Christmas is not too far away. For holiday fanatics like me, it’s just about enough time to get everything prepared for the festive season and that includes everything from deciding the Christmas dinner menu to ensuring everyone gets their perfect presents.
Now to most people, preparing Christmas gifts would simply mean a dedicated few days of Christmas gift shopping with a slimmer wallet/purse to show for it; to some others who prefer a more personal touch to their gifts or can’t exactly afford to buy everything off the shelf, it means it’s time to get working on Christmas arts and crafts.
I hope you don’t mistaken people who make their own gifts or decorations as cheapskates, because it’s not necessarily true.
On top of the love and dedication it actually takes to knit a sweater, weave/stitch a beaded tapestry or even bake those cute cookies; some monetary investment is required for raw materials. Of course the idea is to work with what you already have but sometimes you might not have enough of it or if it’s about a specific project, you might have to go out and buy all the materials from scratch.
It is worth noting that sometimes handmade gifts can actually end up being pretty expensive gifts. Without taking into consideration of the value of the handwork involved, the raw materials alone, depending what is used could easily make the gift a pretty pricey one.
I don’t claim to be exceptionally great at arts and craft but I do love them for several reasons:
- It’s a great way to spend quality time with your children. It’s something that always allowed for bonding time between my mother and me, even up until now that hasn’t changed.
- It is an eco-friendly activity/hobby that encourages recycling, reduction of waste as well as the renewal of nostalgic items. Your tattered old sweater knitted for you by your late grandmother could very well come alive again as a teddy bear for your daughter!
- It encourages the mind to be creative and innovative as you work to turn what seems like great pieces of nothing and into priceless treasures! An imperative skill that is required to help sustain the environment.
- A wonderful life-sustaining skill to possess because you can sell your works or even earn from giving lessons teaching them to others.
As a parent would rejoice in receiving even the most imperfect handmade Christmas card from his or her child, so should everyone else when they receive a handmade present. What does it matter even if were made from reminiscence of your old baby quilt and came wrapped in a page of old calendar?
Presents are in truth just representations, their true value lays not so much in its monetary cost but instead what it represents.
The fact that a personally handmade present is the embodiment of the givers love, devotion, honour for you as well as his or her desire to delight you makes it priceless! Add that to the fact that your gift did not come at the further expense of nature…what’s there not to love about it?
Image source: Freefoto
