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Geez, I recognize that

papersmiles

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papersmiles Community Regular

papersmiles

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Recently, I stopped by a favorite "thrift shop" to check out what crafting supplies they might have and I noticed a large table of Christmas items for sale. Couldn't resist checking out all the pretties when I spied a crocheted doily ornament in a plastic bag. I thought how pretty but then looked a little closer and discovered that I recognize that....I made it!!!!!

 

Last year I made ornaments for each of the people where I volunteered (over 60 of them) as Christmas gifts. I was a bit surprised and slightly sad that the ornament never even made it out of the packaging. But, like a good mommy I picked up my "doily child" paid for it (...sigh...) and brought it home . It now joins newer family members on my own tree and it seems to look very happy.

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Wrennie Enthusiast

Wrennie

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That is too bad. But many people dont appreciate the time and effort put into handmade things. My boss & I were just talking about that. I think the 'made in china' knit & crochet stuff has lessened the value of real hand made items.

 

But I am glad that whoever donated it gave it to where someone else might appreciate it instead of just throwing it out.

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RoseRed Mentor

RoseRed

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... I think the 'made in china' knit & crochet stuff has lessened the value of real hand made items.

 

but they are real hand made items. They're just made at 'slave labor' wages.

 

It breaks my heart to see 12 inch doilies hanging in the Dollar Store. I agree that it cheapens the art and lowers the monetary value but every single one of those is still hand made.

 

I would've been more than a little sad to see one of my projects in a thrift shop. I don't understand people.

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Tampa Doll Grand Master

Tampa Doll

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I bet if you had put it in a fancy box and added a designers name to it, you would not of found it in the thrift store.

Sorry, but I am very cinitical (sp?) about this. I have seen so many things being bought that are not that good, but because they have a designer label on it, they pay big bucks. Sometimes made with love is not appreciated. That is what I call, wheat I make.

So glad you found it and gave it a good home. :hug

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magiccrochetfan Mentor

magiccrochetfan

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maybe the person does not celebrate christmas...by passing your gift on, they actually thought they were helping a charity...think of it as a positive...it at least did not go in the garbage

 

I also think there could be a positive explanation, or at least a not entirely negative explanation. Maybe they have a collection of crocheted ornaments made by their grandmother, and did not keep this one because they didn't want to get it mixed up in their mind with the ones grandma made. (I have this situation with some things i have stored away....try to figure out if this is a doily my Mammaw made or one I bought at an auction...hard to tell:think)

 

Maybe at Christmastime they received so much stuff they just couldn't keep it all, so they took the excess to the thrift shop. Once we get to a certain point in life, our houses can be overflowing with things and there has to be a "one in, one out" rule.

 

Maybe they moved to an assisted living facility and had to pare their belongings down to fit in a single closet.

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papersmiles Community Regular

papersmiles

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At first I was a little angry that my gift was thought so little of. Then I realized that we do live in a "throw-away society" and I just have to live with that. The best part is that the doily has returned home.

 

My philosophy about the handmade gifts that I give to people has always been "Once it leaves my hands it is the recipient's to do with as they please." Yet, I would much prefer that I am not privy to the fact that they assign no value to it. I just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

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LI Roe Collaborator

LI Roe

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It also saddens me to see a handmade gift given away by the recipient and especially to a thrift shop in the same area where you live. Duh, didn't they think it would possibly be seen?? If I received a handmade doily, it would be kept forever since I don't work with thread anymore, I admire those who do (hint, hint, LOL).

 

But at least it came home to a loving family.

 

LI Roe

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eurolyons Collaborator

eurolyons

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Why is it that every.single.time there's a thread on this or similar topic of finding handmade items at a thrift shop or yard sale or whatever, most people think that the work wasn't appreciated? Maybe it was for the time the person had it? Goodness, how many of you have cleaned out your drawers or closets to simply downsize or to give to charity and had to part with something that you might have loved even at the time you gave it away, but knew that it was time to part with the item?

 

Sure not every explanation will be positive, but not every thing handmade, given away has a negative reason.

 

As a person who lives to make things, I truly do appreciate the time, energy and talent, and if not talent, the motivation to make things...but you know what I can't keep everything...as it is, it could be argued that I'd make a good candidate for Clean House with Nicee Nash on the Style Network.

 

It is true that there are people that honestly do not appreciate handmade items...and you know what, there have ALWAYS been people like that...China doesn't really have much to do with the "devaluing" of our craft...and I say that because there are people that still do the best they can to make a fairly financially successful business out of what they do, regardless of whether it's with crocheting, pottery, quilting, sewing, painting, wood working or whatever...people will buy what they like whether it's 5 cents or $500.00.

 

Back when I was growing up in the 60's, many people still made some of their clothes...sometimes they did a good job, sometimes they didn't...and I know that for the next 20 years, I personally had to fight the "homemade" label...meaning that because I crafted something with my own hands instead of buying it in a store, it had less value...only practicing my "mad skillz" over the years, now people like what I do for the most part, regardless of whether it's my best or worst work...I never gave up making stuff with my hands...

 

I don't care if crocheted pieces are in dollar stores or at flea markets or in former Eastern Bloc countries...sometimes I buy the pieces, sometimes I don't...but I'm always happy to see them.

 

Before I left Germany I snagged a crocheted tree skirt form a Recycle/Reuse place...it was and is not my personal crochet style, but I just could not leave it there. I don't think harshly of the person who donated it though. They were more than likely a military or civilian or private contractor worker or dependent that were getting ready to move, maybe back to the states...they had to downsize...sometimes things get sacrificed...but the positive side to all of this is that I now have that tree skirt and it's under my tree as it's been the last 3 years...

 

If I kept every.single.thing that had sentimental value alone, I wouldn't just be a candidate for Clean House but for A&E's Hoarders as well.

 

Oh and btw, should I unfairly judge the woman who collected antique crochet pieces and kept them pristinely stored away and never used them, but upon meeting me for the first time gave them all to me because she discovered I was the "Possibly Extreme Crocheter?" What difference does it make if she gave the stuff to me or donated all of that to a thrift store?

 

And as a last note, I use one of the pieces daily, big old bedspread so heavy it nearly takes two people to make the bed. Should I be viewed negatively for even using such a piece? I don't think so...to each his own. I personally want to see things used as intended...not just stored away "for good" and the "for good" never comes along.

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Katie G Enthusiast

Katie G

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While I totally agree with everything LeAnna said, it still would have hurt my feelings to find one of my pretties in a thrift shop. It hurts my feelings to find other's hand-made things in a thrift shop, although I know there are a million reasons why they could be there, not necessarily that the original recipient didn't like it.

 

I've stopped making things for anyone, unless they specifically ask for it,

because I've come to realize that not everyone shares my passion for hand-crafted items. The exception is my Granddaughter because at 2 1/12, she loves everything and I'm going to enjoy that while it lasts! :hook

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hooklady Apprentice

hooklady

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It's a Christmas miracle. The doily wanted to be back with you so it jumped into a box to be donated to a store it knew you shopped.

 

Now it's home where it belongs, so maybe it wasn't the owner who didn't like the doily, it was the doily who didn't like the owner.

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LI Roe Collaborator

LI Roe

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Before I donate anything to any type of organization, I ask around if someone could the items and more often than not, it goes to a good home first. After my husband died in 1999, I waited the suggested year before donating some of his possessions and even now, 11 years later, I am slowly giving away more. I do keep a few special items, the only thing that can't be donated are the memories in your heart.

 

Yes, it is impossible to keep everything forever. When I used to watch Hoarders (I had to downgrade my cable so I don't get it anymore), I used to make it a point to throw out or donate at least one unneeded item. So did my friends husband, he would go into the garage and toss something out.

 

In any case (I tend to get off track), there could have been reasons why it was given away, not for storage, in my little opinion, doilies don't take up room at all.

 

I would also feel a little upset if something I put my heart and soul into something that ended up in a thrift store but then if someone purchased it because they liked it, then that would make up for it.

 

It's a hard thing to judge, the more I think about it. And I agree, my handmade items go only to those special people who appreciate those items. And there is a line from a column from the late Erma Bombeck that says " I would have burned the pink candle sculptured like a rose before it melted". I now use the "good china", even if it is only me and the Christmas dishes even if I am not having company. Life is way too short not to.

 

But alas, the marjority of my work goes to charity now.

 

LI Roe

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jillybean Contributor

jillybean

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I think it's wonderful that it wound up in a thrift store and not in the garbage bin. My friends and I shop at thrift stores because you can find things from years ago that are better quality than the new stuff being sold today. Let me tell you, when you finally find something you've been looking for for years or that special hand-crocheted ornament that someone else didn't want, you treasure it and send a silent thank you to whoever was kind enough to give it a second chance.

 

When things wind up in thrift stores it is because someone didn't want it for whatever reason, but it should be celebrated that someone who WILL appreciate it and all the work that went into it can be the final owner instead.

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