Why handmade gifts are a good idea.

Drew and his snowman scarf, Christmas morning.

I love handmade gifts, they seem to always come with a story about why and how the giver picked that particular gift and how it came to be. And of course those stories get passed down and the gift becomes more and more loved. There has been a trend in our family over the last few years where the grandmothers are making more and more things for our children that are special and handmade, not to mention personalized and custom. I have noticed that these items are treated very differently than their store bought counterparts. Take my son Drew for example. He asked his Grandma Janet (Donald's mom) for a scarf with a snowman on it for Christmas. She didn't crochet so she asked her nephews girlfriend (Denise) to do the honors, and she did a fantastic job. So Christmas morning Drew found his snowman scarf under the tree. He must have jumped up and down for 5 mins, screaming "It is my snowman scarf, it is my snowman scarf". It never finds its way to the floor, he tells everyone he meets about it and of course has to show it off. Where are the toys that his dad and I bought? In the toy box forgotten...he will probably play with them another 3-4 times and then he will forget about them completely. However I think the snowman scarf will be around until Drew is a grown man. He says he is going to give it to his child when he is grown. If you take a look around our home there are crocheted afghans, handmade hats, beautiful quilts and unique artwork, all lovingly gifted by friends and family. They all come with their own story and memory, I wouldn't trade them for anything. This year I want to spend my time creating little masterpieces to give to our friends and family, things that make their spaces more interesting and more personal. Gifts with character.