Home made gifts…endearing or just plain cheap?

I would rather receive a home made gift than anything bought (or re-gifted) from any store. (Except Anthropologie. A gift from that store wins my affection for life!) I can only hope the recipients of MY home made gifts feel the same way.

I found 3 yards of this adorable fabric at a yard sale for $1. and it came with a bag of embroidery floss and yards of antique lace trim. One dollar. I felt like a thief.

My twin nieces, Hope & Paige’s 8th birthday was coming up, so when I saw this fabric I was filled with the spirits of crafty women from bygone eras. They kept urging me, “Go ahead, buy it. You can sew the girls something out of it”. “But I don’t know how to sew.” I argued. “You can make a blanket, a blanket is easy. Anyone can make a blanket…it’s just sewing a straight line.” Crafty women can be so persuasive. That’s how I ended up with a sewing machine I don’t know how to use, boxes of scrap booking supplies that overwhelm me into paralysis, enough yarn to crochet a bag big enough to hold all my “Teach Yourself to Crochet” books and a 10-story block of Italian marble waiting to be sculpted.

But it was only a dollar. Even if I just used the fabric to wrap an expensive store bought gift for the girls, I would be ahead of the game. So I handed over my dollar and brought home yet another project. But for some reason, this one was different. Maybe because it was a gift for my sweet nieces, or maybe because we had a new rule, “Any project brought into the house must be done within a week.” Whatever the reason…I did it! I actually made Hope and Paige their own little lap blankets.

Made from the heart. Which is what people say when the thing they made is less than perfect.

Look at me, I'm sewing! I love this photo. Mostly, because Nate took it but also because I'm surrounded by some of my favorite things, doing something I've wanted to do all my life...sew. Maybe you can teach an old dog some new tricks.

I’m happy to report that both Hope and Paige loved their blankets. They also loved the Minnie & Mickey Mouse shirts I bought them and the birthday cards stuffed with some cash. I wasn’t taking any chances. Maybe I’ll be more confident in my home made gift abilities by Christmas.

The final tally: Fabric and embroidery floss for blankets = $1.00. Time put in to make them = free. Reaction from nieces = grateful smiles and hugs.

Which means that home made gifts are both…endearing AND cheap!

No Comments “Home made gifts…endearing or just plain cheap?”

Julia
May 30, 2009, 8:15 pm

That’s not an attempted craft. That’s the real deal. Congratulations! The blankets are so sweet. I love the one week deadline for new projects coming into the house. That’s so smart. And, it looks like you know how to run that sewing machine, you sewing genius, you!
Jenna Caring
June 15, 2009, 5:43 pm

I say, ENDEARING! I would say that because the majority of my gifts are hand made. I mean…I can only make so much jewelry for myself and when you have a crafty passion and some talent…why not?!? Unless they’re lying, those receiving, love it! A hand made gift is so much more personal because it’s made from the heart specifically for someone…and that speaks volumes more than a gift card any day (unless said giftcard came from Anthropologie). I am soooo with you…that is hands down, my favorite store on the planet. I enter such a happy place when I walk through those doors. I heard magnificent choir singing (in my head) when I discovered it.

Your blankets turned out so cute and kuddos to you for actually being able to work your sewing machine! I can’t even keep mine threaded! I’m (somewhat) a clever person, but I can’t figure the damned thing out.

I Loved your “Vegas Baby…” post. Everyone needs some time away for themselves…so glad you got to do that.