Handmade, unique, and not something you nabbed on the high street is hot, and there are several places to while a way far too much of your time browsing through the creations of talented designers and crafters. Here are my favourites…
All Things Original – Very small but delightful collection of seriously talented British designers and crafters. From furniture, to jewellery, to homewares, clothing, and artwork like the Antelopeee by Lucie Sheridan print above, bookmark immediately!
Artfire – US based and prices all quoted in US dollars, they have a decent sized kids section although there’s not as much contemporary offerings as what you get on Etsy.
Coriandr – Another Brit offering that’s arrived on my radar recently, the children’s and homewares sections aren’t big but they do have some gems in there. They have really good sub categories which make it a lot easy to pin down what you’re looking for. One to watch!
Dawanda – Gathering together independent European sellers, it covers a broad spectrum of goodies but their baby and children section will induce serious shopping palpitations! Don’t let the not so attractive euro exchange rate scare you off. Oh and you can search by colour – oooh!
Etsy – The original and the mac daddy of them all, gathering handmade talent from all over the world in one marketplace. Very heavy leaning towards US sellers and prices are also in US dollars. Exceptionally good for tracking down unique and contemporary gear (so much artwork to salivate over including alphabet posters like the one by Stephanie Fizer above, it’s scary) for your discerning kids, there is some serious talent in there that have hit the big time. There are so many amazing sellers, you may swim in indecision. Or shop a lot… Check out posts featuring etsy.
Folksy – Championing “cool crafts and design talent”, this has small number of categories covering a broad scope of crafts with some real gems although can seem very jewellery heavy. Children’s gear is not it’s strongest but they do have lovely homewares and you know I’m a sucker for cushions which they have by the plenty.
Misi – Another British pool of artisan talent with plenty of crafty folks selling their ways across a fairly broad range of categories. Like Folksy, they’re stronger on general homewares but they do have a decent sized children’s section.
Not On the High Street – Really the original UK answer to Etsy, this is still the largest gathering of independent British talent all under one roof. Broad range of ‘departments’ and the children’s section has got some great furniture and toys, plus they’re pretty hot on artwork.
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