Full disclosure

[superiorgirl]

The girls at work exchanged presents. As a package decoration, I tied on thrifted ornaments. One gal just build a log hunting cabin, so for her I had a neat little moose ornament with snowshoes - very country rustic. The other girl has a major Santa collection and I found a Dept 56 Santa head ornament with the original tags. So, the question is, should it be disclosed that they were thrifted? The presents were new and at the top end of our set price. What would you do? Let them know they were thrifted, keep your mouth shut, what?

What if the actual gift was thrifted??? Would you tell? Under what conditions would you not tell?

[Good Buddy]

It's your call. You know each person best. I'd be thrilled if someone got me a one of a kind gift at a thrift..

Let us know how it turns out..

[SplashsMom]

I would not tell. Where you got it and how much you paid is not the idea. The fact that you put thought into each gift as well as the wrapping is worth more than a dollar amount.

[nancydr2]

I have bought many great gifts at thrift stores and if asked where I bought it, I tell them.  Otherwise, I just keep my mouth shut. No one would blink if I bought the same items in an antique store.  The way I see it, I save a boatload of money and give a gift that I probably could not otherwise afford to give.

[Big Daddy Audio]

Question has been asked and answered.

SYNT
BFN

[genuineimitation]

i wrote this somewhere on this site before.. i gave a thrifted present once, with full disclosure, to a friend. it was a perfect gift - i thought she would love it. i think she did.. until i told her i got it at the thrift store. her face dropped! i think we were both terribly dissappointed.

on the other hand, my mother in law LOVES to thrift, and often finds wonderful things at the stores in her area. we enjoy showing each other what we find, and gifting each other as well.

i'd tell that the ornaments were thrifted - "just a little something extra i found"

[Thrift Shop Romantic]

I wouldn't mention it unless someone asks. It's really not relevant information to the whole gift-giving angle here. You wouldn't tell folks where you bought something if it was a non-thrift store. So I'd just let it go under the radar.

[mccoysnina]

i wrote this somewhere on this site before.. i gave a thrifted present once, with full disclosure, to a friend. it was a perfect gift - i thought she would love it. i think she did.. until i told her i got it at the thrift store. her face dropped! i think we were both terribly dissappointed.

on the other hand, my mother in law LOVES to thrift, and often finds wonderful things at the stores in her area. we enjoy showing each other what we find, and gifting each other as well.

i'd tell that the ornaments were thrifted - "just a little something extra i found"

  I once made a small evening bag as a gift for a friend.  She had shown me one in a store that was  way more than I could afford as a college student.  So I made her one that was far nicer than the one in the store.  She oohed and aahed over it for a long time, until I made the mistake of telling her I had made it.  She threw it into a drawer and never took it out again.  After that I never made the mistake of telling anyone where a gift came from, a ts, a regular store or my own two hands.  It has been intersting sometimes.  I once bought a scarf fora very spoiled cousin of my DHs a graduation gift.  Paid about $5 for it at a sdiewalk sale.  This girl never wore anything but the best designer duds.  Anyway she loved it and I kept my secret.
Jeannie

[SeSo_Says_So]

I like everyone's comments here, because I think they are all appropriate, depending on the person who has received the gift. A little gut instinct goes a long way, as well as the "once burned, twice shy" scenario.

Jeannnie, I find it so interesting that your friend wouldn't carry that bag after she found out it was (horrors!) "handmade". Was it a long time ago this occured? Because I do recall in the baby boom generation, many "gals" preferring items that were store-bought (from the "right stores", of course ) or they wouldn't wear them.   Your experience made me sad. If you ever want to make me a handbag, I'd love to accept it --a handmade denim purse from made-in-America old, worn denim work jeans (all softly strong and scruffy blue) would be right up my alley . Short shoulder-bag handle, of course. Heck, I think I just found for  you a new "cottage industry"  

Also, I wonder if your friend is now aware that there is site, Etsy, that is dedicated to selling artisan and hand-crafted goods, many from recycled materials that is all the rage with the creative set nowadays (I must confess, one of my three Christmas gifts from hubby came from Etsy). The mindset today is that is an honor and a privelige to carry something lovingly "heart-felt and hand-made".

I guess I am a personally a reverse snob...if one found something REALLY fantastic for me from a thrift, that is just the perfect gift for me (and remember, I am making it clear the gift was chosen for me and it's something I--and no one else--would love---no "random acts of thrifting" here), I would be thrilled to receive it and wear it and love it. One of my favorite pieces of clothing that I would wear a heck of a lot more often if it were cooler with less humidity here in the swamps---say, in the low 70s with a only a mere 50% humdity as opposed to the 80s with 1, 000, 000% we had on Christmas day, is a fabulous long-sleeved heavy cotton tee with a "name" on it, which I got in the bins earlier this year for a quarter.  I am so damn proud of that shirt every time I wear it, because on the "name's" site, it sells for 50 bucks and there is no way on God's green earth I would have paid that much for it. But for a quarter, I will advertise the joint, because it looks so damn good on me, can be worn on many different occasions in many different ways, and it serves it's purpose.  I'd most likely never see another like it here in these here parts.  Score!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Many years ago (when I was in high school) I made a wallet out of an old worn out pair of jeans.

-Jay

[SplashsMom]

Many years ago (when I was in high school) I made a wallet out of an old worn out pair of jeans.

-Jay

Now you will have to make one of out Duct Tape!

[Jay2TheRescue]

You can buy duct tape wallets...  They're $14.99

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/5f21/

-Jay

[valleythriftshopper]

My daughter has a duct tape wallet that she made at school, she was very proud of it.

[oceangurl]

speaking of duct tape I saw a segent the other morning on the Today show about making a shoulder bag out of material and lined in duct tape. It was way cool, they took two pieces of material outlined into the shape of a shoulder purse and she reversed it then started to apply duct tape in strips all along the inside, the corners of the purse she angled and then stapled closely, turned it inside out and then "Walla!" It looked so awesome and was durable and water/stain ressistant because of the duct tape lining, who knew?

[oceangurl]

Oh and btw I forgot to mention, the material she used for the purse was a neat t-shirt, one worn but with this awesome design of Marilyn Monroes face, the whole object of the segment was homemade gifts and recyclable objects, which would have been the vintage t-shirt, I might have to try it!