Holiday Gift Guide: Etsy and Small Business

Today is small business Saturday, and while it’s really easy for me to shop small and local in our little town, I realize it’s not always so simple for everyone else. We’ve lived in suburban areas before where it seems like there’s nothing but chain stores and restaurants, so I do understand the challenge. Of course we love Amazon and the convenience of two-day shipping right to our doors, but we also know that shopping local keeps our friends and families in business.

In honor of small business Saturday, today I’m sharing our favorite gift ideas from ETSY. ETSY is my favorite source for handmade and personalized items, which make the most wonderful, creative and thoughtful gifts. As some of you already know, I have an ETSY shop in addition to the blog {visit it here}, which keeps me busy in my “free time.”

First up: if you take your morning coffee as seriously as I do, then a cute mug is essential. These gingham mugs are adorable. You can do seasonal mugs or team colors, or colors to match your decor. They even come monogrammed.

| Monogrammed Mug |

Our friend Amanda has one of the cutest stores on ETSY and these tassel beaded bracelets are one of my favorite gift ideas:

| Tidal Tassel Bracelets |

These leopard clutches make a nice sister/girlfriend/mother gift and we all know that leopard is basically a neutral that can go with everything!

| Leopard Clutch |

For fitness loving women, these headbands are so cute and seriously would solve that hair in the face problem. They’re inexpensive and come in dozens of patterns (I also love their double twist style).

| Headband |

Men can be hard to shop for, my husband has a leather tray like this on his dresser and keeps all the “things” that would normally pile up–loose change, keys etc. This is a nice price for one like this, and is a great handmade gift for a hard-to-shop-for guy.

| Leather tray |

I also like these leather toiletry bags, these are stylish and won’t take up too much space in his bag (my husband’s priority is always to bring as little as possible with him when he travels, a concept completely lost on me). My son is also getting one of these this year, the time has come for him to travel with more style than a toothbrush in a ziploc bag, much as he doesn’t seem to agree.

| Dopp kit |

You can find unlimited jewelry ideas on ETSY, but one of my favorites is this beautiful clover necklace that is just a fraction of what you’d pay for the real version from Van Cleef & Arpels, plus it comes in sterling silver, gold, or rose gold plated:

| Clover Necklace |

I also love these dainty circle necklaces:

| Circle Necklace | My greatest hit as a teacher gift ever is an address stamp or a personalized stamp of some sort. “From the Library of” works if you don’t have the teacher’s personal information, it helps ensure that their classroom books are (eventually) returned to them. Etsy has a great selection of stamps, both the self-inking and the traditional wood-handled/ink pad style.

| Return Address Stamp |

Also as far as stamps, if you have a special cook in your life, a “From The Kitchen Of” stamp is perfect for making cards to attach with homemade goodies at this time of year, a selection is HERE.

An insulated tumbler always makes a nice gift with wide appeal, and you can’t go wrong by adding a monogram to make it special. These would be perfect for a teacher, bus driver, or friend and they’re so reasonably priced! Of course, you can also purchase your own tumbler and add a monogram from our store here.

| Monogrammed Tumbler |

I order these monogrammed notepads for friends all the time. They are a great price and such a cute personalized gift. I always add an extra one for me when I order, they are perfect to jot a quick note to the teacher or enclose in a gift for a friend. The paper is very nice quality; I promise they don’t look homemade.

| Monogrammed Notepads |

A house portrait is a lovely gift for anyone who lives in a “forever” home, or has a special one that they’d like to remember, like their childhood home (or Grandma’s house). ETSY has a large selection of artists who will take a picture of your house and turn it into a portrait.

| House watercolor |

Or, if you prefer, you can have someone do a traditional drawing.

I don’t see how you can go wrong with this black buffalo check weekender bag, it’s such a great basic carry-all and still stylish.

| Weekender Tote |

ETSY is also a great source of yummy homemade foods; these bourbon pecans would be a great stocking stuffer for a bourbon lover.

| Bourbon pecans |

These handmade Old Fashioned lip balms are another great stocking stuffer; they come in a set of three:

| Old-Fashioned Flavored Lip Balm |

For your design obsessed friends, sisters etc. how about a pillow (or two) in a gorgeous fabric?

| Velvet pillow covers |

These matchboxes have long been a favorite of mine; pair them with a pretty scented candle and you have a perfect gift combination. They come in dozens of graphics and colors.

| Matchboxes |

Last but not least, this is one of my new favorite ETSY stores. If you’re a fan of preppy chinoiserie style, you’ll love pretty much everything she carries. These melamine plates and platters are just darling!

And this gold tray would look great on a dresser or to serve drinks:

| Gold tray |

These monogrammed gift enclosures are a great gift idea, too:

| Gift enclosures |

Here is a bonus idea…we’ve used these cards in teacher gifts for the end of the year and teacher appreciation, but if you have small gifts to give to people like bus drivers, mail carriers, teachers, co-workers, your hairdresser etc. these are perfect to enclose with a Starbucks or coffee shop gift card. They’re only $2 and then you can download an unlimited number and customize them using photo editing software (we use PicMonkey).