Can you believe Christmas is just over 10 weeks away?

Neither can I! Last year, I sent out a request to friends and family to kindly limit how many gifts they brought for our children, and I set out guidelines that helped steer them towards things that would be appreciated. I felt a little awkward sending the request, however, I really wanted people to know we enjoy their company over the holidays more than what they bring with them, and as a mom of four kids, I often find myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff we have in our house, so any opportunity to limit the amount of picking up I have to do is welcome, and besides, as we all know, kids don't need a lot of 'stuff' to find ways to amuse themselves!

So, do you want to know what I asked for?

• gift certificates from the city of Ottawa. We enroll our kids in their aquatics programs, the girls have enjoyed city summer camps for a few years now, and we've signed the kids up for city soccer from four years old on -- to say this is money well-spent is an understatement!
• movie tickets. My husband is a big kid at heart, and he loves to take the older kids to a good movie, a fabulous get-out-of-the-house-card we can play when the weather outside sucks.
• annual museum memberships. We have enjoyed the Experimental Farm since Maddy was a baby, even now, eight years later, she still gets a thrill going! A yearly memberhsip to the Agricultural museum also gets you into the Museum of Science & Technology, and the Museum of Aviation.

We also asked people to avoid gifts that were made of plastic and/or required batteries, and we asked them to purchase goods made in North America. I know a lot of products are made overseas, but it is possible to find things made within North America, even made locally, for that matter.

When people come into the store looking for things we can't source, I often take a look on Etsy and point them in that direction. You've never heard of Etsy? It's a fabulous marketplace that connects crafters with buyers. We have a few staff members who sell their wares on Etsy, Melissa and Laura are both talented, creative seamstresses, you may have seen Grace rocking one of Laura's creations this summer in the shop. If you take a look at Etsy, you'll see there's a fabulous selection of one-of-a-kind handmade creations, many of which are sold at very reasonable prices (I'm often tempted to contact sellers and suggest they raise their prices, lol).

So, do you have any kid-friendly gift ideas you'd like to share that meet the above criteria? Maybe it's an Etsy shop, or perhaps you know someone who'll be selling their wares at one of the many local craft shows coming up in Ottawa (or elsewhere). If so, please post the details in the comments section of this blog entry, one random comment will be selected to win a Bamboline doll, one of Laura's handmade soft dolls we sell in the Ottawa shop.