Regifting Album Pins and CDs (Patreon)

I saw an article today called "How to regift the right way". It got me rethinking about gifts for the holidays.

I'm not a fan of Black Friday. As a marketing day, yeah, it's brilliant. It's also fun, fun to get great deals.

But is it necessary?

Is it good for the environment?

First, if you enjoy buying things for your friends and family. Please don't think I'm judging you. Each of our situations is different. I'm buying a lot of gifts this holiday season.

But it helps all of us to at least consider alternatives. So that's what I want to share with you today.

HOW TO TURN SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT...

I just cut up a pear. It was yellow. I don't prefer yellow pears. They are a little too soft. I like it when they are crunchy. But I also don't want to throw it away. It needs to get eaten.

So I cut it up.

This was one of the revelations I learned from my wife after we married. I was not a huge fruits and vegetables fan. Fruit would go bad if it was left just for me. Vegetables wouldn't get eaten either.

So Gwen cut them up. All of a sudden, strawberries that were starting to LOOK a little off, looked fresh and yummy.

I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables these days. Just like I did with that pear, I changed the way it looked.

...INTO A CHERISHED GIFT

I think the key to regifting is the same thing. It's no longer in the box or with a tag. But you can make it special. You can show the person you're gifting how much you appreciate them in the same way. Just repackage it.

Take clothes for instance. Put it under the iron. Fold it KonMari style, just like they do at the stores. Put it into a box and wrap it with love.

You can do this with anything.

Got a game you no longer play? Why not wrap all of the cards in paper. Carefully fold it. Make a small satchel to hold game pieces.

I have a bunch of DVDs I no longer watch. They're also no longer in their case. I could print out some graphics from the computer, fold them into a case, and give them as a gift.

Here's the elephants in the room...

Do you no longer listen to my CDs?

You don't have to save them. If there's someone you know who has a CD player, who might enjoy the music. Make sure the case looks great. Print out a new one if you need to.

And yes, that goes for Album Pins too. Perhaps you don't like the Album Pin design. You don't know what to do with it. It doesn't really work pinning it to your sleeve.

You've already downloaded the music. You're willing to let the pin go. Email me. I'll send you a download code that you can attach to the pin and regift as well.

RETHINKING REGIFTING

I don't know that I'm regifting anything this year. We usually ask people exactly what they want. We also give the gift of experiences. This cuts down on bad gifts.

If regifting doesn't work for you, that's okay. This is an exercise is about rethinking how we do gifts.

Personally, the older I get, the less I need stuff.

That didn't stop me from buying Rachel Hair and Ruth Keggin CDs this summer. I ripped them. Now I'm gonna regift them as part of the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast Kickstarter planned for the end of January.

We buy stuff. That's fine. But it helps if we THINK about how and why we do so.

I hope this has your own regifting juices flowing. :)