How commercialized your family/friends are. To some, BUYING something somehow means more because it’s SOMETHING YOU SPENT MONEY ON.
Are you putting thought into your homemade item to tailor it to the person*?
Luck
Sometimes you can get a person who loves homemade stuff, you tailor what you make to their likes… and it still doesn’t go over well. But then you can have winners like when I just learned to knit and made a simple garter-stitch scarf for my fiance’s sister, who told him to tell me months later how much she loves it and wears it all the time. Yay!
It’s also kind of funny, because if you have a person who feels you have to buy something for it to be “gift worthy”, they could sneer at your hand-beaded necklace… while totally gushing over a hand-beaded necklace that you bought from etsy (where the seller hand-made it him/herself).
for example, I’m knitting stuff for my fiance’s family. I’m making socks for his sister in funky Noro Silk Garden sock yarn in crazy colors because she loves crazy funky stuff. I’m making his dad a hat and scarf because he doesn’t have any and loves spending time outside, so I figured it’d be useful for even just snowblowing the driveway. His mom is getting a lace shawl (my first lace ever!) with Malabrigo laceweight yarn; even if she doesn’t use it as a shawl (she’s often warm), she can use it as a nice throw or table draping. I put thought into what each person would like or could use.
DianaG’s comment that your aprons and potholders were inspired was precisely well said.
Speaking of gift baskets, the first Christmas after I had moved out on my own, my parents (mom) gave me a laundry basket filled with all sorts of pricier items from the grocery store–a big jar of peanut butter and Cheeze Whiz, coffee, salad dressings, razor blades and deodorant, soap, shampoos, toothpaste, house cleaning stuff, laundry soap and static sheets. We had such giggles about that one over the years.
My mom was sympatico with the hot glue gun. She made fantastic bows from all kinds of velvety and blingy ribbons. I miss those.
Chocolate truffles make an affordable and easy homemade gift: just cream, Dutch cocoa and sugar. Chill and scoop out with a melon baller. Roll into a ball, and roll in cocoa, chocolate sprinkles, etc. You can get a tiny bottle of Grand Marnier or whatever and add a splash. Cayenne pepper is superb in truffles!
I came into this thread to see what the general consensus would be, and I am glad it seems to be in favour of home made gifts. We always do home made. Even if we buy gifts, we always do some sort of themed home made gifts as well. Last year, we did a towered gift that was peppermint bark, peppermint marshmallows and peppermint candies. I usually do fudge, cookies and/or truffles, and we always like to do a theme – such as the peppermint theme last year. This year, I had hoped to make quilts from my husband’s grandmother’s things as she was well-loved by everyone and passed away this year, but my FIL has had a tough time going to clean out her house, and I still don’t have any of her things. I will hopefully get those soon, and can make the quilts for next Christmas.
I am notoriously hard to shop for – from growing up so poor that you just didn’t ask for anything, ever – so I love when someone makes me something. Even if I never use it, I appreciate that they put love into it. My FIL’s wife makes jewelry, and it is truly beautiful, last year for Christmas, I bought her a strand of gorgeous blue freshwater pearls and hinted that I wouldn’t turn down anything made with them I got earrings for my birthday, and I love them! I shall have to find something similar for her this year!
The best part about us doing home made gifts is that we all pitch in making them, including the kids, so it is truly a gift from all of us!
Look, if you can’t afford to buy me something- even a small gift like a $5 book voucher- then I’d rather you didn’t bother making me something, unless it’s something special that you know I’ll use (like a nice wooden box to keep watches in or something).
I don’t like home-made biscuits, I don’t really like cakes, and if money’s tight for you I’d rather you focus what funds you do have on yourself and your immediate family.
My father-in-law gave me a fruitcake (that someone else had baked) for my birthday last year and I was not impressed. Even my wife was embarrassed by that. IMHO, baked goods are not gifts.
Then again, no-one in my family can cook so I tend to associate “home-made” (whatever) with “Doesn’t taste very nice at all”. Your results can and evidently do vary, of course…
Same here…things are tight cash-wise, so I opted out of most of the gift-exchange things and the people still on my list are getting canned goodies and freezer packs of homemade brownies*. Knowing my family and food, I suspect any complaints will be about the itty half-pint jars.
*Exception being the fellow getting the baconaise gift-pack. His reaction will be my gift to me.
One was desk calendar made a plastic cd case. (Google it for directions.) Each month had wonderful pictures of plants/flowers, like old fashioned botanical prints. Total cost to the giver was maybe a couple bucks worth of ink for her printer and the time to hunt down the pictures and arrange the calendars and pages. I absolutely loved it, told her so about thirty times over the year, and I’m sincerely hoping for a fresh set of pages for this year.
A sort of mug rest. She sewed material into a long snake, about an inch in diameter and maybe 12" long. It was filled with sand with some powdered cinnamon mixed in, and then coiled up into a disk. (I think she used hot glue to hold it together, but it isn’t visible.) What’s great it that it’s both perfectly useful (thick enough to protect surfaces from hot mugs)AND after a hot mug has been sitting on it a couple of minutes it ‘activates’ the cinnamon and it makes the area smell wonderful. Real cinnamon scent, not those often artificial scents.
Again, it must have been really cheap for the makings – some left over cotton material, sand, probably no more than a few tablespoons of cinnamon – and the result was way, way greater than the sum of the costs.
Posting again after a very long time away from the Dope because I just gotta know how to make these… please, please, please.
Last year I made up a bunch of baked goods for a friend, home made bread, cookies and apple butter. Being that in Australia it is summer time it was rather unpleasant in the kitchen, especially with the oven on. So instead of baking the cookies I rolled the dough into logs and wrapped them in thick layer of cling wrap and froze them. All the logs of cookie dough had baking instructions and also tasted good to eat as frozen cookie dough :). I purchased a laundry basket to put everything in, inexpensive and useful later.
This year my girls are getting handmade Barbie doll quilts, I don’t sew at all, they were purchased through Frogdancers Etsy Shop… hmm seems all sold out there now, pics in her blog. I think they are awesome and I know my daughters would love little pot holders and aprons… actually my sister in law is making them aprons this year I wish I could sew stuff like that because buying handmade is expensive, yet I think handmade gifts are the best.
The sister in law who got me in the family Kris Kringle and is horrified I want a bunch of Flours for Christmas. I can’t think of anything better than a heap of different flours to experiment with in my kitchen.
Yes, your family is a bunch of jerks.
I would have loved to get that gift!
Trust me, one of the grandkids will find one of those someday and give you the thanks you deserve…that was a hell of a lot of work!
I got earrings for my birthday, and I love them! I shall have to find something similar for her this year!
I wish I could sew stuff like that because buying handmade is expensive, yet I think handmade gifts are the best.