Sentimental gifts are more meaningful to their recipients, as they imply care and knowledge and time spent searching out a gift perfect for that particular person. If the sentimental gifts chosen can also be Handmade Gifts then you are really onto a winning gift idea as all handmade gifts have a great deal of sentimentality built into them to begin with.Handmade sentimental gifts say that you Care, in a way that Store Bought Gifts Don’t. Or at least that is a common view held by many people
Why do we perceive handmade gifts as being better/ different to a High Street purchased products?
There are certain built in expectations that accompany handmade gifts or any made by hand item. People don’t just buy handmade gifts for merely handmade’s sake, there is a reason what is it ?
Handmade or handcrafted, which ever term you prefer, says something to people. It means something. It invokes an idea a kind of imagery if you like .Firstly a definite expectation of better quality ,a belief of time having been willingly spent, something not rushed into,thoughts of goods being lovingly and proudly created ,not hurriedly or begrudgingly thrown together or produced in sweat shop conditions. So when handmade gifts are given for Fathers Day what besides the actual item is being given
Well, to answer this question is really to understand what “image” handmade gifts conjure in the mind of your recipient When questioned friends and family revealed
1) Handmade goods have Snob value (boast value) handcrafted goods are often unique items. Not something to be found on every High Street . So buying/receiving handmade gifts gives me the opportunity to own (or give) something that only a few people have.
2) Handmade gifts are the product of creative passion, not market research. Handmade gifts are the product of artistic inspiration of one person, not a design team. An idea was nurtured and developed and ultimately fashioned by its individual creator,the item hasn’t come off an assembly line of thousands its a one of a kind piece.
3) Handmade gifts are made with love. made with care and subjected to individual attention, not churned out by a machine. As a result it has character. There’s something of the crafters artistic soul evident in each, slightly imperfect (and unique) edition.
4) Handmade gifts are different. They stand apart from common High Street goods. I certainly wouldn’t want “Pages from the Heart” to be mistaken for a mass produced item and it’s their tiny little imperfections that give them their uniqueness not just from the mass produced but from each other. I almost want to draw attention to little irregularities to make sure that they are noticed, because only then can one explain how special and individual the each piece really is.
5) A romantic notion of craftsmanship is associated with handmade gifts or any handcrafted item; quite often they are felt to be an antidote to consumerism and the mass produced world. Handcrafted goods evoke a certain imagery and sense of supporting an alternative to more factories, pollution ,billowing smoke stacks, and nose to tail traffic jams, a return to a culturally richer and more laid back time.
So obviously Implicitly to most people handmade gifts are just worth more. And most believe this without even consciously thinking about it , Certainly, its partly down to all of the above But, I think it’s actually more fundamental than that or at least for me it is . It boils down to a subconscious belief that the work of a man or woman is intrinsically worth more than the produce of a machine . The sole aim of industrial processes is to produce identical products of acceptable/mediocre quality at the lowest possible cost. I like to think that, whilst a handcrafter may also want to be efficient and turn a profit, theirs is a less stringent branding process, allowing for both individuality and creativity. It’s Not surprising then that most people would prefer to receive handmade gifts rather than store bought ones, after all what is the imagery that springs to mind when you think of chain store goods, plastic,disposable, low quality , little life expectancy, foreign made ,everybody has one.
It is often said that the gifts you give, not only reflect what you think of the recipient but the character of the gift giver too. So what statement are you making about yourself , what sentiment are you trying to express about your friend or loved one , when you give them a cheap, plastic,poorly constructed throw away trinket made in some foreign sweatshop? Perhaps I’m a little vain but I’d rather not think of myself as a plastic throw away person and I’d rather others didn’t see me in that light either, particularly my dad. Personally, I think I’ll choose only handmade sentimental gifts from now, on for all gift giving occasions not just fathers day.
If you love your dad and are interested in really unique one of a kind handcrafted sentimental gifts for him as a fathers day gift view my other handmade gifts in this range visit sentimental gifts for fathers Page, or to find out more about Pages from the Heart sentimental gifts visit their home page.
