By Christina Morton
Christina is the founder of The Organizing Company and has been organizing professionally since 2013. She is currently grateful for fall in Colorado, Mahjong with friends, and anything pumpkin flavored.
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on our website are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
As a professional organizer, I can’t help but encourage clutter-free and decluttering gifts. My clients so often feel overwhelmed by all the stuff they’ve accumulated and they end up donating so many things that were gifted to them that they never wanted (and even some things they thought they wanted but never used).
If you are trying not to add to the clutter in someone’s home, or if you know they really value organization and minimalism, or you know they are trying to keep their kids from becoming materialistic- these are all great reasons to give clutter-free gifts at the holidays, and always.
If someone sent you this blog post it *might* mean that they really prefer clutter-free gifts, but don’t want you to feel unappreciated for all the physical gifts you normally give. Usually in situations like these, I hear clients express how much they love the gifter and don’t want to hurt their feelings.
I would rather give a gift that is less exciting to me if it is more loving and respectful to the recipient, and I’m guessing you would feel the same.
That should always be at the heart of gift-giving, but especially when you consider the clutter factor.
For you skeptical folks:
I get it. It’s hard to believe someone will be excited about a gift that they don’t hold in their hands. You might read some of these ideas and say, “A tradition isn’t a gift! Just doing something together isn’t a gift!”
My challenge to you is to A) Refocus on the purpose of gift-giving. Is it ever truly about the thing? Or is it more about communicating love and appreciation? And B) Reframe gifts for your family. You may have trained your family that the holidays are about physical gifts. Now you can show them something different. Share your heart behind going clutter-free this year and how it benefits everyone. Your kids may not jump for joy at first, but I guarantee you that they will eventually get it. Maybe not this season, maybe not even next year, but when they look back a few years from now or as adults and see the way you intentionally shifted the focus in your family away from materialism and consumerism, and how your house became less cluttered and more comfortable, and how they had more time with you and as a family, they will be grateful that you made these changes for your family.
For more on this, read The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen. Or check out stories on The Ramsey Show Annual Giving Show. Dave famously says, “Giving is the most fun you can have with money.” One story I remember specifically was about a family that bought a bunch of bikes and handed them out to kids in an underserved neighborhood. The kids helped and later when they were talking about their favorite part of Christmas or favorite gifts, they said that giving away the bikes was the highlight.
As you read through the list below you’ll also see some personal stories from my life and how an experience was a gift.
Start now to reframe with your family what gifts and the holidays will look like. Brainstorm ideas together and get their wishlists. Challenge them to come up with something clutter-free for you and each other.
Pro Gifter Tips:
For the most thoughtful gift, remember to cover tips for anything you gift that requires a tip to the service provider, especially if you know the recipient is on a budget.
For Hanukkah, you could reveal one big gift slowly over the 8 nights. Maybe give an envelope with a clue in it each night or treat it like a scavenger hunt!
Below are over 294 ideas for experiences, memories, and more to share love without adding mess or stress.
For a free PDF version, click below. I’ve included dozens of links to specific spots in the PDF! Especially for my Denver/Boulder friends!
Download the PDF with links
Consumable Gifts
This one isn’t groundbreaking, so I’ll make it quick. Think food and drink. Ideally, things that are perishable so they either get eaten or get thrown out instead of cluttering up a pantry.
What do they always order at restaurants? What do they compliment or ask you to make more of? Gift it along with a recipe card.
Candied nuts
“Fancy” coffee beans
William Sonoma cinnamon roll mix (or any of their quick breads!)
A jar of cider mix/holiday fragrance for the stovetop
Your famous sourdough (or friendship bread) starter
Holiday cookies
Bundt cake/gourmet caramel apples/other treats
Premade freezer meals (This is great for new parents. Remember to include ingredient info and heating instructions)
Champagne/Scotch/Wine
Cigars
Anything but fruit cake
No-Product Gift Cards/Certificates
For thoughtful and clutter-free gifts, avoid general gift cards like Visa and Amazon. Give them something they can use for an experience, event, food, digital product, etc.
Photo session gift certificate (couples, singles and their pets, families, entrepreneurs all love this) plus credit for prints
Sessions with life coach/business coach/career coach
Game Center/App Store/Google Play
Gas gift card
Massage, facial, mani/pedi, sauna, cold plunge, spa day
Personal chef services
Restaurant
Children’s art archiving service
Photo scanning service
Document scanning service
Personal trainer (Be careful with this one if they haven’t expressed interest in it! Don’t want to offend!)
Airbnb gift certificate for stays and experiences
Organizing gift certificate (Redeemable for my Closet Course, virtual coaching, or in-home organizing!)
Memberships & Subscriptions
Avoid anything that will get shipped to them unless it is quickly consumable. Avoid subscription BOXES or physical items like magazines, books, jelly of the month, etc. These are clutter-free gifts, remember!
Remember to include details of the membership, how long it is good for, etc. And consider paying tips in advance (massages, etc) or gifting extra cash for that.
Golf club or Top Golf
Rec center/gym/the Y
Rec league membership for softball, kickball, etc
Rock climbing gym
Zumba/aerobics/dance classes
Racketball or tennis club
Pickleball club
ClassPass membership or similar
Peloton app or other fitness app
Pilates or yoga membership
Community/rec pool pass
Massage membership
Season tickets to sporting events
Kids gym/drop in daycare center
Museum membership (children’s, art, nature & science, planetarium)
Season tickets to the theater, symphony, ballet, etc
Local theme, amusement, or trampoline park membership
State Parks pass
Events & Adventures for singles
Monthly flower delivery
The Nudge Plus (this is my TOP PICK for adults for year round joy!)
Audible
Kindle Unlimited
Apple Music/Pandora Plus/Spotify Premium
Apple One- Music, TV, fitness, news
HBO, Disney +, Hulu Live TV
Movie club
AAA roadside assistance
Car wash membership
Canva Pro (a must for small business owners/solopreneurs)
Entrepreneur content shoot membership
Stock photo membership for entrepreneurs
Coworking lounge, coworking social lounge, coworking golf space
Social club, thermaculture club, or intellectual club
Mahjong social club
Cigar lounge or winery
Meal kits/service (pay for X meals/week for X weeks)
CSA or meat service membership (Be careful with this one since it regularly sends physical items- even though they are consumable. If they don’t get eaten fast enough it becomes a three-freezers-in-the-garage situation. True story.)
Costco/Sam’s Club
Online food magazine access
Meal prep community memberships
House cleaning services (1x/mo for a year or something like that. Remember to cover tips)
Courses & Private Lessons
Some of these things are also great ideas for things you can do together, especially for couples looking to start a new hobby together!
Masterclass membership
Foreign language
Coding
Cooking or baking
Sommelier class/certification
Brewing, distilling, wine making
Cigar making
Gardening
Personal styling
Interior decorating
Painting or drawing
Knitting or crocheting
Flower arranging
Golf or tennis
Skiing or snowboarding
Ice skating
Scuba
Dance/tap (for adults or kids!)
Circus/trapeze classes
Improv/acting
Singing lessons
Instrument lessons
Survival course/wilderness course
Business/social media/AI course for entrepreneurs
Mahjong
Home organizing courses (Mine is on sale now!)
Learning From You
What is your “thing”? Invite your family to create something with you, or teach them how to do it. Don’t just give them the supplies. Make something they can keep or enjoy. Make it an event or rite of passage!
My Grammy was an artist and it was a rite of passage to create an oil painting with her. I never got the chance, but my sisters still have theirs and the memories.
Fishing
Hunting or shooting
Archery
Repair an old car/motorcycle
Woodworking
Build a dollhouse or dog house together
Painting
Scrapbooking
Teach how to make your famous chicken salad/homemade pasta/whatever it is
Traditions, Service, & Projects
Sometimes a tradition is a gift in itself. As is serving others. Here are some ideas for non-traditional experiences and events you can treat as a gift to create lasting memories.
My Grampy used to take us trout fishing and mining for fool’s gold every time we visited them in North Carolina. It was a tradition we looked forward to and remember fondly even now. For the holiday season I love to do things like make gingerbread houses with my nieces and nephews. Think of something that can become a tradition, especially for the holiday/winter season.
Cut down your own Christmas tree together. Make a day of it. And watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation when you get home
Make your own menorah and/or candles
Bake holiday cookies or latkes and homemade applesauce
Sleep under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve
Paint dreidels or make a gingerbread house
Create a kid-friendly casino experience to play dreidel and bet with gelt
Carriage ride
Sleigh ride
Snow tubing or sledding day trip
Pop up holiday market
Pop up holiday themed bar/speakeasy/restaurant
Holiday light show
Mini home/room makeover: Repaint a room or hang wallpaper (Tip: Give it as an old school “coupon” for your teenager to redecorate their room)
Make homemade gifts for the grandparents/extended family together
Join a Habitat for Humanity build
Gift a mission trip/service trip
Gift free babysitting
Write cards to foster kids or people in need
Take your kids shopping for (or gather) gifts for foster children or kids in low income communities and help distribute them
Volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen
Gather and distribute coats and blankets for the homeless
Make meal kits or grocery bags for widows, teen moms, foster families, group homes, halfway houses, immigrants, or anyone who could use a little kindness
Trips, Events, & Experiences (with or without you)
You can do these things together or you can gift them for the recipient to do solo/with someone else. A lot of these could be given as a gift certificate as well.
Remember to cover all expenses (travel, tips, etc) associated with the gift so it doesn’t cost the recipient anything.
My paternal grandmother is all about this one. When each of us grandkids turned 13 she would take us on a special trip together. I got to take a train to Toronto and see a musical with her. I don’t think I could name more than two physical gifts she gave me, but I remember the Toronto trip and subsequent trips and experiences she and my grandpa gave us like weeklong seminars (it was more fun than it sounds) and trips overseas for family reunions. And college visits. They really nailed this category.
Concert tickets
Theater or opera tickets
Symphony tickets
Ballet tickets
Movie tickets
Comedy club or tickets to see a comedian
Tickets to a talk show/late night show (either of the Jimmy’s, Drew Barrymore, etc)
Magic show
Tickets to the Westminster Dog Show next year
Seminar/workshop/TED/TEDx talk admission
Children’s museum
Art museum
Immersive art experience or pop up
Museum of illusions
Museum of Nature & Science
Obscure local museums (doll, miniatures, sports, etc. Google “museums near me” for some unique spots you may not know about!)
Planetarium
Aquarium or zoo
Butterfly Pavilion
Botanic gardens
Weekend getaway (2-3 hours away) or hotel staycation
Day trip to a fancy hotel/resort
Rite of passage trip
Take a “Heads Carolina” kind of roadtrip
Gift your kids time at an overnight camp (they’ll still be excited about it this summer, I promise)
Family camp
State Parks road trip
Visit every show on the strip in Branson, Missouri (family friendly and guaranteed to be a unique experience)
Camping trip
Glamping trip
Hot springs trip
Surprise your kids each Christmas/Hannukah with what the family vacation will be
Disney World/Land
Universal Studios
Seaworld
Legoland
Cruise
Scenic train ride
Castle or mansion tour
Ice sculpture park/ice castle tour
Helicopter tour
Hot air balloon ride
Paddle boat lake tour
Duck tour or boat tour
Splunking/ caving
Ziplining
Ropes course
Scavenger hunt
Laser tag or paintball
Batting cages
Kid & adult go karts
Bowling
Ice skating
Escape room
Rage room
Game show battle room
Shooting range
Axe throwing
Trampoline park
Indoor inflatables park
Circus/trapeze classes
Amusement park
Water park
Snorkeling
Swim with dolphins or sea turtles
Horseback riding
Sandboarding day trip
Downhill or cross-country skiing or snowboarding
Lift tickets or pass
Luxe ski in/ski out stay
Rock climbing
Top golf or mini golf
Rail biking day trip
Polo tickets
Super Bowl tickets I.O.U. (or any sporting event)
Virtual reality experience
Arcade night
Trivia night at a local bar
Board game night or puzzle night at a local bar
Brewery/winery/distillery day trip
Paint and sip event
Terrarium making/craft workshop
Hat making or jewelry making event at a local shop
Pottery class
Mixology class
Ice cream making class
Candle making class
The Adventure Challenge (okay, this is a physical item (book), but the whole point of it is to create memories! Couples, solo, kids, & family versions available!)
Whew. That’s a lot.
But now you have 294 ways to show you love someone, create a new memory, and support the goal of a clutter-free home (download the list here if you haven’t already).
If you’re struggling to think about how to make any of these ideas a gift, just remember that it’s all in how you frame it.
Tell your kids/partner something like, “Hey, on Saturday I’m going to give you your Christmas gift. Be ready at 10:00am and wear comfortable walking shoes and athletic clothes,” or whatever they should wear (nobody wants to be uncomfortable/ruin their favorite clothes while they’re trying to have fun, so give them enough info so they can prepare. It’ll still be a surprise). This approach sets the expectation that the gift is an experience, not a thing. They’ll be excited about a mystery and a surprise, and they’ll remember the event more than a thing that they’ll get rid of in a year or two.
And whatever you decide, remember to choose gifts that they would want, not what you would want them to have. If that’s your guide, you can’t go wrong.
Happy gift giving!
Christina
PS: Don’t forget that you can get this full list in a PDF with links to specific places/resources.
PPS: My closet organizing course is only available for purchase until December 31st, 2026 and add-on coaching spots are limited. So sign them (or yourself) up now!
November 1st, 2026
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