Gifts of Warmth for the Holidays
How to Support Your Colleagues During the Holiday
The terms “Happy Holidays” and “Merry Christmas”, “Happy New Year” or just “have a great holiday” are often thrown around this time of year. While the intentions are good, it is helpful to pause and recognize that this time of year can be very hard for a lot of people. The holidays are not always merry or happy. In fact, they can be very painful for a lot of reasons. Asking people how their holidays or new year were can lead to discomfort for them and leave them feeling isolated. Here are a few ideas of things you can say or do to help support your colleagues this holiday season:
Rather than starting your emails with “Hope you had a great holiday” consider trying “Seasons Greetings”, or “Welcome to the new year”
Rather than beginning your meetings with “How was your holiday?”, consider trying “It’s great to see you after the holidays” or “I’m glad to start my new year by connecting with you”
Rather than ending your emails or meetings with “Have a great holiday/new year”, consider trying, “Wishing you the best this season” or “Seasons best to you”
If you see someone who seems down, or if there is someone who you might be expecting to have a tough holiday, try checking in with them. A simple, “I just wanted to check in” works great.
If you know someone is hurting, try an email or note that doesn’t require any reply, such as “Holidays can be tough, and I imagine this one is for you too. I am thinking of you and wishing you the best day possible.”
If emails or texts feel like the wrong or inappropriate approach, a simple card saying “Thinking of you this holiday season” is never a bad idea either!
If you are struggling and do not know what steps to take, consider checking out our resource guide.
Homemade Warming Gift Ideas
With the cold winter upon us, here are some fantastic ideas for gifts which will warm you up and help celebrate the holidays! These could be gifts to your friends and family, or even just a gift to yourself as congratulations to all that you have accomplished in the past year.
Slice & Bake Shortbread Cookies
Choose from three flavors—fruit and nut, lemon, or chocolate (we recommend making them all!)—and package up the perfect cookie box for all your friends and neighbors. You can never go wrong with some yummy cookies!
DIY Paper Poinsettia Gift Wrap
How gorgeous are those cardstock poinsettias? Not only are they a fabulous gift topper, but they look just as pretty on their own. Bring them to life by cutting cardstock by hand, then secure with your choice of beads and finish with a fringed ribbon. The best part is… it does not require much artistic skills to pull them off!
These striped candles smell positively delightful (like pine!), but they're also just really, really pretty. And that mint and white design will look lovely in your recipient's home all the way until springtime. If you don’t like pine, you can always swap it out for whatever scent you like, by using another essential oil. Similarly, if you want to change the color to match the scent, just change the dye!
Flavored with ginger and star anise, friends and loved one will be snacking on your homemade (with love) marmalade into the new year. This citrus marmalade is tangy and sweet all at the same time.
Here's a treat that'll make you wish you could reach through your screen and try a bite. Yum. Our favorite part? Those adorable, Christmas-themed sprinkles. Plus, it is ridiculously easy to make, and is done in no time!
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Okay, hold the phone. Handmade snow globes are such a good idea! Kids are always fascinated at snow globes, so this is the perfect opportunity to grab them to help with this project. They also happen to be as inexpensive as they are nice to look at.