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

Footiefan2019
Yes, that is what I told my Dd, (through her sobs). Time will tell.

Thanks very much for the lovely comments- I do think there's a place for handmade gifts, but yeah, it's hard to get excited about glittery wine glasses etc. I'm sure that most people would make appreciative noises though while hoping they don't get the same next year .

YABU: My Christmas chutney goes down a storm every year. [camera cuts to sister’s larder where 15 jars of recrudescence’s Irresistible Christmas Chutney are arranged in date order].

Depends who the giver is.
Kids - sure I love them. Doesn't matter what it is, or what it looks like, they made it themselves and it's adorable that they thought of me.

Adults - no thanks unless you're actually good at making the thing.
In my experiences, it's been 'oh I feel like I have to give you something but I don't like you that much, have this thing I made for not a lot of money, which you probably don't need or want to use'. Instead of 'I just know xxx will love this, I'll make it for her because I know she'll definitely get lots of use out of it'. But maybe that's just the people I know.

Food - no thanks allergies
Same with any cosmetics, bath and skincare stuff, and even some materials for clothes, scarves etc
Any home decor - will it fit my my current decor?

Basically adults I'd rather just not do gifts. We both save money.

@isspacethefinalfrontier I'm tapping out!

And in the grey zone on the edge, the homemade hamper of doom. Don't give 1 carp item- get a hamper (a box covered in Christmas paper or a wicker basket from the £1 shop) and you can make the receiver get 10 items of tat (home-made or shop bought) instead of just 1.

To add- I say no gifts, NO GIFTs every year.

AcrossthePond55 I have Coeliac disease too. A relative made spiced biscuits for everyone last year (3 small biscuits each) She handed me mine and said "they're not gluten free as I made the whole families from one batch so you'll have to give yours to the kids". Prior to this I she said she was making "personalised presents" due to cost and I suggested we didn't do presents if cost was an issue. She said she still wanted to do presents and that she was making luxury items for people.....clearly just wanted to receive presents

I voted YABU and I don't make or give homemade gifts.

But I do appreciate my SIL's amazing homemade gingerbread.

So I think it really depends on whether the recipient actually wants what's been made and given.

moominmammy Oooh, chocolate bark! Now you're talking!

I’d rather get a handmade gift from someone lovely, than any gift from someone with your nasty attitude. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I agree 100%

moominmammy Oooh, chocolate bark! Now you're talking!

Yep, get a perfectly good bar of chocolate. Melt it (thus losing some), let your kids smear it all over cellophane or paper with their fingers or a licked spoon, drop in a few bits of any assorted crap from the cupboard. Wrap in cellophane with a ribbon- who wouldn't want that?

To be very honest I just wish it was the done thing that people hinted heavily or just outright said what they wanted. Otherwise I'll do the "Here the kids made you this decoration thing yaaay isn't it great?!". Because I'm not throwing more money at big non-tax corporation paying companies at stuff they'll chuck in a drawer.

Men are the worst. "Oh yeah, uh, owt.."

My parents are getting a meal out voucher this year. Hairdresser gave me the idea & I love it

I think it depends massively on whether the giver is a) skilled at making stuff and b) willing to consider whether the intended recipient would actually like the particular thing. If you make lovely chutney and give it to people you know like chutney then I can't see anything wrong with that as a gift. If someone's house is full of inspirational quotes in glittery frames and you are reasonably competent at sticking glitter on stuff then it's fair enough to give them something similar because it's obviously the sort of thing they like.

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.

I like stuff that requires a skill, not just glueing crap to something (I’m thinking those scrabble letter frames or glittery wine glasses, they’re awful). I do make some of my gifts however they’re well made (knitted or sewn mostly and since it’s your criteria OP they are good enough to sell I just don’t have the time to make enough to sell) and things I know the recipient will like and use, I wouldn’t waste the time and effort making something that wouldn’t be to their taste or wouldn’t be used.

YANBU - I make handmade gifts but only for people who actually like them and mostly only as requests. I also make very different things, so this year my sister has requested a New Year's Eve dress, my Grandma has asked for a new cashmere scarf and my pregnant cousin would like things for the baby's room. I'm also secretly making my Mum a dressing gown because she always jokes about stealing mine when she comes to stay.

The other half of my family hate the idea of homemade - even when they have thought something is shop bought, finding out its handmade seems to repel them. It's slightly odd to me but makes Christmas a lot easier- think I'd have to start in February otherwise!

isspacethefinalfrontier Actually, l don't have children. My stepsons are grown up. And even when they were small they had a much kinder, nicer attitude than you appear to have.

My neighbour makes fantastic marmalade. I love getting it. My son knitted me a beautiful scarf, out of the loveliest yarn. It is one of my favourite possessions. I save homemade cards, and I have some amazing ones, but I hate store bought ones- what a waste of money.

If someone actually knows what they're doing, they're great.

If, however, you're a woman I know who routinely hands out utter crap like 'buttons on wire made into a shape', then they are terrible.

So, it depends.

Hard to answer and I can't seem to find out how to vote on here using mobile app 🤔

Based on my experience of home made gifts I would say YABU, I've had lots of nice flavoured gins and personalised hamper type gifts. This year I am gifting a couple of friends things for their new homes made out of fabric I know they like e.g draught excluder.

My peeve is super-gorgeously wrapped presents with random bits of tat inside. I think woohoo and feel all excited and full of anticipation. Then find it's a bottle of £3 hand lotion or body wash or some such unwanted c**p from Sainsbury's gift aisle (possibly re-gifted).

I also think it depends, if it's something someone wants, and the giver is good at making it, then it's good.

So for example if someone who really knew how to cook, made me some gorgeous buttery fudge, and say some delicious butterscotch vodka in a lovely bottle, yup I'd be delighted.

But very often it's not what the recipient wants and the person who gives it, is rather shite at it, and doing it either to save money or due to an inflated ego, so you get some odd crocheted scarf no sane person would wear, or a jar of dull chutney that's simply not very good, even if you did like chutney.🤷‍♀️

I was once given a home made chocolate (not baked) type of fridge cake full of booze and scrumptious stuff. Best present ever!!!! I can't remember if it was wrapped....

I've gone with YABU because you have assumed far too much.

I make stuff and I sell it, for £££.

I certainly won't be wasting my time and therefore, money, making a gift that is not personal to the recipient and that I am absolutely certain they will appreciate and enjoy.

Yes people who make tat and make 97 of the same thing and then inflict their tat on others because they enjoy making tat and haven't thought about the recipients are annoying, but no more so than people who go out and buy cheap tat without thought for the person recieving it.

There are also people out there who are very good at making stuff, who don't sell their stuff... as long as the gift is appreciated by the recipient then it's a good gift.

ANY gift made entirely to please the person giving it, without thought for the recipients preferences, is a twatty gift.

Totally agree that it depends on the gift but that the same with bought stuff too. Thinks that make me happy are homemade sloe gin, wax melts with lavender and my mum's friend Sandra's damson jam.

How can it be lazy and selfish?

I’ve already covered that, but I’ll say it again.

It’s lazy because no thought has gone into what the receiver might actually want; you’re not choosing a specific present based on them. If you make soap or gin for example and everyone’s getting that, you’re not thinking about the individual receiver bar maybe making it their favourite colour or some other silly detail.

It’s selfish because you’re giving soap/gin/cakes as presents because that’s what you make. It’s thoughtless, and lazy. You’re not spending time thinking about what they would actually like, it’s just “Jerry likes green so I’ll make the soap packaging green, and Bob likes red so his will be red”. It’s generic.

And for everyone saying “oh they’re always very well received, people love them!”, of course you’ll get that impression, because people are polite and make all the right noises and say all the right things. And so the cycle continues because you think people like them.