I’m done with being treated like no matter what they do we will suck it up and buy their crap because we have to. We don’t.

This year I am not putting a single dollar into a billionaire’s pocket. Not one.

I’ve already found stunning and unusual earrings for a friend of mine, made by an artist on Etsy, and they were under $10. Best of all, they inspired me to try my hand at some quilled snowflakes.

I found another seller making adorable catnip cat toys. They make catnip Purramids and the proceeds go to support stray cat fixing and feeding. How awesome is that?

I’ve got a really great tutorial on turning toilet paper tubes into tree ornaments and I can tell you it’s crazy fun. A glue gun, scissors, cardboard tubes that would otherwise be trash, and a few hours and you’ve got gorgeous ornaments! You can look that up in reels and get more and more elaborate styles and ideas. I even made a wreath for the front door. I used some gold sharpie on the edges to make it a bit more glam.

I’ve also been visiting my Little Free Libraries. Bringing books from my house and filling them up, picking out interesting ones to bring home with me and it occurred to me I could do a “Blind date with a book” gift for people. There are websites where you can order them, you can find them on Etsy, or you can make them yourselves. I plan on choosing books in great condition that are a great read, writing up a short and intriguing blurb about them (nothing that gives a lot away but something that indicates Fiction, Strong female lead, supernatural, etc.), and then wrap them up prettily with some cocoa, stickers, and a bookmark. Here’s a great wrapping tutorial.

I think I will even pepper my Little Free Libraries with the Blind Date Gifts so my neighbors can find surprises and get a little joy this season.

This narrative that we have to kill ourselves to buy increasingly expensive gifts each year, to show that we have more and more and go into debt so we can appear successful while working three jobs and barely making it so that the 1% can buy yachts for their yachts, third and fourth homes, travel wherever and whenever they wish. It’s absurd.

We’ve been lied to. We’ve been taught success is our goal when it should be building a village. Spending time together. Sharing in crafting joyous holiday memories instead of stampeding each other for Black Friday Deals.

This year let’s prove we don’t need them. Make it, Thrift it, or support a small business. The QR codes in the first image will take you to Denver resources for all those options.

We don’t have to keep living this way.