Why You Should Appreciate Handmade Gifts
I hope everyone’s weeks are going splendidly. Lately I’ve been thinking about handmade gifts. A lot of people keep saying that this year they will be aiming to give handmade gifts whenever possible, that’s what I tried to do in 2009 but I found that my experience wasn’t particularly positive. I found that people didn’t really appreciate what a handmade gift meant. That’s why I’ve started this three part series. So if you’re sending off handmade gifts, maybe send them these links first so that you’re not dissapointed!
In this series we’ll have a look at WHY you should appreciate handmade gifts, HOW you can appreciate handmade gifts, and also what to do if you don’t really LIKE the handmade gift!!
You should appreciate handmade gifts because…
1) They take time to make.
People spend approximately 1/2 hour choosing and buying a gift for someone at birthdays and Christmas. On average, a handmade gift takes about 2 to 3 hours to choose, buy supplies and make. That’s 5 times longer! I don’t know anyone who has tons of time to spare, so making a gift yourself is a bit of a sacrifice.
2) They thought about what they thought you would like.
In my experience of both giving and receiving, handmade gifts are far more personal. I can buy an iTunes giftcard for anyone, but in making you something I’ve thought about the colours you like, what would look good in your house, and what I know about you as a person!
3) At the end of the day it was probably more expensive then just buying something.
We like to think that making things ourself is cheap and thrifty. It CAN be those things, but a lot of the time, it’s not. You can get mass produced items so cheaply now-a-days that handmade items are really quite expensive. Remember above how I said it could take over 2 hours to make? Well if somone’s time is worth $25 an hour, your gift already costs $50, and that’s without the cost of the supplies, or their expertise!
Even if you take time cost out of consideration, lots of crafters can’t help but add extra embelishments, buttons, and special fabrics to gifts for friends and family. All those little bits add up!
4) It’s personal.
I started to touch on this in point 2, but let me re-iterate it again. This gift is made expecially for YOU. The person who made it was thinking of you wearing/looking/loving/using this particular item when they made it! That’s a pretty special thing in today’s world!
5) It’s the thought the counts.
Everyone shows their love in different ways. Spending time making something special is this person’s way of saying “I LOVE YOU!”. It might not be the way you receive love, but when it comes to relationships, we’ve got to be flexible and appreciate the person for who they are!
Gary Chappman’s 5 Love Languages are a good place to start if you’re interested in such things.
BONUS
6) They didn’t just do it ‘because they had to’.
Have you ever felt that becuase you bought Alice a gift, you really should buy Lucy one too? Well handmade gifts are too precious and time consuming for this to be the case (or at the very least it doesn’t spread very far down the friendship line!). Remember that this gift has been given to you because you truely are a special friend or family member. It’s not just something someone picked up from the impulse isle and thought “This’ll do!”.
Tags: handmade, handmade gifts, series
March 30th, 2011
Great post! I don’t think non-crafty people realise how much time and effort is involved. I have to admit that I’ve started to be very selective about who I give handmade gifts to – basically those who will appreciate them.
March 30th, 2011
Cool. I give most people something handmade [or with a handmade element] and they seem be appreciative. I doubt a lot of the time that they understand the time commitment and effort involved, but thats ok. They appreciate the thoughfulness of it – and I guess they expect that sort of stuff [handmade] from me. Maybe I’m just lucky to have good people
March 30th, 2011
Thank you for this. I often make people gifts but know I don’t always value what I’m making. I always feel I still should buy something to make up for the fact that I’ve made something. This made me look at that slightly differently so thanks again.
March 30th, 2011
I’m the same- only giving to people who’ll appreciate them! It really is a big effort and commitment, so you want to make sure it’s apprecaited!
March 30th, 2011
You are lucky Tab! I wish all my gift receivers appreciated things like yours do!
I think that they’ve got the right mind set too- it’s the thoughtfulness of handmade gifts that make them so special!
March 30th, 2011
Kat, I’m glad the post has made you think about it more. I hadn’t really thought about a gift maker not valuing the gift they’ve made, so you’ve made me think too!
Hopefully both you and your gift receivers will appreicate the handmade gifts for what they are- thoughtful acts of love!
March 30th, 2011
[...] that you know why you should appreciate handmade gifts here are a few rips on HOW to appreciate those [...]
March 30th, 2011
I agree.
My Aunt always makes me beautiful birthday cards. They probably cost more to make then a bought card and she spends hours doing them.
I’ve kept all of them