12 Etsy Finds

Eugh, good to know. Sometimes I can find the websites of Etsy vendors through Google (and recently learned to make sure it’s not through an etsy ad, which charges the vendor)

I. Freaking. Love. Party. Hats. These are adorable. I sent separate cards to my daughter the month of her birthday with party hats on a frog, also on group of frogs, whale, narwhal and of course cats ! Love party hats ! Then I put one on our big light up blow mold gnome at party time. These minis are so cute ! Thanks ! :) We all need whimsy !

This is so lovely!

I’m curious how the clothing box was labeled? What was helpful about that? I’m an aunt who loves to gift clothes and would love to know more!

Mel, I can say with great confidence that it was a box of hand-me-downs –– lots of clothes all size 2T : )

Big yes to these! We’ve sent many over the years to friends with new babies, a family illness, or just needing some fun. The birthday ones are great for parties, and I’ve taped up the winter ones on our hallway wall to get us through a bad weather stretch. Highly recommend!

Yes! Look at ‘Wood From The Hood’ website; they have beautiful tree-shaped growth charts made from fallen trees in Minnesota.

Gorgeous—thank you!

Love this so much!

Wow Katie, your paintings are amazing! The details! And the terrace, WOW!! So beautiful!

I had this one for my kids too! I loved it

Thanks Lynn! That is such a sweet idea for my paint kits. It would be an amazing keepsake and a wonderful way to help the older sibling(s) feel included.

Wow just checked out your shop and I think I favorite-ed like 10 things! (and saved your shop :)) You have an excellent eye, can’t wait for payday to get here so I can hopefully snag some of these treasures!

I saw this banner design on social media a few years ago, and made one for my two girls, a headshot for each birthday/year starting at their 1st birthday. And now I add a hat head each year around their birthday, with a current photo. They are 12 and 13, and it’s super fun to bring out and see how they’ve grown. (Tho lets be honest, they don’t love it like I do, re: tweenagers!) I also pre-cut out a bunch of hats and ribbon to make adding to the banner easy, and have an reminder on my calendar about a month before each birthday so I don’t forget and have time to add for that year’s celebration. It’s really fun! I love annual rituals tied to certain celebrations, like this for birthdays, and using a vintage “happy birthday” dinner plate for whoever’s birthday it is (adults included)!

https://clairehoward.net/available-paintings ❤️

Jess Franks, her paintings are just gorgeous! https://www.jessfranksart.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorsHRiwDbWAA1y5ttExKoRuavkJiyxrTPs2G67CyNOleJqqUW7f

So many good options!! I love her art! https://elizabethsageart.com/framed-artwork

Ask for 529 contributions instead?? It’s worth a try… I dunno, people have their own ideas about what “festive” means, and trying to change that goes about as well as trying to change any other aspect of people we love. By the time my kids were old enough to form sentences, we started a tradition: “making room” for new Christmas presents! On the weekend after Thanksgiving, we’d go through their entire room, asking them what they wanted to keep, and what they wanted to give. Then I would split the give pile into trash, donate, and “Mama’s secret sentimental box.” Elementary school teachers and librarians often know who doesn’t have a whole lot of books at home, and they were wonderful about helping us distribute lightly-used books.

Hi Betsy, From my perspective as a kid present-buyer, I would find it extraordinarily useful if parents/caregivers gave tips on their gift preferences!! E.g. please no electrical toys / we’re starting a collection of Magnatiles / we’d love to receive a copy of your favourite childhood book / we’re very tight for space – no gifts please / if you’d like to make a donation to xxx charity – that would be special to us etc. etc! Erin Boyle has very wise words on this topic: https://eboyle.substack.com/p/gift-guiding Wishing you all the best!

We asked my parents (BIG gift givers) to refrain from gifts aside from Christmas and birthday, but told them if they’d like to purchase Lovevery boxes for us, that would be welcomed and appreciated! It scratched the itch–my mom actually LOVED it. We always sent a video of the unboxing. At Christmas and birthdays, I make a wishlist and send to everyone. I keep it brief and really targeted. Also, okay to just return, toss, or donate if someone gives you something you absolutely do not want to bring into the house, haha. As long as you express gratitude, they don’t have to know how it’s used!

This sounds cold, but we made really clear what our boundaries were about gift giving, and let people know that gifts that crossed those boundaries would be donated. And then we had to try to enforce that. Which has not been easy if I’m being totally honest, but I also think long term it’s good for us all to be able to work through these feelings? Idk family gift giving culture is so tricky to navigate!! But at the end of the day, I (try to) remind myself that my obligation to raise my kid is more important than passing hurt feelings by relatives about gift giving.

I think it’s great to first reset with a reminder that this is an amazing problem to have! Then I bring up all of the things that a child can’t have too much of, things like art supplies that are more consumable than fixed item (can a child have too much paint for example? Not really. Or sports equipment that they already need makes a fun gift especially if relatives can see them use it. or things like memberships or subscriptions. You can get really creative with hinting and when people see your child using or enjoying the gift often they will start naturally moving that direction.) Also, find all of the items you wish you could buy but maybe aren’t in your budget and hint at those or add to a gift list if they ask, even things like the nicer bike or bike helmet that looks “cool” but is more money, practical things can be gifts if they are interesting or whimsical, cute water bottle totally a gift! That gorgeous baby onsie they will only fit into for a week but makes you smile, a gift!) At the end of the day if they insist on purchasing things you really do not want it’s a great reminder to practice saying thank you, send a photo of the child and the item and donate when you can. Maybe it’s annoying but unless it genuinely is offensive to my religion or important belief I think it’s better to try to channel gifts into more acceptable streams and when all else fails remember it’s not the worst thing for my child to have their family show them affection. If it is truly toxic or an issue then I draw the line but absent that maybe just find a place to donate to in advance, plan when you are donating anything excessive and turn it into a good in the general world.

I think you can kind of say to them one time “no presents please!” or direct them to a particular type of toy “we need more magnatiles, or she is really enjoying art so we would enjoy any art supplies”! Butttt if they are anything like my MIL, they are kind of just going to give you whatever they want to give you. And then at that point, after saying thanks, you are free to re-home those items as you see fit :)

My niece and nephew get anything they want and as a consequence they seem to value nothing. It saddens me to see. Not from an authoritarian perspective of “they should xyz” but I remember the feeling of a tin of art pencils being SO special that I would sharpen them all and line them up chromatically before closing the lid. I learned to love and take care of my things. Christmas is also sad, the kids seem to not be looking forward to it. There are a lot of shrugs. In short, if it were me, j would have a conversation about what they would be missing out on if they get A LOT throughout the year. I am genuinely worried for my niblings future capacity for fulfillment, goal setting, delayed gratification etc. but of course it is not my job to intervene. It is yours though.

After a few times of my in-laws hearing I gave away most of what they sent in the buy nothing group before my kids even saw it, they’ve started listening to our suggestion of the one gift. It’s a small apartment and we get easily overwhelmed with stuff. No guilt here about what you have space for, physically or emotionally.

You could try what some parents do with their own kids at holidays – “something you want, something you need, something you wear, something you read”. It would limit relatives to giving 4 items and you’d get a book and useful clothing out of it. For us, I made it routine for MIL (the mega gifter) to always gift a new raincoat or raingear – fun boots, umbrella, etc to the spring bday kid, and then the late fall bday kid it’s usually a request for snowpants or boots. It’s a weight off me to be on top of seasonal gear needs and there’s some fun to it for the kids.

I’m expecting in March and come from a similar family. My husband came up with the idea to set up our baby registry very early! That way aunties or moms who are eager to buy baby things during the holidays will have a list of things we NEED right in front of them. Definitely feels a bit early for fully building out the registry but I’m hoping it will help.

I am all about the seasonal stuff. My mom wanted to get our kids Easter clothes. I thought it was so impractical, but since we spent Easter at the beach every year for the first few of their lives I asked her instead to give swimsuits and beach gear. They needed new swimsuits each year and she felt the need to get them something. Win-win. Also, my nieces and nephew were inundated with many lavish Christmas gifts from the other side of the family. It overwhelmed my sister. So, starting at age 3, instead of contributing to the Christmas Day overload I sent a box at the end of November with Advent activities. It has been my favorite gift and they enjoyed it into their teens. Now, I still send an advent gift instead of Christmas, but it’s usually a premade makeup box or snacks or socks.

Determine what your beliefs are and stand by them. If you believe that an overabundance of toys stifles creativity in children, state that. Give reasons that are clear – we’d love art supplies but not kits to do, or we’d love this type of you but not that. It might be better than we just need fewer toys. And, as others have said, if it doesn’t follow your guidelines you can always regift quickly esp with very youg children.

Maybe you could ask people to limit newborn gifts to diapers, wipes, and formula. As my children get older, I tell grandparents that we love books, craft supplies, and experience gifts like memberships to the zoo or children’s museum.

Give a list! I give very specific list with tons of options. I am broad when possible “need pajamas in 2T, need lots of board books” but mostly I am specific. I include links with sizes and colors. I specify exactly what I need so they have options. It’s so much easier for all of us. We live in a tiny condo and space if precious.

This has been an area of a lot of prayer and personal growth for me! I am a moderate minimalist with maximalist giving parents and in-laws. For the first few years of my children’s lives, I was very clear what my preferences were and it caused a lot of hurt feelings, to the point that the grandmothers are afraid to give gifts. For many years, I had anxiety attacks in the Advent season, worrying about how much stuff we were going to get and how to control it. I’m sure the grandparents did, too, since I acted so demanding and with such lack of gratitude. Over the past decade, I’ve prayed for a change in my own spirit. Some people really love giving gifts, even though their choices of gifts don’t line up with my values (thinking of lots of disposable plastic that breaks within days), and part of my job as a parent is helping my kids be grateful for that, even as we notice that some things are made with higher quality than others. I am responsible for my own attitude and reactions and for training my kids in a spirit of gratitude, and I am also called to love others, regardless of their gift-giving style. Over the years, as I’ve softened, the grandparents have also gotten better at knowing what will gifts will last and be well-received. (It’s funny how many disagreements arose over toys the kids didn’t even care about because they are human and have preferences, too!) I’ve also restrained my gift-giving to off-set the others, which is honestly okay because we just don’t have the funds for big gifts! I guess what I’m saying is to be gracious, to accept that there might be some rocky years as you figure it out, and to know that your kids themselves will become persons who can express their own preferences to their grandparents someday! If anxiety is keeping you up at night as it was for me, that’s something you need to work through in your own heart, rather than a sign to make more demands on other people. Graciousness is key!

As some said, make them buy things you need anyway: Baby carrier or stroller (or contribution to that) Cute baby clothes that they’re growing out of so quickly Good quality plush animals like Steiff, that don’t have buttons for eyes Babyphone Books (there are some starting at a couple months old) A nice quilt Seasonal clothing Toys that can be added to like Duplo, 1st birthday: A balance bike or bobbycar Magnatiles First art supplies … Make a list and share it 😊

Our planet is literally on fire and children are living with the consequences of our rampant consumerism, extraction, and exploitation of people (who work in terrible conditions to make all the stuff we don’t need). Having a baby really brought that home for me, so I wrote a heartfelt letter to my family about how the best things we can give this baby are clean water, fresh air, and a world where all are valued and cared for. I explained that we’d save new gifts to give to other children and opt for used clothes and toys (with exceptions for handmade cloth and wooden toys –– especially those made by artisans whose work we can support directly). The one exception is books. My family still tries to get around our boundaries, but much less than they would otherwise, and it’s made for some incredible, heartfelt gifts (my aunt made painted wooden blocks with pictures of all our family members for my kiddo!). Most importantly, I feel like we are doing right by our child. It’s hard to have those conversations about presents, but we can do hard things : )

I think it really depends most on the gift givers. My MIL genuinely does not like me, so she was horribly offended when I even made suggestions about gifts, just bought whatever she wanted anyways, and sometimes bought things that she probably knew we wouldn’t have wanted for our kids. Because we are lucky enough to live very far away, when my kids were small, I simply started opening everything she sent (it would take hours), and get rid of whatever I didn’t want them to have. Not the very best solution, but the best I could come up with at the time. It eliminated me having to take things away from my kids. Mature, well meaning, kind people will most likely respect your requests if you make reasonable ones in a loving manner. Those that don’t fall into that category, please don’t overly waste your precious thoughtfulness. Just do what works best for your family.

I was the receiver of a homemade knit hat from a friend. I can attest it was a lovely gift and is now in the memory boxte remember how tiny my baby really was

ooh yes swapping out! I love her work!

we are looking now, thank you!

This is the print: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1734981660/pistachio-croissant-signed-a5-fine-art?ref=shop_home_active_5&crt=1&sts=1&logging_key=2c11c2c9f9e0bd3ebcb74a0a439bbd801001f4fc%3A1734981660

ugh, yes, it takes so much work to filter through the mass produced stuff! There are still great shops and creators, but it can be so tricky to get to them. I want my early Etsy back!

It’s so frustrating as an Etsy seller too! It’s nearly impossible to get seen as a seller without paying Etsy for advertising. With the Etsy fees for advertising, Etsy ends up making more on sales than the creators. :( Would Cup of Jo ever be interested in compiling or hosting a directory of Etsy shops owned by your readers who are creators, available for reference somewhere on the site for people who want to shop Etsy without wading through drop shippers and mass produced items? I’d help!

this is so sweet!!!