Minimalist Catholic Gift Guide: Supporting Other Catholic Mama's Shops!

Years ago, I noticed something pretty life changing for the Christmas season... I noticed the more gifts my young children opened, the less enthusiasm they had. I found that after gift number three or four, opening gifts almost seemed like doing chores.

Something told me less was more.

So the following year I tried something different, something I came across on a mommy blog of some sort. It was four gifts for each child in the following categories: Want, Need, Wear, Read. When you have six children, keeping "only" 24 gifts managed was so much more do-able than buying whatever I wanted for each kid.

It was incredible the difference that made on Christmas morning. We spend the majority of our budget for each kid on their one Want, making it a larger gift and something we could only afford at Christmas time. The Need was something they really wanted too but haven't gotten around to buying (like headphones because their old ones broke, for example. The Wear is a great time to buy the perfect PJ set, dress, hoodie your teen has been eyeing, etc. The Read is great because it forces your kiddo to think about reading for enjoyment, especially during the Christmas break.

I wanted to take some time and gather some Catholic gift suggestions for boys and girls that fall under these four categories. Instead of supporting places like Amazon or Target, we can use our money to support many family-owned Catholic shops out there. We can show the world what is important to us with our dollar! Each of the following links to shops are owned by other Catholic mamas out there! **Some of these links are affiliate links and I earn a small percentage with no added cost to you!**

Want: These are gifts that are super cute, fun and enjoyable!

Goodness this family-owned Catholic toy shop, SaintlyHeart is FULL of incredible, durable, and eco-friendly toys for your little one! This Jonah and the Whale Bath set is so cute!

Such a cute way to "Catholic-ify" a little girl's dollhouse by adding these doll house decor stickers from SantusFlos Etsy shop.

I like all these items in her store, but these Plush Pals are super cute! I simply adore this Christmas Blanket too! You can never have too many soft blankets to keep warm and cozy around Christmastime!

My daughter Grace has been wanting to learn to embroider lately and I love the sets that Happy Nest Home Goods has on her Etsy shop! This Advent embroidery kit is awesome! She also has adorable jewelry you can get for that Wear category!

These high quality, handmade leather gifts from Catholic Company Wild Things Leather Goods would make wonderful gifts for kids! I especially love the adventure bags and you could stuff with nature journal, binoculars, pocket knife, etc.

Need: These are gifts that have a practical use and are often needed

Teaching our kids the faith can be difficult. Sometimes we don't know where to start. Having resources for kiddos to learn about aspects of our faith are so needed! That's why I think anything from Catholic Spouts would fall under the need category, although they could obviously be in the read category too! I love this Mysteries of the Rosary Board book set or even the Saints Like Me board book set!

It can be hard to find those durable teaching toys that kids both love to play with and helps them learn. These PerfectPitch Pitch bars are so fun for kids to play with and it helps them learn pitch and grow their musical ears! To read more about the owner, Kelly, and her mission, check out the Aleteia article about her business here.

Everyone needs soap, lotion and Lip Balm! Why not try these items used with home grown goat's milk and support this Catholic, homeschooling, Farming Family, the Sharps at 14 Hands Ranch in Kansas! These could be great stocking stuffers too!

Rosaries are always great gifts for those you care about. We all need to pray our rosary and these beautiful rosaries from The Luminous Beads benefit children in Indonesia. They are made from very high quality stones and are just plain gorgeous.

Wear: These are item that can be worn as clothing, jewelry, or accessories.

House of Joppa has some incredible, high quality yet affordable jewelry. I simply ADORE this necklace (see what I did there?)! It's the shape of a golden monstrance around your neck! I was drawn to it because it reminded me of the cover of my most recent book, Bloom. It reminds me to always adore our Lord. Oh Come Let Us Adore him, right? Use either of these links (my affiliate link) and get 15% off your entire House of Joppa order!

I just LOVE this mama's shop called Mamas Little Loves! She makes her own neckties, headbands, bandana bibs and other cute wearables with fabric featuring the saints and other Catholic symbols!

These shirts from Annunciation Designs are so great! They make wonderful gifts for your kids and have boys and girls versions! Check out their other T-Shirts, home decor, accessories and other items too!

Here is a Catholic Mama's Catholic Tshirt Etsy Shop called SubTectumSincerum! So many options for babies, younger kiddos and even Teens and adults!

Read: These are books that help inspire our children and point them to Christ.

This book, Bloom, is wonderful for your daughter ages 8-12 (honestly it can even be for ages 8-14 or so). It's designed for moms and daughters to discuss femininity and grow closer to one another and grow closer to Jesus! Read more about the book on the Bloom Page.

If you kids like Magic Tree House, check out these saint books fellow Catholic mama Marie Riley wrote! Perfect for kids ages 6-10, these stories are about kids who travel back in time to meet and learn from a Saint! They apply the lesson they learned from the Saint to their real life problems!

A Catholic Journal for girls searching for their true identity! Check it out from the Prayer, Wine Chocolate Blog! They have a little video pre-view of the journal! It's for girls ages 9 and up!

Check out the Etsy Shop Never Enough Books. Her store has afocus on vintage, classic children's books and has a Catholic/Christian section as well. People may not always think of used books as gifts, but it can be a way to save money!

I hope you will give this simple system a try! Lastly, I wanted to show you these super cute reusable gift tags! You can get a set for each kiddo in your life! Lisa, another Catholic mama, owns the online shop Sketch & Sentiment!

Thank you all so much in advance for supporting Catholic Mamas out there! We all appreciate your support!

We have truly found so much peace during this gift-giving season using this minimalistic method for Christmas gifting. Let us know in the comments below how this system worked for you!