Handmade Christmastime

The holidays are one of my favorite times of year because I go on a crazy crafting spree. Majority, if not all, of my Christmas gifts are handmade by me and they are my favorite gifts to give. (The reaction of those who receive them also makes me think that they enjoy my gifts just as much. However I suppose my family and friends could just be very good actors!)

This is my first Christmas season having an etsy store and selling my handmade goods for others to possibly give as presents. Even though I make so many things, I love shopping other handmade artists at craft shows, when I travel, and on etsy because I think there is something so spectacular about buying handmade goods and supporting that culture.

One of my absolute favorite blogs to follow, Scoutie Girl, is all about creative living and mindful spending. Their blog supports handmade goods because they are wonderful, but also because there are social issues that we can act intentionally on through supporting handmade culture. A recent blog entry addressed giving handmade gifts for Christmas --

"Buying handmade items as gifts, during the holidays or anytime of the year, is a win-win-win situation for the giver, the receiver and the maker.

As a consumer, buying handmade gives you great power – the power to directly affect the life of another human being."

Click Here to read the rest of this blog entry or to browse ScoutieGirl.com.

So for the month of December I will be sharing all the handmade presents I am working on and hope it will inspire some of you to make your own gifts or to purchase handmade items this season!

My first handmade gift idea will come tomorrow but to tide you over until then, here are some ways to browse handmade now.

Threadbanger.com (another great site for the crafter) had this great blog entry featuring holiday gifts from Etsy.com.

I browsed Etsy last night to bring you a little holiday gift gallery a la Bonnybee (click on the picture to link to the item). It is amazing how many wonderful items are out there!

personalized stationary from jessicawood

Gotta love those 'staches! A field guide to Typestaches: poster by oldtomfoolery


A perfect gift for the knitter/crocheter in your life...beautiful handspun yard by weetsie.


I am in love with these gorgeous rings made of uncut, conflict free diamonds by JanishJewels.


I love this clock for that techie boy who can be hard to shop handmade for (a.k.a. my bf). Clock from computer hard drive circuitboard by pixelthis.


After seeing this tote for the first time I creeped around the marina, asking my friends who own sailboats where I could find old sails... Custom recycled sail big tote by reiter8.


I can't help but plug my own etsy store for some handmade Christmas gifts. These leather beaded wrap bracelets are really popular right now and would make great gifts!


Probably the cutest butter dish I have ever seen from PaisleyHillDesigns.

I hope you all have enjoyed this post and are ready to do some Christmas shopping! Will you be buying or making handmade gifts this year? I would love to hear what you have planned!

*Bonnybee