Limke Life: I Heart Etsy

I love buying gifts for people. There is nothing better than finding the perfect present that you’re sure will make that person smile. It’s not always easy to find unique, thoughtful gifts, so when I discovered Etsy a few years ago, it was a match made in heaven. After a recent purchase, I decided to look back at everything I’ve purchased on Etsy and it dates back to 2011. It's a mixture of gifts for others and fun items for Aiden and Audrey. Oddly enough, only one purchase was for myself and I just bought it two weeks ago. It's just more fun shopping for others. You are probably already an Etsy expert, but in case it’s new to you, I’ve summed up my favorite things about the site. If you’re not already hooked, you might be after reading this!

1. I am supporting small businesses, and it’s usually a mom who wants to be home with her kids. I will always love shopping at Target and ordering from Amazon, but whenever I can support a small business, I’m all for it. One gift I bought was from a woman who started doing it to raise extra money for her son who has expensive medical bills due to a disability. Buying a meaningful gift and helping a family in need? Win-win.

2. I can make direct connections with the owner and even request custom orders. I always message the shop first to confirm shipping time, sizes, etc. and it often turns into a conversation and believe it or not a discount! Not always, but several shop owners have given me coupon codes after discussing their products.

3. The items are one of a kind. I’ve just recently ventured into buying clothes on Etsy, but I love that I can get one of a kind items that are always conversation pieces. I love Baby Gap as much as the next guy, but sometimes I want something a little different.

4. You can literally search for any kind of gift and you will more than likely find it. For example, I was watching HGTV (surprise, surprise) and saw a clock made out of a bike in one of the renovations. It was right before Christmas and I immediately thought what a great gift that it would make for my father in law. So I headed to Etsy and searched “bicycle clock.” Sure enough, several options popped up. I ended up with one that was made out of recycled bike gears. Pretty cool.

5. Etsy and Instagram are best friends. I recently discovered that most Etsy shops are on Instagram. I’ve started to follow my favorites and even found some new favorites. This has led to learning of discounts and new items and even my first free item!

I had hoped to include pictures of my favorite purchases in this post, but I’m not tech savvy enough to do that yet. So instead, here are a few pictures of my kids in Etsy finds. Happy shopping :).