Making my friend a gift...a good thing?

[RuneGuardian]

I won't see my best friend again until the 7th (when my Christmas break ends), and he will end up getting his Christmas gift then. For his gift, I am making him a custom plushie, designed to his liking. I had told him a few months back that I had gotten into making plushies and he asked me if I'd make one for him. I agreed, but I did not have the proper material for the project - material I did not have the chance to purchase until I came home two weeks ago (no fabric stores or Wal-Marts where I attend college). I digress.

My question is this: Does this seem like an okay gift? I'm not trying to cop out of buying him something, but the truth is I don't know what I could get him - he has all the CDs for his favorite band and I haven't found any t-shirts of said band that I have not gotten for him for other occasions. I intend to get him some gingersnaps and ginger ale as 'side' gifts (he cannot get enough of either), but I'm just wondering if the handmade gift will be okay. He doesn't wear jewelry or hats, he's got more clothes than he knows what to do with, and he already got the book he wanted from his dad.

Do you think the plushie will be okay? Or will it look more like I'm trying to be a cheapskate?

[freakyfemme]

It sounds perfect.  Could you maybe post a picture of the finished plushie before you give it to him?

[Adah]

This sounds wonderful. I love to receive handmade gifts -- they usually are the best ones! And I love to make them. I'd love to know what a plushie is, tho.

[veryfluffy]

So often I read about how important it is to "buy a gift". I can't think of anything better than something that has been personally made. These days, really, if someone wants a particular item they can choose it and pay for it themselves. Why should someone feel they need to buy it for them? I think buying a gift for someone because it is unique and they would not have found it themselves, or a slightly extravagant item them wouldn't get for themselves is great. But if someone would go out and buy the item themselves, then what is the point? Something handknit, or handsewn, or baked or whatever is (to me) much more of a gift.

[RuneGuardian]

To answer Adah's question, the plushie is a black cat plushie with green and purple on the paws and tail and the Psychopathic Records hatchet man as one of the eyes (Friend is an obsessive fan of Insane Clown Posse). If I ever put film in my camera, I'll get a couple shots of it and post them here.

Thank you all for your advice. I feel better knowing I don't look like I'm giving a cheap cop-out gift.

[ccnumber4]

Definately not cheap.  He will love it!

[blue_bunny_paz]

I think it's very thoughtful of you to make a gift. It's the cost of your time in making it that should be counted, not the financial cost.

[fluffy]

I've handmade many gifts, and they've always been well received. In fact, handmade gifts tend to get remembered when cds, clothes, etc are forgotten. My step-sibling still talk about the pj's that I sewed for them when they were little (who wouldn't love Hogwarts pajamas?). I've made quilts as major gifts and people still gush over how much they love them.

Handmade gifts cost money (for materials) and a lot of time. IMHO, I would rather receive something homemade, that was made with care and which came from the heart, than anything that came from the mall.

[gjcva1]

Rune, as has already been said, i also love a handmade gift, something that someone makes just for ME!  i have a simply lovely Christmas wreath, that was given to me two years ago by my son's girlfriend.  i kept talking about making a new one, and lo and behold, i HAD a simply gorgeous one, something that was suited just for me two years at Christmas!  we love to hang it every single year. 

the materials may or may not cost more that you would have spent for a store-bought gift.  but the thought you put into the plushie, and the time you spent making it?  i'll bet this will be a gift your friend will appreciate for years!

[Bea]

Has anyone else caught the little "TLC Life Lessons" thing on the Learning Channel, where the life lesson is "Homemade gifts are fine... if you're seven."??  That makes me so furious!  Some of the most heartfelt and wonderful gifts I've ever given (and received) have been the handmade ones.  Handmade by adults, not seven year olds.  Yeesh.

[platys]

I think gifting handmade things are fine, as long as the person recieving it will enjoy it.  I knit for my immediate family, and they really love and appreciate it.   But, I often make them pick out their own colors and designs, unless its for something like a scarf or hat.   Also, I knit nice things - I think the idea behind the TLC commercial (which always cracks me up) is that its fine to give a crappy handmade present (which was a log in this case) when you are 7, but when you are an adult, you've got to put a bit more effort into it.

I did knit a sweater for my mother's boyfriend's son's baby.   It was a cabled Dale of Norway pattern, on size 2 needles, I used Baby Ull wool.   I made sure to put it together perfectly.  The reaction?  "Wow, you are getting really good at this!  It's almost as nice as storebought!"

They don't get knitted presents from me anymore.

[sweedetobee]

Since your friend has already stated that he wants you to make him one then he should like it.

I think that if he thinks you are being cheap then he is not a very good friend.

[think4yourself]

Since your friend has already stated that he wants you to make him one then he should like it.

I agree. A handmade gift is wonderful if you have good reason to believe that it is what the recipient would want. In this case, your gift sounds very personal and I'm sure will be well appreciated.

[Evil Duckie]

It sounds wonderful.

Why do people think that homemade means being cheap?
 
I look at homemade items as the person cared enough about me to give them a piece of themself.

[sweedetobee]

It sounds wonderful.

Why do people think that homemade means being cheap?
 
I look at homemade items as the person cared enough about me to give them a piece of themself.

I already answered this post and this might be hijacking, but I have a family member that fancies herself an artist but she's not. I know art is subjective - but she's really, really not. We always get very interesting pieces of art for presents. I'd actually rather receive nothing at all, but I can't tell her that. She's the relative where you just put stuff in a closet and then put it out when you know she's coming over. I know it is the thought that counts, but she gives conservative grandpa nudes and then the rest of us lumps of sculpture that look like waste products....