Handmade items are lovely to receive, whether it’s been made by a friend or someone close to you, or by a stranger who pours as much love into the project as you would for your bestie’s birthday. Handmade is lovely, and here’s three reasons to shop handmade, especially on the run-up to Christmas.
Unique
This may seem like an obvious one, but often handmade products are bespoke, or created on a small scale. This means that there isn’t a factory somewhere churning them out for pennies, these are made in people’s own homes from ideas that started out as a sketch.
Personally, I really like buying unique gifts because they just seem so personal to someone, choosing something unique that they won’t find on a high street shelf adds thoughtfulness to the gift, and often will be received very well and treasured.
Handmade is unique because everyone has different talents. As a seamstress and designer, I can’t begin to wonder how candles are made to the high standard we see at craft events, yet the quirky labels and strong scents show us how personal the product is to this business.
Gift Wrapped
When you order a gift from Etsy for example, they often come gift wrapped, or it is at least an option to mark so you can receive something that is essentially ready to gift. I like this option because it allows the creator to wrap in their own image of how the gift should be wrapped. For example, I tend to go for a natural brown paper, this goes with my nature and wildlife theme to most of my work and can be recycled as well.
Quality
When you order a handmade gift, you are more often ordering from someone who loves the product that they sell. They make sure it is made to a high standard using materials they trust, and are usually trained or studied hard to be able to create the thing you are holding.
I can’t tell you how many fabric samples I ordered before settling on my cotton I choose, I wanted something thin enough that I could work with it layered as I have to with some of my products, but also with the strength that it isn’t going to tear or fade over time, and I am happy with my choice, because it’s important to me that my items last and are high quality.
Why do you buy handmade? Let us know!
