All things Handmade

As we enter into this holiday season, gift buying is on our minds.  The buying frezy begins this Friday, black Friday.  The most insane shoppers wake up at the butt crack of dawn to be the first in the stores.  The seriously insane shoppers camp out at the stores the entire night fervently pounding down the doors until they open, eager to take advantage of killer sales and supreme deals.  I am not really much of a shopper, so the idea of fighting crowds all day, pursuing crazy bargins really doesn't appeal to me.  I would much rather spend the day relaxing and exercising off the carbo-loaded meal from the day before.
Anyway, to get to the point of this post... I want to encourage all my readers to think twice before you spring for that super-great and fabulous made-in-China deal from Walmart.  (No offense to Walmart shoppers, as I am one from time to time).  I want to encourage you to think about purchasing gifts that are Handmade.  There are multitudes of stay-at-home mom's and dad's, and entrepreneurs working hard to create unique items from home.  By buying homemade gifts, you are not only giving wonderfully original gifts, you are also supporting a crafter/ artist who are using their talents to supplement their income and/or provide for their families.   This post is not to promote my own handmade business (although, I will not stop you from clicking on the My Creative Threads logo to the left ), but rather to encourage the support of all things handmade.  A good place to start is by shopping on the website I use for my business, Etsy: www.etsy.com.  This website is a wonderful venue for handmade and vintage items. 
It is definitely much BETTER TO GIVE THEN TO RECEIVE, and I hope that we can all enjoy this season of giving!!
PS.  If you can't find the perfect Handmade gift, try making one yourself.  Nothing says I love you more than something that you took the time to make!!