Small Business Success

So, remember way back in November when I posted about my passion for shopping small and/or local and my plan to do that for our Christmas gifts? I’ve been meaning to write a second part to that post summarizing how that worked out, and I just haven’t gotten around to it! I know the gift giving season is kind of over, but I figure these are good ideas for anytime (and a fun way to see what shopping small actually looks like) and am hoping they’ll inspire you to make a similar commitment next year!

 

Shopping small ended up being even easier than I anticipated, and I got to get to know and work with some awesome etsy shop and small business owners in the process. Instead of a rundown of every single gift, I’ll highlight some of my favorites. :)

 

First, for my wonderful best friend, I decided to support several businesses! We have a local shop that’s a collective of several small businesses (a woman who refinishes furniture, a woman – actually, a friend from high school – who sells antiques, a woman who sells signs on recycled wood, a woman who sells candles, etc. etc.) so I supported a couple different shops within that collective with the ornament and candle. The scarf was from Paisley Perch Boutique via a Very Jane sale!

 

 

For my brother’s girlfriend who seems to have everything, I supported a local boutique {Red Bird Boutique in Cambridge Market if you’re in Wichita!} and got her an infinity scarf and headwrap, which she ended up loving!

 

 

Both of them, as well as David’s brother’s girlfriend and David’s sister, also received a bracelet I picked out for them from Jill’s Jewels on etsy. Such cute stuff and Jill was so great to work with!

 

   

   

 

I really loved our gifts for our sister-in-law (David’s brother’s wife) – One part of it was handmade by me and was one of the only gifts I made this year. It’s a cute little stand for her kitchen to hold a recipe card or to-do list.. Or really, whatever she wants. She seemed to enjoy it, and I supported the local collective I talked about earlier with the baby powder scented candle and the lovely Ashley of Corner With Love with the camera strap cover as well!

 

    

 

David’s mom was celebrating her first Christmas as a grandma, so we got her a custom necklace. It’s from Desert Rain Jewelry and has the twins’ names and birthstones.. And can be added to eventually when we ‘finally’ decide to have kids.

 

{Not their names or birthstones and I chose a different font, but you get the idea}

 

For my mom, we did a gift certificate to her hair stylist at a local salon good for her next cut and color. We also supported local restaurants by purchasing gift cards for our brothers and their girlfriends. Our nieces and nephews were harder to shop small/local for, but we supported a local Christian bookstore by buying books and toys there.

 

Honestly, it was so much more fun really thinking about what each of our family members/friends would want and how we could support a local/small business to get it instead of finding something random for each person on our yearly trip to the mall. As an etsy shop owner myself, I can’t stress enough how much it means to a small business owner when you choose to support them instead of a big name store. I truly hope you’ll make it not just a consideration, but a priority in the future – And not just for the holidays or Small Business Saturday, but anytime!