HOL Ravenclaw

Hey all.

So someone asked me this and we had an in debt discussion on differences of made and bought gifts.

Would You Rather DIY a Valentine’s Day card/gift or get a store-bought Valentine’s Day card/gift?

I personally love making gifts for my love ones, be it hubby, family or friends, but I also love some of the adorable gifts out there in the world. Seeing something nice that a loved one would like, I want to buy it for them, or it sometimes inspires me to want to make something similar.

So I wondered, what would you do? Tell us all about it below.

DIY always, if I try to buy something, it’s almost never used afterwards, but DIY is basically my love language. People who know and love me are able to appreciate the love and effort I put into the things I do and it’s basically a tradition in my family to receive something from me. It’s not a holiday or a special day unless I’m making something in preparation for it!

Personally, I usually give DIY gifts because I like spending the time to get creative for a special person. In terms of gifts I receive, I love every gift, but I really cherish and appreciate the ones with thought behind them, regardless of whether it was bought or made themselves, like if I mentioned that specific thing in a conversation before, because it's nice to know they took the time/money to do that for you!

I think making a DIY gift is a great idea because it involves putting in more thought than a store-bought gift and the effort shows in the final product, making the recipient feel more loved and cherished. Moreover, it provides way more room for customization as compared to a store-bought gift depending upon the DIY skills of the person who makes the gift. DIY gifts also provide the added advantage of affordability by those who can't spend much, because of being cheaper, as most of the cost of store-bought gifts is contributed to the making charges that is paid by the manufacturing company to the workers who put in the time and effort to make these products. Moreover, a DIY gift potentially makes the recipient feel unique and special, because these can't be found in the market, as they are home-made. However, buying a Valentine's gift may be more preferable in a few circumstances such as when you know that the recipient wants a certain type of gift, which is not easy to make by DIY crafting, or when the recipient wants a gift from a particular, popular brand, or when you don't have the time and effort to spend behind making a DIY gift but still want to give your partner a gift nevertheless.

Personally, I would say that it depends upon how you have planned the day ahead and whether your Valentine really wants a particular item. For example, if you are planning to cook something special for your Valentine and then take her out on a date, then you can surprise them with a particular item that they may have had on their wishlist for a very long time. Along with that if you can manage to make a DIY gift for them as well, that will be a plus, because that will only show how much you care for them.

Now, given that these days most of us are living a very fast-paced life due to our work schedules, sometimes we may not get the time to make a DIY gift. If that is you, but you still want to give them something you made, the best way to go about it is to start early. Valentine's Day is on 14 February, so start working on your DIY gift in November, because why not? You can get it done by February, even if you put in 5-10 minutes a day. So that's my opinion, and that's pretty much how I go about planning for the Valentine's Gifts myself.