Consider Handmade

I dithered a bit about posting this because I didn't like that the pledge says "buy" handmade, I would much rather it said "make or buy" or even just "give" handmade. It feels a bit off to me to say "buy" alongside of handmade, however Samantha pointed out to me that it is also a good thing to support local craftspeople by buying their handmade products and I can certainly agree with that. So, I would encourage everyone to consider this pledge when they are planning their gift giving. We have our gifting pretty simplified, I try to keep it to something consumable for our families. Last year most of our family received these slippers and some will be getting another pair this year.(those who wore through the soles already - sheesh)I will also be making a rag rug for one family member (similar to the one below that is in my kitchen). We always give our own preserves that I canned in the summer - salsa, pickles, antipasto, boozy peaches and jams. My boys have plans to make bugs out of Sculpey for plant pot decorations. They have also talked about giving some of our walnuts and hazelnuts that they collected and making hand-dipped beeswax candles.We hope to also make time to make soap with them and then they could give that as well. The other thing we usually do is make simple shopping bags out of plain unbleached cotton, we use these as the gift wrap ( we tuck the straps into the bag and tie the top shut with red raffia) to hold the gift we are giving. The recipient can then use the bag for their shopping all year. This year I hope to make a new style of shopping bag that has a flat bottom and a shape which makes it more convenient for cashiers to pack groceries into. Would love to hear some other handmade gifting ideas.