Truly Giving

This is one of my recent ideas, isn’t it so cute!  I made it with the intention of selling it in my shop, but I find it hard not to just keep it for myself.  It got me thinking, have you ever made something intending to sell it or give it to someone and wanted to so badly keep it?  What do you do?

Will first if you’re selling, the easiest thing to do is make an extra one for yourself.  You can probably justify this as promoting your work.  I’ve heard plenty of jewelry designers say that one way they promote themselves is by wearing their creations.  People complement them and they hand out cards.  Seems like a perfectly valid excuse.

Now for gift giving, you can try the same thing, but you should ask yourself one question first.  Is the gift actually appropriate for the recipient, or is it more appropriate for you?  What I mean is sometimes people give gifts that they themselves would like not realizing the person they are giving to may have slightly different tastes. 

For example,  my twin sister has on many occasions given me things that would suit her way more than me.  Once she gave me this fringed belt that I totally hated, but she loved to death.  She actually wore it more than I ever would dream of.

So the best thing to do is to think carefully about what they would like, and in what design would suit their tastes.  For this you’d have to pay close attention.  It may be extra work for some, but it’s worth it. 

After all, most people say they prefer to give and receive handmade gifts because extra thought was put into them.  That would mean giving a handmade gift that suits the recipient has twice the thought put in it.  And not to sound corny, but I think that’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.