My parents still have a pen and pencil holder I made sometime in elementary school in their kitchen.

It’s not a pretty object. In fact, it’s ugly. It is covered with black squiggly lines and what looks like to me, it’s creator, like a puke-colored sunset.

I can remember having an artistic vision my young self was excited to express; however, it turned into little more than a childish creation, and I even vaguely recall feeling inadequate when comparing it to my classmates’ work.

Yet it remains, after all these years, in my parents’ home, while I’m guessing my classmates’ are long gone or buried in an attic.

This piece of art came to mind recently when the mountain of Christmas shopping I have to do this year came to mind. To sum it up, my shopping list has hit 25 people. Twenty-five. Wait, isn’t this supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year and not the most stressful?

But I’m trying to implement two secret, gift-giving weapons this holiday season: thought and creation. Forget a gift from the heart, give a gift from the brain.

Now I’ll apologize in advance to some of you on my shopping list. I probably won’t have the time and energy to reach a 100 percent success rate, but I’m giving it a go.

By thought, I mean that I’m aiming to make at least parts of my gifts for loved ones. The act of creation and the thought and inspiration behind it, to me, trump anything obtained through a Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale.

This concept hit me gradually over time. First, I started shying away from store-bought cards after finding myself spending far too much time looking in store aisles for one that said what I wanted it to say. Instead, I’ve been making goofy cards on the computer. My sister was the blessed beneficiary of a My Little Pony birthday card (thanks for the help, Google Images) with a poem declaring she’s “not half bad.”

Will that poem win me awards, praise and publication? Good lord, I hope not. But a card made in a few minutes of weird energy and creativity felt more meaningful that anything bought in a store.

I kept making cards for others, many filled with terrible puns and bad/cheesy poetry, and the idea started to stick: Making something for people is just better.

Then I read Nick Offerman’s “Paddle Your Own Canoe” a few months ago, and in it he urges people to make something for someone rather than buying it.

“Because I find that the greater ease with which such bounty is purchased, the less significance it has when given,” he wrote. “This is why I try harder at gifts.”

You know the old adage of “It’s the thought that counts.” It’s true.

That’s why I want to challenge you, dear readers, to create at least part of your gifts this season — at least those closest to you. And whenever possible, make thought and sentiment the heart of your gift.

Now I’d love to give you examples of the ways I’m enacting this, and I actually sought the help of a handful of people in town to make one a reality (Thanks, folks. You know who you are). But the recipients know that I write a weekly column.

We all have enough stuff — if not too much stuff. Your mom or dad can probably survive another year without that hit movie or video game. You don’t have to do much, but any created gift or gift with thought will likely be a hit this holiday season.