As you plan your holiday shopping this year, you may want to see how many of your gifts and other holiday purchases you can buy from home-based workers. You may think that you will only be able to purchase a gift or two from people in your local area, but I would encourage you to expand your search and look around online to see what you can find. While you may not be able to find someone who makes or sells everything that you need right in your community, there are so many home-based workers that sell all kinds of things online that you may run into a situation where you have to choose between a few great gift options for each person on your list.
I spent just a few minutes looking around online and found some really nice gift ideas. If someone on your gift list has a sweet tooth, there is a shop on Etsy called Mama’s Love In A Jar that sells home made mixes for cookies, cakes, and hot drinks. The mixes are packaged in pretty jars and bags and you can even buy sets that have an assortment of mixes. Mommiesink on Etsy sells holiday cards. If someone on your list has been really, really nice this year, why not treat them to a set of beautiful hand painted wine glasses from Mommy’s Dream Collection. Mommy’s Dream Collection also has hand painted glass ornaments for your Christmas tree, and jewelry too. I could have taken care of everyone on my list with hand made gifts from Etsy, but I had to check out other sites to see what they have to offer.
On EBay, I found hand made reusable cloth gift bags made by Carymichelle designs. Ispykidstuff has handcrafted Amish wooden toys that are not only durable, but more importantly inspire creative play. You can even take your gift giving global and support home-based artisans in other parts of the world through EBay’s World of Good site. I checked it out and found many nice items, from Balinese ceramic vases to fair trade teas and chili mixes, World of Good has an array of items that are as diverse as its sellers.
Etsy and EBay are just two of the many places that you can find wonderful handmade things online. Whether you know what you want to get for everyone on your holiday shopping list or not, challenge yourself to support other home-based workers by purchasing as many of your holiday gifts and supplies from them. Your gifts will be thoughtful, unique treasures that you can feel good about giving.