Giving Gifts

Has anyone ever noticed how the gifts we give for weddings, babies, birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas have all become so commercial and assembly line.  I know that gone are the time when a young woman spent most of her youthful man hours amassing linens and making blankets and quilts as part of the dowry she would bring to her marriage to help her setup a home for her new family.  True that with weddings and bridal showers the couple is trying to acquire what they need to set up their own home, and the gifts tend to roll with the times, and technology.  It's surprising however how less and less people are considering handmade gifts as suitable for young couples.  Less so for babies or birthday gifts, but it seems like everything has to be based on a monetary amount or value.

I think making gifts means a lot more, considering not only the money spent, but the time spent in making the gift.  I'm not sure what it means to others, but I think that a handmade gift shows a lot lot more thought and feeling towards the receiver that had that person just gone to the store and purchased the gift.  besides it's fun for the giver as well, in the planning and execution of the crafting of the gift.

Yesterday I went to a cousin's baby shower, representing my mother as well, who had a prior engagement she couldn't get out of and bearing the gift that we were jointly giving to my cousin.  Now before I get into what we gave her, it needs to be understood, that neither of us has much spare cash.  Due to the economy, and my father's line of work my parents have fallen on somewhat harder times, and likewise, as is the current trend, my husband and I due to school and other things are attempting to dig ourselves out of debt.  Now my sweet cousin like many brides had the forethought to register before hand to make it easy for her guests to know what exactly she and her soon-to-be husband needed to establish their home.  Unfortunately like many brides, a lot of the things were a little out of my mother's and my price range.  We thought instead of buying one or two cooking utensil's each, we might try to think of something she might need that she or I could make.

So I called my aunt and asked what colors her kitchen and bath were and then headed over to the Walmart craft section to buy some peaches and cream cotton yarn.  As many of you have witnessed due to prior posts, I like to knit and crochet, and I thought I could knit my cousin some nice soft washcloths for her bathroom, using a basket weave pattern.  Fortunately for me Walmart had just the right colors.

I'm very proud of us.  I'm proud of what we accomplished with the little that we had, and I hope that my cousin loves the gifts we came up with as much as the fun we had making them.

Hope you have a lovely Sunday.

~Fraise