Budget homemade gift people go WOW over?

[prncess674]

i have one of those 'fire hazards' and it is perfectly safe.

Umm, just because it didn't catch fire yet, doesn't mean it is safe. Placing electrical wiring in a small enclosed space where it can overheat in a glass container that was never meant to withstand high temps. Glass can overheat.

By using your line of thinking, it hasn't caught fire yet so it must be safe, then I could give a child a gun and let them play with it. If the child hasn't shot themselves (or someone else) yet then it must be safe.

 

[olwyngdh]

That sounds wonderful!

I figure if they put up with motormouth, I mean my DD, they deserve all the relaxation they can get!

 

[lukenick1]

Umm, just because it didn't catch fire yet, doesn't mean it is safe. Placing electrical wiring in a small enclosed space where it can overheat in a glass container that was never meant to withstand high temps. Glass can overheat.

By using your line of thinking, it hasn't caught fire yet so it must be safe, then I could give a child a gun and let them play with it. If the child hasn't shot themselves (or someone else) yet then it must be safe.

I used LED lights and they don't even get "warm". As far as the give a child a gun comment...... seriously??????

 

[aprilgail2]

Not trying to sound rude, but someone gave me one of these a few years ago and I thought it looked like a major fire hazard. I thanked the person that evening, send a hand written thank you and then promptly dropped it in the Goodwill bag. It seemed tacky and also like a fire hazard. I have also seem the same concept with a mason jar stuffed with a strand of lights and some potpourri. If you are trying to save, then just give a $5 GC to Target or Starbucks or a local grocery.

I can't say that I would like that gift either---lights in a bottle?? I can't imagine a place in my house where I would "display" such a thing. I think I would prefer a5.00 gift card also.

 

[CherylA]

As you have seen by several unpleasant responses - I stopped giving homemade gifts, home baked cookies, pictures, etc. To the ones that truly appreciate the gester - still get them. Otherwise I now make a donation in the person's name to a charity. That "$5 gift card to Target" is now going to someone that is more deserving of my time and money. The miserable get nothing and someone deserving gets something. Win, Win in my book.

Amen to that. I can't believe the number of snarky 'just give me a $5 gift card' responses this thread is getting. Charity is a much better way to go. I wouldn't buy a bunch of ungrateful people gift cards!

For what it's worth the wine bottles with light strings are really pretty. I personally think they look nicer if you can drill a hole in the bottom for the cord and then put the cork in the top. The potporri thing does sound like it could be a fire hazard but the regular bottles with the light strands are not.

Oh and I think I'm making homemade biscotti on glass plates my kids decoupaged as my "tacky" homemade gift this year. But only for the people who I KNOW will appreciate it! (Which luckily is pretty much everyone in my family)

Really you guys don't think these are pretty?
http://witandwhistle.com/?p=1041
http://chloesblog.bigmill.com/uploads/Image/Wine-bottle-lights-322.jpg

 

[Disfamily0405]

wow...I have to say that people grumbling about getting ANYTHING for Christmas is the reason why most of the people I know are exiled to the card list until they can prove they are no longer unappreciative of the thought. everyone else gets nice cookies, brownies, the like or whatever cute project I discovered through out the year. I am only 28 and I was raised to accept the gift graciously and not complain behind someones back about not getting the gift that I wanted.

 

[iheartnmr's]

I'd rather have the wine that was in the bottle than the bottle itself. lol

 

[FLA NUT]

 

[CherylA]

There is a whole thread of homemade gift ideas here. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1577395

Yeah great thread! Totally worth checking out!

 

[Fyrefly]

I think what a lot of people are saying is that a "dust catcher" like lights in a bottle wouldn't appeal to them. TBH, if someone gave that to me as a "homemade gift from the heart", I would think they didn't know me very well and it might hurt my feelings a little because of that. I have a small apartment and I'm not fond of dust catchers, plus I have my own Christmas decorations already. So if you felt obligated to give me a gift and didn't know me well enough to know I hate dust catchers, I'd go for the $5 gift card or nothing at all so I don't have to get rid of it and you don't waste money on me. Does that make sense?

In the vein of good homemade gifts, I like baking breads. People love baked goods, and cookies get done a lot. So making some nice cranberry bread or something else fruity and festive, especially all wrapped up in colored cellophane and ribbon, can have a different kind of "oomph" than what people are used to getting.

You can also make some very pretty ornaments by squirting different paints inside of glass balls and shaking them around. Very easy for the kids if you can trust them not to drop. Just squirt and let them do the shaking! With some nice personalization in marker or careful painting on the front they can be fun. My drama teacher made pink balls for the club after our production of Grease with our names and character names on them as a thank-you gift, and they went over really well.

 

[lukenick1]

I swear I am a magnet for unwanted comments.....I never asked if anyone liked my gift idea. I asked what other ideas people have come up with for a gift. Got to love the DIS!!!

 

[lukenick1]

You can also make some very pretty ornaments by squirting different paints inside of glass balls and shaking them around. Very easy for the kids if you can trust them not to drop. Just squirt and let them do the shaking!

Tried those and they end up a color mixed brown or purple. Not to mention the paint cracks inside after a while.

 

[MEM]

Back when I was the "crafts leader" for my son's cub scout den, we made the Mason jar lights filled with potpourri and they look lovely when lit, especially in the bathroom - it makes a great nightlight. We used a mild cinnamon scented potpourri. Not sure where a PP got the idea they would be a fire hazard? The lights stay cool and to the best of my knowledge, glass doesn't burn. I guess that poster doesn't keep a live Christmas tree because they ARE a major fire hazard.

This year I was planning to make Alton Brown's "White Trash" snack mix and present it in one of the 2 billion Mason jars I have. Now I'm not so sure, because someone might think it really IS trash.

I always hesitate to open these kinds of threads because the suggestion that a gift I made might get thrown out, just makes me sad.

 

[Fyrefly]

Tried those and they end up a color mixed brown or purple. Not to mention the paint cracks inside after a while.

Hmm. Maybe its the kind of paint you use? I have pretty blue and gold ones from when I was in elementary school that are still good.

I think all my mom had on hand when we made them was fabric paint. It would explain the not cracking, and maybe the colors don't mix as well?

 

[Earstou]

Hmm. Maybe its the kind of paint you use? I have pretty blue and gold ones from when I was in elementary school that are still good.

I think all my mom had on hand when we made them was fabric paint. It would explain the not cracking, and maybe the colors don't mix as well?

You don't shake them, that mixes the colors. You tilt and swirl them to get good patterns, or you just let them drip down.
Mine have started cracking, too. I used acrylic paints about 8 years ago.

 

[CinRell]

well, I have made those "tacky fire hazard" jars (I get the fish bowl looking kind you see at craft stores) with potpouri and christmas lights. People I've given them to LOVE and use them. I decorate the top lip with a nice material border. NEVER had an issue with overheating. Christmas lights are made to be safe on a tree up against glass ornaments overnight for goodness sakes! The SLIGHT heating the lights cause heat up the potpouri and scent the room. Obviously you don't leave it on for days on end. I'm happy to have seen my little scent jars in my friends house each holiday and they didn't put my work I did for them in the garbage immediately after receiving it.

I've seen the wine bottles at a winery by me but they were expensive! They did have the drilled hole in the bottom side for the cord to go through. They had rubber grapes hanging from the top.... they were gorgeous and I wanted one very badly. I'd love if a friend gave me one!

 

[SaraJayne]

I'm with you. My aunt got me a canning jar filled with lights and potpourri. Went right in the garbage when I got home.

Personally I think the handmade gifts that have a "wow" factor are more sentimental in nature. Similar to what some PPs described; a scrapbook, etc. I think a quilt too is along the same lines, although only if you have fabric laying around or you're piecing one together from some treasured clothes.

I agree with you. Tacky gifts go in the garbage, regardless of who they came from. After I show appropriate appreciation, of course.

Last year for Christmas, my Mom made each of her daughters a recipe book of all my Grandmother's (who passed 8 years ago) Christmas cookie/candy. All of the recipes are in my Gram's handwriting, with our individual favorites in the front slot.

Now *that* was a "Wow!" gift.

 

[punkin]

Back when I was the "crafts leader" for my son's cub scout den, we made the Mason jar lights filled with potpourri and they look lovely when lit, especially in the bathroom - it makes a great nightlight. We used a mild cinnamon scented potpourri. Not sure where a PP got the idea they would be a fire hazard? The lights stay cool and to the best of my knowledge, glass doesn't burn. I guess that poster doesn't keep a live Christmas tree because they ARE a major fire hazard.

This year I was planning to make Alton Brown's "White Trash" snack mix and present it in one of the 2 billion Mason jars I have. Now I'm not so sure, because someone might think it really IS trash.

I always hesitate to open these kinds of threads because the suggestion that a gift I made might get thrown out, just makes me sad.

What's a "white trash" snack mix? I have to look it up now.

 

[SaraJayne]

You can also make some very pretty ornaments by squirting different paints inside of glass balls and shaking them around. Very easy for the kids if you can trust them not to drop. Just squirt and let them do the shaking! With some nice personalization in marker or careful painting on the front they can be fun. My drama teacher made pink balls for the club after our production of Grease with our names and character names on them as a thank-you gift, and they went over really well.

I've made the glass bulbs with paint in them before and people loved them!! Topped off with a pretty ribbon and they're very pretty. Five years later, they still look great!

The trick is using enough paint and swirling the colors instead of mixing.

 

[PSULion]

One year I made wine cork trivets. I just glued all the corks into picture frames with the glass removed. My family absolutely loved them and a few people actually hung them on their walls cause they thought they were so neat.

I had been saving corks for awhile so I had a decent amount on hand, but when the first couple trivets came out great and I decided to do them for my whole family, I did have to supplement with corks from Ebay. It still came out to be an inexpensive gift. Unfortunately more and more companies are switching to synthetic corks or screw tops so I don't get nearly as many for crafting anymore.