Do you know you can give an accidental gift during this holiday season?
While your focus is on finding the prefect gift to give, you can double the gift by thinking about where you buy!
When you buy from a small business this season, it makes a BIG difference. You get to witness the impact of your hard earned money when it goes to a local business.
This year is especially hard on businesses. With increasing energy costs and rising inflation, this winter is hitting everyone harder than before.
But we aren’t here to make you feel bad.
No.
This is a post that celebrates the wonder and amazing craft-personship that you can find in local artists.
Despite how we look online, we are a small business of six people. Four of which are part-time. This topic is something that is very close to our hearts. So I hope you’ll join us in this post and share some love and gifts this season. Even if you can’t purchase from a small business, sharing their posts, interacting on social media, so others can find them means just as much. Especially when advertisers are pushing hard on all platforms.
5 Reasons to Shop Small for the Holidays
In case you’re here and wondering why you might think of shopping small for some of your gifts this year, here are five reasons in bullet point form:
- Supporting your community
- Discover local artisans and unique gifts
- It’s better for the environment
- Customer service
- The feeling you get when you support a local business.
We are very fortunate to collaborate with many local Irish businesses in our online shop and subscription boxes. Hand-selecting each item and considering what our customers and community will enjoy is something we take great pride in. When you join a Stolen Stitches Club, you also support many small Irish businesses. We thought we would highlight some of our favorites below. Give them a follow, share their work online or if you can, why not consider them in your gift shopping this year.
Shopping Small in Cork for Christmas
Three Spoons Tea
English market: Website and Instagram
We fell in love the first time we stepped foot in the aromatic Three Spoons Tea Shop in Cork’s famous English Market. They’ve made a name for themselves as loose leafs tea and roasted-to-order coffee beans.
Charlie Mahon
Ceramicist, English market: Website and Instagram
Cork-based ceramicist Charlie Mahon caught our eye for his Witty Sheep collection, but we also love his fish and hearts. He crafts each piece by hand from the white earthenware clay to the glazing and firing in his own kiln.
Badly Made Books
Stationary with Personality Website and Instagram
Incorporating his own approach of technology and handcraft, Seán O Sullivan creates tape-bound paperback books in his Cork city workshop. His team’s focus is on using 75–99% recycled paper in their books leaning toward sustainability and small batch crafting.
Python Charms
Inspired by accessibility, versatility, and practicality, Frankie Lodge launched her stitch marker business to fill a need she as a crafter had herself – well made markers that can be used in a variety of ways, both for crochet and knitting. It didn’t hurt she has a way of selecting beautiful raw materials to work with.
Hanna’s Bees
Hanna Bäckmo, a Cork-based beekeeper, has 50 honeybee colonies in scenic West and South Cork to help her create honey, beeswax, and propolis. Her line of eco-friendly products is designed with the safety of children, pets, and those with allergies in mind.
Mr. Kite
Jade and Jo share a love of craft, design, colour and pattern which is clear when you see their vibrant and original creations. From lampshades and cushions to tea towels and bags, there’s a sense of whimsy, texture, and practicality going hand-in-hand with each Mr. Kite design.
Shopping Small in Ireland for Christmas
Bread and Weather
Handmade Candles and Soaps: Website and Instagram
Made with all-natural ingredients and great reverence for nature and sustainability, Bead and Weather soaps and candles are 100% vegan and plastic free. Each item is handmade in small batches in Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
Dalkey Soaps
Simple ingredients, made with care, that is Val’s approach. She uses only natural oils, butters, colours, and pure essential oils. Her small batches then cure for 4 to 6 weeks. It is a slow process resulting in quality soaps.
Field Day
Alix creates candles, but in doing so she also invites you on a journey of the senses through the Irish countryside which inspires each scent. Based in County Down, Field Day brings a bit of the the rolling green hills, summer blooms, and misty rain to you through each candle she creates.
Hearts of Ireland
Adelle Hickey’s illustrations and art transcend the paper sheet when they become hand-printed cards, prints, and notebooks. Heavily inspired by Irish visual culture, Celtic symbols, and the Irish wildlife and flowers around her, Adelle hand draws, hand carves and hand prints each piece in her studio in Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Herbalists
Herbalist and Naturopath Claire Brett, Dip. Herb., ND, began creating skin care products in her kitchen from natural ingredients. It wasn’t long before she knew this was a unique offering with her expertise and background. Though her product line has grown to 20, her dedication to carefully selected and sourced natural ingredients, sustainability and traceability in our products and packaging remains a core priority for Dublin Herbalists.
We hope you found something that you like on this list.
From the entire staff of Stolen Stitches, we wanted to thank you for all your support this year.
However, you might have noticed that in this post you don’t see our yarn producers. If you’re wondering about the mill and how we develop our yarns and all those that get support by your yarn purchases through us, you can find a video right here on our YouTube channel from our last mill visit.
Finally, if you’d like to get some yarn and craft goodies dropped to your door, our Winter Seasons Club will be open for new sign-ups from the 1st of December!