Etsy

I have no idea how I have never stumbled upon this website before.   
I was in the dark.   

 Now,
I love Etsy!

It's like walking through a quaint downtown artsy district loaded with tons of shops, each with it's own unique and handmade items.  Plus, there are lots of great deals. 

Here are a few fun items I've gotten recently....maybe you need some gift ideas for your friends and family.  I know I have a whole list of favorites saved up.  Amazon step aside, I have a new on-line place for gift shopping.

Merelani Designs 

has several colors of these rose studs along with many other earrings.  I got these and a dangling pair for under $8, shipping and all.

Fairievalley 

has a bunch of covers for your ereader.  I am very excited about this purchase.  My hubby got me a Kindle touch for my birthday and I want to keep it protected from all the commotion that goes on in my house.  This little peace sleeve is  custom made just for me.  $8, what a great deal.

Crazy4Handstamping

has these cute little sterling silver charms for $5.50.

My mom got me something similar when my first son was born and I lost it over the years.   I've been wanting to replace it since the day I discovered it was missing.  When I came across these, I jumped on the opportunity to customize two of them..one for each son!  They are looking great on my bangle bracelet.

And the shop owner was very pleasant and easy to work with.  (since I had never ordered anything from Etsy before, I was kind of a pain)

 

GracensDesigns 

currently has my favorite purchase.

They have several variations of this pea in the pod necklace.  Mine has four light green 'peas', one to represent each member in my family.  Super cute, personal and sentimental!

I love it so much, I decided to get one for my mom, my hubby's mom and my sister-in-law as a Mother's Day gift.  Each is different and unique with it's own personalization, which, to me, makes it that much more special!

If you have already discovered the joy that is Etsy you are probably rolling your eyes, thinking 'Duh'.  But if you haven't and you like shopping for unique handmade gifts, you'll love it.

Just an update:
I wrote this about one month ago, but had not posted, because of the gift items.
I have since gifted my family, but in the meantime I bought something else.  This time for the dog.  I know, I know they have it all.

HawaiiHandMadeGifts

has these super reflective collars for dogs.  Since MountieBoo has been escaping on a daily basis, this was a necessity.  It's perfect against his dark coat and comes in extremely handy at night.  The shop owner, Nancy, was amazing.  Her communication was fantastic and she got the collar to me in under 4 days...all the way from Hawaii. 

So if you are in need of a reflective dog collar check her shop out!

Happy Shopping!  :)