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Countdown to Christmas - Artisan Gift Favorites - Week 4, 2026

Posted October 13, 2026

 

 

Who would have believed how quickly Week 4 of the Countdown to Christmas 2026 flew right on by . . . but here we are!  Left in its wake is a wide variety of wonderful artisan handmade / designed items.  According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 72 days until jolly St. Nick pays a visit to inform you if you have been naughty or nice.  With the rapidly approaching gift giving season, Julie and her faithful four-footed sidekick, Handsome Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2026 of artisan handmade / designed items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop.  This week, there were 30 shares from 10 artists featuring a wide range of gifts:  unique jewelry designs, journals, holiday gift tags, resin flowers, prints, lampwork beads, table linens and a slew of other beauties.  If you need a perfect start (or ending) to your Christmas holiday shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that!  An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN.  And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!


Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite gift item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature it on my "Artisan Gift Favorites" blog.  Here are my picks for Week 4:  

 

 

 

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Countdown to Christmas - Artisan Gift Favorites - Week 3, 2026

Posted October 6, 2026

 

 

It's amazing just how quickly Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas 2026 flew by with October already here!   According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 79 days until jolly Santa Claus and his merry band of reindeer are delivering packages (or lumps of coal) once again. With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her handsome four-footed sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2026 filled with artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop.  This week, there were 30 shares by 10 artists featuring a wide range of truly unique gift ideas: jewelry of all types, holiday gift tags, notebooks, ornaments, lampwork beads and many other beauties.  If you need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping experience, the Countdown is the place to do just that!  An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN.  And, most of all, SHOP SMALL to support indie businesses!

 

Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog.  Here are my favorites for Week 3: 

 

 

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» Tagged: bell charm necklace, bird journal, bird junk journal, caladium greeting cards, caladium note cards, cat journal, cat lover gift, ceramic slider, Christmas, Christmas bell necklace, Christmas cardinal earrings, Christmas gifts, Christmas gifts for women, Christmas lampwork beads, clip on earrings, Countdown to Christmas, handmade, handmade bracelet, handmade Christmas gifts, handmade earrings, handmade gifts, handmade necklace, Hanukkah, hardcover journal, holiday gifts, holidays, interfaith ornaments, lampwork beads, leather bracelet, lightweight earrings. Christmas snowman earrings, lined notebook, personalized ornaments, red cardinal earrings, Santa gift tags, Shadow Dog Designs, ShadowDogDesigns, snowman birds earrings, snowman earrings, vintage style, watercolor

Countdown to Christmas - Artisan Gift Favorites - Week 2, 2026

Posted September 29, 2026

 

 

Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas 2026 has already come . . . and gone!  No worries, however, because many unique artisan handmade / designed items were left in its wake.  According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 86 days (as of the day this blog posted) until Christmas is here.  With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her wonderful four-footed sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop.  The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the ubiquitous Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 24 shares by 8 artists featuring a wide range of gift ideas: unique jewelry, lampwork beads, art prints, garden banners, journals, table linens and a host of other beauties.  If you need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that!  An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN.  And, most of all, SHOP SMALL and SHOP HANDMADE to support indie businesses!  We will absolutely thank you!

 

Each week during the Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. Here are my favorites for Week 2:   

 

 

 

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» Tagged: bass clef, blue sky jasper, Christmas, Christmas gifts, Christmas gifts for women, Countdown to Christmas, flag, floral journal, garden, Gasparilla, Halloween garden banner, handmade, handmade Christmas gifts, handmade earrings, handmade gifts, handmade necklace, Hanukkah, hardcover journal, holiday gifts, holidays, lampwork beads, lampwork bracelet beads, leaf pendant, menorah napkins, menorah table linens, music note necklace, personalized, pirate ship, ranunculus, red lampwork, Shadow Dog Designs, ShadowDogDesigns, statement necklace, watercolor print

Countdown to Christmas Gifts - Artisan Favorites - Week 1, 2026

Posted September 22, 2026

 

 

It seems the Countdown to Christmas was happening just a few short months ago?  Where has the time gone?  Here it is, the middle of September, and the first week of the Countdown is already up and running!  The ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown clock says there are only 93 days (as of today) before Christmas is here!  With that in mind, it's definitely not too early to start thinking about all those people on your Christmas shopping list.  Where to start????  What should you get for them???  A perfect place to shop (and hopefully buy) is on the 12 week Countdown to Christmas 2026 collections.  Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, all the collections will be filled with a wide variety of artisan handmade / designed gifts.  A new collection will be added each Friday through the beginning of December.  On week 1 of the Countdown to Christmas, there were 33 shares from 11 artisans, a wide variety of gifts: unique jewelry, journals, home decor, note cards, art and more.  A good holiday motto to remember:  SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN!  And, most of all:  SHOP SMALL, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie sellers!

 

Here are my favorite picks from Week 1 of the Countdown to Christmas:

 

 

 

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» Tagged: angel, angel necklace, autumn, Berber beads, cardinals, Chanukah, Christmas, Christmas gifts, Christmas gifts for women, clip on earrings, Countdown to Christmas, daffodil, forever flower, giclee print, handmade, handmade Christmas gifts, handmade earrings, handmade gifts, handmade necklace, handmade turquoise necklace, holiday gifts, holidays, junk journal, lampwork necklace, lampwork pendant, leaf earrings, narcissus, nebula necklace, note card, Shadow Dog Designs, ShadowDogDesigns, spiral notebook, St Nick pendant, sun moon beads, table napkins, travel journal, turquoise necklace

Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Week 12 Favorites - 2025

Posted December 2, 2025

 

 

Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick.   According to the Your Christmas Countdown Clock  there is only 22 days until Christmas is here!  It’s hard to believe that 12 weeks have already gone by since the Countdown to Christmas 2025 started.  The Countdown has been graciously hosted all these weeks (and many years) by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions (shop on vacation now but will be open soon) on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Yes, Week 12 of the Coundown to Christmas has come and gone and 24 artisan handmade / designed items from eight artists were left in its wake.  Any of the beauties will be perfect for a Christmas gift, one that was carefully created from the heart.  Support independent artists by helping Santa make it a HANDMADE CHRISTMAS this year! 

 

In addition to promoting each handmade item from the Countdown collection to my "Countdown to a Handmade Christmas 2025" Pinterest board and to my Twitter feed, I share one item from each of the artists who participated this week.  Here are my "favorites" picks of the items - it's always hard to choose!  I hope you enjoy these unique items.  

 

 

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» Tagged: cactus earrings, cat lover, cat ornament, Christmas, Christmas gifts, Christmas gifts for women, Christmas necklace, Christmas ornament, Countdown to Christmas, dichroic, flower earrings, hand painted, handmade, handmade Christmas gifts, handmade earrings, handmade gifts, holiday earrings, holiday gifts, jade, keycjhain, kindness, lampwork, lampwork glass beads, note cards, saguaro cactus, sea turtle stickers, sea turtles, Shadow Dog Designs, ShadowDogDesigns, shells, stickers, Tampa Florida, turtles, wooden earrings, wooden ornament
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