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It has been said that home-made, DIY gifts are the best as it comes from the heart. Ok. The cynics among us would probably roll their eyes and say “CORNY”. The word 'cheapskate' will probably be used too.
Of course, knowing the perfect gift to buy someone is a talent that very few have. I suck at this. I usually end up buying something totally inappropriate and unwanted. The stick it in the drawer type of present and not take out unless you want something to kill that pesky cockroach. Which is why, when I want to buy a gift, I usually drag my family along. Or my friends.
I also have extremely bad taste so something 
may look good to me but my siblings usually have that “What is wrong with you” look on their face when I suggest it. Something along the line of “I can't believe I'm related to her” kind of thing.
may look good to me but my siblings usually have that “What is wrong with you” look on their face when I suggest it. Something along the line of “I can't believe I'm related to her” kind of thing.
My sister is great at buying gifts. She buys the most wonderful gifts for us. Especially clothes. Most of my apparel choices are based on her advice and are gifts from her. Even my brother has the knack for buying great gifts.
Another great gift to give are home-made gifts. Writing poems, painting a picture, creating a handicraft, those are gifts that would surely be treasured. One of the best gifts we ever got, was this
home-made vase and flower arrangement from my mother's youngest brother's three children. The effort taken to do it as well as the thought that went into it, touched us deeply.
home-made vase and flower arrangement from my mother's youngest brother's three children. The effort taken to do it as well as the thought that went into it, touched us deeply.
Writing poems are my mother's forte. She can write acrostic poems using the alphabets of our name. We are usually thrilled to receive one as the poems are specially made just for us with a description of our characteristics and personality. Here are a few examples : http://jacintaslyricalthoughts.blogspot.com/Acrostic Poems
Unfortunately I did not inherit her writing skills or any artistic abilities. Art was one of the subjects I detested in school as most of my drawings looked like the cat had thrown up on it. Even drawing line figures were out of my scope as the lines were usually crooked. I cannot sing as my voice has the tone and timbre of fingernails being dragged down a blackboard.. Shiver.. “Moaning Myrtle” from Harry Potter. Remember her?? You get the picture..
I can't create beautiful figurines and things for my carpentry skills are non existent and most of the things I had to create in school during the Living Skills Subject were mangled pieces of junk.
Let's not start talking about my cooking skills. Burnt. Salty. Sour. Bland. I rest my case.
But I figured out the thing I can do to make a gift for someone seem personal and considered “home-made”, is making videos. Personal videos for my family and friends.
The videos might be totally low grade, flop at the box-office, straight to home video kind of thing, as I did not study video production and editing nor do I come from any video production or editing background but it is something I learnt on my own through Google and YouTube. Thank Goodness for the Internet.
The videos are also done using freewares so there are not much special features that can be added. Yeah, I'm totally building a case for my poor sucky videos. I have great materials to work with, like wonderful pictures of my family and friends, however, it is my editing skills that leaves much to be desired.
However I enjoy video production and will continue to do so. The videos might be long and boring. They might ramble on as I do in my blog. All I can say is that it comes from the heart and I hope the receivers of the videos enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.
However I enjoy video production and will continue to do so. The videos might be long and boring. They might ramble on as I do in my blog. All I can say is that it comes from the heart and I hope the receivers of the videos enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.
