Are you going to buy some gifts today? Did you go out Thanksgiving night or Black Friday? I know it’s a thing in many families. They work together to figure out their routes. They time their shopping to get to Costco for the free food tastings. It is a full contact sport. I am not a shopper. Oh when I was a kid, we did have big shopping sprees. What we did was go on the day after Christmas to return gifts and get new items that we marked down really deeply. And it was a fun time with my mom and sister.
Since I was a kid, it was always a thing to make presents. I know if you have been reading my posts for a while you may have already heard about my handmade gifts. As a family, we would make candy and cookies for friends and family. We always made English Toffee for my grandpa, it was his favorite. As a pre-teen, I made potholders out of leftover fabric and I stuffed them with a piece or two of old towels. I made these for many years. It was my thing.
When I started to do more cooking, I wrote my own “cookbook”. It was a collection of salads, including all our family favorites, even Jello salads. I typed these up with carbon paper to make multiple copies at once. Oh the error fixing!! It was a horror. Things are so much easier today with spell checking computers and printers. The adults who received these cookbooks, were so kind and encouraging.
Over the years, I’ve made jewelry and scarves. I’ve made calendars that included all the family’s important dates. I’ve woven and beaded and dyed and printed. I’ve shared the things that are important to me with those that I loved. I hoped that they would appreciate and feel all the wonderful holiday feelings that went into making their presents.
So as we look to the next Christmas or Chanukah or even birthday, how about making or buying things that promote cozy, loving feelings. Buying something that makes a home cozy. Buying something that will enhance creativity, yours or for the person who will be getting the gift. Buy something that is made by a local artist or is from a local farm. This way your gift will be meaningful to you, your recipient and the makers.
In the next couple of weeks there are many opportunities to shop with small businesses. You can find some hand made gifts, even if it is too late for you to make them yourself. We are open this Sunday from 1:30-4:30. Or email for an appointment!