Pink Bird Beads: Handmade for the Holidays

For your sanity:

Black friday is just around the corner so I thought I'd issue a friendly public service announcement that there are other options out there. This holiday season skip the chain stores and huge parking lots full of angry shoppers and screaming children and opt for a more relaxing, holly jolly, queue free alternative by making and/or buying handmade goods. This is a "made with love" way of showing those important to your life that you know them and they are special enough to warrant some of your time and attention to detail. It shows them that they are not just a generic, dime a dozen, made in China person to you.

For the Love:

Not only is a handmade gift a truely thoughtful, from the heart gesture, but, with our slumping economy in mind, it can be a budget lifesaver! People generally seem to think that the more expensive a gift is the more it will be cherished by the reciever. So untrue! Let's take an example:

Option #1: You could get your friend Betsy the rhinestone necklace you saw while out Christmas shopping. You spend $30 and, of course she likes it, but it's more or less another gift for the pile that will be forgotten as time goes by.

Option #2: You know how much Betsy adores daschunds (weiner dogs) so you find these truely unique daschunds charms and some super sparkley purple beads on Etsy and you make her a truely beautiful bracelet and have enough goodies left over to make one for yourself. You spent about $10 and those bracelets are something you will both remember and keep close you your heart forever.

For the Environment:

Also, handmade is a life saver (literally). Mass production and the consumer mentality where we re-dress, re-decorate and re-purchase constantly is wasteful and harmful to our environment. Toxins are dumped into our air and water as byproducts of this way of life. Instead of fueling this disregard and neglect that has lead to global polution and global warming, you can recycle and up-cycle this gift giving season.

re-cycle: reuse a product instead of trashing it
(Recycled Mason Jars now hold cookie ingredients to give as gifts)

"Cookie in a Jar" by PoofyCheeks on Etsy

up-cycle: reuse a product that would be trashed, but in a completely different way than the use it was.originally manufactured for. (Upcycled Large Floppy Disk into a Clock)

"Black/Red Crackle Floppy Disk Clock" by designingtime on Etsy

So skip out on the large scale manufacturing and the make something you know they'll treasure or support a local artist or crafter and buy handmade for the Holidays!

Check out these sites for ideas and to purchase some one of a kind gifts:

BuyHandmade.org
Read about the handmade movement and commit to the handmade pledge.