Home Made Christmas: Do You Do Home Made or Hand Made Gifts?

Hello there peoples! This week's free cross stitch chart will be up some time this weekend. Wanted to share a little bit of life stuff with you today.

The winter festive season is upon us and for a good percentage of the world that means winter festive gift giving.

Gift exchanging at this time of year is not something that has loomed large in my adult life.

In our family we have not done formal gift exchanges for quite some time. We are a far flung family and if we have the very good fortune to some how manage Christmas together it is being together that is important. On the rare occasion when some of us manage to be in the same place at the same time we will give small token sort of gifts to each other. Socks and chocolate are the most popular.

Bear and I exchanged gifts for the first couple of years we had Christmas together with the strict limit of £25 (or about $40). But last Christmas and this Christmas we have agreed not to. Firstly because we are both adults and if we need something we can get it for ourselves. Secondly, neither of us is in a position to give lavish luxury type gifts of gadgets, perfume, jewelry, or what have you, that we would like but could not afford to get for ourselves.


Do you do home made gifts? Exclusively? Do you find that they are appreciated for the time and love you put into them or do you get blank looks? What sort of home made gifts do you give? 

Let me know in the comments!


In recent years, when I have managed to make it to the 'rents for the holiday, I tend to get given family "treasures". Like a bracelet mom doesn't wear any more or a piece of pottery that they have had since I was a child but they no longer want.

For family gifting things are functional or edible, and CHEAP. Or home made.

Yes I am one of those really irritating smug self satisfied people who have the wherewithall to make gifts and, lacking all sorts of shame, give them to people. People I know.

These are some of this year's crop. Last year the 'rents got a very special cross stitch sampler and my brother got cookies.


The little cross stitch sampler there was actually for a recent birthday and I am notorious for foisting my handiwork on people for those sorts of occasions as well. The response to my home made gifts is generally good. Although sometimes, in the case of my pottery work, people don't always realize that I am the person who has made it.

I have a few more things to do for this year's holiday. Everyone wants a teddy with their name on it!

4 comments:

Maple Girl said...

My immediate family don't exchange gifts anymore, we give the money instead to a friend or relative that has needs. (Which sucks because my husband and I are the 'poor' family so we really can't give much . . .)

For gifts we usually do a picture of our kids for the grandparents.

My husband's family does an ornament exchange and I make small (1 1/2 inch ball ornament) beaded covers. They've been fought over and there have been tears. Not that I wanted that, of course, but it was somewhat gratifying.

I'm thinking next year of doing cross stitch ornaments. ^_^

tiffstitch said...

Definitely I enjoy making handmade gifts for those that appreciate them. Usually that's my grandma and my parents and my in-laws sometimes. Always my DH appreciates the work that goes into them since he gets to see it all the time. :) My DH and I usually buy an Xmas gift for ourselves instead of exchanging gifts. have a great holiday!

Chris said...

My DH and I don't exchange gifts. We buy for the parents and other children in the family.
I exchange with many friends. If I make something it is cross stitch ornaments. Only very special people get those or they are exchanged in a stitching exchange.

Hancock said...

Looking at your Maple Stitches blog I can see why people fight over your handiwork! Thanks for visiting :-)

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