Crafty

One of my favorite websites, discovered this past holiday season, is Etsy. Etsy is a conglomerate storefront for hundreds of artists, crafters, jewelry makers, glassblowers, knitters - you name it. It's all handmade items. Here are the things I love about Etsy:

* It's divided in so many useful categories. You can shop for gifts by recipient or occasion. You can browse by item - and once in the item, you can browse by material or price range. You can view the editor's picks, recently added, most viewed. And there's also a nifty feature where you can pick a color, and it will show you all the items in that color.

* There's no middle-man. You buy directly from the seller using Paypal, much like eBay. So the merchandise is incredibly reasonable.

* Which leads to my next point - you get to support someone's art. I think this is maybe the best part. You can tell these people have set up their shops with care and made it their little corner of the Internets. It's their opportunity to do what they love - even if they have to go to a 9-to-5 that they hate, or if they are stay-at-home moms who do this for relaxation or as a hobby, they have their wares on display and it's personal.

* It's global. I've gotten stuff from Australia, Lithuania and Canada. And several of the packages have included handmade cards - and it's interesting how the cards and the paper and all just look different.

So next time you're looking for a gift - or want to treat yourself - with that little extra added uniqueness, try Etsy.