Wanna Shop Local and Handmade? Easy!

I know you know the mall is for losers. So don’t do it. Don’t even take one step into that big ugly store and buy something that no one wants. Instead, make the pledge that so many of us are making to shop local and handmade. But how? Can it be easy to gather all of your holiday goodies this way? You better believe it is. Between shopping handmade marketplaces online like Etsy and via our own Crafty Bastards Vendor Gallery and the scores of local craft shows in the next few weeks, we’ve got you covered.

For the completely curated experience, look no further than the Crafty Bastards Vendor Gallery. Each crafter’s listing links you directly to their Web site or online shop so that you can pick up all of the goodies that you missed at this year’s fair. It will be easy for you to purchace from many locals either directly from their Web sites or at one of the many holiday shows going on in the area. Goshdarnknit’s shop is completely stocked with all manner of fantastic handprinted notebooks.

And Crafty Bastard, Daisy Lacy’s creations can be found at her store, Smash! in Adams Morgan or at the Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market (see a list of shows below).

The place to be on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Etsy.com where there are over 200,000 sellers. If you wanna narrow that down a little to people who live in your area, use the Shop Local function to search for sellers. Here, I’ve done the ‘Washington, D.C.’ search for you!

Two local Etsy Street teams are doing interesting things with their groups for the holiday shopping season. Several members of the Baltimore Etsy Street Team will be donating money from the sale of the their items to the Maryland Food Bank. This is a great way to not only shop local and handmade, but also give back to the community. You can see the list of participating shops on their blog, Baltimorecraft.com.

The Capital Region Etsy Street Team (CREST) is hosting a promotion for Cyber Monday. Several of the members have contributed to a gift box and blog viewers can simply post a comment to the blog and be entered in a random drawing to recieve one of the gifts. A complete list of discounts and gift box items can be found on the CREST blog. The items in the gift box aren’t just promos, either. They include a a cold forged sterling silver chain by DC artist Mary Ellen Doran (retail value $40) and a fabric wallet or credit card holder from Bette’s Bags. You can also find items made by CREST members on Etsy by searching the tags/titles for “etsycrestteam”.

If you want to shop in person on Friday, alive in the real world, DEKKA (1338 U Street NW, 2nd Floor) will be open from 9AM to 9PM on Black Friday. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to get pieces from local artists at great discounts! There will be margaritas and appetizers from 11 am to 9pm. In fact the entire Mid City alliance of U Street shops will be celebrating with sales and special events. Go mama go! (1809 14th Street) is offering 20% off for shoppers in their pajamas and PULP (1803 14th Street) will give 10% off all holiday single and boxed cards. Check out the entire Mid City Black Friday list of participating stores.

Buying from the crafters in person in December will also be easy with tons of holiday markets and shows to check out.

12/6, Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market, Washington, D.C.
Start your holiday shopping off right, by buying handmade from the 20 coolest indie crafters in Washington, D.C. There will be snacks and music and free goodie bags to the first 100 shoppers! This cozy little show is at Hilda’s in the National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle from 12-6pm. The vendor list is an impressive gathering of D.C. notables and includes De*Nada Design, Kristina Bilonick and El Jefe Design.

12/7, Creative Alliance Merry Mart, Baltimore, MD
No manic mall madness necessary! Do your holiday shopping at The Patterson from 11am-5pm! 35 + handpicked artists sell some the best of Baltimore-made items. Gorgeous turned vessels, elegant jewelry, whimsical stuffed critters, origami lights, felt applique, hand knits, housemade soaps, wacky fly swatters, photos in jars, totally cool totes, and mucho more. More info.

12/7, SquidFire’s 2008 Winter Art Mart, Baltimore, MD
Join Squidfire and many other vendors at the Lyric Opera House (110 West Mount Royal Avenue – Baltimore, MD 21201) on Sunday December 7, 12-6:30pm. Check out the vendor list on their Web site.

12/13, Craft Mutiny Holiday Trunk Show, Washington, D.C.
Get your last minute indie holiday shopping done with Washington, D.C.’s favorite indie craft collective Craft Mutiny, at Design Within Reach Georgetown (3307 Cady’s Alley N.W.) on Saturday, December 13th from 10am-5pm. Buy handmade goods and meet local crafters at this one-day event, hosted at Design Within Reach Georgetown. One-of-a-kind goods for sale include clothing, stationary, prints, jewelry, handspun yarn, plush items and more. The list of vendors includes John Wye, Jaime Zollars, and 60 Bugs.

12/14, DC Rollergirls HOLIDAY BASH & CRAFT SALE
Join the DC Rollergirls on Sunday December 14th from 6pm – 10pm at the Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002) for their Holiday Bash and Craft sale.

12/21 Black Cat Rock-n-Shop, Washington, D.C.
Hunting for that perfect holiday gift? Looking to augment your hardcore collection with some essential records? Searching for the perfect T-shirt? Stop right there, my friend! Rock-n-Shop is where it’s all at. This twice-yearly junk sale offers more than the standard fare…for one thing, it’s not all junk.

Tina Seamonster also blogs and podcasts over at Hello Craft.com. That leaves little time for shopping.

Tags: buying handmade, craft shows in dc, holiday shopping, shop local