Random Acts of Holiday Shopping

When you want to buy something special for someone special, but you don't know what to buy, but you want to buy something they will definitely enjoy, you need to practice random acts of holiday shopping. Our 2015 Handmade Holiday Gift Guide makes it easy by featuring tons of wonderful products made by members of the Indie Business Network. There's so much to choose from that it helps to have a blog post like his one to narrow things down a bit.

Don't worry, we'll share a few more helpful holiday shopping articles, but for now, we're focusing on the categories in our Guide that only contain one Make and one type of product.

Jewelry from Andrea Bonelli in Henderson, Nevada

Andrea is a self taught metalsmith who makes gorgeous jewelry from top to bottom. Whether it's an earring, a necklace, or a bracelet, you'll find something for the ones you love at her studio and website. Andrea describes her work as “organic meeting modern with eco-friendly metals and ethically mined stones.” What more could you ask for?

Oh! And here is a not so subtle reminder for my close family members who might be reading this post. If you're randomly holiday shopping for me, let me make it easy.

Looks like there's only one pair, so act quickly. Please and thank you …

Peruse Andrea's Fall 2015 Lookbook here.

Pepper Mills and Coffee Grinders from Don Santarpia in Monroe, New York

Don's wood carving skills are epic and intricate. I seriously do not know where to start with this man. He can carve anything. Take a look at this collage, which features him working in his wood shop along with some of his work. And really? A hand carved breast cancer awareness pen and pencil set with pink ribbon clips?

As you can see from the lower left image, he also makes coffee grinders and pepper mills which are perfect for any kitchen. Freshly ground coffee … freshly ground herbs … freshly ground anything. Smell up your kitchen with freshly ground everything, prepared with handmade pepper and spice mills from Don's New York wood shop.

Oh, and Don can customize anything with the various colors and woods. And nt just any old wood. Wood you have never hard of like Paduak, Chakte Viga, and Wenge.

You do need a pepper mill, you realize that, right?

You do need a coffee grinder, you realize that, right?

Henna Hair Honey from Khadija Dawn Carryl at Henna Sooq in Elkridge, Maryland

Khadija makes amazing products, and her Sweet Honey Enriching Hair Nourisher is just one of them. It's raw honey combined with the organic Cassia Obovata plant to create an intensive hair nourisher. You can get it here.

But after you get that, you'll need to check your calendar and plan some time for a trip to Khadija's Elkridge, Maryland, studio so you can get your henna done. Seriously ladies (and gentlemen). I have had mine done twice and there is nothing like it. Khadija can create a design out of nothing. What you see in the above image is just a tiny sampling of what she can do.

Khadija can henna anything. A bald head. A pregnant belly. Feet. Hands. Backs.

Speaking of backs … this

Told you. You need to get there. And if you can't, then you need to follow her Instagram, because it's where I'm grabbing these amazing images.

You can also check out Khadija's growing list of classes and retreats.

Question

What is your favorite product? Share your feedback in the comments, and feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.