making xmas presents?

Hand made gifts are the best! Love receiving them. Only wish work wouldn't get in the way of me making them too. Plus I know those who give them have enjoyed making them instead of tiring themselves out going round the packed shops.

thank you so much for all your suggestions. Having got back from a long weekend away, I've now armed myself with craft supplies and am about to start on the first present (a cross stitch)! Thanks for all your encouragement

Yep, love the knitting, and now I need the pattern for those Christmas trees. Bet I'm not the only one.

I buy sock wool when I see it in Aldi or have it posted to me from a Drops shop in a neighbouring town and knit made to measure socks for my presents. I also knit fingerless mittens for my older friends who are frugal with their heating. I was asked last week to knit a special pair of mittens in pale lilac as a Christmas present for a friend's Mum who will be a 100 next year. I have never had a recipient be anything but pleased, but have known people turn up their noses at the thought. I just tell them how much the cost would be if I charged the same hourly rate as I did when I was a seamstress!

well, if mine looked anything like yours hildajenniJ I would be making more!!
Very impressive

just look at the loads of unwanted Christmas gifts that end up in the Charity shops.....
Every cloud has a silver lining

No it's not miserly - it takes time and effort to make gifts and a lot of love. I wish I had the time!! Go for it :-)

As we speak, I'm busy making Christmas decorations to give to family and friends. My DGC love the mini stockings and youngest DGS likes the mini Christmas trees. It's not a good light, but I hope you can see.

DH's cousin used to have Christmas cards printed of her own paintings. She died several years ago and I really miss seeing her cards.

Hand-made sounds better than Home-made for some reason. We have lots of arty crafty types in the family including an artist and photographer and I’m a bit of a seamstress so hand made gifts and cards are frequent. I’d much rather get something “made with love” than expensive tat probably made in China.

I read the duchess of cambridge struggled to think of a present for the queen so made some chutney from her grandmother's recipe it was very well received!

It’s a lovely idea - I just wish I had the time and more importantly the skill!

Please make handcrafted gifts! I used to make all my Christmas cards and loved doing it. So much thought and attention goes into something you make yourself, surely anyone would appreciate them.

I think any friend worth having will appreciate the time and effort that goes into making gifts. I also think in these times when so many people have to make do, and go without and are frankly starving in various parts of the world, there is something slightly ( to me) immoral in spending tons of money of stuff people don't really need - just look at the loads of unwanted Christmas gifts that end up in the Charity shops.....

we really hate all the consumer tat that we're given - would love something homemade

I used to make things - sewing or knitting [I can't crochet for the life of me] - when we were first married and this thread makes me want to give it a go again. Thanks for the kick up the bum - but I've got to sew up a jumper I've taken nearly a year to knit first!!!!!

There were some lovely ideas on that link! I liked the Jack Daniels soap dispenser for men (they probably wouldn't like soap in a crochet cover!)

Bobbin's friend is clearly one of the many ignoramuses who think that all the beautiful things in the shops arrive there fully-formed by magic. SOMEONE made them all, some of them by sweated labour on a production line, some individually and with skill and imagination. If she has never made anything herself she won't appreciate what time and ability goes into a handmade gift (and hand-made does not have to look HOME-made)

Go for it I say bobbin . I make lots of little things for my lot. They seem well received ( although they could all be being polite !!) . This year I have made a big box of Bugatti's for one little grandson ( I personalised a large box and filled it with all things Bugatti ( I think he'll love the box as much as the insides!), I've made my granddaughter a box of hair bows ( The JoJo bows are extortionately priced and for a fraction of the money I made her a box full!) .

I also give homemade vouchers for things like babysitting , shopping trips or even in one case a full on afternoon tea at my house.

So , perhaps your daughter in law would like something like that ...a 'me time' voucher??

I think it's a wonderful idea. Go for it! ?

Thank you for the link, Grannyknot, I'd missed that article on Gransnet. I'm off to the shops Poundland later this morning, and I'll be stocking up on jars!

I love a handcrafted gift, what a lovely idea. The only people who wouldn't are those who ' know the price of everything and the value of nothing ' .

I sometimes makes sweets and biccies and wrap them in cellophane with a ribbon or put the wrapped goodies into some besutiful old tins when I can find them. I've had soaps inside lovely little net bags, which I refill with more scented soap to keep in the undie drawers. I've also had gorgeous gifts that people have made using bits of driftwood, shells etc. some people are just so clever. Another lovely gift I've had was a lot of tea towels but the giver had crotcheted around the borders and made a loop so I could hand them up. Just perfect. Home made jams are very welcome. I prefer small, hand made gifts. I think it's more in keeping with the spirit of Christmas and to think that someone has put love, time and effort into their gift is just beautiful.

bobbin ignore your friend, she is clueless about how special home made gifts can be. Last year, on a whim, I made some DIY gifts from suggestions on the Gransnet site. I made the "Biscuits in a Jar" and the homemade bath salts and both were very well received, so I shall do it again this year. I found pretty jars in Poundland, and wrote personalised gift tags, with the Method written on the back for the baking, and Instructions for use for the bath salts. (I bought plain brown tags and drew around the edge with gold pen and then wrote on them). My DIL made the biscuits with my little grandson and posted pics on Instagram (so it was a gift that kept on giving!

I made the bath salts using rose essential oil and I mixed some Himilayan (pink) rock salt crystals in. For the biscuit jar (which looks really pretty all layered up) I adapted the recipe (e.g. I bought fudge pieces from Waitrose).

Just writing this up reminds me how much enjoyment I got out of it.

www.gransnet.com/christmas/diy-christmas-presents

Ignore your friend- a lovely idea.