The story below is from our November/December 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Photos Courtesy of Laura Wade
Every gift’s a winner when it comes straight from the heart.
The intent of giving is typically to express our love for someone. What makes one feel loved? Being seen, known, understood.
Receiving gifts that someone has made just for us feels special. The giver has put time and energy into creating something for us. Whether that is a baked good or something crocheted, knitted, carved or otherwise hand crafted, it took thought and time to make.
My husband recalls with fondness the gifts his sister, Stephanie, and other family members made for him. Cross-stitched ducks decorated his home at one time. He moved often and the homemade collection came with him. To this day, he hangs cross-stitched ornaments on a special Christmas tree.
One of the gifts my husband was most excited to give was a shadow box he made by hand. Some of my father’s childhood toys were carefully displayed inside including blocks that spelled my father’s name, toy soldiers that he had hand-poured into a mould and a hand-painted metal plane.
Have you received a handmade gift? Perhaps a bracelet made by a close friend. Or treasured memories captured in a scrapbook. Or a scarf or gloves knitted especially for you. These gifts carry a unique charm that can’t be replicated by store-bought gifts.
Last Christmas, I was tickled to receive a gift from a friend I’ve only met online. Inside was a notepad personalized with my name and the phrase “First, I drink the coffee. Then, I do the things.” She noticed I always had a coffee cup and sipped coffee during our bi-monthly mastermind calls. When I opened the second gift, tears streamed down my face as I held the bracelet she had made from crystals and read the note she enclosed listing the specific qualities of the stones she chose for the bracelet made just for me. It touched me deeply.
Other gifts that have touched me are those my children have made. As parents, we often get homemade gifts – from coupon books promising clean rooms and help with cleaning to artwork to jewelry.
Our daughter, Sarah, inherited my mother’s knack for gifting in a way that makes the recipient feel known. She has given me paintings that reflect my love of sunflowers and of the beach. Her artwork always has an element that shows me she knows me. On the beach painting, she glued some shells that we had gathered when we walked on the beach together. Her personalized touch included an element of our treasured memory.
Her boyfriend, Cade, painted a picture of our house and surprised my husband with it last Christmas. Before that, we didn’t even know Cade painted, much less so well. It was a thoughtful gift that reflected the values of home and family that he knew my husband held dear.
When you can’t make gifts, you can find locally made gifts that reflect your thoughtfulness. Farmers markets and arts and crafts shows and galleries are wonderful places to receive inspiration and find the perfect gift.
One Christmas morning, my husband handed me a large, heavy, loosely wrapped gift. As I unwrapped it, I nearly cried as it was a mixed media mermaid that I had admired online. I was going to reach out to the artist when I saw that it had been sold nearly as quickly as she had listed it. I never told my husband about it. Yet here it was! My husband knew that I was drawn to Katherine Devine’s art and have a fascination with mermaids.
It is that attention that we give to knowing someone that helps us personalize a gift. It is noticing what they notice, what brings them joy and finding a gift that will convey that.
Sometimes, we feel we aren’t good at making things or that people would prefer a store-bought gift. There are some things our loved ones want that we cannot make – like video games or make up kits or Lego sets. Collectible items and board games can only be purchased, not made. Even so, we can include a little something that we have made just for them. Perhaps a handmade shelf to display their cherished items or a photo collage of your times together.
Remember when mixtapes were a thing? It might seem funny now to recall the endless hours picking and choosing just the right songs and recording them on a cassette or CD. Wasn’t it great to receive one though? It was just for you. It was special. Now it is easier with streaming playlists and still thoughtful.
Perhaps you could pen a poem, or a letter filled with memories and appreciation. Don’t fancy yourself a writer? Find a book with prompts to fill out. My children did that one year, and I love reading the things they love about me and their memories of me.
One year, I gave pottery I painted at Glazed Bisque-It. For my parents and in-laws, I gave a platter with our children’s footprints made into butterflies and handprints into flowers. My sister received a mug with flowers I modeled after a bowl she loved. While I painted, I thought of the things I admired and loved about each person. I infused those gifts with love.
In a world where we can order almost anything with a quick search and a few clicks, homemade gifts are a testament to the love, care and creativity of the giver. They hold a special place in the hearts of the giver and the recipient.
The thought, effort and personal touch that go into making homemade gifts are priceless and make them stand out in a sea of mass-produced items. The next time you are pondering the perfect gift, consider harnessing your creative spirit and crafting something unique and meaningful. Homemade gifts not only warm the heart but also demonstrate the true spirit of giving.
Here are a few homemade gift ideas:
- Food ideas: Homemade jams, herb-infused olive oils or vinegars, baked goods (try peppermint cake or spiced donuts for a twist on the traditional cookies).
- Pampering products: Lip scrubs, bath scrubs and bath salts are easy to make and require only a few ingredients. Add essential oils of their favorite scents.
- Getting cozy: Crocheted or knitted blankets, scarves and hats and gloves.
- Art inspiration: Drawings, paintings, sculptures or pottery. Make a mug or a bowl, or buy one and paint it.
- Photo gifts: Take some artsy ones and frame them, make a collage or scrapbook, add photos to a canvas bag or a blanket, mug or mousepad.
- Recipe book: Gather your favorite recipes and those of the recipient and put them together with pictures in a recipe book.
- Write it: Write a story, a poem or an essay just for the recipient. Fill a jar with pieces of paper on which you have written motivational quotes, things you love and appreciate about the recipient or fun things to do depending on what you think they would enjoy most.
The story above is from our November/December 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
