Homemade Christmas presents

[Number109]

Does anyone make their own gifts? How well received are they generally?

My girls are back at school soon and I plan to go back to batch cooking and wondered if I could add a bit of gift making in at the same time - some jam or fudge would be able to be stored for a few weeks I would think.

I can also sew so contemplating infinity scarves and those make up bags with a drawstring that open out to lie flat.

@LocalHobo that is awful, your friend is a bitch! Had she even realised that the patterns were personal things to her? What an extreme reaction and how rude of her (how did she know she wasn’t getting theatre tickets as well/from someone else?). Your gift sounds lovely and I know people who would love things like that and appreciate the effort!

No!

I love making things but would never give as a main present to anyone as I feel it’s a cheep cop out. I will happily make a box of truffles or other baked goods to share at work (when I did), or offer to our postman/delivery drivers, neighbours if I’m chatting at my door or send things into school with the DCs to share. The same with crafts, if my DCs make something for someone it’s more of a token that goes along with a real gift.

I got a tin of ginger biscuits a few years ago. The biscuits got thrown straight in the bin as I know the gifter thinks her house is clean but it really isn’t. I did keep the nice tin they came in and use it regularly.

Totally agree with @Butterflyfluff and others who point out it's the generic that's the problem, whether it's shop bought or homemade.

Make me a nice flavoured gin, because I like Gin... great, I'd love it.

But make me a bottle of vodka because you're good at making vodka and you've made it for everyone, wouldn't be as well received (although I'd be polite) because I don't drink vodka, and it would be clear that I've got a generic gift and you've put no thought at all into what I would like to have.

@Ionlydomassiveones

“I’ll save my time and stick to generic shop bought.”

The non-homemade people aren’t advocating for ‘generic’ either! See this is lazy gift giving thinking. The idea that you buy or make one thing and ‘it’ll do’ for everyone. Just put real thought into it. It doesn’t have to be expensive either. Think about that person as an individual - what do they do/like/follow? What small thing would they like, or would make their life easier that they wouldn’t buy themselves?

I didn’t suggest that I’d be making the same thing for everyone.

But homemade doesn’t seem well received (which is fine and what I asked) so for those people who I don’t know “what would make their life easier”, it’s more appreciated to buy a generic bottle of wine or box of chocolates or scented candle than to give them homemade sloe gin, fudge or scarves.

OP, have you actually read the responses?

No one suggested buying anything generic was a good idea - only that generally they’d rather have shop bought generic stuff as opposed to homemade generic stuff

The whole point of gift giving should be for the recipient to get something they’ll like

If you’re just doing it to feel better that you’ve given then ‘something’ you might as well not bother

I would really appreciate something consumable that was homemade. Something sewn - probably not to much.

If I could rouse myself out of my Covid malaise, I would make some jars of dill pickles. There are a few people who love my pickles, especially one son and I think he is disappointed if he doesn't get any for Christmas.