{long} thoughts on gift-giving

This morning I walked into the kitchen only to be overcome by a weird mix of sadness, giddiness and horror because I had to do something I haven't done in a long time.

I had to turn on the light.

A dark morning is the surest sign that fall is upon us. I'm a little sad to say goodbye to the long summer days, giddy that my birthday is around the corner, and horrified by the thought of rising before the sun.

But the change of seasons signals the start of a sometimes fun (though often stressful) time for a lot of sewers/knitters/crafters, which is, of course, gift making.  As I was looking at all the gift ideas that people had pinned, this morning, it got me thinking about the gift making and giving process. 

I think that we (creative people) tend to get caught up in making or wanting to make gifts for everyone we know. We are willing to overlook the fact that the recipient might not get the same joy from receiving as we get from giving.  It's hard to believe but...

Some people don't like handmade gifts. (gasp!)

And we shouldn't judge them for it. We also shouldn't place our precious time and energy into making gifts for those people.  Even if they are relatives or best friends or other people who really *should* like what we make.

Most of us can recall that moment we gave a gift, that took an absurd amount of time and money, only to have the recipient say "oh thanks" and put it aside.  There's no greater buzz kill than an insincere thank you.  It's a hard reality because these are the gifts that delight our souls and elicit warm fuzzies.

Last year's winner for least liked handmade gift. Not my best work. But still.

But here's the thing. We all have THAT friend who loves our handmade items to pieces. The one who will use your reject potholder until there's a hole in it. The one who will show every house guest that plaid chicken tea cozy with the glitter glue embellishments, the one who thinks that quilted stars don't have points. Maybe you're lucky and have too many of those friends.

Those people should be given fabulous handmade gifts.

This year I plan to reflect on the people who really deserve my time (my crafting time) and creativity. Then put extra effort into making them extra-special handmade presents.  I hope you'll consider doing the same. Buy the rest a (handmade) card.  They won't know the difference.

To get the juices flowing, I have some tutorials planned. The first of which will be posted after the long weekend. The tutorials won't be quick-and-easy gifts because they are meant for that special friend who deserves your extra time. They will be a little more involved but just as special. And I hope that one of them will inspire you to shorten your "to-create-for" list so that you have more time for somebody special. Maybe there will be a give away in it for you too.

Have a safe and happy weekend.

 
p.s. thanks to Verykerryberry's blog for teaching me how to add a signature today!

***I didn't mean to imply that people who don't like handmade gifts, don't deserve anything, including your time. My post is strictly about our crafting time.  The gift of time spent with a person, helping a person, etc, is even more important and on a very different level***