A Handmade Holiday Is Here to Put an End to Shopping Stress

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I used to love holiday gift giving when I was a kid. I’d gladly save up a few dollars for each family member and then with special care, purchase or make something that I was sure they would love. But as I get older and my family gets bigger and bigger and we add friend groups and coworkers to the gift-giving mix and the pressure to make gifts both meaningful and special, gift-giving has become more stress than joy. And when combined with things like traveling home to see all those people we love—a huge strain on our yearly budget.

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So I was really excited when we got an email from longtime APW reader Becca (that’s her above) announcing the launch of A Handmade Holiday, an an online community and learning platform that helps infuse meaning back into the holiday season with hand-made, gorgeous, artisan-quality gifts. Now, if searching for the perfect DIY project on Pinterest is your living nightmare, don’t worry. A Handmade Holiday is not about one upping store-bought gifts with elaborate homemade gifts. (Though the projects are totally Pinterest-worthy.) Rather, Becca has curated a selection of totally approachable homemade gift ideas that are thoughtful, meaningful, useful, and also easy and fun to make. Her goals?

1. For you to not kill yourself over presents.

2. To stop feeding into the commercialized pressure of the winter holidays.

3. For you to still get the fun moment when someone opens your gift and then gets all bleary eyed when they realize you made their gift for them.

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How it Works

A Handmade Holiday officially launches today and will be available until November 19, with both digital and physical delivery options. In addition to the joy of getting to avoid Pinterest for the next six weeks, here’s what you get with each:

Digital Access:

  • Access to the complete online program with video tutorials for homemade lip balm, lavender rose soak, beeswax candle, flavor infused olive oil, and mulling spices.
  • Ten additional bonus video tutorials for the adventurous makers. (Y’all, I’ve seen them and they are good. We’ve even included a free peek at one of them below, so keep reading to get in on that.)
  • Printable files for recipe cards, ingredient lists, and gift labels to adorn the gifts.
  • Help with creative wrapping ideas.
  • Private community for support, encouragement, troubleshooting, and sharing the cool shit you made.

Price: Early bird special (from today until November 10): $67. From November 11–19: $87.

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All Inclusive Access:

  • Gift-making kit shipped to you with supplies for three tutorials: lip balm, lavender rose soak, and beeswax candle (see above photo for what it comes with).
  • Access to the complete online program with video tutorials for homemade lip balm, lavender rose soak, beeswax candle, flavor infused olive oil, and mulling spices.
  • Ten additional bonus video tutorials for the adventurous makers.
  • Printable files for recipe cards, ingredient lists, and gift labels to adorn the gifts.
  • Help with creative wrapping ideas.
  • Private community for support, encouragement, troubleshooting, and sharing the cool shit you made.

Price: Early bird special (from today until November 10): $157. From November 11–19: $197.

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All of the tutorials on A Handmade Holiday come with printable shopping lists that you can take to the store with you, plus links to affordable packaging options (aka fancy bottles). A Handmade Holiday is especially perfect for the people on your list who are impossible to shop for. Becca explains:

The holiday season is notorious for being stressful for us busy, ambitious ladies. And when you combine the ritual of gift-giving with the immense pressure we all feel to have the “perfect holiday,” it becomes a recipe for anxiety, frustration, and often over consumption. A Handmade Holiday is about creating the space to connect with yourself while making artisan-quality gifts that will mean something far greater than a random Target scarf to your gift recipient. It’s that magical feeling you get when someone gives you a bottle of homemade limoncello or hand poured soap. The kind that makes you say, “Oh my god, you made this? For me??” It’s such a special feeling that brings meaning back to a season that has turned into a spending trap that leaves us feeling depleted and anxious about opening our January credit card statement.

To celebrate the launch of A Handmade Holiday, Becca wanted to share one of her bonus tutorials with you here for free, just because. And I asked if we could share the tutorial for flavor-infused booze because I have my priorities straight. The video below includes all the information you need to create three different infusions, and you can even download the custom shopping list for this tutorial right here.

So if holiday shopping is stressing you out and you’d rather sit in front of the TV mixing up homemade boozy crafts or soothing lip balms, then get yourself signed up for A Handmade Holiday. Because gifts aren’t worth stressing out over. And if you do get stressed during the holidays, at least you’ll know how to make yourself a calming bath soak and infused vodka to make it better.

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Early bird pricing for A HANDMADE HOLIDAY starts at $67. Click HERE to nab a spot today!

My Bridesmaid is Hijacking Our Wedding Weekend for Her Baby Shower

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Q: I am in the final stages of preparing for my upcoming wedding. We have a large number of guests who are returning to our hometown after living here during grad school and professional programs when we were all in our twenties.

Now in our thirties, people are having babies left and right, like you do. One of our close friends who is a part of our wedding party is also pregnant. On a recent visit to town, she announced to me that she would be asking someone to host a baby shower for her the weekend of our wedding, so she could take advantage of the people who are also in town that weekend. She made a comment about how I was “exempt” from hosting, of course, because I was having a wedding (um, duh).

I received an email invite from her sister-in-law to the shower, which she is hosting the day after our wedding, two hours after our post-wedding brunch, to which all our guests are invited. I also got a text from my pregnant friend/wedding party member saying she understands if I can’t attend, cause I will likely have a lot on my plate (um, double duh).

My feelings are really hurt by this, because I feel that she is ultimately trying to capitalize on people coming to town for our wedding so she can get baby gifts. (She is also having several other baby showers in other locations, for the record, and has a very supportive family who can help her out quite a bit with anything the baby needs). I understand that she wants to be celebrated, and that this may seem to her (selfishly, I think) like an opportune time for her to gather people to celebrate her soon-arriving baby. However, not to mince words, it just seems like a selfish gift grab to me, infringing upon the events that I have spent more than a year preparing for our wedding. I would be less annoyed if the shower were later in the afternoon, not so close to the events we have already planned, or even if she asked me how I felt about it. It would hurt less if she wasn’t one of the people we asked to be in our wedding. I feel like the weekend should be about us, and now she’s tagged on yet another event, asking more of our guests.

Should I respond at all? Is it worth it to say anything, or just let it be and enjoy our wedding weekend, ignoring the baby shower? At this point I have just ignored it, but am still stewing and simmering. Am I crazy, or is this totally unnecessary gift grabby behavior?

—Baby Mama Drama

 

A: Dear BMD,

One of my least favorite wedding-related things (other than those cake toppers where the groom is being dragged by his shirt) has gotta be when someone accuses a couple of being “gift grabby.” Oy. No matter what specific choices you’re making about date, time, guest list, meal, napkin color, somehow folks find a reason to insinuate that you’re having a wedding not so you can celebrate a marriage with your loved ones. Nope, it’s about the toasters.

Please don’t pull that same crap on your friend here.

What sounds to you like “taking advantage” or “capitalizing” or being “gift grabby,” sounds to me like a friend who is trying really hard to not make all her loved ones travel to the same town twice in short order. What’s coming across as self-centered to you, is sounding (okay yes maybe a little oblivious to your feelings, but) mostly well intended and guest-conscious.

As you’re probably well aware after this wedding planning stuff, planning an event isn’t just about you, or about what you want, but is also about guest politics. Your friend may not be thinking about how many more diapers she can squeeze out of her friends, but instead, “Ooof, I have to invite so and so, or she’ll be offended, but I also don’t want her to feel obligated to come all that way.” After that year plus of planning, you’ve got to be able to relate to that weird tension.

Give your friend a pass on this. It’s asking an awful lot to expect your entire friend group to dedicate two whole days to you guys (let’s be real, I often poke fun at the idea of “our day,” let alone a whole frigging weekend).

Instead of seeing this shower as taking away from your events, try to frame it as adding to them. Your whole group of friends is coming to town for a nonstop celebration of this crazy phase of life. You get a party! And… you get a party! Presents and celebrations and mimosas for everyone!

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK APW A QUESTION, PLEASE DON’T BE SHY! IF YOU WOULD PREFER NOT TO BE NAMED, ANONYMOUS QUESTIONS ARE ALSO ACCEPTED. (THOUGH IT REALLY MAKES OUR DAY WHEN YOU COME UP WITH A CLEVER SIGN-OFF!)