Handmade presents that won't go in the bin?

[prezzz]

I'm not working at the moment, so I have more time than money. Christmas and gift-giving is important to me, and I'd love to give people some useful and thoughtful presents that won't bankrupt me. I also love crafting and DIY, but am well aware that a lot of handmade presents can actually be a bit crap.

Is two months too short a time to learn how to crochet or knit something that's actually nice and/or useful? I did a bit of both about ten years ago, so I'm not a complete novice, but definitely still a beginner...

Any other ideas?

I need presents for a range of ages and both for men and women.

If you could learn to knit, wrist warmers could be a good shout.

I love mine which are quite plain and my friend loves hers that have a cuff of faux fur attached.

Crochet, how about beanie hats, fingerless gloves and those lacy triangular scarves? I made DS an Emotional Support Chicken last year. There’s a YouTube tutorial.

I do quite a bit of sewing and make things like table mats, aprons, cushions etc. They're quick to make and lots of tutorials on YouTube. There's a lot of fabric on vinted- including really good quality brands that are really cheap .
I would always be happy to receive an edible gift though

Make them a Christmas decoration for the tree? Small enough not to take too long and even if they don't like it, it's only out for a month or so.

Assuming the recipient isn't diabetic, I'd make fudge. It's cheap and easy, can be customised according to what flavours they like, and made to look really nice in simple packaging.

Or you could decorate some sugar cookies, but fudge will keep for longer.

I find iced biscuits go soft after a day or so due to the water content in the icing.

I’m making fudge as presents this year.
Nobody has ever thrown my fudge away!
Easy and cheap, bought some bags and ribbon and Ta-da!

There is nothing universally liked or considered 'thoughtful'. One person's tat is another's treasure.

This is so true. Many of things mentioned on here, I just have no use for, however much I appreciate the thought and effort. Which is why I always say if you are set on buying me a present but dont know what, a book token is my default. I promise to love and cherish it.

If I was your family member I would rather receive nothing or something really token like a box of quality street than have you spend hours trying to make me a thoughtful gift when you’re struggling for money. I’d feel terrible you’d gone to all that trouble and the odds that I would love what you had made are slim. I do think handmade presents are hit and miss and tbh apart from my immediate family who have asked for specific things, I only buy people experiences or consumables - I don’t know anyone who isn’t drowning under piles of stuff these days.

Sorry OP, I wouldn’t thank you for anything hand knitted or crocheted or indeed most crafted item.
If money is tight I would concentrate resources on any child relatives . For adults all the previous suggestions of home baked cakes would go down well with me - being a totally rubbish cook!
Also things like homemade made cordial, elderflower, lemon etc.
Id also be grateful for a well chosen book from a charity shop that you can pick up round here for 50p.

This is the key thing. If you are superb at something then a gift is fabulous. If you are at the level of a child in year 6 who's crocheted a coaster as a project then it's going to end up bunged in a drawer.
Sloe gin...save the hassle and buy them a decent bottle of actual gin.
Jam/ chutney/ weird bottles of things in oil that no one ever uses ....straight in the bin. Especially if I know you have a dog.
Scarf. If its beautiful and non itchy then I'd wear it. If its knitted in neon acrylic wool you'll never see it again.

Just say you haven’t got the money for gifts this year and you won’t be expecting any either. I’d far rather someone gave me nothing and was honest about their situation than waste what little money they have making something I either wouldn’t be able to eat or wouldn’t have any use for.

I’d love to receive some homemade
made marmalade or crackers and a chutney or jam to eat in dark January.
Cakes and biscuits yes.
Houseolants yes if with a holder to keep them in. Home made fabric or paper crafts great. Home made art projects of Perspex and plastic 3D printed plastic stuff absolutely not- I don’t want to have to look at that environmental guilt at home, sorry.

I'd echo PPs that something edible is probably the best idea, especially if you can package it up beautifully, but if you want something do with crochet you could look at amigurumi - small animal figures/toys. You can get a beginner's kit on Amazon for about £12 which might teach you the basics and then could look for patterns and yarn if you want to make more.

I made chocolate truffles last year for gifting and they went down well. Pretty easy to do as well

Or you could buy everyone a £5.00 book token that they could actually use rather than a badly done homemade thing that serves no purpose , other than to gather dust.
I'd rather someone took me yto a cafe for a pot of tea and a nice piece of professionally made cake than knitted me something ( and cause me the stress of having to organise my face into the ' oh thats so lovely' pose that I'm just no good at.)

Ditto to homemade fudge! We once had v nice peppermint creams from a niece, too.

OP, you are right in thinking a couple of months will not be enough to enable you to learn to knit or crochet anything anyone would want!

Things I’ve done in the past for family:

• painted Christmas baubles
• embroidered shirts/sweaters/handkerchief (initials, little animals, flowers).
• painted candles
• ingredient jars (all the dry ingredients for brownies or a cake in a nice jar with a recipe label)
• Painted placemats (just painted a picture onto wood rectangles and added cork to the back.
• personalised cardigans (crochet name on back and add some crochet animals/stars/leaves)
• Sloe gin/Limoncello/flavoured booze!

I much prefer embroidery to crochet/knitting as I found it took a while for my knitting/crochet to actually look okay! You can buy some pre-made crochet bits on Etsy and sew them onto secondhand cardigans/other items if easier. I recommend looking up the above list on Pinterest - they have loads of ideas and something might stand out to you for a specific person. And then start practising!

I think home made aprons with a pocket are a great idea!
Or pretty napkin sets.
These are the only thing I’d use.
Maybe some marmalade as an edible gift, but the rest would sadly be passed on or thrown away.

I love crafting and do a lot of knitting, crochet and needlepoint. If you have already learned any of those then it'll come back to you faster than you think (I recently did a beginner's knitting class and it turned out that I wasn't a beginner, I was a bit rusty). You could crochet some lovely stuffies but even a small one (like something that's essentially a couple of granny squares or circles sewn together) will take you a day or so to finish - you've got to sew and stuff and position eyes etc, plus you'll need rests and breaks if you don't want to overtax your eyes and hands.

Knitting - I am a big fan of a nice plain garter stitch scarf or wrap, but even if you're a fast knitter doing one for an adult will take you at least a few days.

Yarn is horribly pricy, even if you're using synthetics (which I tend to for kids' clothes as they wash easily) if you want nice yarn. Worth keeping an eye on charity shops as they sometimes get yarn in. It generally doesn't work to unravel a garment for yarn unless you know it was hand-knitted to start with as most woolly jumpers off the peg are cut pieces of knitted fabric sewn together.

I think choose a craft you really enjoy and make stuff you want to make and then you'll have an idea of whether or not you want to make all of your presents or some of them or none.

I love making and receiving jam but if you don't have fruit on hand for it it's quite expensive to buy the fruit for it I think. And I love food gifts generally and have no time for people who think that a lovely home made box of biscuits or cake is cheap!

Yes to this! Spend time with the person or give them a voucher or something, rather than a not-very-good/unasked for piece of amateur crafting.

(I say that as someone who makes things as a hobby, I never give the stuff I make to anyone because it feels like they're only taking it into be polite)

A lot of people won't eat stuff made in someone else's house. Especially if the person has a kid or cat (hygiene), as seen on many posts on here over the years, many people seem to think they don't need to wash their hands after going to the toilet or changing a nappy. 🤢

Delia’s Christmas chutney, made now, would be a lovely gift for Christmas.

Oh yes, you could certainly look for sloes and make some gin. Love a bottle of sloe gin.

I'm chuckling at all the people annoyed at suggestions that they personally wouldn't like. Surely the point of people giving lots of ideas is that OP can then try to fit the gift to the person.

Or big blocks of Rocky Road made with quality ingredients.

A personalised cardigan with the recipients name on the back. Oh dear god NOOOOO