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Monde Shops 9 December 2020

Shop Local This Christmas with Etsy

Handmade with love. 5 local Etsy stores we’re buying from this gifting season.

It doesn’t need to be said how tough 2020 has been. No matter your location, industry, age or income, every single person on our planet has been affected by COVID-19. So at a time of the year which is honoured by many and encompasses all that is joyous and family oriented, why not give the gift that may just support an Australian-based seller and give back to our communities? This holiday season, we are gifting one-of-a-kind piece, handmade gifts that were crafted and sold by small businesses local to our area. When shopping local and/or handmade, you really cannot bypass Etsy, the home of cool craft and a little bit of eclecticism.


Words By Brittany Lyons

Ceramics: Ejay Makes

Ceramics are hands down one of the most versatile and beautifully crafted gifts one can receive, no matter the occasion. The ones you’ll find on Etsy are usually handmade, fired in a cute local kiln and glazed with a specialty mix that is probably one-of-a-kind too. Making them that portion more special.

Ejay Makes of Melbourne, Australia, creates clay-based masterpieces that have been designed to be beautifully organic in shape.
With a few different types of vessels and uses for them, her ceramics are kitschy, cute and could most definitely be used as a styling piece for your home if you’d prefer not to use as a mug, vase etc.

This gift giving season, I’ll be looking to small ceramic bowls that double as the perfect little home for jewellery, trinkets, hair ties and the like. You could even chuck some Sicilian olives in there when entertaining. The perfect gift that most will appreciate.

Ejay Makes White Wave Pattern Bowls, $44.95, Etsy

Glassware: Puffy Square

Sometimes it’s difficult to make a gift purchase that you wouldn’t actually like to receive yourself. This rings very true to me, and so I will often find myself purchasing things I know I would appreciate if the tables were turned.

A safe gifting option that I would always be happy to open are, modern, beautifully designed styling accessories which also serve other purposes. Glass vases, ceramic soap dishes, funky shaped candles and the like, are all amazing statement pieces which add funk to the home.

Puffy Square is another Melbourne-based Etsy seller who specialises in these types of goods. Featuring a whole bunch of items for the kitchen, lounge and bedroom, these fun little additions will certainly serve as welcomed additions to any recipient.

I especially have my eye on some of the Perspex vases and magazine holders to help inject some fun into spaces around my home. You will not regret checking Puffy Square out. Promise.

Puffy Square Acrylic Magazine Holder, $270, Etsy

Handmade Soap: Vice and Velvet

While the thought of gifting and receiving bars of soap may seem a little dated and left for our older generations, beauty bars and solid soap bars are actually trending this year.

Catapulted into the limelight due to little to no plastic required for the packaging, bars of soap are the eco-conscious cousin to the conventional beauty products filling our landfills and oceans with plastics. Discover more about the return of solid beauty bars, in our recent edit Why Solid Soap Bars Are The Next Big Thing In Sustainable Beauty.

We were drawn to Vice and Velvet due to their very cute cloud-like appearance, delicious smelling scents and of course, their vegan and environmentally friendly nature.

If you like bougie soaps then these guys are for you. You can even invest in monogrammed bars with you/your partners’ initials on them, and if you want to opt for even fancier, you can have gold leaf embossed on the bars.

Whoever said soap was boring?!

Vice and Velvet Siren Handmade Cloud Soap, $19.80, Etsy

Bed Linen: House of Baltic Linen

Linen duvet covers have been trending for quite some time now. With the flax plant boasting a more eco friendly alternative to cotton, linen has no sign of slowing down when it comes to what most prefer to adorn their beds with.

While the linen offering is vast when it comes to bed coverings, we prefer to go local to ensure the quality is absolutely there.

House of Baltic Linen is a local Etsy store specialising in all things linen, whether that be bed sheets, robes, table dressings and much more. Specialising in handmade boutique natural linen home textiles and sleepwear, this family owned business has named their store as so as an ode to their European heritage.

With a very extensive offering of colours (most very natural and divine), as well as motifs, these guys really have you covered when gifting a linen bundle of goodness these holidays.

Such a good curation, I might just be picking up some items for myself!

House of Baltic Linen Rustic Pinstripe Heavyweight Linen Duvet Cover, $341, Etsy

Prints: It Began In Paris

While we may not be able to travel too far this holiday season, we can certainly bring elements of our favourite holiday destinations to us at home.

A themed meal, dressing for dream location soiree or simply small touches to remind us of past trips are a great way of scratching that wanderlust itch.

One of the easiest and most romantic ways to bring your holiday spot into your home is with a hung piece of artwork that captures your love for the place.

It Began In Paris is a local Etsy seller who has a perfect curation of European and other holiday destination prints with a vintage photographic edge.

Iconic coastlines bordered with pebbles, city scapes that everyone can recognise and spots more local to home are all on offer in quality print form.

$139 can get you a luxurious and sizeable print of the place you wish you (or your giftee) could teleport to this holiday season. Done.

It Began In Paris Ibiza Beach Print, $139, Etsy