I ♥ Etsy!

I’m sure many of you know what Etsy is and how it works, but let me tell you… I’m in LOVE!  I’ve used Etsy a lot more than I thought over the last few years and I’ve always been 100%+ pleased with the products and especially the customer service.  It’s real people selling to real people!

For those of you who aren’t familiar you’ve got to check it out and I’m afraid you might get hooked.  It’s LOTS of small little Mom and Pop shop (some not so small) all listing together their wares for sale.  I like it because things are unique and most shops will customize whatever products they offer!

I’ve used it for baby gifts, wedding gifts, Christmas gifts, or just things I like!  My sisters have even purchased from there for me for my birthday a few years ago!  So I guess this post kinda seems like an advertisement, but at the same time I really like to support family businesses instead of the huge corporations… and if thoughtful, unique gifts are included that’s a huge plus in my book!

Here are a few of the products I’ve purchased, their shops and my experiences!  I hope you enjoy!

The first thing purchased, was actually a gift for me.  I saw it and mentioned to my sisters how much I liked it and they got it for me for my birthday.  It’s a profile of a pregnant belly with the word ‘Homebirth’ engraved on it and three beads for each of my kiddos.

When they purchased it for me I had just had Koa so there were only two beads on it.  Monica’s business is called Moon over Maize  and she has one of a kind jewelry which I just love!  She also states on the post for the necklace that she will provide more beads if new kiddos are added!  And she came through!  When I had Aisling I just messaged her and she sent me a bead in the mail for free… She also gave me the option of sending my necklace back to her and she would attach it for me!  I figured there wasn’t much too it and hubby and I could do it ourselves and we did, but how thoughtful!

SO super pleased with this!  And I get so many compliments every time I wear it.

Next up I ordered some Bible verses from Vinyl for All  that you can rub onto the wall.  These I ordered in different sizes and they were happily able to accommodate!  These were Christmas gifts for my family one year!  They didn’t take as much planning or details, but I was pleased.  They are still up and look great and the service was good as always.

Of course since i have boys they are all about guns and I’m all about wooden toys.  So I found these fantastic guns for them for Christmas a few years ago.  As you can tell by the photo, they have gotten some good lovin’, but have definitely held up well to little boy abuse!

In Don’s shop there was only one gun listed and he was happy to make another!  His shop Ebenezerwood has other types of guns and he has added leather holsters since we ordered!  As with all my other experiences we responded quickly to my messages and was happy to accommodate and so pleasant to work with!

After Aisling was born I wanted some new wooden teethers and decided to look around on Etsy… I found Life Circles Necklaces and found a necklace that doubled as a teether.  I LOVED it!  I picked one I liked and ordered it.

Unfortunately in less than a month the wooden ring broke.  I messaged Lori, just to let her know we were disappointed, but I didn’t think I’d be able to return it or anything since we had already had it and used it for quite a bit.  I was mistaken.  Lori was so kind to to have us return the necklace and she replaced the ring for us.  She also gave me some recommendations as to how to keep the wood from drying out and reduce the risk of it happening again.

I followed her recommendations and we still have the necklace in perfect shape and it’s clean and waiting for when Xanthie is ready to use it!

Also, in keeping with teething, I wanted to get a few small wooden toys that Aisling could enjoy and that were small enough to keep in the diaper bag.  Most of our toys were kinda boyish, so I wanted something a little more feminine as well.  So I found this little butterfly at Rjabinnik!  I thought it was super cute and something she could chew on now and play with later.  I placed my order and then after a month when it hadn’t arrived I contacted the seller.

He replied stating somehow he completely missed my order, but would have it out in the mail ASAP.  He said he could have it in the mail the next day, but that it would still take another 15-20 days to get to me.  When I ordered I didn’t look to see where it was coming from (I’ve since learned my lesson!) and when I checked it was being shipped from Czech Republic!  No wonder it would take so long to get here.  He did offer a full refund since it took so long, but I still wanted them and decided I was ok with the wait!

When the butterfly I ordered arrived I also received another little gift!  The girl!  I didn’t pay or order it, but he included it since it took so long to get my order to me.  How thoughtful.  Again… people ordering from people.  We feel for each other, there is compassion and courtesy!  Simply amazing and so appreciated!  These two are still super cute as you can tell and are clean and ready for Xanthie!

I’m getting somewhat close to the end of my Etsy LOVE list!

Alison from Daisy Land Design was selling this cash envelope system.  We follow the Dave Ramsey financial advice and pay cash for everything possible.  We haven’t used any type of credit card in almost 2 years and we’ve paid down our debt significantly… although that is something for another day.  However, when you have a strict budget and pay cash for everything you need a way to keep track of it all.  That’s what these envelopes are for!

I REALLY wanted them, but didn’t want to spend the money and my brother drew my name for Christmas so I told him THIS was what I REALLY wanted!  I contacted Allison and she was so gracious to change so much for me!  She made the larger envelop bigger and added extra envelopes.  I needed 9 and she made sure the larger envelope would fit them all!  She even threw in a Christmas themed envelope for budgeting for the season!

When I received it for Christmas I fell in love with it and I’ve used it daily since!  It’s still in great shape and holding up well and frequently receive compliments on it!  I can even use it as a small purse for making quick runs into a store or just take out the one envelope that I need.

And last but not least!  My new diaper bag for baby Xanthie.  I really don’t have the money to be spending on things I want… however, for a little baby shower my co-workers gave me a visa gift card and I decided to use part of it for a gift… for me… and baby!  A new bag!  Who doesn’t like a new bag! 😉

This too was a somewhat custom order by Jenny of Very Chic Baby.  I found the bag I liked, but wanted the medium size instead of large.  So I messaged her and she was glad to oblige.  We have messaged back and forth quite a bit and she is a mama of 5!  And she has time for all this sewing… I’m not sure how! 😉

Anyway.. I ordered and she could tell how excited I was!  In fact I was already 3 days overdue by the time I ordered it, so of course I wanted it ASAP, but was willing to wait for it!  When Jenny found out, she kindly offered to give me the larger bag since it was ready to ship at the medium price since that is what I had already paid for.  What a kind thought.  I was floored and so blessed!  I hadn’t wanted to spend the money in the first place, but she blessed me so much by it! 😉

And I’m in love!  It’s the perfect bag!

I can’t promise that all the sellers on Etsy have such great courtesy or kindness or thoughtfulness, but that is all that I have encountered for each of my orders.  Each of these sellers provided above and beyond what I had expected and I’m super happy to recommend them to others!  Check out their shops and see what else they have to offer!  You won’t regret it…..  unless you regret the NEED to purchase something because they are so fantastic!

Thank you Etsy sellers!

Have you ordered from Etsy?  What did you like the most?