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Who Gives Their Own Work As Gifts?


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I made a pair of mugs for a wedding present last year.  (and a mini-mug for their baby)  The mugs are still in the presentation box, as they think they are too good to use.  Which P***ed me off, as they are stoneware and quite chunky.

 

Other friends/family have received mugs as gifts and use them when they are camping, or they live in the crew hut at the local scout campsite and get used every week.

 

I also made a set of similar mugs for a family garden party this summer.  Everyone took a mug home and I told them to think of the family when they drank from their mug.  Don't know if anyone uses their mug tho' as we are well spread around the country.

 

For many years we gave my partner's nephew home-made gifts for birthday and xmas.  Everything from embroidered height charts to wooden toys, book-shelves to clothes.

 

Some people appreciate hand-made gifts, some don't.  I'm an appreciater, my mum and dad always made something for me when I was little.

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I'm not sure my family would know what do if we didn't make something.

 

My grandparents used to make something together and it was different every year. My grandmother would sew or knit and my grandfather would make things of wood. My grandmother could tell you a story about every single piece of fabric that she made a quilt from. Nothing was wasted. I have a few of the items they made together and will keep them till the day that I die.

My mother continues that tradition. This year she knitted me a scarf, and a hat for my wife made from my grandfathers old sweater. She made all of us, including the grandchildren goofy hats for the second year in a row. It shocks me that My kids 16, 21, 23, and 25  wear these hats all the time, but it makes me very proud that they appreciate the time and love that went into making them.

 

Now that i think about it, I may request to be buried wearing the goofy snowman hat, it's knitted from nylon yarn and should stand the test of time. How humorous it would be if someone dug up my corps in the future.

 

Last year I made stoneware shaving face mugs for the guys. This year I made shaving soap for the guys and regular fancy scented soap for the girls. One of the girls requested shave soap and a mug. She and my wife like the mug soap better than shaving cream.

 

 I can afford to buy everyone blankets, hats, mugs, soap, and all sorts of other things. We purchase or share of stuff; You can purchase stuff anywhere.

 

I am thankful that my family supports the things that we do and thankful that almost everyone in the family is pretty much complex free when it comes to giving something they made.

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I try to make as many handmade gifts as possible for friends and family, whether it's pots or sewing or cooking or any other making skills I have. Buying things that are not unique just seems less acceptable to me. There were many years when it was all I could afford to do and they always seem to be appreciated, but I don't mind if they get re-gifted. Eventually they'll find their owners.

Sometimes, when I couldn't decide which mugs should go to which people, I just set out a board of them and let everyone choose their own. Mugs, in particular, should fit the hand and lip and size needs of the owner, I think. One year, the littlest boy chose the hugest mug!

I do agree that it's best to give pots that you'll be happy to see when you visit. My Mom kept an early, clunky mug that I was always tempted to, oops, knock off the counter.

I would also rather receive handmade things from kids, Grands and GGrands and friends. Even the simplest handcut snowflake is preferable to a purchased trinket, to me.

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Over the years, I have given pieces of various kinds as gifts……wedding, Christmas, birthdays…..any kind of celebration, to both family and friends.  When I go to their houses, I'm always happy to see the pieces in use, however, there are some (my mom in particular) who have them on shelves and it's obvious they're used for viewing only.  This past Thanksgiving, mom was looking for something large to put fruit on and I went to the living room where she had a very large handbuilt tray I had made her and my dad for their 50th anniversary on display.  Here mom, this will be perfect!  Her reply….."Well, I never thought about actually using it."  I gathered up several more pieces to put in use for Thanksgiving dinner servings…..I hope she'll remember those pieces when she needs 'pretty trays' to serve food on again. :)  

 

As for myself, I'd rather receive a piece of friends pottery or sewing or something that they had made than anything they could purchase at a store.  

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I too, have given my work to family and friends as gifts for years.  Early on, while still a student, lack of money was a driving reason, and I told everyone, if they could put up with those pieces (heavy, uneven, clunky, odd etc) that I would "remember" them years later..... when I had improved!.  Years later, they actually DO look forward to being on the receiving end of a piece of work, and something I think they will like, or suit them. 

 

Visiting with family across the water this past summer, I had the opportunity to "see and review" numerous older pieces of work given to a friends' daughter while in her home.  She uses them all the time, and I was amazed that the pieces were in constant use, and were the "go to pieces" in her kitchen for serving!

 

I have also made mini vases for both daughters' as their wedding rememberances for their female guest - the second wedding this summer - 11 years after the first daughter's special day, put me in contact with several of the same guests, now receiving their second mini vase - and letting me know how much they liked and still use the first one, and were thrilled to now be the recipient of a second!

 

As long as family and friends are interested in the work, I would rather gift them something I consider special, vs just a commercially made X that might still be around in a year or two, or not.

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I occasionally have Skype video calls with an old friend who has some of my very, very old work. I can see the pieces sitting on her furniture behind her and cringe. I want to reach through the screen and exchange those awful, badly made, badly glazed pieces with my new work. But when I say this, she just says " but I love them!" ... Hmmm. I think I'll send her a new piece.

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Oh yes. I give lots of my stuff for gifts. Coffee cups with a person's name or interest on them is always good but often I try to make something for a person that they cannot easily get at a store. Recently I gave a bread bowl to a friend who likes to make the tasty homemade stuff but was unable to find a bowl that would hold 4 loaves worth of dough. Not anymore heheh.

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I SOMETIMES give my own work but am very selective as to whom. Generally it is to those that I know appreciate what goes into it, as these people usually have some form of creative expertise that I appreciate. Would I give just because it's available - no. Don't get me wrong, I sell my work very successfully but would not gift someone with it unless I truly felt that they would enjoy it.

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Looks like it boils down to tradition, and whether you have learned to give something you made when growing up. Seems like a lot of us will sell, but when it comes to a gift we are reluctant not knowing how the individual we care about will take our giving something that only cost us time to make. Hmmmm how much is time worth?

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