notes on a handmade holiday: hello magpie

Want holiday gift giving ideas that are a little out of the box? Let’s hear ‘em from the artists themselves!

Evelyn Reeve is the blogger behind Oh My Word! and she was a blogger-in-residence here at Scoutie Girl. She’s the proprietor of Hello Magpie, a little shop specializing in delightful vintage housewares and handmade textiles & paper goods.

Here are Evelyn’s notes on a handmade holiday:

Ever since I was a kid, my family encouraged and supported creativity. “Handmade is always the best.” Every person in my family has told me this at least once in my life. To this day, I still hang ornaments my sister and I made on my Christmas tree. The oldest one is a margarine tub top, with all the glitter and prettiness missing. Honestly, it’s ugly! But I made it in kindergarten and I’ll keep hanging up, albeit at the back of the tree.

When it comes to giving gifts, taking the time to give thoughtfully and honestly always wins in my book.

Nothing is better than receiving something truly unique, just for you. Not as an afterthought at a big box store, but a carefully-chosen gift to tell that person what you mean to them…that you cared enough to give it some thought and invest some time. To me, that’s the value in gift giving. When you consider the unique, whether it be a vintage find, or a handmade treasure made by you or crafted by someone else, there’s so much more to be valued because it took time for someone to invent it, create it, dust it off, give it new life. Watching someone open a gift like that, seeing their face light up? That’s what I value most about handmade holidays.