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Tips For A Successful Holiday Season Of Gift Making


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Let me know what works for you as far as prioritizing gifts that need to be thrown or hand built for the holiday season. 

 

This will be my first season making gifts for friends and family and I have a long list so far (at least 20 to start with). 

 

Any tips on making it a stress-free endeavor? 

 

Signed,

 

The Newbie

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Its really helped me to Not give and receive gifts-this was a plan I came up with decades ago and its now in full effect-I have a very small family (1 sister) and we no longer exchange gifts at x-mas-Its made x-mas a better season mentally for me. Since I make 1000,00s of xmas gifts for others (my pottery business ) the no gifts in family make the season a bit less stress free.

By the way x-mas is all about stress at least from my view of seeing the public buying pots for that past 43 seasons

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> Any tips on making it a stress-free endeavor?

 

You are already stressing so really, there is no way to make it stress free.

 

To ratchet down the stress I suggest the old KISS method ( Keep it simple ... ) 

 

Maybe make them each a personalized tree ornament. The same basic design with their name and date painted on it.

Make small simple cheese spreaders or spoon rests.

 

It's mid October so don't set some kind of complicated goal ... they key is that the gift is from YOU. A sane, happy YOU.

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For handmade items, I put the adults in my family first.  That isn't a huge number, perhaps 10-12.  In the past, I have made chili bowls, mugs, and small bottle/bud-vases (they like mugs the best).  All of that family stuff will be completed by the end of October so I only stress on exhibit/show stuff for the holiday season.

 

I really like @Chris Campbell's ornament idea. Simple. Personal. Relatively quick.

 

-Paul

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When I made gifts three years ago in my first ceramics class everyone got a mug. No fuss, no muss, just throw 10 or 20 cylinders, pull some handles, and glaze two or three colors. I did not try to think "OH well this person would love a vase, or this one would adore a set of rice bowls, or s/he has too many mugs maybe I will try a dessert plate set..." Mugs for days. 

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Been throwing pots since high school in late 60's-

The question should be -how long do you give ceramics for gifts to your family

1 decade 

2 decades

3 decades

4 decades

longer than 4 decades

 

They all had dinnerware sets-and whatever else they wanted-

now it zero gifts-much more sane.

It takes discipline to execute this idea and its not for everyone I believe .

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Been throwing pots since high school in late 60's-

The question should be -how long do you give ceramics for gifts to your family

1 decade 

2 decades

3 decades

4 decades

longer than 4 decades

 

They all had dinnerware sets-and whatever else they wanted-

now it zero gifts-much more sane.

It takes discipline to execute this idea and its not for everyone I believe .

 

You're too generous! If you thought ahead you could have spaced out your pot-giving ;) One year the teapot, one year the cup! :rolleyes:

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  • 2 weeks later...

They never got the whole set all at once.

Making pots for the xmas season is all about production-Selling pots at x-mas gives you the look at stressed out customers.

Its a great financial boom to sell that time of year but it takes a toll on you.

This year in December I sell 19 days at a pottery booth at a show or on my own-and the calendar has almost 4 full weekends before the 25th this year which means extra sales.

Stress free xmas-I can remember one back in 1976.

All I had to do was make gifts for my family at x-mas.

I prioritized it this way

Mother 1st then my siblings then everyone else.

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