Homemade v Storebought Gifts

[Matt555]

I was thinking of making my girlfriend a some king of homemade gift rather than buying something at the store. Do homemade gifts make people look cheap or thoughtful?

[Wolfdroid]

I think it makes you look thoughtful as it shows you've put the effort into making something yourself rather than just nipping to the shop quickly. With gifts, for me at least, it's about the thought rather than the expense.

[smackie9]

Store bought can still be thoughtful and have meaning too.....like their favorite video game or DVD they have been wanting, gift certificate to a spa, etc. It shows you are paying attention to them.

[TheEvilJester]

Personally, I say either one can be good. A homemade gift can be very personal, and show a lot of care and thought was put into the gift. If it is something really creative, or something you know will be very much appreciated (maybe it somehow holds special meaning to the person) then it can be great.

On a side note: I'm actually kind of mad at myself for wasting an awesome and thoughtful personal gift on somebody who didn't deserve it. My ex-wife and I used to play board games sometimes. Just stuff like Life, Monopoly, that sort of thing. So, one Christmas, I actually made this whole board game based on us. I printed out fake money in different ammounts and each one had different pictures of us. I made game pieces of each of us to be your actual character in the game. The game cards where you either lost or earned money all had things to do with our lives. She pretended to think it was great, but later I found it very obvious she didn't care one bit.

Now I kind of ruined the idea. It isn't like I could use it again for a new gal who deserves it more if I ever get another girlfriend/wife. That would go very well. "How did you ever get such a creative idea," "Oh, I did it once for my loser ex-wife, but she didn't give a crap that I went to all the effort to make a special gift."

Anyway, sorry. Didn't mean to side track.

I always felt, though, that sometimes it is really hard to make personal gifts like that. I, for one, am not all that artistically talented, so I never was able to make something for somebody. So, I usually have no choice but to rely on gifts you buy in the store/online/wherever. But, those can actually be just as thoughtful as well.

So, really, if you know the person well enough to give them a gift, you should hopefully know them well enough to know if they would appreciate the homemade gift you have in mind. If they would, certainly go for it. Makes it that much more special. But, there is nothing wrong with a well thought out store bought gift as well. ;-)