Last year I made Christmas presents for everybody to bulk up their other presents. I thought that it would save me money, but I actually did not save that much and was not overly impressed by the results. I handmade sweets, peppermint creams and fudge. Everyone who received them appeared to be happy, but I'm not sure anyone would of been honest anyway. The peppermint creams turned out to be very chunky and it made me appreciate the delicacy of ones I had previously bought. I'm not sure whether it was the egg whites, the icing sugar or the combination but I almost thought I would end up dying at one point when it got lodged and stuck in my throat, liquids seemed to make it worse and after seriously believing, that I may in fact die just before christmas from choking on the test material, I managed to dislodge it. Needless to say the spare ones remained in the fridge another week before I dare attempt another one, thankfully they had dried out a little by then. The fudge also did not go well. I used the recipe that uses condensed milk and sugar as the main ingredients. At first it was too wet and was more like a soft caramel texture, then it appeared to suddenly turn into a brick of sugar. It did not taste like fudge either. For the time it took and with the nice packaging to put them in, I don't think it was worth the initial savings. I have handmade other things like cards and tree decorations, these I am better at! I don't see why so often handmade gifts are seen as a 'cheap' alternative though. I've always found that due to the time spent on them and the cost of the materials, the savings are extremely small. I think for the personal touch though, if someone appreciates it is worth the extra effort, but this would have to be the driving factor. This year I am planning on making some snow globes. Have you had made any gifts, would you do it again? Have you made any big savings making gifts?
For some, those who are good at cooking, tailoring, embroidering, carving, etc, making gifts can be cheaper. Others like me who aren't good at any craft and for that reason can't make something anyone can hold just must buy gifts. I suppose everyone should learn a craft. You never know when it will come in handy and save you some money.
I have to say that I love creating but it does cost more to make then to buy sometimes and it is so time consuming but if there is planning and bargain hunting for the tools you need then im all for it!!@
I have had similar experiences to you. Baking can get pricey especially if you do not have the ingredients already. The nice thing is that once you build up a nice cabinet of baking spices and such, it gets a lot cheaper and easier to bake people treats for gifts. That initial payout is rough though.
I think that it depends entirely upon what you are planning on creating in conjunction to whatever you were/are planning to buy, as far as whether or not creating something yourself would be the cheaper option or not. If you were planing on buying a gift to the standard of a diamond ring, and then thought better to make one yourself in the workshop in your garage, buying the materials would probably be more expensive to create it yourself.
Haha I read that as making a diamond ring, in a garage...! Yes I think I over estimated my skills, its easy to forget (or it is/was for me) that not only are you paying for the ingredients when you purchase a food item but all of the other costs, so in many cases, most times it probably works out cheaper to buy.
I got all creative like and decided to take my Pinterest boards and let them motivate me to DiY some gifts last holiday season. BAD IDEA! I ended up spending more! The tools, supplies, fabric, glue, beads, etc... (list goes on and on!) needed for each project cost more than I usually spend on gifts AND I was exhausted and overwhelmed. I won't do it again, that's for sure!
Haha I was the same Sarah, Pinterest and all those handmade recipes in free supermarket magazines! I have things saved through Pinterest for this year but have made sure that I A. Already have all of the things needed and B. Have some experience in already making the item
Oh the disasters I have found myself in! If you ever need a good laugh, look for Pinterest fails. People are making boards dedicated to them! I've rolled laughing at them many times.
I think making gifts for other people is less expensive than buying. Last christmas I made bracelets for my family and friends. I totally save money from doing it. I think you just have to do things that interest you. I love doing crafty things so it was fun at the same time less expensive.
I love to cook so for me that's the driving force behind me cooking things I give to people. If I know someone would prefer something bought from a shop though I'd probably buy it. I think on the whole it doesn't work out any cheaper, if at all, though. I think actually they can often be a lot more expensive to be handmade than bought in a shop. Especially if you think of things like clothes. Knitting a jumper for example can cost far more because of having to buy the different wool you need. You'd be better off in many cases just buying the jumper.
I think that making your own would be so much cheaper. If you buy a bunch of the products that you need then you are able to give those same gifts to all the people that you love. If you don't do that then you have to go out and spend about $15 per gift for all the people in your life. To me, making a gift of your own is the way to go. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. Plus, people always love getting gifts that were made from the heart.
I've never been one for making my own gifts. The majority of my friends and family are on the breadline so I prefer to give a gift which has some kind of use or even just £5 to spend how they see fit.
I'm not usually very eager to get money out of my pocket for ephemeral things, so I just take a DIY approach most of the times. Though you can trust me that if you buy the same product from a Chinese bulk site, you'd come off way better. Though this doesn't apply if crafting is your true hobby!
I have never been very crafty, but when it comes to gifts, I think a hand made gift gives it more of a personal touch if you have taken the time to make it yourself! I recently made my friend a cabinet with some wood I had sat in the garden. Gave it a lick of paint and it looked shop bought! It is easy when you put your mind to things!
I don't like making any gifts, but my mom used to do that all the time by cooking baked macaroni and other dishes for her friends. I think when it comes to cooking, you can definitely save a lot as compared to just buying food. I just don't know if it's cheaper to make your own gifts when it comes to other things.
I find it much easier to create things, and I often make small hampers and things like that so that family can see that I have put quite a lot of effort into the gifts that I have made. I always think that effort is more effective than money when it comes to gifts, so I am always much more likely to put thought into something rather than just buying things. People do tend to appreciate them much more, as a general rule!
For me it is cheaper to buy a gift then make it because I am not very creative when it comes to making gifts. I have done up scrapbooks for people in the past and they loved them. They were a lot of work though and quite costly by the time I got it all together. They were a nice personal gift but usually as a rule I just go out and buy a gift or get them a gift card.
Depends on the gift and the person! It can definitely be cheaper to make gifts if you're making the same thing for multiple people because then you can just buy the supplies in bulk and it comes out cheaper. Some DIYs can get expensive though especially if you don't already own a lot of the supplies so it really just depends!
Making Christmas presents from scratch is actually surprisingly fun, however once I start making them, I start thinking that I should be using higher quality things to make it look/taste better, so I actually end up spending far more than I expected to in the first place.
