, like me, you’re still searching for gift ideas, here are a few places to check out. I’m all about shopping local, planet-friendly and Fair Trade (check out Catherine’s article below for some Fair Trade gift ideas!) this year, and making gifts for the people I care about.

Handmade
Etsy Love the handmade gifts for sale, and you can search by a seemingly infinite number of options, including color, theme or category. Here’s their budget-friendly gift guide: Handmade Gifts Under $25
Craftster A community of crafters showcasing their creations through tutorials, advice and a forum. If you want to make something, you can probably learn how to do it here.
CraftZine So many ideas and tutorials for gifts you can whip up if you’ve got the time. Lots of cool featured projects.

Green

Inhabitat Is a weblog whose mission states “Green Design is Good Design
”, and they have great green gift ideas in their annual Green Gift Guide. Check out Gifts Under $20 is you want an awesome gift that won’t empty your bank account. But hurry!!! You have to order by DECEMBER 18th!!!

Grassroots Green Gift Guide -Say that 10 times fast!- Is packed with environmentally-friendly gifts sorted into categories like “For the Eco Fashionista” and “For the Green Techie”.

Have you ever had a moment around Christmas time when you stopped everything and just said to yourself, “Holy smokes, I just had a ‘Christmas Vacation’ moment? Come on, you know you have! You may not even notice yourself doing it. Like for instance, this one year, we decided to get a real tree. So we lug the sucker home and we are ready to put it in the stand and oh, guess what? The boy scout cut the stump and left a big ole lump in it. Who had to take charge? Me, of course. I was outside for 30 minutes sawing away and after ridding that blasted tree of the original stump and sawing the lower branches off, we were good to go…Or so I thought! Until I gave my doggy a pet and we stuck together; luckily, no squirrels jumped out, but all through it, I kept thinking to myself, “This is like that darn tree from Christmas Vacation!” It was a definite bonding experience for my mother and I, though. Jackson and I obviously bonded too, just in a more tangible way.

That movie had things all right with families and the holidays. We all have that Cousin Eddie and Aunt Bethany and Uncle Lewis. We have that insanely difficult tree and/or Christmas lights, the ruined dinner and  the relatives coming in like a hurricane and doing what they do. It’s all part of the holidays, that craziness that you just somehow enjoy and you don’t know why. Maybe you hit the eggnog too hard, I dunno. Maybe it’s because we’re with family and whether we notice it or not, this madness, this chaos somehow bonds us together. It’s like holiday glue.

This year, I challenge you all to somehow beat some aspect of “Christmas Vacation.” Haaa, just kidding. I don’t want an entire home to blow up over sewage gases and a lit cigar, and please keep the cats and dogs away from tree lights, people. We don’t need Kentucky Fried Feline/Canine, OK? Promise me, or else someone will be getting coal this year and no one likes coal!

Sarah “G”

Waaaazzzuuup?! Y’all already know my name(s) so I’ll just skip that part and move on. I’m the token Canadian girl, but not-so-token these days, because there is actually several Canadians around! Isn’t it amazing? It’s definitely amazing. Hmm… I’m also pretty accident prone and by ‘pretty accident prone’, I mean dangerously accident prone. It’s quite bad, but apparently entertaining at the same time. I’m a complete and utter history nerd, a big Canucks fan, a roller coaster junkie and I have a slight addiction to Snuggle fabric softener and I’m rambling; so I shall bid you all adieu.

Here’s a taste of a few holiday traditions from around the world. There are many holidays happening at this time of year, so if you want to share how you celebrate, let us know!

Puerto Rico
Christmas & Three Kings Day

In Puerto Rico there is a vast variety of beliefs, but if we’re generalizing here, then most Puerto Ricans celebrate Christmas. Digging a little deeper into tradition, they believe that Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of baby Jesus and all that. During this time people make big parties and it’s all about bringing the family together, eating pork, rice and lots lots and lots of deserts such as flan, “tembleque”, etc. People decorate their houses with lights, they put up the Christmas tree and decorate it and all. (Yeah, children are taught about Santa too). This is a time to stick together and be thankful for family and while all the celebrating is going on, people are already getting ready for New Year’s and what they want for the coming year…but after all this has passed Christmas is still NOT over yet till the 6th of January when Puerto Ricans celebrate “Three Kings Day” this is all about celebrating the Three Kings’ (Wise Men) visit to baby Jesus to worship him, bearing gifts which were: gold, incense, and myrrh. The day before, parents give their children shoe boxes which the children fill with grass (as food for the camels of the Three Kings) and they put the box under the tree. The next day the children find the grass spread out all over the floor and they find gifts.
So yeah…our Christmas celebrating extends all the way to January.
~Jenny

Indonesia
Idul Adha

I am Indonesian, and I am 22 now. Well, since I’m a Muslim, I had some holiday-stories related to my belief. Last few days I went to Tasikmalaya, which was damaged by a great earthquake in September. I thought I’d find the crashed town, but it was still as beautiful as I remember. Last holiday is called Idul Adha, when we celebrate the moment of sharing the meats of slaughtered cows, lambs or goats with the poor. I used to spend Idul Adha in Jakarta, but for the last few years, my family and I have this new tradition to celebrate at Tasikmalaya, where my Grandpa lives.
In Indonesia, we have so many great places besides the famous Bali. And despite the bad news of Indonesia, it’s still safe here. Pay us a visit and see for yourself!
~Zarah

Canada
Hanukkah
Originally from Israel, and having come to Canada decades ago, my family is Jewish, and we celebrate Hanukkah. It’s a time for us to talk about our history, share memories both fond and also solemn. It is important to us to pass down our family’s legacy.
It’s also a fun time filled with traditions. My Mother makes traditional food, including potato latkes, and we play games and have many of our extended family over to visit and eat. A very important Hanukkah tradition is the lighting of the menorah. Over a period of eight nights, the candles are lit; one the first night, two the second night, etc. We are also given small gifts each night, they can be silly gifts or something we have been wishing for.
I have great memories of this holiday, but one in particular that could have ended badly was when my Mother placed the menorah too close to our curtains (it’s supposed to be visible to the outside world) and they caught fire. My Father put it out with an extinguisher, and after much panic and chaos, he said “Well, let’s try that again.”
~Abigail

Being a child of divorce can be cringe-worthy enough without having the holidays to kick it into high gear.
When my parents split up, I was 11, my sister was 8. They had an unusually relaxed divorce.
We lived with Mom, but saw Dad all the time. However, as that monumental first post-separation holiday season loomed, we didn’t know what to expect. We ended up traveling south to spend the holidays with my Mom’s family, who we adore, but the absence of our Dad was glaringly obvious. I remember lots of smiles and “Yes I’m okay”, but I cried as I fell asleep that Christmas Eve. I felt like I’d been cheated out of our holiday traditions. I felt guilty when I caught myself having fun, because Dad wasn’t there. I felt like I was betraying him when I laughed too hard or lost myself in a moment of joy.

As we grew up, our little fractured family figured out what worked for us. Some years Dad would come over first thing in the morning, bursting in like Santa Claus, thrilled to celebrate with us. And sometimes we would be out of town with Mom’s family, and a phone call would be our only connection. We adjusted.

I thought things would get easier when I became an adult, but I was wrong. I moved away to go to college, and I would just come “home” for the holidays. Mom and my sister still lived in our childhood home, and Dad still lived in our hometown. But the dynamics changed. Dad had a girlfriend, who became my stepmother, and she had teenaged boys and a huge family. So when we spent time with them on Christmas Eve, we left my Mom alone, because her family lived out of town. I can’t explain the emotions of walking out that door. Mom loves the holidays, she decorates, bakes, spends hours picking out or making gifts she knows we’ll love. Leaving her behind, even if just for a few hours, crushed me. Yet I wanted to spend time with Dad, too, and I felt completely torn. It wasn’t either of my parents who made me feel guilty, I took that monster on myself. And it would stress me out, drive me crazy, and fill me with resentment for my once-beloved holiday.

At this point, each year I just do what feels right. My Mom has moved to the city where I went to college, so it’s added a whole other dimension to our demographical challenges. Gone are the days of Dad knocking on the door at 7 am to wish us a Merry Christmas, but we’ve embraced the “Two Christmases”. Two turkey dinners, two family get-togethers, and, okay, two sets of presents.

It’s still hard to decide what to do, to not want to disappoint anyone or feel guilty about leaving someone behind. In spite of the challenges, we’ve accepted that our version of a family isn’t perfect, and we love it for what it is and for the simple fact that we’ve made it work for us.

About Jen

Jen Pimm is the Editor for Girls By Design, a freelance graphic designer and writer who feels blessed to have found a way to turn her love for all things creative into a grown-up career. She wants to encourage self-expression and confidence in young women because, once upon a time, she was not so sure of herself. When she’s not working like a fool, she’s probably taking artsy pictures of stuff, watching Jeopardy, or snuggling with her pug Stella. She appreciates a quick wit and is currently planning her next travel adventure. And she’s on Twitter! At http://www.twitter.com/JenniferPimm

Here’s something you must know about me: I want to change the world. And I want to motivate other young people to bring about this change as well. I know I’m not alone in this dream—many of you reading this are already doing great things for your communities and beyond. But others may be asking, “Where do we start? How can one person make a significant contribution?”

One of my favorite ways to make a difference is through the gifts I give to my friends and family over the holidays. Every day we make choices about what products we value most. We vote with our dollars by choosing certain companies over others, based on qualities like price, style, or reliability. Sometimes we forget, in our rush to get the best deals on the newest products, that the choices we make affect all workers, many of whom live in other countries.

While it can be easy to push aside the reality that some companies exploit their workers or use slave labor (very often child labor as well) to make their products and profits, there are more outlets than ever before for you to raise your voice and support the businesses that are paying their workers a fair wage.

The most well known and wide-spread Fair Trade operation is Ten Thousand Villages. Their mission is to one day see a world in which all artisans in developing countries receive a fair wage for their work. With over 160 stores in North America, Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit organization that sells the wares of artisans around the world, ensuring them the ability to support their families with food, education, healthcare, and housing. The tag on each item identifies its’ country of origin, and often the name of the man or woman who created it. From chocolate and coffee to earrings, scarves, and ornaments, the stores are filled with so many beautiful items that feel deeply personal. When you make a purchase there, you are not only buying a great gift for a friend, you are also making a statement to the world about what is important to you—fair labor practices and the quality of life for millions of women and children in developing nations.

So what to do you give the person who already has “everything”? Aside from the many unique options at places like Ten Thousand Villages, many other non-profit organizations look to youth like you to spread the word about how small donations can make a big difference. Did you know that just $25 will plant ten trees at a primary school in Kenya? And $50 will buy a goat for a family. Similar amounts can help start a Youth in Action group at a middle school or high school (like yours!) Check out Free the Children for more ideas for you and your friends.

Joy need not come wrapped in bright, shiny paper. Instead, it can arise out of a simple show of support and solidarity with girls and women who live just down the street or thousands of miles away. With each fair trade gift you purchase, you create a ripple effect. Not only do you ensure a fair wage for the worker, but you also have the opportunity to share a story of hope. A small loan through groups like Free the Children or Kiva can give a young woman the boost she needs to get her small business running. The allowance you saved from your summer job could pay for a few children to have books for school. Gifts like this make it possible for us to see the world person by person. Rather than dwelling on tragedy, we are able to recognize the potential for positive change. A gift that continues to give—what could be better than that?

About Catherine Starr

Graduated with a degree in psychology from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Is a fan of music, everything from opera to hip-hop. Has a job, working to provide children and adolescents who are in need of mental health care with the services that they require. Believes that education is a powerful tool for changing the world. Knows that girls have the strength to be great in all ways, recognizes the struggles that young women go through in finding their place, but knows that success is possible. A big fan of living “me to we“.