Iiiiit’s Saturday! That means it’s time for the third round of The Paddy Factor!

Today’s topic: Is handmade always better than shop-bought? Why?

Funnily enough, Emma was only the second person I ever gifted a handmade present to and I blogged it here at the time. I made her a pair of wristwarmers.

So why was Emma only the second person to receive something I’d made as a gift? Well, quite simply I didn’t believe that things I’d made were ‘real’ presents. I didn’t think my projects were of a high enough quality to gift and I worried that anyone receiving something I’d made would think that I’d copped out or worse, that I was too much of a cheapskate to spend money on them. The problem is that I spend January to November saving up so I can purchase random tat for the people in our life, just so that they have a gift to open.

Last year, I worked out that even if we bought only for our closest family and friends and allocated only £10 per person we were still going to be out £500 before we even looked at gifts for each other or the children as we have been blessed with a large family and superb network of buddies. Now tell me, friends. What can you buy for £10 these days? More to the point, what can you buy for £10 that has depth and meaning? That shows your giftee that you have considered their personality, hobbies and importance to you? Even more pressing was my concern that with a family of our size, £500 is a lot of money that really could be put to better use than increasing the dividends paid to the shareholders of the High Street. Every year I find myself running around the almost-bare shelves of High Street shops at 2pm on Christmas Eve almost crying with fear that I might not get something – anything – for somebody. Where is the meaning in that?

Reading about Charlotte‘s christmas hampers (flick back a page or two to see what she made) was a serious wake up call – handmade and homemade did not mean that less thought or effort had been put in. In fact it was the exact opposite! I read about how much effort she and her husband put into their Christmas gifts and realised how much I’d have loved to have received a gift with such effort put into it.

With the advent of online selling communities, it has become trendy to buy from artisans and crafters who produce on a small scale and for me this is still within the realms of handmade. I appreciate only too well how difficult it can be to find the time to craft as I can only do it when the older children are at school & nursery and Greer’s asleep, but by supporting these selling communities not only can you find more individual items – you are also ensuring that your chosen shop owner has an income. In my experience most of these shops are run by people like me – work-at-home parents or simply creative types who require a base to set themselves up.

The best gift I have ever been given came from my husband and I posted about it here. It’s a one-off, I couldn’t potter into the city and find 20 copies of the same thing staring back at me. It’s individual and more to the point, it was a very personal thing with meaning.

In short? I do believe that handmade is far superior to shop-bought, but I do still have lingering doubts that any gifts I make will be accepted in the spirit they’re proferred. In those cases, there’s always Etsy, Folksy, DaWanda, Coriandr, Misi and a host of other sites providing shop space for crafters and artists selling handmade lovelies that I’d be proud to gift. And which (to me) are a more ethical and thoughtful way to buy presents.

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