Holiday Tradition - Handmade Gifts

I'm pretty sure that a year is still as long as it used to be, so why does the season seem to be arriving earlier and earlier each year?  When I was a kid, holiday decorations and merchandise didn't appear until after Thanksgiving. Nowadays, it is common for retailers to start pushing their wares well before Halloween, and many people have already finished shopping by Thanksgiving night, thanks to Black Friday. While I can't control the commerciality of the holidays, there is at least one tradition that I refuse to relinquish, and that is the tradition of sharing handmade gifts with my family and friends.

As a child, I would give handmade gifts. Back then it had to do more with money, or lack of I should say. But as the years went on, and my skills improved, I continued this tradition with family and close friends. While everyone doesn't appreciate the handmade gift, there are a few of us out there that look forward to them!

Through the years I have given detailed cross stitched pictures, banner flags, hand sewn items and occasionally food.  These days most of my crafting is centered around my card making, but I think family and friends would be unpleasantly surprised if they opened up a Christmas card from me these days and found a store bought one. They have grown to expect my handmade cards and these days occasional handmade gifts.

As a practitioner of handmade arts, I fully support the community of my fellow artists and purchase from them regularly. I get that many people these days are looking for items I cannot create, the new Iphone or perhaps that gift card from the local electronic store. But I still manage to slip in those handmade candles and soaps to a few people. To me, buying handmade is not the cheap way to go, in fact, sometimes it is more expensive, but I believe it is well worth the time and money, and helps build a stronger community for us all.