The Season of Giving is upon us… which usually translate to over-shopping and big debt in January. Now with holiday shopping starting earlier each year, the perceived need to spend money on friends and family has created a retail frenzy.
I have a different approach to the idea of gift-giving.
I used to live by the retail model, having worked in retail and merchandising for more than two decades for companies like Macy’s, The Broadway, Nature Company, Discovery Channel Store and Trader Joe’s.
When I worked in merchandising, I discovered the real cost of goods and the energy spent on developing and finding unique product. At the end of my retail career, I was spending my time exporting goods to the high-priced UK airport stores. We’d import goods from multiple countries, then I’d export them to the UK to be sold to people traveling all over the world. In the end, the item likely crossed an ocean three times. It didn’t seem right.
Gifts do not have to be store-bought, which is often shipped halfway around the world.
After I got out of the retail world, I got back to my artistic roots. I started making gifts instead… furry hats, edibles, neck wraps.. even travel neck-pillows. I discovered that I didn’t have to be Martha Stewart to pull it off.
I’m a starving artist and an upcycler, which is why I give Economic-Eco-friendly gifts. Hand-making gifts will have more meaning for you, and for the recipient.
Click here for easy Economic Eco-friendly hand-made gift ideas.
Cinder Garden Designs 
I have requests already for most of the encaustic paintings I made in class, so those will be my gifts!