But ... But ... It's Not Like It's Work! (Craft Freebies)

[ladyknight1]

I need someone who quilts to barter with me for sugarcraft and jewelry.

What kind of quilt are you looking for and what kind of sugar craft do you do?

I would like to start with a lap quilt. I make cakes, cupcakes, chocolate, cake pops, and can learn anything I haven't mentioned. I also make brookies (brownie batter and cookie dough baked together). They are very popular.

[Miss March]

I had something awkward happen once. I did a favor for someone. It involved some real time on my part, but I was completely happy to do it. The person thanked me and said she should do something for me in return. "No, you don't need to do anything. I was pleased to get that done for you," I told her. Then she said that she was a knitter and that she'd be happy to knit me a scarf as a thank you. Now, the truth is that I'm a big knitter too, and I already have a large collection of handmade scarves, but she didn't know this. I knew she was trying to show her gratitude so I smiled and said "Sure, if you want to make me a scarf, that would be lovely." She then told me that she would just need me to pay for the supplies she would use. I guess I walked right into that one.

In the end, she never did get around to making me a scarf or asking me to cover any costs. But it was awkward at the time. Now I know that if someone offers to knit me something, I should enthusiastically say "I knit too," and try to beandip by discussing what my last big project was.

[*inviteseller]

The most asked for is my potato salad (my sister swears I must put crack in it because it is addictive!) . 

Would you consider posting the recipe in the Recipe Requests folder, or is it a Secret Weapon  :-) ?  I love potato salad but have never found a good recipe to  make my own.

To be honest, I really have never used a recipe.  I just decided to make it about 15 years ago, and voila.  Basically, I peel the potatos, boil them, drain them, then put them in the fridge overnight- they are easier to work with and it doesn't get watery.  I put in diced (small) cucumbers, onions, and hard boiled eggs (I use 3 large cukes and 1 1/2 onions, and a dozen eggs per 10 lbs), mix with salad dressing instead of mayo (and any brand will do) mixed with yellow mustard.  I start with small amounts of the dressing and add a bit more until it is all mixed but not over dressed (I am not a mayonnaise or mayo like product fan so I tend to make sure while it is there, it is not too much).  Top with sliced hard boiled eggs and paprika.   

[Jocelyn]

I need someone who quilts to barter with me for sugarcraft and jewelry.

'What's sugarcraft?' inquired the quilter.

edited to add:
'Oh,' said the diabetic quilter. 'Fortunately, I like jewelry.'

[dawbs]

^this is why it's not work to painstakingly make a gazillion and one tiny craft things as a gift for my kid...but it IS work for me to sew a button on for a non-grateful stranger

[Chip2]

Had this discussion a few years back:

Guest:  that is a beautiful [Shaker-style sofa] table? Where did you get it?
MsChip:  Chip2 made it.
Guest:  he made it?
MsChip:  He selected the wood, went to the shop, hand-oiled it, everything.
Guest:  do you think he could make me one?
MsChip:  let's find out....

I ran the numbers in my my head and....

Me:  $500 probably.
Guest:  what?! No! It can't be that expensive!
Me:  the wood alone would probably run at least $300-350. And I'll need a couple of router bits, and a couple of drawer knobs to match the species, and some hardware to make some jigs....
Guest:  that's outrageous!
Me:  that's a conservative estimate.
Guest:  but you've got wood just laying around.
Me:  not that species. I used the last big piece to make this basket.
Guest:  ooh! That's pretty! Can I have it?

I'll end the story by noting that I have little patience for people who just don't get it.

Oh my! this made me laugh out loud. My hobbies produce things in a much lower price range than that. For someone to expect something from you that is so expensive is just... wow.

And $500 for a handmade sofa table sounds like a bargain!

I wouldn't have been charging for my time; I would have considered building the table good practice, plus I would have kept the leftover lumber.

Once I did have a less polite individual demand that I sell her the cradle I was building. My response? "Sure! $1000." She declined.

[SDG31000]

Even a normal tray of brownies isn't cheap if I use my favourite recipe.  Good chocolate, the best cocoa powder and caramel add up especially as I make large batches.  I've lost count of the number of times I've been "volunteered" to bake for someone's party when I wasn't even invited and lots of times didn't know the person who was hosting.

Brownies - excellent idea!

Send them to:

Magician Five
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA 56789

I'll be sure to say "thank you." You didn't want me to pay you for them, did you?

Magician5 I would gladly send brownies, but given that the UK postal service wants £6.22 to send a birthday card to my DBIL, it would probably be cheaper to come and bake them for you.  DH says the secret to my brownies is that the batter is basically there to hold all the additions together.  I use Dark, Milk and White chocolate (about 400g in total), marshmallows, caramel sauce (made from scratch) and whatever else is at hand.  Chopped up fudge bars, roasted hazelnuts and toffee pieces work well.

[Lynn2000]

I had something awkward happen once. I did a favor for someone. It involved some real time on my part, but I was completely happy to do it. The person thanked me and said she should do something for me in return. "No, you don't need to do anything. I was pleased to get that done for you," I told her. Then she said that she was a knitter and that she'd be happy to knit me a scarf as a thank you. Now, the truth is that I'm a big knitter too, and I already have a large collection of handmade scarves, but she didn't know this. I knew she was trying to show her gratitude so I smiled and said "Sure, if you want to make me a scarf, that would be lovely." She then told me that she would just need me to pay for the supplies she would use. I guess I walked right into that one.

In the end, she never did get around to making me a scarf or asking me to cover any costs. But it was awkward at the time. Now I know that if someone offers to knit me something, I should enthusiastically say "I knit too," and try to beandip by discussing what my last big project was.

Wow, that is awkward, on her part. I would've read it as, the whole point of her making something for you was to thank you for the favor you did for her. Having you pay for your thank-you kind of negates it, doesn't it?

[VorFemme]

Well, this is more of a hobby than a craft. I am a family historian. I have done it for hire before, but tend to do it for pleasure mostly.

For some reason, when people hear I do family history, they seem to think I would naturally want to do their family tree for free. Since I love it so much...right?

I had a young co-worker who came up and asked me to do a family history for her father as a birthday gift. It was about 10 days before the birthday. I explained that it was not possible to do a reasonable family history in 10 days or less. I also explained my going rate was $40 an hour.

She was completely flummoxed. According to her, all I needed to do, apparently, was to go on Ancestry.com and just plug in his name. The rest would be done by the website. Ummm, no. You can get a good amount of information on Ancestry if you know what to look at. But, to make sure the history is complete and connects the right people, you need to pull original records and double check everything. I have an extensive family history I have documented for many branches of my family. Even with easy to access computer records, it has taken me over two decades to put things together and I am still working on it.

Co-worker decided I was being completely unreasonable, especially about wanting to charge her to do it.

She got a cousin of hers to do it for her. Just after New Year's she comes up to me and shows me the family history her cousin put together. It was a mishmash of information pulled from Ancestry. An example that caught my eye pretty quickly was one set of dad's grandparents. The husband of this couple was born around 1860 and died about 1920. His wife was not born until 1910 and died in the 1980s. The only child of this couple, a son, was not born until the late 1930s. So the father had been dead over 15 years when the son was born. 

I just smiled and handed the pile of paper back to her. My thoughts, that went unsaid, is that you get what you pay for.

DD's husband's sister (SIL) has gotten the geneology bug - to the point that she is working on MY DD's family tree.

Grandma MIL is still alive - but the woman of the same name, born in a different city & state that SIL put on DD's family tree died in the 1990s or so.

I've reminded Mom that one of the things all of us would like for Christmas, with the old family photos on flash drives, would be a copy of her current version of the family tree.....

[ti_ax]

Wow, that is awkward, on her part. I would've read it as, the whole point of her making something for you was to thank you for the favor you did for her. Having you pay for your thank-you kind of negates it, doesn't it?

Honestly, would it be rude to assume a confused facial expression and ask her, "Are you seriously asking me to pay you to thank me for doing you a favor?"

[poundcake]

Even a normal tray of brownies isn't cheap if I use my favourite recipe.  Good chocolate, the best cocoa powder and caramel add up especially as I make large batches.  I've lost count of the number of times I've been "volunteered" to bake for someone's party when I wasn't even invited and lots of times didn't know the person who was hosting.

Brownies - excellent idea!

Send them to:

Magician Five
123 Main Street
Anytown, USA 56789

I'll be sure to say "thank you." You didn't want me to pay you for them, did you?

Magician5 I would gladly send brownies, but given that the UK postal service wants £6.22 to send a birthday card to my DBIL, it would probably be cheaper to come and bake them for you.  DH says the secret to my brownies is that the batter is basically there to hold all the additions together.  I use Dark, Milk and White chocolate (about 400g in total), marshmallows, caramel sauce (made from scratch) and whatever else is at hand.  Chopped up fudge bars, roasted hazelnuts and toffee pieces work well.

Those sound great! But you need to leave out the white chocolate. And the hazelnuts. Can you put peanut butter and cocoanut in them instead? And substitute extra dark chocolate? And maybe do a cute design on the top with the caramel drizzle? You know, as long as you're making them, anyway. Oh, and double the recipe, I need to take some into the office for a birthday! What time can you drop them off?

Wait, they're gluten free, aren't they??

[Shalamar]

I would have told him he was welcome to come over and I'd teach HIM how to make them.

Oh, I did.  We're good enough friends that I'm fairly blunt with him, and I said "You seem to be the only one who cares about homemade cookies - why don't YOU learn?"  (To be fair, he does do a lot of the cooking in his house.)  He said "(Wife) wants to learn," which was probably wishful thinking on his part.  That, or he was projecting his own views on what women should be like.

[TeamBhakta]

I can't tell you how many times I've heard second or third hand "Cousin / sister / aunt would like you to send your information about the TeamBhakta family tree. Email it when you get a chance." Never mind that each grandparent's side of the family is divided into big thick binders with pages and pages of photos and info. Let me just scan it all for you right now. I have several hours free, right ?

[daen]

I can't tell you how many times I've heard second or third hand "Cousin / sister / aunt would like you to send your information about the TeamBhakta family tree. Email it when you get a chance." Never mind that each grandparent's side of the family is divided into big thick binders with pages and pages of photos and info. Let me just scan it all for you right now. I have several hours free, right ?

You know, if you've got a lot of source material in hard copy, it might be a good idea to scan (or take good high-res pictures of) all of it, so you can keep a backup offsite. Spending fifteen minutes a day or an hour a week (or whatever you can spare) would break it down into a manageable series of tasks, and might save your bacon at some point down the road.
 
Emailing it would be insane, of course, but once you have it in electronic format, Cousin/Sister/Aunt can provide you with enough usb drives to save all the materials, plus whatever fee you charge for file transfer/file storage/research, and pay for you to ship the drives out to him/her/it.

[snowflake]

And that, of course, begs the question: If it's "so easy" why don't you do it yourself?  Why did you ask me at all?

I don't know why people don't think this  one through before they ask.

Because people don't see you using a hard-won talent.  They see you using some mad mystical skills.  For some reason, people are more likely to admire "Spiderman" (who needed one radioactive bite) than some ninja who trains for ten years.

I have had people say, "Oh, I tried to learn how to knit, but I can't do it like you."  I even had someone tell me, "One day I sat down and decided not to get up until I could knit very well but seven hours later my arms hurt too much and I still wasn't good."

I learned to knit because I saw my teacher making a gorgeous lacy sweater and was blown away.  I couldn't knit for the first year I knit.  But I knit every day for at least twenty minutes.  I did that for eight years and didn't knit anything decent during that time.  When I was in college I made the habit of knitting for an hour each night (while watching Star Trek) because I had to unwind somehow.  That continued for awhile and then I could make basic hats and stuff that weren't so ugly.  Then I got a job and for the most part have commuted via public transport because I have lived in large cities.  That was more knitting time.

I didn't do complex lace work or over-the-top cables until I had been knitting for fifteen years.  I finally made myself a gorgeous lacy sweater after knitting for twenty years.  (My parents really wish I had decided to be concert pianist or something impressive, but whatever.)

That is one of the reasons why this particular topic is one of my pet peeves.  Because they aren't just asking for time and/or money.  It often comes with an attitude of, "Well I'd like to do that but I just don't have that magic that you do."  It's an attitude that discounts that I didn't just pick up a "how to" book, I didn't even try it for seven hours.  I started out suckier than suck and I practiced thousands and thousands of hours of my life.  This does not obligate me to use my talent for any Tom, wingadingdingy or Harry who covets it.