Don't give homemade Christmas gifts that no-one wants! Get tips for great hand made gifts that everyone will love.
One year, I gave a friend who loves to cook a fondue pot for Christmas, only to find out that she had already received that gift from two other people that very same year! It was extremely embarrassing. When you make your own gift, you have the luxury and comfort of knowing that this will never happen to you.
Home décor:
People love decorating their homes for the Holidays so creating Holiday themed gifts to distribute to friends and family is a great idea. Whether you are hand sewing holiday themed pillows or hand-painting beautiful glass tree ornaments, you want to be sure that the item you are giving will be able to stand the test of time. Because the receiver will not open the gift until Christmas day, or maybe just before, they won't have long to put your gift on display this year. This means it needs to still be in style next year and, ideally, the year after that and the year after that and so on.
Goody baskets:
Many people find that assembling gift baskets is an economical and efficient way to give everyone on their list a home-made gift. There is a problem with gift baskets though. In order for them to be truly economical, the assembler needs to buy the items in bulk. This means that everyone gets the same basket. Handing out smoked sausage and cheese gift baskets to a vegetarian is thoughtless, defeating the thoughtful nature of a home-made gift; but including items of interest for each person in each basket can be costly. Try grouping people with similar interests together and come up with items you know everyone in that group will enjoy. That way you can still buy in bulk to some degree without having to give everyone the exact same gift.
Clothing and accessories:
Clothing is in one season, out the next, so it is nearly impossible to give exciting and trendy home-made clothes that a person will be able to wear for years, so don't worry about the item's long term wear-ability. Go ahead and re-create the hottest trends, as long as you are giving it to them in a timely fashion. 'Tis better to give something stylish than to give someone a classic Santa sweater. To increase the odds that the item you make will be in style for longer, make a trendy item in a classic color or style. For example, instead of making a neon colored scarf, make one in a classic khaki, black or red.
