When it’s a special occasion, I love to treat my family members and my friends to a little gift to celebrate. Although many of us don’t really ‘need’ anything, it’s still lovely to receive a thoughtful present and the best way to find something with a bit of meaning is to explore options away from the high street stores.
That’s why I head to Etsy at Christmas and throughout the year for birthdays, weddings and anniversaries because I can always find something personal to the recipient and that no one else has.
I love getting something custom-made or one-off so I always turn to artists and creatives. There’s a group of makers and crafters, some of whom I know in ‘real life’, who have shops on Etsy, so I’ve saved them as a collection of my favourite shops.
That way, I’ve always got a list of ceramicists, printmakers and designers who I can turn to when special events come around and I can find something suitable for most of the people in my life.
If you also want to discover unique, creative gifts for your own family members and pals, here are some of the gifts I’ve recently bought myself on Etsy to give you a bit of inspiration:
Abby Sumner Design – my go-to for unique greeting cards for all occasions. I’ve also bought some of her risograph art prints, which I have framed in my home. In particular, I got mine and my husband’s initials printed by Abby as an anniversary gift and the colourful designs add a bright pop to our home.
For eco-friendly jewellery, I head to Lydia Miriam Design, who handmakes custom jewellery using beautiful tagua beads. When I bought one for my mum for Mother’s Day, I was able to choose the colour combination and it’s perfect to match items in wardrobe.
A book makes a lovely gift for a child so I’ve been buying books on Etsy that have been written by a local author Victoria Brock. Over the years, I’ve gifted my niece one of her books for every birthday and Christmas and now she has the whole collection. Victoria has kindly signed the books for my niece so they’re all personalised for her.
Teesh Clothing is a UK-based clothing designer who creates t-shirts that you just can’t get anywhere else. The tops are printed to order and they’re happy to adjust the design to suit your recipient. I got my husband an evolution graphic tee and I was able to choose the colourways and could ask for some of the text to be removed from the design so it was fully customised for my husband.
Another maker that I like to shop with is Lilac Blossom Shop, who makes unique accessories, such as coin purses and wash bags. They’re hand-sewn in colourful fabrics and you can often choose the design, fabrics and even the zip colour. These are lovely little gifts for my friends and nieces for birthdays and they’re practical too – so handy for using all year round.
My most recent purchase was an artwork for my friend’s birthday – the Bracken Fern original linocut print by artist Hannah Farthing. I’ve bought my friend both of the prints in this fern series and one of the fun things about buying directly from the artist is that I could request a specific number from the edition – so I chose the print that was the same number as her age each year!
I also have many MANY prints by Hannah Farthing, which my husband has bought for me and that I’ve bought myself. In fact, one year we both tried to buy the same print for each other from Hannah haha!
Also, here are some more of the gifts I’ve received myself over the years when my friends and family have bought unique gifts from artists and makers for me too! The first is Crafty Cats Club; I have a personalised star-sign foil artwork by them and I also have an enamel cat paw pin, which I love!
And one Christmas, I received little ceramic versions of our cats – like adorable tree decorations – hand-painted by Hannah Berridge, who had been commissioned to create portraits from photos of them. They’re such lovely keepsakes that really capture the personality of our kitties and I bring them out every Christmas to decorate our tree. Ceramic artist Hannah hand paints a whole collection of ceramic pieces and can personalise them for special occasions.
I hope these Etsy shops will inspire you to find something unique and custom-made for your friends and family the next time you’ve got a special occasion to celebrate. Let me know what Etsy shop is your go-to for personalised gifts in the comments below.
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