The "Buy Handmade" Phenomena

"Buy Handmade". I read that slogan for the first time about a few years ago when I first dipped my toe into this whirling pool of online community. Living in a country where most products available were mass produced in factories for minimized cost, my head just didn't quite grasp that concept at first. Of course, we have handmade stuff here in Indonesia. Mostly traditional crafts that attract tourists, yet seem too "old" for us locals. There was also a trend to buy imported branded goods, which at the end created quite a down point for the local businesses. So I wondered, how did "buying handmade"  fit nicely into the lives of people in other parts of the world?

When I first visited Etsy, I think the first thing I noticed (and loved!) was how these handmade goods seemed to show such high level of creativity of the makers. It's amazing how much personality is shown in each creation, not to mention the attention to details, and in many cases, affordable prices. But the one thing that really stood out was that these handmade goods were more than just crafts that would only end up in our display cabinets (as most cases found where I am!). These goods were replacements to ordinary mass produced things that we use in daily lives. Clothing, accessories, home decor, paper goods, and even fine art! To me personally, this was love at first sight. So what did I do? I heartily plunged in and joined this phenomenal way of life.

Now as I said before, at the time we didn't have that many daily handmade goods available for sale here. At least not ones that satisfied the cravings for tasteful, well designed things. So it was pretty fun going hunting for them. Shopping online was also an option and I spent plenty of hours at other sites such as Folksy and DaWanda, just feasting my eyes on all the awesomeness I could find. And they were plenty of hours well spent.

Nowadays, I'm happy to say that buying handmade has become quite a booming trend here in Indonesia. It's literally an ongoing festivity! There are now great vendors and workshops available throughout the country, making it very easy for craft lovers like me to make my lifestyle so much more fun and creative. Here are a few handmade goodies from Indonesian artisans... hunted and treasured! :)

My very special thanks to all the wonderful crafts-magicians above that have made this post fun for me to write. Please click on the images to visit their links!

And how about you? Do you buy handmade? Please share! :)