Making your friend or loved one something isn't just for kids. While what you are going to make them, and
how has probably changed a lot since you were a kid (I know it has for me) here are some reasons that being
able to do that as an adult absolutely rocks.
1. No way anybody else got them the same thing
I have to imagine (because I didn't actually know as of when I wrote this) that I wasn't
the only person to give my friends a picture frame for
their wedding gift, or some of my other friends a baby blanket
when they had their first kids, but the nice thing, but I can safely say nobody else got them the exact same one...and
nobody else can ever get them one just like it in the cases I am refering to like it because these gifts are different
from anything I sell in my shop.
2. Cost
Okay for me this has been a mixed bag because I am just creative enough
to have what a friend of mine calls a bone yard of stuff left over from other
art projects...a lot of other art projects...I may
have lost count of how many a long time ago because I built this up over the course of
most of my adult life if not going back into being a kid...but also cash strapped and dealing
with other hardships to not be fully set up for some types of art
projects at all enough so that weather it costs me more, less, or the same amount as just
buying something can vary depending on the item
The other thing about cost is that sometimes even if it costs you more than
just buying something you sometimes (depending on what kind of art you do)
you might be able to give someone else something that a truly comparable
item might have still cost several times as much money as you personally
put into making it...not always but it's not unheard of by any means. However
what money can't buy is priceless is the fact that they can honestly say
they know the artist.
3. It's a good way to make the phrase �it's the thought that counts� something
that is front and center in your gift giving
Talk about risky, if you don't know the person that well, or think you know
more than it turns this is one place where art
and gift giving can backfire...what do I think they need? Do I think they would
enjoy it? Is it something I am think they can use? Is there something about their
lives I know of that should go into making something for them? If it turns out
I'm dead wrong, or they want to talk to me about what I was thinking that's a
scary thought...but if say your friend either likes or at least used to like photography
and thinks bugs are cool gluing some change color bug lights to a
picture frame as a wedding gift is a
lot less thoughtless than it looks, I just hope said friend and her new husband
know that nothing about what I was doing with that was random.
4. You know they won't return it
Personally I'm not someone who is generally offended by the idea that if a person doesn't
like what you got them (I've even gone with someone to return something I got them because
it wasn't everything I hoped it would be for them), or there's something wrong with it
(like the size in the case of clothing items...though I have to imagine this one might suck
too for someone's who thing is making home made clothing if they don't know somebodies size)
if it will mean they get something they like/enjoy unless there's a bit more that needs to be
said about the thought that went into the item that I was giving them in the first place that
I should probably be saying something more to them than just �here it is�. But for those people
out there that are offended by that, or would be in certain cases this is one place making
something rather than buying something rocks, there's no returning it to the store when you
didn't get it at the store...so all those uncomfortable thoughts of it being exchanged or
returned, now you only have to worry about the re-gifting situations and trash cans...sorry
people can't you help with that one.
5. It's about a zillion times more fun
For the purposes of full disclosure I have not checked out the questions of if a
zillion is a real number or a fictional just trying to make a point number or if
there's in fact a correct way to measure how much more fun it is...however we can
safely assume exact results about how much extra fun it would be will vary...That
being said:
Growing up, and then into a lot of my early adult years (given that my medical issues
created finical issues) up having to give gifts honestly sometimes felt like a
punishment...and I will admit that over the years I have had some really hard
(if not outright traumatic given my age and understanding of the what was going
on at the time) experiences with watching others receive gifts and discounts while
I was basically being told screw you (as a kid this was often because my parents made
more money than many of the other parents while those same kids who's parents had less
money often were given several times as much allowance money as I was). Even going as
far sometimes as feeling like being asked to give something to another person is like
being told that the express purpose is to take away from me so that I would have less
because that was what people thought I didn't deserve even the slightest thing.
As bad as all of that is, making something special for a friend when there is a
special occasion (and this has proven true for charitable giving as well for me
over time) and being able to have some fun in the process has helped giving go
from 100% agonizing to being something that (at least once in awhile) can be very
joyful. I usually have some much fun making it that I can't imagine feeling pain
related to giving a gift for that event.
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