Do you need those freebies?

The other day my parents attended a wedding and came back with an espresso cup and coaster, which led me to this post. The cup had the usual ‘mr and mrs.’ wordings and an illustration of a bride and groom… It also had a fancy handle curved into a heart which at a glance looks cute but on closer scrutiny will annoy the person who will have to wash it. We are very practical people that way! In other words, the cup will go unused (and the coaster too for that matter) and will be sent down instead to our local thrift shop. We are in the habit of giving up whatever we do not use to the thrift shop, thank goodness for that!
In fact last time we visited the thrift shop, we found many of such wedding favors waiting to be adopted. Do they eventually find homes? Especially if the favors have names of the happy couple imprinted on them.

But this incident made me think… What happened to the days of giving a piece of fruit cake to wedding guests? Ok, I am not a big fan of fruit cake, but cookies, brownies, chocolate, honey (basically anything that can be eaten) are welcomed! 😉 it is nice to get something that can be enjoyed and then not add clutter to my home.

I think we all get very excited about the idea of “free”. Think about those free event pens that run out of ink after a few sentences, or post-it pads emblazoned with the organisation’s logo but are not sticky enough once peeled out from the booklet. A lot of times we end up with a load of freebies that go unused even though they looked so attractive at the moment they were handed out. ( I am looking at you, multiple Nam Nam bottled water, sitting in our kitchen cupboard) maybe it is time to think a bit more deeply about whether we would use something the next time we accept a freebie, be it at weddings or other events.

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The value of Handmade.

I felt this most keenly when I had to swap out my handmade pouch in my bag to a mass-produced pouch. I had squashed a sweet in my pouch and it was all sticky so while waiting for it to be washed, I had to find an alternative. I didn’t enjoy using the mass-produced alternative, even if it was for a few days. I missed the lovely softness, look and mostly feel of the handmade one I have been using every day for years, one I got from fellow crafter, Projects by Jane.

That’s when I realised the value of handmade. That’s when I realised the appeal of handmade items over mass-produced ones and why people didn’t mind paying so much more for a Momshoo pouch when they could get a similar-sized pouch at a fraction of the cost. Even as the maker, I always wondered about that. And it is so nice to feel the difference now that I have experienced it myself.

Handmade feels different. It feels like thought has gone into it. Someone had thought about the little details, they are designed for a reason. Someone’s hands made it with care. And as my customer has recently reviewed about our cutlery pouch: “超喜歡💕就是喜歡這種有溫度的手作” (which roughly translates)- she loves it because it is hand-made that brings warmth.

It is so lovely to read how people feel about my work and especially when they manage to put it in words better than I can. But yes, that is the reason why I make my products. I hope you will feel good using a Momshoo product every day. I hope it will bring a smile to your face!

It may be overly dramatic, but it is about building an emotional relationship to everyday items we interact with daily. It feels better when these are made by hand. And even better when you have met the maker in person! You will end up treasuring it for longer and consume less in the process 🙂

It could be something simple like my pouch that sits in my bag for most of the day. It could be that hand-thrown ceramic cup you use every morning.

I was reading Jenny Lin’s post on The Tiny Torch Instagram and I love how she puts it in words:
“A few years ago, I decided that I would seek handmade alternatives to objects that I interact with on a daily basis. I’ve ended up with a rich collection of objects made by wonderful humans, and my existence is better for it. ”

I want to continue to make handmade objects like that. 🙂

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