a peek inside the fishbowl

11 Dec, 2009

Get down n’ crafty

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Easy ways to make kids happy|Oh! Things!

I think working in retail over so many Christmases spoiled the season for me a bit. Although I was at the epicentre of gifting, the stink of desperation I often witnessed slightly damaged my idea of giving. Even today, the thought of shoppers trampling over each other to get that “hot” Christmas toy, the stale air, the canned holiday music, the thought of SO MUCH STUFF … it makes me break out in the cold sweat.

It’s taken me this long to get with the program again (25 days has helped – I will post an update soon) but I’m still working on it. But I don’t think I’ve succeeded in getting over the feeling of dread I get when I think about visiting the mall at this time of year.

The solution:

  1. (1) Shop local – that means avoiding that soul-sucking hell on earth commonly referred to as “WalMart” and the big shopping malls. Support your local small businesses. It’s good for everyone.
  2. (2) Shop online.
  3. (3) Make stuff.

My recent piece over at SavvyMom combines all three, although #3 doesn’t factor in as much because this year I’m leaving the “making stuff” aspect to the professionals.

The article is about shopping locally on Etsy, the grand poohbah of crafty and arty shopping sites.

Do I need to tell you how awesome it is? Not only can you AVOID THE MALL, but it’s a very easy way to pick up some very original art and crafts (and more). AND by making a purchase you are also supporting an artist or two … people who are pursuing their passion and sharing it with others. And I think that adds up to a lot of good karma all ’round.

I bought something for the girls yesterday – er, not locally – but very cute nonetheless. I ordered Thumbelina and Pippi Longstocking shadow puppets from this vendor.

Which reminds me (because I have been wanting to ask) what are your fave Etsy shops? I have a list of favourites but I love to learn about ones I haven’t discovered yet.


7 Responses to "Get down n’ crafty"

1 | Tiana

December 11th, 2009 at 11:00 am

Avatar

Also – I love those shadow puppets!!! They are so intricate.

2 | Tiana

December 11th, 2009 at 11:02 am

Avatar

oh seems like my list of favorites didn’t make it as a comment. Let me try again:

CedarViewArt
saranorris
AshleighRosa
eRosasjewelry
knittles
infusion
trixiedelicious
pennypeople
iheartchelsyanne

3 | Laurie

December 11th, 2009 at 11:49 am

Avatar

sophiebelle – home of the sophiesaver! I buy them in bulk and give them as baby gifts.

4 | andrea

December 11th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

Avatar

Oh my –
Someone sent me an off-topic email about the fact that I described WalMart as a “soul-sucking hell on earth” and that by doing such I have offended legions of retirees, people on fixed incomes, and other people who are econonically disadvantaged.

If you are one of those people I do hope I haven’t offended you so deeply – shop where you choose – but I do stand by what I wrote, even though my particular choice of words was intended for dramatic effect. We haven’t shopped at WalMart for years even though there may be cheaper goods to be found there. I’d rather buy less, slightly more expensive stuff than shop at WalMart. Every experience I’ve had there has indeed been “soul-sucking” and I don’t agree with their business practices.

5 | andrea

December 11th, 2009 at 1:00 pm

Avatar

Some people are having trouble posting comments with lots of links. Sorry !

Here’s one from Lynn at Turtlehead:

I have so many Etsy favourites, I could talk about them all day. But recently I added a bunch of new favourite shops because they are all located in Ottawa.

Here are some of my favourites that are funky AND local (for us, anyway):

Northern Girl Jewelry
http://www.etsy.com/shop/NorthernGirlJewelry

Dame Named Redd
http://www.etsy.com/shop/reddhynes

2nJoy
http://www.etsy.com/shop/2nJoy

Swirlicious
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Swirlicious
(her Mom/Grandmother stamped necklaces were a particularly big hit at the big Craft Fair I organized a few weeks ago at my kids’ school)

RikRak
http://www.etsy.com/shop/rikrak
(I think she actually comments here sometimes!)

Loopy4Ewe
http://www.etsy.com/shop/loopy4ewe

Phoebe and Me
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Phoebeandme

Pillowhead
http://www.etsy.com/shop/pillowhead

The Hookery
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheHookery
(also very popular at the craft sale)

The Envelope Please
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheEnvelopePlease

Mothership Photography
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MothershipPhoto

Gnipmac
http://www.etsy.com/shop/gnipmac

Life is Good at the Beach
http://www.etsy.com/shop/lifeisgoodatthebeach

Refashionista
http://www.etsy.com/shop/refashionista

6 | betsy mae

December 11th, 2009 at 10:28 pm

Avatar

I love Etsy but don’t have any favourite vendors! I love browsing and Lynn at Turtlehead does a great job of sharing some amazing finds so do you Andrea, you introduced me to Etsy. I’m off to check out everyone’s favourites!!!!

PS- I love the shop locally feature on Etsy. In the summer (at a festival) I met a vendor who I had been admiring on Etsy, I recognized her goods at the festival and asked her if she had her items for sale on Etsy.

7 | Siobhan

December 12th, 2009 at 12:14 am

Avatar

I think it took me over a decade to get over my retail-job-induced dislike for Christmas. Getting into crafting really helped.

Another thing that helped is that we set up a scheme for gift-buying with our main gift-buying circle. Each of us picks a name, and we’re responsible for buying the “group gift” for that person. For each person, I can either buy an individual gift or donate towards their group gift. It means that each of us is really focused on the likes/wants of just one other person (but can still buy for other people if we happen across something appropriate). It’s worked well for several years, though I have a feeling we may try something different next year.

(We don’t do the “pick a name and buy a small gift” route that many families take when everyone’s grown up, because we’ve got a fairly wide range of incomes, and this lets us be a bit socialist. The people in the group with lower incomes really need that little extra at Christmas and birthdays to help them get by.)

comment form:

Archives

Me and my pet projects

Ottawa Bucket list

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


  • Gretchen Humphrey: I had a beautiful bee& birdbath filled with a solar fountain and dozens of antique marbles that were suddenly disappearing. At first I thought my
  • Jinjer: I am sobbing reading this post. And you're right, companion is not enough. Little furry treasured gifts that they are. Thanks for sharing cutie-pi
  • Karen: Dear Andrea, Mark and your daughters I am so very sad for your family xxx Piper was/is my favourite Instagram post. You shared with us so intimately
  • Christina Banuelos: Thank you for sharing Pipers life with us. Your posts of Piper brought me joy. Every time I see your post and see what kind of mischief Piper was gett
  • Carla Slocum: I am sitting here yet again crying at your loss. We have known that loss with Asta the WFT our first pup but now have the enormous gift of Stryker the
  • Janelle Brown: Dear Andrea Thank you for sharing Piper’s story with her followers. I empathise with your grief and emptiness as I lost my 14 year old Westie last
  • Natasha McReynolds-Nicholl: My god reading this is heartbreaking. December 1st was the as you describe longest day of my life, we lost out beautiful WFT hazel. Pipers final momen

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you'd like to contact me, please use this form. If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here. Thank you for visiting!

 


Connect with me at these places too!

Still calling it Twitter