Pleasure Practices with Sami Schalk: Homemade gifts and crafting just cuz

Lean into your creativity this gift-giving season.

Readers! Can you believe it’s already December? Where has 2023 gone?! As we move into the thick of holiday and gift giving season, what is bringing me pleasure right now is crafting and gifting things I made. Last month, in an attempt to tap into creativity in a low-stakes, not too expensive, not too time-intensive way, I bought a clay earring kit for $15 from Target. If you follow me on social media, you know I love a unique colorful piece of jewelry. For $15, I figured that even if I made one pair of earrings I would actually wear, it would be worth it.

I mostly made these earrings on weekday evenings as I tried to stay awake past 8 p.m. (even though it got dark before 5) watching old episodes of Bob’s Burgers. I would pick a color or two I wanted to play with that night, make a couple of earrings, pop them in the oven for 15 minutes, and then assemble them the next night.  This repeated every few nights for two weeks. It was fun to watch my technique improve as I got a better sense of how to work with the clay and make earrings that hung well when worn.

After a few rounds of playing around with the clay, including mixing colors, adding glitter (surprise surprise), and abandoning the cookie-cutter-type things that came with the kit to just work with my hands, I ended up making over a dozen earrings! (Note: the kit only came with the hardware to make six earrings, but I bought a little jewelry-making and repair kit that came with a bunch more hooks and jump rings for $10.) The problem is, I don’t need a dozen earrings! I started offering them to friends as gifts, letting them see the ones I was willing to part with and take them if they wanted. Now not only do I get the joy of making and wearing my own earrings, I also get the pleasure of giving some to my friends and seeing them wear what I made as well! It’s just a continual feedback loop of pleasure!

So, this month, I want to encourage you to lean into your creativity, make some crafts, and—if you want—give them away as gifts to people you care about! I remember, as a kid, feeling bad about giving homemade gifts to people, because I thought for sure no one wanted them. But some of my very favorite things in my home are items made or altered by my friends, partners, and niblings. We’re living in a moment when a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet while corporations’ profits soar. Why not divest a little this gift-giving season while also giving yourself a creative outlet?

Personally, I find craft kits to be a great low-stakes place to start. You can find them at chain stores like Target, of course. Or, even better, you can get them from a local craft store. Revel is a local business that sells craft kits of all sorts, from fiber arts to glass etching. Etsy is another place to find craft kits or patterns if you already have some supplies or want something specific like, I dunno, an embroidery kit that says “You’re the fucking best.” It doesn’t have to be perfect; hell, it doesn’t even have to be good. It just needs to be enjoyable for you!

You could get matching or similar kits with a loved one to do together or do them separately and exchange afterwards. And if you’re like, “Sami, I could never give a homemade gift. I am so bad at arts and crafts,” then make something just for you because you’re a badass bitch who deserves space for creativity and pleasure in your life! And if you need a reminder of that, there’s this Bad Bitch embroidery kit just for you.

As always, feel free to tag or message me on social media with pictures of what you make! When you share your pleasure and joy with me, it brings ME pleasure and joy so it’s really a twofer! Happy holidays you beautiful, badass bitches. See you in 2024!