Homemade Christmas gifts

[Sotellmewhatyouwant]

Ok so don't flame me - I'm not a cheapskate but trying to do Christmas cheaper than the thousands I spent last year!
So was thinking as well as small gifts, maybe making a homemade hamper with things like homemade jam,marmalade and chutney (buy some organic cheese wax wrapped to pack up with some nice crackers) and home make some flavoured spirits and maybe some shortbread/ cookies... is this totally naff for the family or does it seem ok?! I know it'll all add up but if I batch make it shouldn't be too bad?!
Sorry for talking about xmas already

Sounds lovely :)

I think that sounds lovely! It’s thoughtful and everyone loves cheese, crackers n chutney!
It’s very easy to spend an alarming amount at Christmas and your idea shows thought.
Last year my nephews girlfriend gave us homemade gifts. They were lovely and she’d put a lot of effort into creating them.
Go for it!

She said HAMPER, mumsnet is obsessed with hampers. Obsessed.

Put them in gift box, the 'H' word makes it twee.

I love homemade gifts. This sounds lovely.

I think food gifts are an acceptable hand made gift! That sound nice to me.

It sounds nice but I think it will be expensive to do well.

The way I've always looked at it is that birthdays are for the special/personal stuff, Christmas (bar children) is generic/courtesy stuff.

Your pressies sound lovely, and when you factor in the time, are very pricey.

I don't know why (some) people look down on this sort of thing. Ime they are the type to pay a small fortune for a shop bought 'homemade' artisan hamper too.

It is lovely but will cost more than you think.

Sounds good but think it will be pricey.

Beware - some mums eaters are phobic about home made food and will bin it on receipt

I'm planning on doing very similar. I'm on maternity leave at the moment so am time rich but money poor. I've perfected my chutney, cracker and fudge recipes and can do it all quite cheaply. Will only be spending money on gifts for DC, DH and DM. Everyone else will be having homemade bits. I have also been glass painting since being on leave so may throw in a painted glass or tea light holder if the mood takes!

I would be delighted with those gifts!

It sounds lovely.
Just make sure the people you're giving it to aren't in the MN group of people who think home made anything is terrible and must be incinerated on arrival (whilst probably being willing to spend £5 for a slice of cake at an independent artisan cafe amusingly).

Like other posters, you may find that making a hamper is more expensive than you first think.

Sounds lovely and I would be very happy to receive it.

We are doing our own candles this year in tea cups bought from the charity shop.

Can you not just cut down the number of people who get presents? Do a secret Santa among the adults, guide cost £30-40.

I think it sounds lovely but very expensive and a lot of work for all the different elements.

Please put me in your Christmas list - that sounds expensive.

I would choose the ‘best’ homemade item, and wrap it exquisitely (I saved cellophane to reuse one year - make a ‘thing’ of recycling wrapping; also all those free/junk christmas magazines that come through the door are great for decoupaging shoe boxes with images of champagne bottles etc - makes a really effective gift box). I did biscuits like this one year and the family still remember them (must have been nice!)

Agree it's likely to be more expensive than you think. Given you're trying to cut back on spending and you're giving a small gift in addition, I would think a bottle of wine or cookies/fudge/hocolates or some homemade jams would be plenty. It also sounds pretty time consuming.

Re hampers and hm stuff generally I think you really need to know your audience. As pps have said there are people who don't like or want hm items. Whether you think they should is irrelevant because if they don't then your time, money and effort has gone to waste.

Can I also suggest to those who give things like cheese, chutney/jam and homemade fudge or cookies:

Consider giving it maybe the week before Christmas? People who don't make their own may already have bought these items in by the time they get your consumable gift. I know for some people the "doubling up" is just a bonus but people may be limited on storage and there's only so much chutney etc I want knocking about.

Also, if it's wrapped PLEASE TELL ME it's cheese or whatever so I DON'T pop it under the tree, in the warm living room, near the radiator...

I'd eat the cheese and crackers but the rest would be thrown given away.

But joining in the echo, it will be more expensive than you think. The only homemade gift I ever do is sloe gin. I didn't make any one year and several friends were mortified and I've not been allowed to stop since! Now have to make nine litres of the stuff every autumn. Friends do at least return the bottle once they've finished it!

Sounds awesome.

Can I suggest chilli jam, my mum makes it and it's amazing and I really look forward to my jar every year! It's a lot cheaper to make than other jams, and is perfect with cheese or Christmas ham.

Homemade is great if your motivation is to make something different/you enjoy doing it/are good at it. If your motivation is to save money, it probably won't.

Every year, I think about doing homemade stuff for Christmas. I'm not skilled in stuff like that, so I have to practice to get it right. Then, you have to factor in presentation costs eg packaging which is where the costs can add up.

Very thoughtful- although expensive! But I'm with pp who said the recipients could end up with too much of the same item and it will be wasted. I tend to start a health kick after new year so I don't want too much tempting food left in the house.

I'm always happy with a bottle of wine tbh. It lasts forever so I can choose which occasion to use it for.

Sorry but I think it sounds like a load of tat, if I want jam, I can buy my own. I will probably already have a fuck load of crackers and would of eaten enough biscuits at Christmas by that time anyway.

It sounds nice but in reality its going to end up probably as expensive, plus if you are actually planning on using hampers, they are at least £15 each, even for a small one. May as well buy a medium sized Yankee Candle for £10 and be done with it.

Ask people if they would consider just not buying for you and you don't buy for them if you want to save money.

If I'm honest I'd love to get something like that but I fear it will be more expensive than just buying a present. I have a large family and we all used to end up buying each other a present and it was getting stupidly expensive. Now we do a secret Santa between us with a £25 limit and the kids do a Poundland secret Santa. So much cheaper and we all enjoy it.