Home made presents and gifts?

Shenshen

The "expensive weddings" thread got me thinking about this.

To avoid confusion, I didn't grow up in Ireland but in Germany. And most people I would have met there growing up would have valued a home made present or gift for any occasion (Birthdays, births, weddings, christmas) much higher than a shop-bought gift, or even money.
I grew up making gifts for my friends and family, anything from needlework (I made my brothers thick woollen socks for christmas one year, with their names in foam rubber on the soles to stop them from slipping, they wore them around the house for years) to cooking (christmas cookies are really big in Germany, with every family having their own secret recipes. Home made jams and preserves are fantastic, too) to woodwork (decorative carved picture frames or shelves) to anything else I could think of. One year, I drew illustrations to all poems from the Lord of the Rings, arranged them alongside the poems and bound them in a rather nice book for one of my best friends (I was 16, ok? You're allowed love Lord of the Rings at that age).

I received similar presents from friends and family - I've got a set of shelves one of my brother made me some 15 years ago for christmas, I've got gloves my gran knitted for me, I've got a beautiful batic picture of elephants one of my aunts made for me when I was born, I've got little decorated ceramic bowls from a friend that I absolutely adore.

Yet in Ireland I've so far noticed that not only do people not give such gifts, sometimes they seem to be practically sneered at as cheap and the giver is labeled tight-fisted.

So how would you react if you're given a home made gift? Would you actually feel grateful that the giver has spent so much time thinking about you and making you this, or would you regard them as cheap and trying to get away with spending little or no money?

IM0

in germany people also SAVE :eek:

I mean what is up with that

stefan idiot jones

I would relish a pair of home made clogs.

IM0

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

I would relish a pair of home made clogs.

I would like some home made relish

Sergeant

I don't want some well-meaning but amateurish effort given to me as a present. I want expensive electronics or clothes that were designed in Europe and produced in factories in Asia. Stuff in fancy packaging.

livinsane

This homemade christmas presents thread on the Cooking and Recipes forum has been going strong for the last three years:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056110995

I've made homemade food hampers for the last few years and people love them.

Shenshen

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

I would relish a pair of home made clogs.

Clogs... now, there's a challenge.
I've carved letter openers, wooden spoons and string puppets before, but never clogs.

I might just give that a try, for around the garden

I did this a bit when I was younger, it did get sneered at.
I have been doing a bit of baking lately and gave some stuff to a friend as part of a present. The cooking forum has lovely ideas on hampers to make and give as presents at xmas, so I might try that this year

Kichote

Sergeant wrote: »

I don't want some well-meaning but amateurish effort given to me as a present. I want expensive electronics or clothes that were designed in Europe and produced in factories in Asia. Stuff in fancy packaging.

lol

IM0

Kichote wrote: »

lol

youre doin it wrong

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

It's a nice idea but I am tragically untalented, it would mean more to me if someone had actually went to the bother of making me something they knew I'd like and that would mean a lot to me.

I love giving presents to people but I don't really get many presents back. I get birthday cash from my dad, and sometimes a hair or beauty voucher from my auntie and my ex would get me something I'd have been drooling over during the year, and then at Xmas my brother would get me something too but as for friends, I wouldn't be given anything for birthday or Xmas nor would I give.

Shenshen

bluewolf wrote: »

I did this a bit when I was younger, it did get sneered at.
I have been doing a bit of baking lately and gave some stuff to a friend as part of a present. The cooking forum has lovely ideas on hampers to make and give as presents at xmas, so I might try that this year

I'e made something similar to the pic below for my work colleagues last year.
Simple, looks nice, and was tasy

BillyMitchel

Shenshen wrote: »

The "expensive weddings" thread got me thinking about this.

To avoid confusion, I didn't grow up in Ireland but in Germany. And most people I would have met there growing up would have valued a home made present or gift for any occasion (Birthdays, births, weddings, christmas) much higher than a shop-bought gift, or even money.
I grew up making gifts for my friends and family, anything from needlework (I made my brothers thick woollen socks for christmas one year, with their names in foam rubber on the soles to stop them from slipping, they wore them around the house for years) to cooking (christmas cookies are really big in Germany, with every family having their own secret recipes. Home made jams and preserves are fantastic, too) to woodwork (decorative carved picture frames or shelves) to anything else I could think of. One year, I drew illustrations to all poems from the Lord of the Rings, arranged them alongside the poems and bound them in a rather nice book for one of my best friends (I was 16, ok? You're allowed love Lord of the Rings at that age).

I received similar presents from friends and family - I've got a set of shelves one of my brother made me some 15 years ago for christmas, I've got gloves my gran knitted for me, I've got a beautiful batic picture of elephants one of my aunts made for me when I was born, I've got little decorated ceramic bowls from a friend that I absolutely adore.

Yet in Ireland I've so far noticed that not only do people not give such gifts, sometimes they seem to be practically sneered at as cheap and the giver is labeled tight-fisted.

So how would you react if you're given a home made gift? Would you actually feel grateful that the giver has spent so much time thinking about you and making you this, or would you regard them as cheap and trying to get away with spending little or no money?

I'll pay you €10 if you make me the same socks that you made for your brother. Instead of my name you can even put boards.ie.

Think I've just found you a new business.

Shenshen

BillyMitchel wrote: »

I'll pay you €10 if you make me the same socks that you made for your brother. Instead of my name you can even put boards.ie.

Think I've just found you a new business.

*lol
Well, the wool cost me about €7.00 back then, and it took a good few evenings of knitting to make them. €10 wouldn't really cover it, sorry

jester77

Shenshen wrote: »

The "expensive weddings" thread got me thinking about this.

To avoid confusion, I didn't grow up in Ireland but in Germany. And most people I would have met there growing up would have valued a home made present or gift for any occasion (Birthdays, births, weddings, christmas) much higher than a shop-bought gift, or even money.
I grew up making gifts for my friends and family, anything from needlework (I made my brothers thick woollen socks for christmas one year, with their names in foam rubber on the soles to stop them from slipping, they wore them around the house for years) to cooking (christmas cookies are really big in Germany, with every family having their own secret recipes. Home made jams and preserves are fantastic, too) to woodwork (decorative carved picture frames or shelves) to anything else I could think of. One year, I drew illustrations to all poems from the Lord of the Rings, arranged them alongside the poems and bound them in a rather nice book for one of my best friends (I was 16, ok? You're allowed love Lord of the Rings at that age).

I received similar presents from friends and family - I've got a set of shelves one of my brother made me some 15 years ago for christmas, I've got gloves my gran knitted for me, I've got a beautiful batic picture of elephants one of my aunts made for me when I was born, I've got little decorated ceramic bowls from a friend that I absolutely adore.

Yet in Ireland I've so far noticed that not only do people not give such gifts, sometimes they seem to be practically sneered at as cheap and the giver is labeled tight-fisted.

So how would you react if you're given a home made gift? Would you actually feel grateful that the giver has spent so much time thinking about you and making you this, or would you regard them as cheap and trying to get away with spending little or no money?

I really like this about Germany, people put a lot of thought and effort in to making gifts. My inlaws make fantastic knitwear, I get asked what design and patterns I would like and a few weeks later I have a funky hat, scarf, etc.

What does piss me off is having to bake for everyone when it's your birthday, it should be the other way around :P But the cakes, breads, muffins that people bake for their birthdays always blow me away. It's a skill that is long lost in Ireland

Tiddlypeeps

I don't care if a gift is home made or store bought as long as it's meaningful. I hate this business of smelly body wash sets for Christmas and useless cheap gadgets that I'll never use. I'd much prefer a basket of cookies that will actually be eaten or a knitted scarf that I'll actually wear. Or something store bought that I'll actually use, doesn't matter what it cost. I'd rather get nothing as a gift than something thoughtless that I'll never use just for the sake of being able to say that a gift was given.

Now don't get me wrong I would never say that to anyones face. If I'm given a gift I'll always act grateful and delighted.

I just don't get the point of thoughtless gifts that nobody will ever use. Most women I know come away from Christmas with loads of bath sets that they will never use because it's not the brand they use etc. The same with men and aftershave sets. What's the point.

Crooked Jack

My ex used to make presents all the time and people loved them. Our friend was pregnant and she spent weeks crocheting a baby blanket for her. The poor girl nearly burst into tears when she found out it had been hand made. She has baked a world of presents, made people drinks (sloe gin, berr vodka, home made cream liquer, stuff like that) and people have always appreciated them.
I just cant understand anyone who would prefer something lifted out of a shop with barely a thought given to it, rather than something that was painstakingly hand made for them.
As for someone who would sneer at a person for doing so, they're a perfect example of the toxic waste left behind by the rampant consumerism that destroyed our country's soul during the celtic tiger era.

grarf

I love giving and receiving handmade/homemade gifts, be it foodie stuff or crafts or whatever.
I do think there's a bit of cultural difference between Germany (which is where I grew up also) and here, it was and is perfectly normal 'back home' to give and get homemade gifts, whereas here in Ireland people often are very surprised (what, you MADE this?!) and you don't get many homemade gifts in my experience.
As for handmade pressies getting sneered at and regarded as cheap... I would look at it from a different viewpoint, as in, someone has put thought, effort and time into making something, which, to me, means more than something store-bought. But maybe that's just me.

Shenshen

jester77 wrote: »

What does piss me off is having to bake for everyone when it's your birthday, it should be the other way around :P But the cakes, breads, muffins that people bake for their birthdays always blow me away. It's a skill that is long lost in Ireland

Hehe, my husband's a bit of a philistine when it comes to baking christmas cookies. He doesn't understand why you'd spend hours and hours carefully making something that in his mind, you could just "pick up in a shop".

He does love the cakes, though...
I don't know why Germans are so obsessed with baking, but I enjoy it.

grarf

Shenshen wrote: »

Hehe, my husband's a bit of a philistine when it comes to baking christmas cookies. He doesn't understand why you'd spend hours and hours carefully making something that in his mind, you could just "pick up in a shop".

He does love the cakes, though...
I don't know why Germans are so obsessed with baking, but I enjoy it.

OT, but the whole thing with christmas cookies is VERY important I did a baking session one year with my nieces, and now HAVE to do it every year (which I love). She asks me usually during the summer, Are we doing the christmas cookies again this year?!

cuilteanna

I enjoy needlework and like making gifts, and have had varied reactions. Sometimes I've received thank you notes that bring me to tears reading them. Other times, well you can tell the recipient really wanted something expensive and store bought (even though the cost of materials for something like a quilt is fairly high anyway). These days I've mostly given up and only make gifts for very special people.

I think it depends on how good you are at making a home made presents. I am a very good baker and can make complicated cakes ( so can my husband he made our wedding cake ) so if I give anyone a cake they are usual very applicative of it, in fact I have been asked for cakes as a present.

One of my daughters makes homemade cards and I think they are lovely.

The only presents I really like are books, prints or something homemade like jewelry.

I bet there are lots of people who would much rather something home made.

fishy fishy

i love cooking and baking so tend to do a lot of that at Christmas and as surprise birthdays for the person in question - I love doing surprise parties with home-made cooking. To be honest I would also purchase meaningful gifts for christmas/weddings.

Oh...and as a special treat I also give free haircuts - no expense at all - all I need is a bowl and a sharp scissors. It's the best. :D

SouthTippBass

Shenshen wrote: »

*lol
Well, the wool cost me about €7.00 back then, and it took a good few evenings of knitting to make them. €10 wouldn't really cover it, sorry

I'l give you €15, final offer!

Shenshen

Shenshen wrote: »

I'e made something similar to the pic below for my work colleagues last year.
Simple, looks nice, and was tasy

Recipe bitte!

hardCopy

There's a lot more effort involved in making a present than buying one. If I can't think of anything to make for my girlfriend I like to at least make her a card to show that some thought has gone into it (moonpig.com).

It only takes five minutes to order a present on Amazon, designing/crafting/cooking/painting a present takes real effort and has more meaning. Buying someone a rare gift that can't simply be ordered online shows a similar level of thought though.

MY husband made me a bracelet he put the initials of my daughters and his initials in it with hearts between them, the rest of it was blue beads he gave it me on our wedding day. I was widely impressed it was such a lovely thing to do. I am sure he must have got a few strange looks going in to the bead shop seeing as he is a rather conservative looking middle age man.

Capt'n Midnight

Nothing says "I couldn't be arsed thinking about a present" like vouchers.

Shenshen

bluewolf wrote: »

Recipe bitte!

Tricky, I used a German recipe for the gingerbread. Here is one that should work nicely, though where it says "chill overnight" I would recommend leaving the dough for one or two days - more if you like. The traditional recipes will leave the dough for weeks before baking.

Once you have the dough, roll it out fairly thick to about 1cm thickness.
You then need different sized, start shaped cookie cutters. For one tree, cut out 2 - 3 stars of each size and bake them.
Once they're baked and cooled, make some thick icing with icing sugar and a little lemon juice and assemble each tree by placing the stars over each other, rotating each one so the points don't overlap.
If you plan on making very tall trees, you could push a little bamboo kebab stick down the middle for stability.

Once the icing has set, make a second batch of icing, colour it if you like, and drip it over the trees to make it look like snow.
I then used golden sugar balls for further decoration, you can put little sugar stars on them, whatever you fancy.

Capt'n Midnight

Sergeant wrote: »

I don't want some well-meaning but amateurish effort given to me as a present. I want expensive electronics or clothes that were designed in Europe and produced in factories in Asia. Stuff in fancy packaging.

At that stage I'd rather the money and a card

One of these would mean more than a shop bought one
http://www.code-d.com/tesco-cards/

mrsdewinter

mariaalice wrote: »

MY husband made me a bracelet he put the initials of my daughters and his initials in it with hearts between them, the rest of it was blue beads he gave it me on our wedding day. I was widely impressed it was such a lovely thing to do. I am sure he must have got a few strange looks going in to the bead shop seeing as he is a rather conservative looking middle age man.

That's really sweet! Fair play to him...

Shenshen

Shenshen wrote: »

Tricky, I used a German recipe for the gingerbread.

I can practise my german :cool:

Thanks! I will definitely try it this year!

pragmatic1

Tbh you can shove your homemade shyte up your hole. No one likes a cheapskate.

grarf

Shenshen wrote: »

Tricky, I used a German recipe for the gingerbread.

Can you link to it anyway pretty please? that looks so nice, definitely going to try it this year.

Shenshen

grarf wrote: »

Can you link to it anyway pretty please? that looks so nice, definitely going to try it this year.

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/161811070521866/Lebkuchen.html

I think that one was the one I used. Where it says "Lebkuchengewuerz" I mixed together ground cloves, ground cardamom and a little extra cinnamon. But you could try and order it online.

grarf

Shenshen wrote: »

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/161811070521866/Lebkuchen.html

I think that one was the one I used. Where it says "Lebkuchengewuerz" I mixed together ground cloves, ground cardamom and a little extra cinnamon. But you could try and order it online.

Dankeeee!

kylith

Shenshen wrote: »

Yet in Ireland I've so far noticed that not only do people not give such gifts, sometimes they seem to be practically sneered at as cheap and the giver is labeled tight-fisted.

It's because until fairly recently giving something you'd made yourself was a sign of poverty, so people would cripple themselves financially to avoid looking poor. A 'shop bought' tart was seen as better than a homemade one because it cost more money. The tide is turning now; more young people are taking up baking and handicrafts like knitting.

Shenshen wrote: »

So how would you react if you're given a home made gift? Would you actually feel grateful that the giver has spent so much time thinking about you and making you this, or would you regard them as cheap and trying to get away with spending little or no money?

I love homemade gifts; food, scarves, whatever. The effort that goes into making them is the real gift, imo. I like to give them too; I'm rubbish at picking out presents, but I don't know of anyone who'll turn down a hand made scarf and hat.

Shenshen

Shenshen wrote: »

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/161811070521866/Lebkuchen.html

I think that one was the one I used. Where it says "Lebkuchengewuerz" I mixed together ground cloves, ground cardamom and a little extra cinnamon. But you could try and order it online.

Ich freue mich darauf :cool:

anncoates

One of my best friends gave us one of his own paintings (with a really nice deep frame) for a wedding present and It was a fantastic gift.

Even if I had not have liked the painting (I do), it still would have been a lovely thought.

Irish Guitarist

Someone I know from an online forum (not here) and Facebook recently sent me a birthday present of a wooden box she made with some other things in the box, like a little horse carved from wood. I thought it was a very thoughtful present.

Any desire I ever had to give anyone a handmade gift was destroyed by my family when I was a teenager. I did a FAS course where I made a couple of things I was proud of. One of them was a draught board. It would have turned out great except the man that was in charge of the class went away for a week. His replacement gave me the wrong wood to finish off the draught board, which meant what would have been the white and brown squares and pieces ended up being a very similar colour. I brought the draught board home and my father immediately complained about not being able to tell the two colours apart. He then told me to write on the squares and pieces with a marker. I didn't want to destroy my hard work by scribbling on it with a permanent marker so after a while I just hid the thing.

The other thing I made was a glass case for holding flowers. My sister never stopped whining about it from the day I brought it home. I remember one day she was telling her boyfriend how she had brought it to a shop to get artificial flowers in it. She was telling her boyfriend what she had said to the cashier, which was along the lines of "I hate this crappy thing my brother made and I'd love to throw it in the bin". My sister and her boyfriend had a great laugh at this. I think she got her way in the end as I haven't seen the flower case in years. I think she must have thrown it the bin.

No way would I ever attempt to even show anyone in my family anything I tried to make now (not that I've made anything in recent years), let alone give it to them as a present.

Micky Dolenz

Real bang of poverty coming from here.

The_Morrigan

I've recently got into making gifts and because they are personalised they are appreciated.

My brother is expecting his first child, its also the first grandchild. I'm in the middle of making a baby blanket that can hopefully be passed down through his family.
Also, some handmade gifts are way more expensive than store bought. The materials for this blanket cost nearly €200.

grarf

The_Morrigan wrote: »

Also, some handmade gifts are way more expensive than store bought. The materials for this blanket cost nearly €200.

This.
I've made a few quilts for friends/family members (or for their children), and the fabric for that isn't cheap by any means. Adding in the time needed to make them... definitely not the cheapskate route IMHO.

ElleEm

I love being creative, so make a variety of things- sometimes I give them away.
I am "on call" for my family's constant supply of chilli jam, and rarely turn up to someone's home empty handed. I used the Cooking and Recipe forum for inspiration the last few years for Christmas hampers, (which included things like homemade Baileys, chocolate truffles, cookies, chutneys and jams). The recipients were thrilled with them, and I felt great being able to make something from scratch for them.
I have even been asked to make things for my friend's to use on their wedding days, which doubled up as their gifts.
I am not working due to illness, so I began making gifts to keep me busy and to save on money, but most of the things I have made aren't that much cheaper than shop bought stuff!

There is something so satisfying about creating something and knowing the recipient appreciates the time and energy you have spent making it for them.

Shenshen

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Someone I know from an online forum (not here) and Facebook recently sent me a birthday present of a wooden box she made with some other things in the box, like a little horse carved from wood. I thought it was a very thoughtful present.

Any desire I ever had to give anyone a handmade gift was destroyed by my family when I was a teenager. I did a FAS course where I made a couple of things I was proud of. One of them was a draught board. It would have turned out great except the man that was in charge of the class went away for a week. His replacement gave me the wrong wood to finish off the draught board, which meant what would have been the white and brown squares and pieces ended up being a very similar colour. I brought the draught board home and my father immediately complained about not being able to tell the two colours apart. He then told me to write on the squares and pieces with a marker. I didn't want to destroy my hard work by scribbling on it with a permanent marker so after a while I just hid the thing.

The other thing I made was a glass case for holding flowers. My sister never stopped whining about it from the day I brought it home. I remember one day she was telling her boyfriend how she had brought it to a shop to get artificial flowers in it. She was telling her boyfriend what she had said to the cashier, which was along the lines of "I hate this crappy thing my brother made and I'd love to throw it in the bin". My sister and her boyfriend had a great laugh at this. I think she got her way in the end as I haven't seen the flower case in years. I think she must have thrown it the bin.

No way would I ever attempt to even show anyone in my family anything I tried to make now (not that I've made anything in recent years), let alone give it to them as a present.

That's awful... I feel really sad for you. I know how much you come to love a thing you made, even if it's not perfect. And to hear such awful things being said about it - that must have hurt badly.

kylith

Irish Guitarist wrote: »

Any desire I ever had to give anyone a handmade gift was destroyed by my family when I was a teenager. I did a FAS course where I made a couple of things I was proud of. One of them was a draught board. It would have turned out great except the man that was in charge of the class went away for a week. His replacement gave me the wrong wood to finish off the draught board, which meant what would have been the white and brown squares and pieces ended up being a very similar colour. I brought the draught board home and my father immediately complained about not being able to tell the two colours apart. He then told me to write on the squares and pieces with a marker. I didn't want to destroy my hard work by scribbling on it with a permanent marker so after a while I just hid the thing.

The other thing I made was a glass case for holding flowers. My sister never stopped whining about it from the day I brought it home. I remember one day she was telling her boyfriend how she had brought it to a shop to get artificial flowers in it. She was telling her boyfriend what she had said to the cashier, which was along the lines of "I hate this crappy thing my brother made and I'd love to throw it in the bin". My sister and her boyfriend had a great laugh at this. I think she got her way in the end as I haven't seen the flower case in years. I think she must have thrown it the bin.

No way would I ever attempt to even show anyone in my family anything I tried to make now (not that I've made anything in recent years), let alone give it to them as a present.

What a horrible experience. And what a bunch of ingrates. Probably just pissed off they can't make anything.

Crooked Jack

pragmatic1 wrote: »

Tbh you can shove your homemade shyte up your hole. No one likes a cheapskate.

Is that a bit of AHery or are you being serious?

Irish Guitarist

kylith wrote: »

What a horrible experience. And what a bunch of ingrates. Probably just pissed off they can't make anything.

To be fair to my father, he was being inconsiderate but not deliberately hurtful. He was actually good at making things himself.

My sister on the other hand seemed to revel in putting down anything I tried to do.

pragmatic1

Crooked Jack wrote: »

Is that a bit of AHery or are you being serious?

I'm completely serious. I really hate tight people.

jester77

pragmatic1 wrote: »

I'm completely serious. I really hate tight people.

So someone who goes to the trouble of buying materials and building/baking/knitting/etc something personal and meaningful over a number of days/weeks is a cheapskate compared to someone who just buys something off the shelf?

that's pretty sad

Crooked Jack

pragmatic1 wrote: »

I'm completely serious. I really hate tight people.

but it's not tight.