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.

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.

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.

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.

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.