Shopping Locally Made Easier

For some of us living in suburbs or communities without a thriving arts and crafts community, it can be a challenge to buy clothing, accessories, home decor or gifts locally. As much as we may want to support our local businesses, growers, markets and craftspeople - it's sometimes really hard.

But let's just take a step back and think about this another way. Maybe we can take small steps towards buying locally. Helping our local communities is a good thing for so many reasons...and it feels really good. So, what do you think of these ideas?

1. Maybe for some of us this year, buying local means buying "made in the USA" instead of imported items
2. For us in the North West, maybe we support local wineries, artists and companies with items from our "Made in Oregon" (or Washington, or whatever your state is) stores
3. Could we support local services, restaurants and businesses with gift certificates
4. Here's one I like (hint, hint!): Browse the "local" section on Etsy.com for bonus points on local AND handmade goods
5. Something we're taking great pleasure in this year is making presents at home with what you already have, can find in nature, cook, bake or find locally (I'll be sharing these with you soon)

So, do these ideas work for you? What other ideas do you have to get a little closer to "local" (and a little farther from those big global guys)?

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