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

OP I think it's a lovely idea. We do boxes filled with produce from our allotment and are planning to fill them with the following this year:

Fresh eggs from our hens
Homemade jams
Homemade bread
Homemade chocolate brownies
A selection of seasonal fruit and veg.

We have done these before, and they are always very much appreciated and well received.

Much better than loads of shop brought crap that gets sent to the charity shop in the new year!

Chutney needs three months to mature after you've made it, so you've missed the boat on that one. But no, yanbu... Despite the occasional drip who says they refuse to eat anything from anyone else's kitchen.

I would choose just one or two of those things, do them really really well, wrap beautifully and give that. It's unlikely that people will like everything in a hamper, and as others have said, it will be rather expensive.

I have in the past made chocolates (I did fancy bark way before it became a thing), peppermint creams, biscotti (last for ages and ages), spiced nuts (these always go down very well indeed), clementine marmalade (not in uk so this is not readily available or as well-known here).

Anyone who's planning on edible gifts, please consider the dietary requirements of recipients! We get heaps of milk chocolate, sugary foods and chutney every year from my inlaws; neither of us like chutney, we're both lactose intolerant and follow a low carb diet! We've told the inlaws the above multiple times and still get similar foods every year.

@KC225

Haha you're so right. The word hamper makes my teeth itch now

My dh makes these. We are going to give them as stocking fillers. Would you be happy to receive one?

I think it depends on knowing your audience tbh. I'd be very happy with homemade fudge (but only vanilla or rum and raisin), dh otoh hates fudge. But spirits, jam, chutney, crackers, cheese really wouldn't be great at all much as I would be utterly polite about it, and they wouldn't get eaten or drunk by anyone in our family.
By the time you buy nice containers, wrapping etc you could have bought a thoughtful family gift

So in an attempt to cut costs, you're planning on giving a load of people a load of gifts at the time of year when their houses are probably already stuffed with similar things as most people will probably also buy cheese, crackers, chutneys and shortbread in the run up to Christmas anyway.

For anyone who isn't your DC, parent, sibling or best friend don't get them anything at all. Maybe a bottle of wine or similar if you can't really not buy anything, but really, it's not necessary and most people would rather not bother with all this extended gift giving at all.

Pesonally I prefer homemade gifts.

My request 2018 and forever after is that I only want gifts that don't last (eg food, drink, chocolates, smellies) as I don't need more stuff and I want to cut my carbon footprint. If anything was homemade I'd be even happier

@agedknees, yes I like the penguins, they are very nice.

Regarding the hamper, I think it depends on the recipient, some people like those things others don't. You have to decide really.

our extended family (aunts/uncles/cousins) get a little homemade hamper each xmas - jam, chutney, sloe gin, xmas pudding. This year the jam is from our own-grown strawberries and the chutney from our own-grown beetroot. So, it really is a gift from us, not just something we've bought with money.

Sounds like a lovely gift to receive. Not so much a lovely cheap gift to make though - I love baking at Christmas but it's so time consuming and pressured. We visit family over Christmas and I always take biscuits and cakes and run rings round myself getting them ready before we leave. Depending on who we are with, one family group don't actually eat much (yet still ask for me to bring the baking). It feels like a wasted effort.

But if you know that the food will be well received then crack on.

I was given a lovely jar of home made peppermint bath salts by my lovely cousin one year. Heavenly baths were the result and I really appreciated the thought.

I love homemade food gifts - I often do them for others too- we love baked goods and homemade chocs/ sweets

We all love making and giving them so it's a case of know your audience I guess?

I think the secret to handmade gifts is not to scrimp on the costs - ie give a handmade gift because you’re brilliant at making something, not because it’s a cheaper option.

I would love a gift like that from a friend as I would know their hygiene standards and appreciate home made but I agree with others it will work out very expensive

Personally, I'd love that. A lot of thought and effort would have gone into it.
I usually get crafty with DC to make xmas gifts

I'd like one or two home-made goodies as opposed to a whole hamper, sorry. That sounds lovely but excessively time consuming, more expensive than you think and you'll probably end up giving people stuff they won't like/eat/use. So much waste .

The only person I know who does a big home-made Christmas is exceptionally crafty. Her day job is creating props for window displays and store layouts and also her hobbies are all crafting based. She has the inclination, the skills, the experience and the necessary materials to hand. She's the only person I know that does it really well and gives people stuff they'd actually like.

I'm on an extremely tight budget so all adults are getting home made chocolate bark topped with their favourite flavour and wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon. We all like sweet stuff so it will go down well.

We get a bottle of homemade Kir every year from a friend - it's absolutely lovely. She just buys cheap vodka and soaks blackcurrants in it for a few months (I appreciate this is an idea for next year ), then does something with melted sugar syrup I think and bottles it.

Check out this thread for what people like/don’t like www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3372597-Shitty-homemade-Christmas-Gifts

If edible, sure. But don't attempt any amateur arts&crafts (those are only welcome from children)

*I love getting homemade stuff. Some I use, some I don't, but that goes for any gift.

As I get older, I have a growing aversion to the expensive crap we fill our homes with, that comes with packaging, plastic etc. I really appreciate something handmade and no unnecessary expense.*

Yes, I agree with this. I love homemade things, their individuality and the real thought and effort they represent. Admittedly, though, of the various things I have received from friends and family a lot of thought and work has clearly gone into them; I've never received real tat. Literally the only gift I found embarrassing was a very large decorative item that was really, really not to my taste. I felt bad about it, because it was a lovely thought, but it was very much to the giver's taste rather than mine and after a few embarrassing comments from friends and family I had to quietly retire it. Everything else I've received (including from the same giver) has been lovely (off the top of my head it's included loads of lovely and varied food and drink, useful hand-stitched or knitted items, a hand-drawn portrait (that one might sound niche but I actually requested it), Christmas decorations, glass painting, tea light holders...).

I made skittles vodka one year. I bought loads of skittles, separated by colour, then infused vodka with each colour. Then, strained and bottled it up.

It was a huge hit!!!

I agree with PP who say it's likely to be just as expensive if you do it as you say. But, I think there's nothing wrong with homemade Christmas gifts.

I'd forget the organic cheese and the shortbread/cookies and maybe stick with sloe gin and fudge. My daughter makes me a hamper up at Christmas including things tricky to find in the shops - like ginger marmalade and Merrydown cider- just assembling the contents comes out cheaper and nicer than a bought one, it's not necessary to make your own. Hamper baskets are in the Works now - I save mine each year to cut her costs. I'm packing a boxed hamper for my mum- if I'm paying £2.80 postage I'm going to get my money's worth & send her a whole block of marzipan as well as a few other treats. Sloe gin is very nice & easy to make, start soon !

😂😂 sorry everyone for using the work hamper- I have, actually bought boxes instead 🤣
It's for PIL (who appreciate home made/ thoughtful gifts) and my Grandmother, who loves her food and will appreciate the thought!
I'll cut out the cheese and crackers and will probs just make the jams and marmalade in batch (both PIL and GM love their jams) and then maybe some infused gin!
You are right though, more expensive than I thought!
Appreciate it's not to everyone's taste but think I know my audience for it?!(I hope) 🤣