Earlier in the year in an effort to be a part of supporting local businesses and feel better about the gifts that I give, I vowed to reattempt to purchase only locally sourced or handmade gifts. I pride myself in trying to be as thoughtful about gifts as possible, often showing my appreciation this time of year by using my own talents to make something for someone who has shown me support and love throughout the year.
There has been a lot of talk the past two months or so about the scam that Amazon is running - to have consumers go into local shops and take a picture of what they might purchase locally and then get a discount for the item for purchasing it directly through Amazon. I don't agree with what Amazon is trying to do, but its a smart marketing tool for sure. I've blogged before about the 3/50 project and truly believe that supporting local businesses is something that we all should do when possible. My argument in the past is that it's not always possible to support locally as typically things cost more or what you need is just simply not available, but that doesn't discount the importance of thinking about it from time to time. Hell, even Seth Godin thinks it's a point worth pondering.
Back to my point and not just my rant, I tried this year to make local purchases or handmade gifts and mostly succeeded. At least better than last year, as when I started to run out of time I went straight to the big boxes and finished out my Christmas shopping. So I've kept track of my shopping and figured out the percentages of gifts I gave that fall into each category. Out of the twenty total gifts I gave this year throughout the holiday season, sixteen of them were either handmade or locally sourced. That's 80%! I'm feeling proud of my accomplishment. Looking at the things that I did either order online or purchase through big box stores - I really could have purchased them locally. It would have taken a little more money and some time finding exactly what I was looking for but I think I could have made it happen.
I think it's easy to fall into a habit of convenience and the only way to truly challenge yourself to support local/handmade is to look beyond convenience. My key to success was truly trying to make a map of what I was looking for. I think I started back in October thinking of ideas of things I could make that would be fit for the person that I wanted to gift something to. Had I of waited I would not have been as successful.
So, I'll ask.....did you give gifts that supported local businesses (the best gift you can give to a small business owner is patronage!!) or maybe made an expression of your own talents to those you hold dear? I would love to hear some of the gifts you gave along these guidelines. Here are some of mine -
There has been a lot of talk the past two months or so about the scam that Amazon is running - to have consumers go into local shops and take a picture of what they might purchase locally and then get a discount for the item for purchasing it directly through Amazon. I don't agree with what Amazon is trying to do, but its a smart marketing tool for sure. I've blogged before about the 3/50 project and truly believe that supporting local businesses is something that we all should do when possible. My argument in the past is that it's not always possible to support locally as typically things cost more or what you need is just simply not available, but that doesn't discount the importance of thinking about it from time to time. Hell, even Seth Godin thinks it's a point worth pondering.
Back to my point and not just my rant, I tried this year to make local purchases or handmade gifts and mostly succeeded. At least better than last year, as when I started to run out of time I went straight to the big boxes and finished out my Christmas shopping. So I've kept track of my shopping and figured out the percentages of gifts I gave that fall into each category. Out of the twenty total gifts I gave this year throughout the holiday season, sixteen of them were either handmade or locally sourced. That's 80%! I'm feeling proud of my accomplishment. Looking at the things that I did either order online or purchase through big box stores - I really could have purchased them locally. It would have taken a little more money and some time finding exactly what I was looking for but I think I could have made it happen.
I think it's easy to fall into a habit of convenience and the only way to truly challenge yourself to support local/handmade is to look beyond convenience. My key to success was truly trying to make a map of what I was looking for. I think I started back in October thinking of ideas of things I could make that would be fit for the person that I wanted to gift something to. Had I of waited I would not have been as successful.
So, I'll ask.....did you give gifts that supported local businesses (the best gift you can give to a small business owner is patronage!!) or maybe made an expression of your own talents to those you hold dear? I would love to hear some of the gifts you gave along these guidelines. Here are some of mine -
- Flower magnets (made by me!) for the girls at work to brighten up their cubes!
- Massage and locally made sundries from Down to Earth for me mere.
- Music Mix CD for my stepfather
- Calendar for my Poppop full of pictures of my family over the past year
- Watercolor paintings by me (I'm still learning, but I think they turned out okay)
- Knitted headbands (made by me)
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