Friday, November 20, 2009

the happiness of handmade

The more time I spend buying and selling on Etsy the more I can't bear looking at things made in china! =x

I took a meander down the ornaments isle at Hobby Lobby (an awesome store for us crafty folk btw!) and it was endless rows and deep shelves of shiny, glittery, plastic molded things. I felt a gut reaction of sickness to it all, didn't even reach for anything because it seemed so sterile and impersonal. I wondered about the lives of the people making them, and the awful monotony of assembly lines for threaded loops, metal ornament caps, glitter, moveable plastic parts.

When I got home I found some cute hand-made ornaments on etsy, ripe for the picking and made (as you can tell) with real love. :) Give me one ornament made with love, rather than a 12-pack of shiny bulbs any ol' day! Here's just a few, but I found dozens more!


thehouseofmouse




vivikas
kimosabescraps





harmonicagoldfish


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hello!
I know exactly what you are talking about. I'm an artist and lover of beautiful handmade quality things, and after discovering etsy and after learning about outsourcing and how it is affecting the people in developing countries, and how it is affecting our beautiful planet, I cannot even hardly look at all that assembly line stuff when I walk through a store. What a wonderful experience to be able to have and hold something that was lovingly made--and to know that it supports someone doing the work they love! Cute ornaments! I love Etsy! Your shop is lovely. Keep up the good work, your hair clips are sooo cool! :) ~Abbey www.LovesGarden.etsy.com