Last Minute Gift Ideas ~ FIMBY Readers' Handmades

December 13, 2011

I finished my Christmas shopping this weekend at the Marché Public de Noël (let that roll around your tongue a bit). I was so pleased to find this seasonal treasure featuring crafty folks from around these parts.

Knitters, potters, vintners, woodworkers, weavers, jewelry makers, chocolatiers, herbalists, photographers. Our kind of people. Some of them living just down the street.

Not done your shopping yet and no Marché Public (public market) to visit?

I'm here to help. Last week the talented folks who read this blog submitted links to their on-line handmade shops.

Today I'm happy to highlight those shops and send other readers their way to do some holiday shopping. I don't like adding stress to the season with words like rush and hurry. So I won't do that.

Instead I'll say take your leisurely time (but not too much time since shipping takes a few days at least) in checking out these handmade shops.

• Stephanie has a shop named Mom Engineered. This Kid's Car Carrier is a clever gift for a car-loving little person in your life. In Stephanie's words,"I have... recently been hit by the sewing bug. Both of my grandmothers were seamstresses and I guess it is in my genes. I just started a little Etsy shop... mainly gifts for children the same age as mine (1, 3 and 5) and some things for kids of all ages".
• Little Smiles Boutique, is a Canadian etsy shop specializing in sewing patterns for beginner to immediate sewers (I raise my hand to that). Sobia has lovely patterns in her shop. I'm thinking one of these flowers would be very cool as a bow for wrapping gifts and then to be repurposed as a pretty or funky embellishment for someone's wardrobe.
• Law Mommy specializes in Americana craft (and going to law school while raising and homeschooling a bunch of kids!) Something non-Americana that caught my eye was the wicked sweet pink Husker Tutu. My niece got one of these tutus for Christmas last year, so darling.
• At Miss MerryHeart Designs Toni sells "stylish kitchen apparel from my own original, retro-styled patterns as well as reproductions of some of my late grandmother's aprons". Cool. This Christmas Apron is perfect for the Christmas cook in your life.
• Baby in your life? Earth Huggy has you covered with "thoughtfully engineered, sustainably handcrafted baby carriers and cloth diapers". I just love the fat bottomed bum of a cloth diapered baby. Good memories.
• I have thing for felt. So does Laura who creates, in her words, "affordable hand-knit felted coasters in many festive colors. I have also begun branching out into selling quilts". You can check out her goodies at Work Smith (love that play on words with her last name). This bright color scheme is one of my favorites. I love those colors!
• An honorable mention, not one of your shops but a link someone sent me - PoppyTalk Handmade, a totally new to me on-line marketplace to "showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world." There's an accompanying blog with some nice DIY posts during the month of December.

I think I got all your links included in this list. You are a talented bunch (I knew you were anyway).

For me, on-line shopping from handmade shops is one of the more pleasant shopping experiences. That, and going to the Marché Public de Noël.

Happy Holiday Shopping. Now back to skiing. Which I'd rather do than shopping anyway.

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