To hate homemade gifts

[Bearbehind]

New thread with the vote enabled this time!

Unless the giver is actually good enough at making what ever it is to sell then I wish they just wouldn’t give homemade stuff, especially food

Fortunately I don’t generally receive them but I have a friend who’s a teacher who’s inundated with them at Christmas

It just seems such a waste as it pretty much all gets binned

It depends what it is and if it’s half decent or not and/or something I’d use. Although I do appreciate the effort that goes into making something homemade and it’s often not cheap either. What I can’t stand is unnecessary tat like gift sets for a fiver out of B and M with shower gel and a shower puff etc or a glass with a miniature of gin and a chocolate. Pointless waste of money.

crochetgifts LOVE your little teddy!

Bloody hell you lot are an ungrateful bunch. Has it never occurred to you that people might make these things because they either can't afford anything half decent shop bought, don't want to buy pointless tat and/or actually enjoy making and giving their gifts
It's not ungrateful to think that gift giving is about the recipient and thinking about what they'd like.

Someone could love making Facebook tat glitter coated wine glasses, but as DH and I rarely drink and already have a set of glasses, we have absolutely zero need or want for half a dozen cheap wine glasses in 6 different coloured glitters. Anyone who did that for us isn't giving us a gift that matches us or because they've thought "Lola and DH would really appreciate..."

Whereas someone who can bake nicely baking us some lovely biscuits as a gift in a flavour they know we enjoy has taken the time and effort to think about whether the recipient will like the gift.

Another poster sums it up here:
It's not about whether the gift is homemade or bought, neither is inherently better than the other. It's the thought that goes into them

I am always surprised at people who are against home baking for hygiene purposes. I wouldn’t eat things made by young kids who pick their noses etc but if you can keep a hygienic kitchen, cook without poisoning your own family, and don’t wipe your arse on the work surfaces, do you not reckon most other people can manage it?

As for the poster who only eats in 5 star hygiene rated establishments - sure 😏 what about buying shop bought food? There are plenty of recalls of food that hasn’t met hygiene standards. I don’t get why the paranoia only extends to home baking

I make things and I buy things. When my niece was 3 she loved elmo. I wanted a felt elmo card for her birthday. They don't sell those, so I made it. Next year I wanted a 3D fairy card with gossamer wings. Again, they don't sell those, so again i made it.

When the kids were young I wanted wooden blocks for a present. Guess what. They don't sell them (not to my standard anyway), so I bought my own wood, cut to size, painted, put a puzzle on one side, letters (upper and lower case) so they could do words, mumbers and other little decorations on the unused side. For my nephew, I built a semi truck to store them in. You can't buy that sort of thing.

It's not ungrateful to think that gift giving is about the recipient and thinking about what they'd like

This. Gift giving is about the receiver, it's about doing something selfless for them, it's not about the giver. Some folks are confused on that score.

This would probably make you shudder in your boots - some presents I buy as gifts require the recipient to assemble and decorate. Oh the horror!

I do make HM presents for loved ones who like them and a lot of thought goes into them. But I also hate thoughtless crappy HM gifts made and given as a ‘look at me - aren’t I clever way’.

One of the best compliments I had about a hand knitted baby blanket I made for a colleague came when she announced she was expecting her second. I murmured that I’d need to get out my knitting needles again and she was astonished that the blanket I’d given her before wasn’t shop bought. I do have labels and fabric care instructions to sew in and I use soft good quality very fine yarn.

My HM gifts are made with love and care, are definitely not a cheap alternative and take a lot of effort and time to produce.

My DD recently found an unworn handknitted baby jacket in a charity shop and bought it because she could see the work that had gone into it. She was so sad that it had not been used and felt it needed a good home.

I can see it would be easy as a crafter to fall into the trap of giving everyone something handmade whether they would like it or not. The key is to only give to people who have asked for something in the past I think, noones asking me to cook them anything as I'm crap, but they do ask me to crochet them blankets or make their kids clothes, so at some point I will. I think what's nice for me in doing it is that I am genuinely thinking of that person as I sew/crochet so it does feel thoughtful, but its about knowing your audience eg my brother would definitely not appreciate my sewing..its just not his thing, so he gets something shop bought and am really happy with that.

I hate them because they are usually done on the cheap. I'd rather have nothing.

My stuff isn't done on the cheap. It costs £40 just on the wool that goes into the blankets. People don't even realise the cost of the materials, let alone the hours that go into it. I've seen the same blankets I make on Etsy for over £500. And they actually sell for that too.

My MIL not only gives us tons of her homemade crap, she also gives us loads of shop bought tat too. It doesn’t matter how much we tell her that we’ve had a clear out and really don’t want anymore stuff, it just falls on deaf ears. It’s even worse now that we’ve got children. I’ve told her countless times that none of us can wear wool as it aggravates our sensitive skin, but she still insists on knitting us all jumpers. DH tells her as well and is completely honest with her that he will never wear anything that she knits but she just carries on. Drives me nuts! Makes more work for us as we have to lug all of it to the charity shop/dump.

I'm a bit in two minds on this. I'm not keen on HM unless it's food or something more or less tailor made for me and even then it has to be something I like and it has to be very good (although I was once made some lovely body scrub and appreciated it). My needle case was made by my aunt and I adore it. It's also got an incredible cross-stitch panel of a bluebird on one side. She could sell these for good money, they're nicely done. I also love knitted baby things . I dislike bad, cheaply bought gifts though.

On the flipside, I bake and I make chocolates and do occasionally give these as presents/parts of presents . Usually if requested (make my aunt a batch of choccy mice every year on request but gave some as an add-on joke leaving present for a colleague who left to be a pest controller) but occasionally give them as extras. Only for people I think would actually like them though, and usually close family only! Baking usually goes down well at work but I wouldn't presume to give it as a present off the bat. I always try & choose nice presents if I'm buying, too. I'm quite fussy about quality. Try to pick stuff people want/ask for or buy things I think will suit- and buy good quality so they can at least regift. I've possibly been a bit generic this year although the items themselves are nice. I was going to pad them out with with some chocolate flowers.

I made my own easter eggs filled with mini chocolate eggs this year and wrapped them nicely - just for parents, DP & his parents. Really enjoyed it & they were well received but I'm too scared to do it again now!

@DinoSn0re - there are so many yarns available that have no wool in whatsoever, so I imagine you are as baffled as I am that your MIL can’t find something other than wool, if she really has to knit for you and your dh.

Why? What is someone meant to do with that? Keep it forever gathering dust?

run I have cross stitched cards that my aunt & nana made for me over 40 years ago. They are not gathering dust p, but treasured 🤷‍♀️

I often give home made gifts, but I make professionally & can turn my hand to various crafts. I love receiving them too, but I move in artsy/creative circles & have only ever received beautiful or tasty gifts. I'm not sure how I'd feel if it was second rate stuff though. I can see how that easily happens with teachers though as the kids like to be involved too

I craft well enough to sell (knitting, sewing and crochet) and bake professional standard cakes (had to stop selling as it was too much with my ‘proper’ job) but I only give crafts or cakes as gifts if requested.

I tend to favour consumables these days as I’m in a position to buy the things I want as are my friends and I prefer not to second guess someone’s taste.

People look at me like I’m weird but I love a candle or box of chocolates. Perfect.

@ReanimatedSGB

Mind you, this year everyone in my family is getting a copy of a new anthology that includes one of my stories, because it's the first time I have had a story in print that is... suitable for the whole family to read

Congratulations 🍾🥂🎂

That’s brilliant- well done!

@IvinghoeBeacon well clearly he is a saint for keeping everything.

I teach EYFS and parents are very enthusiastic with the home crafting gifts.
I keep cards, I keep heart felt notes, I don’t keep hundreds of home made air dried clay ‘tree ornaments’, recycled shoe box ‘trinket boxes’, and as I said, food goes in the bin.

I love getting vouchers as I rarely have any money at the end of the month and never spend on non essential items for myself- so use my precious vouchers given by parents to treat my daughters to a pizza (one4allvouchers) for family time or as a top up food shop (John Lewis/Waitrose vouchers) when I’m skint.

The gift is about the recipient not the sender. Receiving no gift is fine, receiving only a card is fine, getting homemade tat that goes straight to landfill isn’t!

I make childrens clothes 0 to 4 with organic fabric, mainly Jersey.
I also make bags, different types.
I have a 4 week turnover atm on etsy and that's by making 3 items a day, 6 days a week. So far 80% are returning customers and recommendations.
So, I guess not all handmade is crap??

Depends if they’re any good. Some stuff is bloody ugly and generally a bit shit. But I once received homemade shortbread with beautiful iced designs in a lovely drawstring bag. It looked beautiful and tasted divine.

I’m a miserable bitch.

I don’t appreciate homemade stuff - food I probably wouldn’t eat because I am on a strict diet and my ‘cheats’ have to be well worth it. Homemade stuff generally isn’t.

I have enough stuff. I don’t need stuff. I honestly can’t think of a single thing that I would actually find joy in receiving, no matter what the cost. So, homemade stuff would be wasted on me.

I'm not a jewellery person at all (have worn the same simple pair of studs for 20+ years), yet every single year, I find myself on the receiving end of homemade dangling earrings, massive necklaces, floral-ribbon headbands etc. I usually reciprocate with a gift card for 10-20 cups of coffee from their favourite coffeehouse. Yes, I lack creativity but at least it's something they can actually use!

YABU. Homemade gifts are so lovely and thoughtful. I don’t give them as I’m no good at making stuff but I love receiving them. Even if they’re items I don’t particularly need, they still mean a lot because someone put time and effort and love into making it and it would mean a lot to me, I keep homemade gifts forever. Unless they’re edible in which case they’re devoured!

I make big jars of pesto to gift and it's really pricey - using lots of fresh herbs, pine nuts, organic olive oil and Maldon salt - it costs more to make than buy ready made in store. Am I being unreasonable ?!