I’ve already admitted my life-long obsession with Laura Ingalls-Wilder’s Little House series. With that confession out there, this year my husband and I did something a little special–and a bit old-fashioned, and dare I say ‘Little House on the Prairie-ish’–for our family members. We made rather than bought their gifts.

Since I became more interested in living simply nearly four years ago, Christmas has been the hardest thing to adjust to, for both me and my husband and our family. Simply put, I don’t want friends or family members going into debt because they feel obligated to buy me something.

This year, I crocheted various items and made them into presents, seen above: hot pads for my niece; infinity scarf for my mom; regular scarves, complete with fringe for my husband and younger sister; neck warmer with fancy buttons for my older sister.

In addition to the gifts made of yarn, I also made several batches of homemade salsa for both of our families. My husband made up several small jars of horseradish for both his and my family.

It was so fun using pinking shears to cut up the card stock paper and to make into name tags. And using decorative holiday ribbon to wrap around our jars of homemade edibles added the perfect bit of festive adornment.

I hope our family members don’t think we’re cheap for making presents. I don’t think that’s the case. What I hope is that they’ll enjoy the gifts and think of us when they use them.

Did your Christmas or other holiday celebration include exchanging gifts with your loved ones this year? I’d love to hear about your traditions and experiences in the comments section.