27/11/2015

Support independent businesses!

The festive season is well and truly upon us. Again. How did that happen?!

I am very much in support of small, independent businesses & tend to buy most of my gifts (& treats for myself also!) from them. There are so many lovely places out there & they often make more unique stuff too so I just prefer to buy from them. I feel it is important to support them as without us they wouldn't be able to continue trading.  All the people I have dealt with are so hardworking & always really lovely. Their businesses are their babies and so much care & passion goes into the stuff they make or sell.

So without further ado, here are some of the ones I have bought from & definitely recommend. I have added a picture as an example of the stuff each one does but I suggest looking on their sites (which I have linked in the name) for more ideas. If you follow them on social media too they sometimes have offers or discount codes. So in no particular order here we go...

Polkadots & Petticoats  - Jackie sells various decorative home items including candles, plaques & photo frames. The style is mainly shabby chic & when you receive a parcel from her it is always wrapped beautifully in cellophane & I never want to open it despite it all usually being for gifts!


Punkypins - Lyndsay is really lovely & has a brilliant range of jewellery. I may or may not have quite a few pieces in my collection! She does a lot of quirky stuff as well as statement pieces but is also renowned for her laser cut name necklaces which are just gorgeous.


Veronica Dearly - Most of my friends will have received a card by Veronica at some point from me by now! Her stuff is very cool & really funny. As well as cards she also makes mugs, keyrings, wall planners & various other stationary items.


Jilly Jilly - Jilly & David make the cutest illustrated stuff including notebooks, mugs & earrings. I have had various things from them before for gifts as well as for myself & the packaging is always stunning too.


The Sliver Birdcage - Heather makes handstamped cutlery & I've had quite a few things from her as gifts. You can also personalise stuff if you don't want anything already in the shop. They come wrapped really pretty too.


Ladybird Likes - Zoe loves all things vintage & her shop reflects that. She mainly makes jewellery & has a lot of wooden items as well as sparkly ones! She also has some homeware & sometimes mystery packs are available.


Cherry Diva - Rach & Jay have an array of stunning jewellery on their website as well as various accessories including bags & watches. It is really reasonably priced too & I often find myself browsing!!


Pocket Perfect Designs - Kayleigh makes the funniest badges I've ever seen. Some of them are rather risqué so perhaps don't look if you don't like swear words or are easily offended!! She personalises them to the customer's requirements so you can have anything your heart desires put on them.


Ems Jewellery - Em makes the most gorgeous hand stamped stainless steel & sterling silver jewellery. I have a few personalised things myself & the quality is beautiful. I have recently bought some gifts from her & everyone loved them.


Crown & Glory - Last but certainly not least! I don't think anyone who reads my blog will be surprised to see this one. Sophie & Gareth make a huge range of hair accessories. From floral to glittery, bobby pins to huge flower crowns, there is pretty much everything you can think of and more. There are some lovely Christmas gifts avaliable at the moment including mystery crackers full of goodies.


These are just some of my favourites & I can't recommend them enough. I hope it's given you a few ideas and I'd love to hear if you go ahead & buy anything from any of them. 

Happy shopping! 




Ali
xx

9 comments

  1. Thanks for this! Have just ordered a gift from Punky Pins. I'm a big fan of PPD too :)

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    1. Aw brilliant! Haha yes PPD is hilarious :-) Thanks for reading x

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  2. Great post Ali! I think it's really important to support smaller independent shops, they always have amazing gifts that you wouldn't find on the high street too.

    Emma Xx
    www.emmaslookingglass.com

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    1. Couldn't agree more Emma! Only trouble is when looking for presents I always want some for myself too :-) xx

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  3. I love that you support small businesses, the stuff you find there are always so lovely too.
    also thought I'd let you know that I'm on your blog on my laptop and you have the mobile layout enabled and not the desktop so it's super squished!

    Oh, and Crown and Glory would have to be on the list wouldn't they!!

    xx

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    1. Ah thanks Hayley. Haha C&G was always going to be there wasn't it :) And oh no.. I am so useless with all this tech stuff!!! Thank you..need to check settings xx

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  4. HI there! I was randomly looking at Instagram posts of the Punkypins hashtag (alas but that I had a device that I could get IG on- my phone and computer are too archaic for both- sigh!) and I saw your post saying you'd done this post! Bravo! I like several of the brands you've listed here apart from Punkypins- Ladybird likes and Crown and glory- I'll have to have a look at the other ones too! Nice to meet you!x

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    1. Hi Kezzie thanks for your comment.. I love browsing through the all hashtags on Instagram! There are so many amazing places to buy from online so I apologise if I've made you spend money :-)

      Ali x

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  5. Hi Kezzie thanks for your comment.. I love browsing through the all hashtags on Instagram! There are so many amazing places to buy from online so I apologise if I've made you spend money :-)

    Ali x

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