Christmas Gift Giving Guide

Thanksgiving talk yesterday.

Christmas talk today.

It’s about holidays this week for some reason.

Of course you can purchase your gifts on Amazon.

And I don’t want to discourage any excessive or extravagant Amazon purchases, you know.

However.

There is this glorious alternative to the machine that is Amazon.

Handmade stuff by people I love.

I’ve mentioned both of these before, but at a time like this – with holidays literally breathing down our necks – we could all appreciate a user-friendly all-in-one-location kind of list.

And that’s just what I have for you:

Lotions.  Soaps.  Scrubs.  Beauty products.   All hand created with fabulous ingredients by my lovely cousin Bethany at Elly Bath and Body.  (My personal favorite product continues to be her sugar scrubs – seriously the best shaving cream I’ve ever used.)

Fabric art.  Garlands.  Cloth pouches.  Quilts.  Wall art.  Just plain adorable stuff from my wonderful friend Joanna at Phoebeflock.  I love her cloth napkins but right now I just adore her embroidery hoop letter art.

Scones.  Cinnamon-chip.  Lemon poppy seed.  Maple.  Scout’s Scones.  She’s becoming quite adept at her scone-making.  Although you do have to be local for this treat.

And stuff I love that is handmade but not really made by anyone I actually know:

Necklaces.  Bracelets.  Earrings.  There is nothing hear that I would be sad to receive. Once Again Sam – her jewelry is simple and fun and versatile.

And stuff that might not be handmade but is cool and different and not to be found on the shelves of your local grocery/sporting goods/home decor emporium:

Funky t-shirts.  That’s what they do.  Zen-threads. I love these shirts – soft and comfy.  Interesting and clever.  Available for every age and gender.  Regular human-style prices.  Made in the United States.  I like to ironically wear my “God Save the Queen” t-shirt from here on July Fourth.

More t-shirts.  And sweatshirts. Accessories. Out of Print Clothing.  I own nothing from here.  Yet.  Their prices are less user-friendly than Zen-threads but – they have a t-shirt for 1984 and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  And cool jewelry.  It’s fun stuff.  Worth the look.

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I know that I am just scratching the surface of unique and handmade glory and I would just love to hear about your favorite places – or your own website for gifting treasures.

Share with us in the comments and give us a link to the great stuff.  Maybe we can all conquer our Christmas shopping whilst calmly sipping Earl Grey tea sweetened with maple syrup and wearing our thick socks and fluffy sweaters and listening to The Wood Brothers.