tis the season to shop…. well. maybe.

I must preface this post by being completely upfront. I don’t really like every day shopping. During the Christmas season I particularly don’t like it. Our family tries our level best to focus on service and kindness during this month. HERE is a link to past posts about our Christmas philosophy.

I do love giving gifts but kind of like them to be simple and unexpected rather than part of the over-consumptive culture. This lovely pin was a gift from a student – I keep it on next to my computer to remind me of one of the reasons I love to teach. (Because I love my students!) Buying toys that are made in China under horrible working conditions (see this article) that the kids will quickly loose interest in… nope. 

Handmade would be best but when I’m honest with myself I know I don’t have the time. I am determined to get this one quilt done though. Remember all those blue scraps you sent me waaaay back when? I pieced some blocks up for The Quilt Show segment I filmed then got them put together – mostly into a bed quilt. Sort of. I got tired of piecing so 3/4 of the quilt is whole cloth. (I’ll just call it modern right!?! And yes, I do love the Modern Quilt Movement.)

I have a drummer in the house – I found this on Etsy right in my own home town!

So one solution I’m trying this year is to buy local. Local, local, local. (HERE is an article explaining a few of the benefits of buying local.) And maybe even hand made. Did you know that you can set a filter when you shop Etsy so it will only show you goods made by makers in the country of your choice? It’s under You/Account Settings/Preferences/Region. Or if you are browsing Etsy you can go truly local. As you are on a browsing page there should be a little button on the upper right of your window that says “shop location” and you can set it to your state or even your town!

And if all else fails – support artists. And the companies who support the artists. Of course if you are like me – you end up buying more books and DVD’s for yourself here than as gifts. Ummmmm. They are inspiration so I can make more creative gifts later right? Uh huh. 😛

(Yup – that’s my publisher. )