Stephanie Macera

My sister and my mother both have March birthdays.  Our general for gift exchanges are – if you made it, we love it.  If it’s recycled, up-cycled or even down right used up but has a bit of charm and another life left in it, we love it more.

So hand-made gifts are welcome – and usually offset with cash or gift card so that recipient of gift has the opportunity to buy something their heart truly desires.  Hobby Lobby carries a wonderful selection of glass framed charms that you can customize.  There are 2 in a package, so I always seem to have one on hand.

They make the perfect little personal charm for a necklace or bracelet.  This one I made for my sister.  I love the pearls that are recycled earrings, there is a button and a little charm that says “cope”.

I told her I couldn’t offer her HOPE, but thought COPE was really more accurate, anyway at our age.

For my mom, I took the little Boston Terrier dog charm that she asked me for and added some interesting baubles and doo-dads, and a few vintage watches.

I love that when they opened their gifts they asked very genuinely “Did you make this?”  Mom put hers on right away and has worn it a few times already.

The truth about making gifts:

1. I didn’t save any money – my stash is always being added to it seems, to justify that I might make something for “so & so”.
2. I destroyed my craft table, opened and dug through bins and bags and bundles that I had not seen in a year looking for just the right shiny thing.
3. I have not yet uncovered the craft table from all the debris.
4. If you make the gift, then you tend to want to make the wrapping, the tags, need the perfect ribbon and string… more excuses to stash, buy and hoard supplies.
5. The truth is- I think we do it for ourselves.  Hence, the secondary gift card/cash tag along!

I loved every minute of it, loved thinking about their personalities, their sense of humor, what they enjoy.  Making a gift, I have found means connecting with that person, even if only you know that you are connected.  I like to see in their faces that I knew just the right thing about them when I made their gift.