Etsy.com

In the last couple months I have fallen for the Etsy.com website. It is a place where artists can display and sell their handmade pieces. I have gotten a few things for the wedding through the site (some of which I would like to keep secret) and have gotten a few gifts off the site also. It has given me tons of great ideas of things that I can do myself (or different ways that Ryan and I may be able to create art and decorate our new place). Check it out if you are looking for gifts or even for personal items.

Here are a few reasons to buy handmade items!

Why buy handmade?

Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.

The giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. If the giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention that can
be seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.


Buying handmade is better for people.

The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect.

Buying handmade is better for the environment.

The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.