gift ideas

A Gift Guide for Minimalist Children & Families

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Fall is creeping in: the weather is cooling, the leaves are beginning to fall and crinkle on the ground, and it’s beginning to start getting darker a little bit earlier already. Fall is my favorite season, but it means that holiday shopping is right around the corner.

As a ever-aspiring minimalist, I have grown to love giving gifts way more than receiving them. I have learned to really put a lot of thought into my gift giving – giving people things that I think they would really use and appreciate.

As a child, I loved getting gifts. I remember opening the door to the office at my Aunt Mary & Uncle Vince’s house, and seeing a never-ending tower of gifts for just me. It was surreal. As an only child, my experience at home and my grandparents home was just as similar. Most of the gifts I received I had to end up leaving behind in Cleveland to play with next time. I put my happiness in material items and it only got worse as a pre-teen.

While battling addiction and at times homelessness, I sold or lost almost every possession I owned, and I developed a new mindset. Things come and go. At the end of the day, they don’t matter. Those items I once had are long gone, but I’m still here standing. I couldn’t even tell you most of what I had, because none of it truly mattered then, and it surely won’t matter when I do die.

When I had children of my own, I realized early on that it was unlikely that I was ever going to be able to give them the same lifestyle that my parents had given me, and that’s okay. We love the life we’ve created and honestly, they would just break everything anyway. From all the items they received last Christmas, I don’t think they have a single item left that they didn’t break or lose, or quickly realize was junk. That makes me sick thinking how much time, money, and stress was wasted last Christmas with nothing to show for it. I don’t want to continue this pattern of consumerism and gluttony. We already have far more than we need, we don’t need to just continue adding without purpose.

I wish we could go completely gift-free, but  I also don’t want to be a total Grinch and steal the magic of Christmas from my children, and I thoroughly enjoy giving gifts. I know there are families who have happily completely done away with gifts, but I’m just not there yet.

So I compiled a list of all the best ideas that I can think of that would make great gifts with purpose that we have either loved receiving, or would be happy to receive.

Gifts For Minimalist Children

  • Savings Bond – Help set the financial future of the child, with the security of it not being able to be touched until a certain set upon date (Examples: high school graduation, 18th birthday, moving into first apartment or home).
  • Memberships – Zoo, Museum, Local Amusement Park, Aquarium, Parks pass, etc.
  • A special outing – Trip to see a ballet, a sports game, a play, a trip to visit a museum or aquarium that is in the next major city for a change of scenery, a trip to a water park, a tea party, a movie, or a scenic attraction.
  • Ohio Great Parks Pass, or similar {varies by location}.
  • Books, a gift card to a local book store in your area, or pay off library fines.
  • A Little Free Library to do together as a family
  • Legos, wooden blocks, magnatiles, konnects, etc. {TIP: Avoid gender specific toys, plastic or over-stimulating toys, or toys with many little pieces. Choose toys that promote creativity and problem solving. The possibilities with those are endless and you can never have too many!}
  • Edible Arrangments, or similar.
  • Lessons – music, gymnastics, sports, dance, etc.
  • A personalized blanket.
  • Science experiment kits, or science subscription kits for homeschool.
  • Other monthly subscription kits, like KiwiCo. Little Passports. TinyValues. EdZooCation. Raddish Kids. Annie’s Creative Girls Club. My Artist Box. {It seems like they have one for literally anything you can think of these days and length of time is customizable.}
  • Craft supplies or art kits
  • Children’s cooking/ baking accessories or tools. Child size aprons. Children’s cookbooks.
  • Stargazing Kit
  • A metal detector for finding treasures
  • Family friendly games or puzzles
  • Gift Certificate for homeschool curriculum. Those materials can really add up quickly.
  • Gift Certificate for a year of streaming  Disney+
  • Outdoor play equipment: climber, playhouse, trampoline, playground, bicycle, chalk, jump rope, bug catcher, etc.
  • Hygiene products: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, fun loofa, a special bath bomb from Lush or local soap artisan, hair brush, hair ties, detangeler, etc.
  • Diapers or training pants + wipes, if using.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

Mother’s Day 2022

Crafts & DIY, Motherhood, Uncategorized

Happy Mothers Day to all the mama’s out there! I hope that today was wonderful for you.

I started Mothers Day weekend off at my parents house. My dad made a French toast, fresh fruit, and potatoes breakfast for my mom & I on Saturday.

After breakfast, my mom & I went to our favorite local flower farmer annual plant sale. I am so happy about my picks. We got them planted today (Sunday) and I cannot wait to see them grow! I swear her flowers just take root so much better than anything I’ve gotten anywhere else around town!

After the plant sale, Niko & I took the kids out to the annual Chili Cook Off & Dessert Auction at church. I REALLY enjoyed the vegetarian chili. My mother in law told me that she would ask the woman who made it for the recipe for me.

The dessert auction was fun. I couldn’t believe how much some of these families paid for these homemade desserts! One cake went for over $1000! It was to raise money for the Youth Mission Trip. (My father in law let us know today that the entire trip is paid in full thanks to the auction!) Next year I really want to enter a dessert or two into the auction. I wonder how much mine would go for?! 🤔

My father in law made & entered a “Strawberry Fields Forever” strawberry shortcake filled with real strawberries 🍓 and topped with a homemade strawberry glaze. He bid on & won that for us all to share. It was SO yummy! My mother in law bid on chocolate chip cookies for us to share. We also ended up bringing home a red velvet & cream cheese frosting cake.

Gifts

We bought plain white photo frames. I wrote Happy Mothers Day in the center & the girls signed all of their names and colored with Sharpies. After they were finished, we printed out photos of Moses & the girls and put them inside of the frames.

Mia & I had gone to Trader Joe’s the afternoon beforehand to buy several bouquets of flower arrangements. I took the arrangements apart and I laid all of the flowers on the table for the girls to make new bouquets for the Babas (Ukrainian word for grandma 👵🏼) except for the roses (since they had thorns) which I split 3 ways evenly.

They ended up turning out really cute! I thought this was a super fun way for the girls to be involved. I loved doing this with Mia at Findlay Market last year and really wanted to be able to make it possible for all of the girls to create real bouquets together to gift to their Babas for Mothers Day and thought this would be the easiest and less stressful way to accomplish that.

We assembled all of our gifts together and packed them up for each Baba.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of all of the completed bouquets. They were really pretty. Both my mom & Ali were really impressed with the girls work. I really hope that we made them feel special today.

Mia & Ella each made me a few things. Mia made me a cupcake 🧁 at The Mad Potter & a really cute card. Ella made me a mushroom 🍄 at The Mad Potter, a clay bowl in art class, a bouquet of paper flowers each listing different reasons why she loves me, & a box of “coupons” for me to cash in for various things like hugs, a walk around the block, or helping me out around the house.

Noah, Ella, Luda, Mia, Ali, Niko & Moses, me, Athena, Kevin, Milana, Sasha

We went to church, then out to lunch with my husband’s parents, sister, & her two children: Noah & Milana.

The cousin crew! Ella, Sasha & Moses, Athena, Mia & Milana, Noah. I can’t believe how big they are all getting.

One of my favorite gifts I received (from Kaden) was my Ukrainian mosaic butterfly 🦋 to add to my garden.

Of course I have my Ukrainian flag flying proudly. Then I added the sunflowers for the bad-ass Ukrainian woman who was giving out sunflower seeds to the occupiers so when they die sunflowers will grow. I moved the blue & yellow flower over to this space to go along with the Ukrainian tribute to my people.

I love love love the way that it looks! The butterfly really pulls it together. I got my new plants into the ground and I can’t wait to watch them grow through the season.

Well, after this busy weekend, I’m so exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open to finish writing this so I’m going to call it a night. 5 am will be here in the blink of an eye.

What was the best part of Mothers Day for you?

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

We ❤ Our Teachers | DIY Gifts 🎨

Crafts & DIY, Motherhood

As Teacher Appreciation Week comes to an end I just wanted to share with you our small DIY gifts the girls made for their teachers.

Ella made a clipboard for her teacher, Mr. Vample. Mia made a clipboard for her teacher Mrs. Mcgahan.

They also made a clipboard for our “bus mom,” Mrs. Mace, because she is just the sweetest and has helped our girls (and many other kiddos) get safely to & from the bus stop each day which we certainly appreciate.

We bought each clipboard at the Dollar Tree for $1.25 each, and the rest of the materials we had at home already.

Getting teacher gifts doesn’t have to be pricey. It doesn’t have to out-do any of the other parents. You don’t have to break your budget. It isn’t a competition to be the “favorite” student, or parent. Your kid can color on a rock, or put nature together to form a portrait of their teacher. They can color a card. Kids are so creative- the possibilities are endless if you let them take the lead.

Your child just showing their teacher they care and appreciate them enough to take the time out of their busy play to make them a small gift is ENOUGH. Gifts are meant to be from the heart & that’s exactly where a homemade gift comes from ❤.

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov

My Minimalism Journey | A Minimalist Gift Guide for Women

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A few years ago during the worst of my grief depression following the death of my son’s father, I began what I later learned as “Swedish Death Cleaning.”

Swedish Death Cleaning is the idea of clearing out all of the clutter from your home in order to leave less of a burden on your loved ones when you die to make it simpler on them.

I began obsessively tossing everything in my home and organizing everything perfectly in the event that I would pass. I wanted everything to be in order (even controlling from my grave, I see 🤪) so that when I was gone they would be able to find everything easily and they wouldn’t have to go through any of my things.

I got rid of almost everything in my home and found that a huge part of my stress had gone away. I found that my children actually played with the toys they had left. I found that every item left in my home has a purpose, and is used. I found that having a completely decluttered and organized home significantly cut down on waste. I found that it is much easier to thoroughly clean when you have less to move.

I learned that holding onto items for the off chance that I “might” fit in something one day or “might” use it one day even though we haven’t used it once in years was only creating extra unnecessary clutter. Why was I holding onto it? What purpose did it serve sitting in a corner or on a shelf being stored away. We aren’t supposed to hoard earthly treasures. We should give freely when we can, and if we have things that we truly are not using, we should offer it up to someone who could use it now.

With my 30th birthday approaching as well as the holiday season that will also soon be upon us, I thought I would create a gift guide to make shopping for the minimalist woman 😘 in your life a little easier.

A Gift Guide for the Minimalist Woman in your Life

  • Personal Care Gift Card (Massage, nail appointment, hair appointment, a facial. 💆🏼‍♀️💇🏼‍♀️ [ ⚠️TIP: Find out what salon the miminalist woman in your life uses before purchasing a gift card.]
  • A new candle🕯
  • Take care of one bill, expense, or outstanding debt. 💵 No matter how big or how small, its always nice to feel less financially stressed.
  • A grocery store gift card, or take grocery shopping! 🧁 It’s always nice to be able to get some things outside your family food budget.
  • A gasoline gift card ⛽
  • A new plant 🌿 real or faux!
  • Offer to help with something that needs finished! 🙌🏼 From finishing a project together to getting the laundry caught up for her, there’s always so much to do & not enough time to do it. An extra set of hands can be greatly appreciated.
  • Offer to babysit 🤱🏼
  • Provide an already prepared meal that is heat-able in the oven or crockpot for a night off from cooking, with minimal cleaning. OR go out for a meal. 🥗 [ ⚠️TIP: find out dietary restrictions ahead of time!]
  • A book or cookbook 📚 (Find out dietary restrictions ahead of time).
  • A Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer attachment for the homemaking minimalist woman. There are so many neat attachments that make cooking or baking from scratch even easier!
  • Cute reusable grocery bags
  • Earrings from a local artist or Etsy.[ ⚠️TIP: Etsy can sometimes have long shipping times. Plan accordingly.]
  • Baked goods. 🍪 Homemade is always best.
  • A bag of coffee from a favorite local coffee shop

I hope that this list helped give you a few ideas for creative and useful minimalist gift giving for the woman in your life! 🎁

🙏🏼 PLEASE SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE! & Also check back for my Gift Guide for the Minimalist Children & Families, as well as my Gift Guide for the Minimalist Man!