Shop Small & Support Independent This Year!

I absolutely adore homemade things and I am (well Molly-May is actually) very lucky that I have some talented friends around me who made some gorgeous pieces for her over the years! From funky cat trousers, home knitted hats to her very special Pippi Longstocking inspired summer dress onto her brand new ballet drawstring bag (plus a mini bag for her ballet shoes!) There all amazing:

So today I want to bring you a totally different Gift Guide of the homemade sort. Because its nice to support small independent businesses and its even nicer to own something unique and amazing, especially when you know there has been a lot of love and effort put into creating it especially for you! I hope you might be able to find the perfect present for Christmas or any another special occasion through the year!

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I absolutely love these maps from The Crafty Traveller ! Each printed world map is stitched with a message and can be personalised to your liking with airplanes, little houses to mark the spot where you based or even some rings to show exactly where your wedding was held! This is the perfect present to your loved one to always remember and look back on which places you’ve been and what you still like to explore! She also added some personalised Map Notice Boards and a few travel themed Christmas Baubles to her collection recently. Go and check out her Etsy store and her Instagram account for some more lovely detailed map pictures!

Company: The Crafty Traveller

About: The Crafty Traveller is where you will find a collection of lovingly hand stitched and printed map notice boards for your home. It is a one woman small business run by Jen from her crafty home office in South London. The business initially started in August ’16 as a homemade present idea for her boyfriend, she wanted a map to record their travels with a noticeboard backing to keep all their mementos but couldn’t find anything with vibrant colours and a vintage feel so she set about making it herself which led to requests from friends and it grew from there.
Jen hand makes each item using materials sourced from fellow small businesses based in the UK and where possible using eco-friendly and recycled materials. With a range of personalization options you can create a beautiful reminder of past adventures or perhaps inspire some new ones!

Prices start from £8.00 for Baubles | £49.00 for Notice Boards | £69.00 for Maps

You can check out The Crafty Traveller on Etsy | Instagram

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I had the pleasure to meet this fine lady at BlogOn a couple of years ago and we spend an evening crying with laughter and having such a great time it felt like we have known each other for a long time! She is not only a Power Woman and a very positive influence she’s also blooming talented too and makes the most amazing doodles I have ever seen. If you want a personalised piece of art then look no further and go and check her out:

Company: Teacup Doodle

About: Teacup Doodle is a bespoke piece of artwork celebrating life, love and family. The business was created by ex-mummy blogger Teacup Toria. The idea for the business was born one winter’s day in Christmas 2016, when she created some family doodles as gifts for some friends.

The prints were so well received that Toria wondered if other people might like bespoke family artwork too. After a busy month creating sample designs and building a website, Teacup Doodles opened it’s doors in February 2017. Toria has been busy doodling ever since, creating a selection of family portraits and special occasion artwork to brighten up your home and most importantly…make you smile!

Prices start from £15 for inspirational prints/ £20 for wedding, new baby & pet doodles /£25 for family portraits

You can check out Teacup Doodles on Etsy | Shop | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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Every child loves role play and dressing up and Lucy from Mermaids & Dragons just made even more magical with her exquisite and detailed unisex costumes ranging from Pirates, Chefs, Fire Officer, Doctor to Paramedic and much more. Her love for detail can be found in each piece she creates and the end result is just stunning! I just wish she would make them in adult sizes too, I would defiantly wear them! Her costumes are for children age 3 up to 8 years old and can be personalised for a little bit extra with some lovely embroidery.

Company: Mermaids & Dragons

About: When Lucy couldn’t find good quality dress up costumes for her 2 girls decided to do it herself. Inspired by her daughter’s love of dress up and role play Lucy designs unique, gender neutral costumes with an emphasis on the detail. Unlike costumes from the high street Lucy uses durable, vibrant cottons and designs the costumes to be as realistic as possible with details such as reflective stripes on her Fire Fighter and Paramedic costumes, brassy buttons and epaulettes on the Police uniform and a fabulous Chef’s mushroom hat. Each costume comes with a personalised certificate and you can find plenty of printables, such a Doctor’s Clinic pack, on her website which children just love.

Prices start from € 7.00 for Accessories and € 29.00 for Costumes

You can check out Mermaids & Dragons on Website | Facebook | Instagram

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This has been another Blogger recommendation and I love YoYo-Me’s Idea to keep the little ones entertain at your party. I did a very similar thing at my own wedding where I made up little goodie bags full of a colouring in wedding book, crayons, toys and bubbles of course! The Kids loved it and the parents where well impressed how much the kids kept quite! At YoYo-Me you can find everything from the deluxe wedding activity box down to some lovely little ring crayons:

Company: YoYo-Me

About: Up pops YoYo-Me as the answer to those ‘what can we do now?’ questions on a rainy day when you can’t play outside. All that’s needed is a bit of imagination, which we have in spades – and a few bits and pieces from the kitchen drawer… Aimee the creator from Yoyo-me says: “Yoyo-me came about from a desire to pass on the fun we had messing about with colouring pencils, paper and anything else we could find to make things out of when we were young – and partly realising that lots of parents feel, like us, that they want to encourage their children to develop their imaginations, like we did.”

Prices start from £ 0.75

You can check out YoYo-Me on their Website | Facebook | Instagram

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When Finn was younger I had a cheap fingerprint star made from a company I found on the internet, I didn’t read any reviews and done no research on it so i ended up with a rubbish silver star with nearly no fingerprint to be seen which i am gutted about and shed quite a few tears over it (as you do as an emotional new mum). I will certainly NOT be doing the same mistake again and thanks to some lovely blogger recommendation I came across Bella&Bow who have some amazing stuff fingerprint & handprints jewellery in their shop, i might have added the adorable Handprint Sweetie Bracelet on my birthday list already!

Company: Bella&Bow

About: Bella & Bow was started by two friends (now a team of 3) with different stories but the same aim; to create a business that would allow others to capture and preserve their most precious moments in family life. Our creations are purely handmade, using solid sterling silver to feature handprints, footprints and fingerprints in our small studio in the pretty village of Parbold in Lancashire.

Prices start from £2o

You can check out Bella&Bow on their Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Now whats not to like about this! A customised Mini Lego Figure of yourself or even of your whole family? I use to love playing with Lego when I was a kid and now Finn is sharing this love and obsession which is fantastic! So whilst I was searching through Instagram using some Lego hashtags I came across this fab little company who I wanted to tell you about! The Mini Hero Decals shop has everything from Race Drivers, Ed Sheeran, the Hangover Crew and even some characters from Orange Is The New Black. Check out the Mini Lego Me he did from my Blog Banner Art, how cool is that:

Company: Mini Hero Decals

About: Chris the creator of Mini Hero Decals had a very special request from his 5 year old stepson back in November 2015 when he asked him to make him a Valentino Rossi out of his Lego figures. After a bit of  searching around the world-wide web (which came to no result) he decided to print out a very small picture of Rossi’s leathers, cut them up and stick them onto the figure. His stepson was over the moon and his wife gave him the idea to make some more and put them up on eBay – from that day Chris was getting requests,  learning what he could and now has over 300 different designs and even built Lego figure replica’s for Steve Peat (World and British MTB champion), Robbie Maddison (world-famous daredevil), James Haskell (England and Wasps rugby player) and others.

Prices start from £7.95 for a Custom Mini Figure

You can check out Mini Hero Decals on Facebook | Instagram

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Another Blogger recommendation was this fab little handmade clothes shop and the Lady behind The Jolly Bobbin, Amy makes some fantastic looking leggings, dresses, dungarees with matching hats or bibs, little bow ties and even the cutest little soft shoes. Everything is handmade and she takes on bespoken orders too:

Company: The Jolly Bobbin

About: Amy, the woman power behind TJB is a busy mum of 3 small ones so when she’s not creating cool clothing, she’s busy running around after them. Amy say: “After falling pregnant with my last child I decided to take my love of sewing a step further and make it a business. I’ve always liked bright and quirky clothing for myself and my kids but the choice is still quite limited with “off the peg” clothing. I decided to spread the handmade rainbow love by turning my passion into a career. I really, really enjoy my “job” and love creating awesome new outfits for your kiddos.”

You can check out The Jolly Bobbin on Facebook | Instagram

Prices start from £7 for bibs

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I have met the lovely Sophie at Blognix Retreat early 2015 and it just so happened that she contributed to the Goodie Bags with some gorgeous flower stud earrings and when I put them on and then went to dinner I showed them off to the blogger sitting next to me gushing how lovely they are and it just happened that I was talking to non other than the creator herself and we both had a good laugh about it. Sophie who is from Yorkshire is not only a Blogger but also a very talented lady and I love all her handmade jewellery, brooches, keyring, stationary and homeware, she has some fantastic presents for everyone. If it’s a little duck ring for your daughter or niece to a nice heart ear stud for your sister, cousin, aunty or mum to some super funny Yorkshire keyring for that person who loves them dearly! Go and have a browse in her shop!

Company: One Ten Zero Seven

About:Handmade by a Tea Lover in the heart of Yorkshire, Onetenzeroseven is owned and run by Sophie: “I love to wear my heart on my sleeve so each product is designed with that in mind, to enable you to wear what you love and shout it from the rooftops. Each piece could also make an excellent I saw this and thought of you gift, wrapped up with care ready for gift giving.”

Prices starts from £2.50

You can check out OneTenZeroSeven on Etsy | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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I have kept a few of both of the children favourite rompers and clothes and was always hoping to have something made out of it for the children to keep so when i come across this lovely store Made4Keepsake I have earmarked it to do so in the near future! They have adorable bears and plenty of other keepsakes, from family cushions to birthday tees (defiantly getting one for MM’s upcoming 3rd Birthday!!) to my absolute favourite which would make a great present for newlyweds. A picture frame with your chosen song lyrics from your first dance or just a very special memory and it just so happens that Made4Keepsake have the exact song lyrics that we had as our first dance! (Now if that isn’t a sign to get it for hubby and mine 2. anniversary next year!!) The also have some great personalised Night before Christmas Boxes, Christmas Elf family pictures and a cute christmas PJ range:

                  

Company: Made4Keepsake – Made for you

About: Made4keepsake was established in 2012 by Leanne Carr following the arrival of her son Maxwell. With her extent knowledge of design and quirky eye for unique and different décor she decided to start making and creating things for her Baby’s nursery. When her son had out grown his first set of Baby grows Leanne couldn’t bear the thought of them being stored away so she decided to chop them up and create her first keepsake bear. After the success of sharing the bear and prints on social media Leanne decided to start Made4keepsake and was soon receiving orders for both bears and prints. The range then extended to other keepsakes such as keepsake boxes and photo albums that were designed and created by the inspiration of her son.

Prices start from £ 5.95

You can check out Made4Keepsake on Shop | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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The lovely Apples&Pips Store is run by a fellow Blogger whom I had the pleasure to meet a few times now at various events and blogger conferences through the past years. She created a shop full of the best stuff you REALLY do need when you welcome your bundle of joy into the world and many items are on my favourite list like the Bundlebean for baby wearing or the Snoozeshade which is just a must have! If I would have to choose 1 item to gift to a first time mum i would go with the super cool “This Mama Does Cards” I love the look of them! It’s fantastic that it’s all in one place so you don’t have to browse too much!

Company: Apples&Pips

About: Hannah, who is a wife, mum, blogger and social media manager,decided even after the birth of her second child in May 2016 that she wasn’t quite busy enough so she set up Apples & Pips. Her husband and herself are the apples to their gorgeous pips; Toby and Martha. Through their experiences as parents, She is sourcing amazing products from the brands that she knows and love so that you can be sure of excellent quality and value in every order you place. From parent, baby and toddler essentials, to eco-friendly products and those treats we all deserve, you can find everything you’ll need for the parents and children in your life, all in one place and with free delivery.

Prices start from £6.25

You can check out Apples&Pips on their Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Michelle, the Lady behind New Beginnings – Celebration Stationery did most of my stationary for my own wedding back in 2015 and I couldn’t have been happier with the service she provided so I want to give her a shout out because her customer service and friendliness are just amazing she goes out of her way to make sure everything is just perfect! From Thank you Cards with bow ties and doctor gown to the most amazing Scallop Shell Place Cards (I am in LOVE!!) she can make it all:

Company: New Beginnings – Celebration Stationery 

About: Michelle, a married Mum of 3 based in Hertfordshire is the creator behind New Beginnings ~ Celebration Stationery. She is a true perfectionist and very passionate about every single piece of handcrafted goodness she creates! She started her business after her own wedding in 2009 where she throughout enjoyed crafting everything herself and received compliments on mass about the beautiful settings so she put her talents in good use and is helping other brides now in making their day special with those little stunning details in each of her creation!

Prices start from £25p (for personalised tags) and £2.95 (for cards and invitations)

You can check out New Beginnings on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 

That is all from me today I hope you found a few new shops where you can find the perfect (Christmas) present for your loved ones or even just a treat for yourself to treasure forever!

Do you have a favourite Small Shop you like to buy things from? Why not share the love and let me and all of my readers know about another fantastic place which is worth checking out!

Happy Shopping!! 

Disclaimer: I have not been asked by any of the Companies listed to write this post, I simply want to share the love of Independent & Small Businesses who are always happy for some new lovely customers!