Making it – handmade and second hand birthday gifts
March 30, 2009
First off, I’d like to thank Livemom for giving me the idea of this blog post. She wondered about what to ask of guests coming to a birthday party. Can you ask guests to bring nothing? If someone did, would you follow suit?
My kids are by now used to the idea that all the birthday gifts we bring to parties are either handmade or second hand. We have a pretty decent repertoire now of things we can make the morning of a party and a few more too that take a little more forethought and time. We also like to give second-hand, and really like to hit the thrift stores in search of something special for the birthday boy or girl. It gives us an excuse to go to the thrifty (as we like to call it) and while there, in search of, we are spending good energy thinking about the recipient.
It took me a while to embrace the idea of giving second hand proudly. At first it seemed it might be perceived as cheap. It was my now 11 year old daughter who helped me get over that. She went to a particularly high falutin’ birthday party of a friend and her thrift store gift with a handmade embellishment was the hit of the day. Truly the birthday girl’s favorite. My daughter, then 8 or 9 exclaimed proudly, “and we got it at the thrift store!” This was to a family that never went to the thrifty and if they did it was ONLY to drop off. My identity revealed, though I was a bit embarrassed at the time, from then on I embraced it. Lesson learned from my daughter to tread the idea of second-hand proudly. And now that second-hand falls under the green umbrella, it can actually be considered somewhat innovative and definitely earth friendly.
For girls it seems so easy to come up with an entire list of handmade gifts. I have made aprons, personalized and stitched gift cards with a cloth carry-all, head scarves, embellished t-shirts, birthday prayer flags, pencil rolls, and lots more – all made with upcyled or recycled materials of course.
For boys it’s a little less clear what handmade things to make. The headscarf, letter-writing thing seems more girl oriented without a doubt. Of course boys write letters, but the stationary kit is definitely more girl-friendly. Slowly though I have created a boy repertoire as well – although admittedly my 9 year old son still would rather purchase the gifts than give the handmade. Something along the Lego, Star Wars line of thinking would be his preference but he’s getting there.
I stumbled upon a favorite one recently though that is easy to make and gets my son’s gift giving approval. Using discarded pleather upholstery samples, which we got from a deceased boat upholsterer and come in conveniently sized 3″x6″ strips, I make personalized snap cuff bracelets – cool enough for any girl or boy. We put the child’s name on it or some other personally influenced applique also made from a contrasting pleather strip, a snap or button closure, and voila, a one-of-a-kind birthday gift.
I’m compiling a list of my favorites, which I’ll run by my kids for their approval. I’ll put the list up here soon enough and break it down into a tutorial and/or a three-day project as well so stay tuned. In the meantime, I’d like to know, what kind of handmade or second hand birthday gifts do you like to give?
Posted in upcycling
March 30th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Bern,
Any pics of the fabulous personalized snap cuff bracelet? I am in love with this idea. Thanks as usual for the inspiration! Can’t wait to see your tutorial on this subject.
xxoox
Anne Marie
March 30th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Pictures coming. Really. I promise. Don’t hold your breath.
March 30th, 2009 at 11:03 am
I’m huge into handmade gifts. Jewelry is always a big hit as is clothing if you know the person. I also like to make art for kid’s rooms. If you’re interested, I have a handmade gift guide on my blog. It’s under the Handmade Gift Guide button in the right hand margin. Last Christmas I started compiling links to great gift tutorials for babies, grandparents, teachers, boys, etc so I would never be at a loss for a handmade gift. I love it! I’m hoping to do the same later this year and end up with even more gift guides. Go handmade!
March 30th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I love this post! I’ve struggled with birthday parties and gift giving too. I once thrifted this really cool giant plastic skull for a little boy’s birthday and was thrilled–until I saw it next to all the giant Lego sets. He seemed to like it and it was prominently displayed in his room the next time we saw him…and all the Legos were probably scattered all over the place.
I am trying to fully embrace the second-hand/handmade gift giving with pride. This post was great, thanks so much!
March 30th, 2009 at 11:08 am
ps: I can’t wait to see your list, I have boys so handmade gifts are definitely trickier for them…
March 30th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Ok, this is my last comment of the day, I promise! I just remembered that I made a simple felt superhero cape for a little boy’s birthday last year, it was cute, easy, fun and inexpensive and he liked it!
March 31st, 2009 at 9:45 am
Gals-I have a request…..I am wondering if you might invent some kind of a groovy skirt that would be easy enough for a gal of 8 to make for herself or for one of her friends as a gift. Could be t-shirt or even out of seed bags or ? My big one wants to be a fashion designer, natch!
xo
March 31st, 2009 at 9:57 am
hey all!
sarah, i’ve got a great tee shirt skirt pattern that would be perfect for making and gifting for 8 and up year olds. good idea. i’ll post a tute pronto.
blue mama- i’ve also got some fun boy’s gifts comin’- some easy to make games and outdoor toys that are fun for the whole family!
kathie
April 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
i’m very excited about all that you are doing in the world of future craft. this is one of our handmade gift idea….
http://whatmookiethinks.blogspot.com/2009/02/diy-chore-charts-and-placemats.html
April 4th, 2009 at 4:36 am
i love reading this post (as i have several times!), so thank you for posting about it. i’m making my kids’ birthdays handmade (gifts, crowns, decorations). when the time comes to visit other kids’ parties, i’ll remember this blog. it has been inspiring
April 4th, 2009 at 8:12 am
We just had my son’s 3rd birthday. On the evite we said, “Gifts are not necessary. Max won’t notice and we won’t care. If you do want to bring something, hand-me-downs, kid-made, and second hand items are great.” One friend sewed a bookbag for him, then put some hand me down books inside. Great idea!
I have also made superhero capes (for boys and girls both), crowns, aprons, stuffed toys, beanbags, etc. My son was too young to do much with these projects, but he has used fabric markers to draw on fabric that we can incorporate. It’s harder as the gift recipient gets older to think of what to make. I love the cuff idea!
April 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Thanks so much! I feel very inspired now and am ready for all of those birthday parties!