This Holiday Season, Try Gentle Shopping!

Does the mere thought of shopping this holiday season fill you with dread?  Hate the thought of parking, long lines and indecision over what to buy?

Worry no more!  Here are some recommendations from me, thanks to amazon.com.  I’ve included some gifts for yourself, treasures for your decluttering journey, and gifts for others that minimize the clutter. 

And remember, if you bring something INTO your home, donate or give away something else.

For your favorite clutterbug (or you):

Simplify Your Holidays is a practical, notebook-style book filled with good ideas.  (If you want to make your own, visit the flylady.net website link on the Holiday Decluttering page to make your own!)

The iSlice was really helpful to me to deal with my paper clutter from articles I’ve cut out of newspapers and magazines.  This device, which I often demonstrate at

programs, helps you make clean “slices” of pages which makes them look neat and easy to organize in page protectors.  And those page protectors can be nicely organized in a three-ring binder (and I KNOW you have a LOT of those!)

The 365 Days of Procrastination Calendar is a hilarious gift for the procrastinator in your life.  Gently whimsical, it is nonetheless helpful.  (I myself want to make my own decluttering calendar ... once I get around to putting it together!) 

If you have an active family -- or want to have a family that does more than sit around and watch DVDs -- try the popular Wii.  This immensely popular video game allows anyone to play “virtual” sports by holding a device that mimics the actual sport.  Kids, parents and grandparents all love it. 

Apples to Apples is a really fun and easy-to-play board and card game that is most fun with a large group.  Players try to match “apples to apples” of words that normally don’t go together. 

If you enjoy Karaoke, this Memorex Home Karaoke system is less expensive than most and it allows you to hook it up to an iPod and other music. 

For People Who Are Hard to Buy For:

The Apple iPod touch is basically the iPhone without phone service. I would have liked the phone, but my family is on another provider’s “family plan.” With the iPod Touch,  you get all the great iPhone applications and a Web browser that you can use wherever there is wireless internet.  I use mine at Panera, local libraries, the mall etc.  I really like the “Notes” application -- which is where I keep my list of books I want from the library and my grocery list etc.  It also has a calendar so I can keep track of everything.

Even though we “want” to trim our gift lists, it can be really difficult!  I’ve tried and the experience ended up with hurt feelings that needed to be smoothed over ... SO accept the inevitable and try to go to “consumable” gifts.  If not, here are some suggestions.

Flowers is a really nice DVD that is great as “background” on your TV during a quiet luncheon event or a garden party.  It is basically a collection of beautiful flower slides set to gentle music.  Really nice ... and probably nobody has this! (I know a relative of the producer!)

Women with wide-width feet have such a difficult problem finding shoes!  Until these unique croc Wedges slip-on shoes came out, I was never able to wear Wedge shoes!  I really love these and they’re inexpensive.  They’re NOT for someone with narrow-ish feet. Get your regular size, because they run true to size.  (With wide shoes, I wear a 7.) Your recipient will be SO grateful!

For the Family:

This year, instead of buying individual gifts, why not go for the dazzling “family” gift? Here are some of my family’s favorites (within everyone’s budget.)