I started working in a new team this year and for the first time in my career I’ve been asked to participate in a Secret Santa.

Our price limit is modest, and my first thought was to get the person I drew a book – I know they love fiction. But my second thought was to paint something for them and frame it. I’m not a professional artist, but I love painting and feel this would be more meaningful than another kind of present.

I have a few worries. The first is that this will seem like a “cheap” or cheating option. The second is that it will come across as arrogant framing my own work. And the third is they won’t like my painting and I would have been better off buying a book. What would you do?

It would be really petty for your team to single you out as giving the “wrong” sort of present simply because it wasn’t store-bought.Credit: John Shakespeare

I think self-made gifts are the best gifts. I ask my kids to draw me pictures for my birthday rather than buy presents. I also have family members who knit and paint – I love the pressies I get from them. These kinds of gifts are wonderful expressions........

© The Sydney Morning Herald