the brightest blossom - beautiful bursting pink strapless party dress with lace icing at http://www.etsy.com/shop/tigercultMr. Meathead NEVER buys me gifts. Years ago I forbid him from buying me flowers or jewelry because they were (more often than not) thoughtlessly procured on the eleventh hour. Apparently he was trained to buy presents from watching bad tv shows and is completely stumped when I cross those two categories off the list of possibilities. Lame, very lame. To make matters worse, as if to taunt me, Fiona's husband has called in the past me to help him think of more great gifts for her (He had already picked out a few himself). Which makes him a really sweet guy... and also makes me want to punch him in the face.

My point is that is that Mr. Meathead could walk into almost any thrift or vintage store in town and find something that would give me a gift-gasm. He could also spend ten minutes on Etsy. Maybe I could program Yahoo Sports to redirect to Etsy, hmmm....

I can go on and on about how wonderful Etsy is; real people selling one-of-a-kind goods that cost LESS than the "made-by-children-in-Indonesia" stuff you could buy at any department store. These hand crafters at Etsy are working for what?... maybe eight bucks an hour? When all is said and done, I still can't believe that anyone would walk into a mall and spend two hundred bucks on a purse that 3000 other yentas are going to buy as well. I mean, do you really think that big name designers really appreciate your cold cash as much as some sweetheart on Etsy? Pat yourself on the back because you recycle, drive a hybrid, eat organic, but I think it's just as important to support local artists, fellow Americans, and spread your cash among people you would invite over for dinner (and would accept your invitation).

Sooooo.... every couple weeks, Etsy has this thing called "the voter" where a certain number of items are selected and then people vote on their favorites. This weeks goods are all about Easter so check them out and buy your Easter fare here and maybe skip the basket of crappy chocolates (unless of course they are from a local chocolate shop).

The Etsy winners are featured on the front page so pay close attention to my friend's pink dress "the brightest blossom" from Tiger Cult.  Clearly we are shamelessly pandering for votes (please vote for her), but her vintage finds are fantastic. And if you don't dig vintage, there are so many cute things on this Etsy page to give to your favorite little bunnies and there is time to get it on your front porch without panicking. 

Share |

 

join our mailing list and we'll tell about all our Nifty News!