How can I change our family's gift-giving culture?

We are at a place in life when we don't need more stuff. Our kids have a hard time affording stuff. We are thinking that the best gifts are either consumables, or experiences. So that's what we gifted this year, hoping the idea will catch on. But our extended family showed up with huge armloads of packages. Very thoughtful and generous. But We felt bad because we had set some defined limits that did not match the bounty they gifted. Going forward, how and when can we communicate that while we appreciate their generosity for us, less is more?