A lot of baby stuff out there is pretty bland and generic. In stark contrast is the boom in simply gorgeous, high quality, unique baby things being hand crafted by a growing legion of creative people.
The internet is now well established as a way for these artisans to make a living making things by selling to customers like you. Here are just three places to look online for some handmade treasures for your baby, saving you hours of walking through markets.
Sally from georgielove.com.au was the first in Australia to realise the huge potential of using the internet to allow independent artisans to bypass markets to sell direct to customers.
Her gorgeous website has a lovely selection of Australian maker’s handmade stuff for babies and kids. The advantage of using georgielove.com.au is that you can buy from a number of makers on the one order as Sally is the central distributor of everything on the website.
Etsy.com is a huge online network committed to allowing makers of handmade treasures to connect to buyers. Creative people all over the world have set up their own shops on etsy.com selling their baby’s toys, clothing, furniture, accessories, art, and quilts. With a strong Aussie dollar buying something handmade from somewhere like the USA or UK and having shipped home is quite affordable.
Or, you can stick to buying local by checking out the Australian stores on there. However, finding an local maker of baby stuff isn’t that easy. You can search by location but no further selection criteria is offered – you’ll just get a long list of all Australian makers of all sorts of things (which isn’t that bad if you want to look for something for yourself too!)
Like etsy.com, madeit.com.au is an online marketplace for makers of handmade delights but it is purely Australian. It is a real joy getting in contact with a local maker and maybe being his or her first customer. From fun bibs to colourful change mats, personalised wall hangings to pretty nappies, the creatively of these makers is exciting to see.