Home made gifts- are you happy to recieve?

[speakout]

I am just about to put some home made items in bags for people in a class I attend- just had a last minute wobble.
Do people like such things?

AlwaysLatte that's so funny-. Sorry your family were disappointed.
Glad you tried it.
I have been making simmer pots for a few years, I love fresh air and always open the widows to clear stale air, but I like a little boost sometimes, especially if I have been cooking something with a lingering smell.
I will throw in citrus peel ( I keep my peel for such uses) lavender, rosemary, rose petals, ginger, sandalwood, lemongrass, mint etc. whatever comes to hand.
I start the simmer as I clear up the kitchen/load or unload the dishwasher, wipe down surfaces.
So in 10 minutes I have a clean kitchen that smells heavenly.

I’ve never seen these so I’d love it, I’d use it and I’d appreciate the care and thought you put into it. Ultimately OP, gifting to your yoga group is probably not expected so it’s very thoughtful of you

this is a lovely thought. I would be glad to receive it and would give it a go. I’d never think to buy or make one myself so it would be an added Christmassy bonus which is ideal for a little present. As long as the people at your class won’t be exchanging expensive gifts it’s a nice little touch to give out.

incidentally I did get a little excited when I thought it might be a sachet to add to red wine to mull it. Could you create such a thing?!

Dramaalpacas thankyou. I make mulled wine sachets for my own use, but I stick to mostly inedible crafts.

I would much rather have a homemade gift, something that is made for me is very special

It sounds like a lovely idea. I might make my own version - there's nothing worse than stale cooking smells in the kitchen. I have rosemary and mint in the garden, and I could add some orange and lemon peel - would that work, or do I need more scents to add? How much water to simmer it in? I have little milk saucepan, rarely used, Would that be big enough?

I like hand knits. Gloves, scarves, even had a cute cropped cardigan made for me once. Back in the day loads of people knitted, but these days hardly anyone does so I'd like that a lot if it was well made. I once got given some hankies with my initials embroidered which were lovely too.
Fudge, biscuits, chutneys, jams also very welcome as are home grown plants and flowers.
I'd like the simmer thing too OP, and struggle to see who wouldn't. It's a very inoffensive gift, looks nice and is very kind of you.

I sometimes make chutneys, jam, pickles, sloe gin and xmas cakes as gifts for folk. I'm a lot more selective about who I give to now though. It's not cheap to achieve the quality I do ( think ingredients, suitable packaging/ ascetic containers, energy use) and is incredibly labour intensive. I'm not good at lots of things, but I know that cooking and baking is definitely a talent of mine.

A comment from my SIL one year saying that we should have told them we had money worries and that no present would have been fine. There was easily about £30 of ingredients, £10 of containers, and other wee shop bought treats in it, not factoring in the cost of my gas/electric/postage and the many weekends spent cooking! I realised that to some people homemade looks cheap and it isn't always appreciated.

A small pan is fine- and a lot of it will be trial and error.
Fresh ingredients have more fragrance generally, but we don't always have them to hand.
I have a think about fragrances I enjoy, and the ones that appear in shower gels, baking etc.
Fresh lemongrass is good, kaffir leaves, anise, mint,any of the citrus family- peel or fruit, I like grapefruit. I have been known to throw in the tops of hulled strawberries, wonderful sweet aroma like jam. Apple cores and cinnamon also fill the kitchen with apple pie smells.
Someone upthread mentioned branches from a christmas tree- yes that is lovely, I use any that are cut off from trimming.
I quite often just use one ot two ingredients- I grow quite a bit in my garden, and have a monster rosemary bush. In the summer months I will grab a bunch as I come in from hanging laundry and make a quick simmer pot.
You can also ramp up the fragrance with a gew drops of essential oil, peppermint, lavender and sweet orange is my favourite.
Stale smells can linger in the kitchen- if I have been deep frying, cooking curry, fish or lamb, the smell seems to linger.
Fragrant natural scents are pleasant to me- I don't like synthetic smells at all.

Sloe gin always goes down well.

Depends on the item, I think. For example, if its something like a calendar with your own pictures and design or a handmade tree ornament like or some edibles, then definitely I'd love that. Same goes to the simmer pot you've shown here.
Handmade clothes or accessories are tricky though, because Im just not a great fan of knitted things yet I do have a scarf my friend knitted for me and I wear it because it's nice looking and comfortable to wear. On the other hand, SIL used to give us handmade jewelry (necklaces and brooches) and I don't wear mine, as these are completely not my style, but my mum likes hers.

Yep Im in! love homemade pressies , My niece made homemade fudge one year absolutely delicious. well wrapped in a nice box with some ribbon .Much nicer than some dry overpriced stuff from the shop

Yes, I'd be delighted to and your gift would be greatly appreciated my me. I'd enjoy the thought and the use of the actual gift itself, never having had one!
My neice is super crafty and made us all hand knitted socks which I adore (and they are so warm and cosy) and some coated pecan nuts that she put in a clasped jar with a ribbon and an old fashioned tag with a stamp: 'made with love in X cottage' - lovely gifts. For my birthday she made me a round 'arm knitted' cushion. I'm looking forward to her gifts this year as she's now also started crocheting.

I love homemade presents. The thought and time someone spends on planning and making their gift is wonderful.

I can buy whatever I want myself, but not make anything, so I think that’s why a homemade gift means the world.

OP ASKED if we like such thing and we answered honestly... that is not remotely 'crass' and many of us have intelligently explained WHY (oh to be lucky enough to eat random unmarked food and not worry it could legitimately kill you).

Honestly the truth is most DIY arts and crafts are pure 'tat' (and I rarely use that word but this is one area where its apt) that people dont want or need.

No one is slapping the giver in the face and yelling 'this is crap you talentless swine' but when asked on an annonamous forum 'whould you like this?' then damn right we should be honest about say 'no actually it would likely rot in a cupboard then go in the bin', if thats the majority consensus (which it seems to be) OP should save herself the trouble and find her question answered.

Only 1 reply was 'harsh' and even that reply made perfectly valid (yet unsugar coated) points about why its not actually useful for them.

I think there is an element of selfishness/self promotion to some homemade gifts. I have a friend who started pottery classes about 5 or 6 years ago. Ever since then, my birthday and Christmas gifts (which I receive graciously of course) are all pottery items. They are quite nice but there are only so many plates, dishes, jugs, mugs, containers of various shapes and sizes that I want or can use and to be honest while they are nice enough they are not items I would have on display in the house. Also, I am unlikely to wear jewellery made of clay. I I usually place the household items somewhere, take a photo to send to my friend, after a while they go in the attic and at some stage they go to the charity shop.

I appreciate the thought however I think the givers of homemade gifts use gifting occasions to disperse the fruits of their work i.e. showing off their talents, without actually considering the needs / wants of the recipient.

Now, home made (crumbly) fudge would be another story!

OP, while I would appreciate the thought you have put into your gift, I know I would never use it. It would live in a kitchen drawer for a while, eventually it would probably go in the bin.

Which ingredients specifically do you think are toxic @thelobsterquadrille ?

and do you reasonably think your cat will brave a pot of simmering hot water to get to them?

if you don’t like the idea of a simmer pot fair enough but creating inaccurate and unlikely pet toxicity reasons is either deliberate scaremongering or your own unreasonable anxiety