I spent most of Friday shopping—which is a manner of spending a day in which I almost never partake. But, ‘tis the season, and when in Rome, and all that. Hours of perusing wares always makes me a bit dizzy, and that day was no exception.
But the good news is that I found a number of Christmas gifts without setting foot in the mall or indeed going anywhere near 29N. Here’s part of my haul:
Starting at the top left, that’s a Tshirt designed and printed at the local shop A Mystery In Common. I’ve bought a couple other shirts from them in the past, and this is a new design. This came from the Craftacular held at Open Space over the weekend; if you missed it, write yourself a note to check it out next year. There was lots of nice jewelry, fabric crafts, and odds and ends. (One thing I love about A Mystery In Common, by the way, is that they give away their test prints as free wrapping paper. Points for reuse!)
Moving right along, clockwise: a cutting board made in Crozet, at Innisfree, and sold at C’ville Arts. The unassuming exterior of that shop may make it easy to overlook, but it’s always worth a stop.
Next we have a one-page calendar designed by magnoliamoonlight.com and sold at the Bridge—part of its Holiday Shop that’s going on all month (and, in fact, into January). There is so much great stuff there: Earlysville-made baby bibs, Belmont-made pottery, mobiles and artwork and lots more jewelry.
And speaking of jewelry, the earrings also came from C’ville Arts.
When the intended recipients open up these gifts, I’ll be repeating myself a lot: “That was made by someone local…” I think it adds a lot to the package.
What locally-made and/or locally-sold stuff are you giving away?
