I know you know the mall is for losers. So don’t do it. Don’t even take one step into that big ugly store and buy something that no one wants. Instead, make the pledge that so many of us are making to shop local and handmade. But how? Can it be easy to gather all of your holiday goodies this way? You better believe it is. Between shopping handmade marketplaces online like Etsy and via our own Crafty Bastards Vendor Gallery and the scores of local craft shows in the next few weeks, we’ve got you covered.

For the completely curated experience, look no further than the Crafty Bastards Vendor Gallery. Each crafter’s listing links you directly to their Web site or online shop so that you can pick up all of the goodies that you missed at this year’s fair. It will be easy for you to purchace from many locals either directly from their Web sites or at one of the many holiday shows going on in the area. Goshdarnknit’s shop is completely stocked with all manner of fantastic handprinted notebooks.

And Crafty Bastard, Daisy Lacy’s creations can be found at her store, Smash! in Adams Morgan or at the Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market (see a list of shows below).

The place to be on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is Etsy.com where there are over 200,000 sellers. If you wanna narrow that down a little to people who live in your area, use the Shop Local function to search for sellers. Here, I’ve done the ‘Washington, D.C.’ search for you!

Two local Etsy Street teams are doing interesting things with their groups for the holiday shopping season. Several members of the Baltimore Etsy Street Team will be donating money from the sale of the their items to the Maryland Food Bank. This is a great way to not only shop local and handmade, but also give back to the community. You can see the list of participating shops on their blog, Baltimorecraft.com.

The Capital Region Etsy Street Team (CREST) is hosting a promotion for Cyber Monday. Several of the members have contributed to a gift box and blog viewers can simply post a comment to the blog and be entered in a random drawing to recieve one of the gifts. A complete list of discounts and gift box items can be found on the CREST blog. The items in the gift box aren’t just promos, either. They include a a cold forged sterling silver chain by DC artist Mary Ellen Doran (retail value $40) and a fabric wallet or credit card holder from Bette’s Bags. You can also find items made by CREST members on Etsy by searching the tags/titles for “etsycrestteam”.

If you want to shop in person on Friday, alive in the real world, DEKKA (1338 U Street NW, 2nd Floor) will be open from 9AM to 9PM on Black Friday. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to get pieces from local artists at great discounts! There will be margaritas and appetizers from 11 am to 9pm. In fact the entire Mid City alliance of U Street shops will be celebrating with sales and special events. Go mama go! (1809 14th Street) is offering 20% off for shoppers in their pajamas and PULP (1803 14th Street) will give 10% off all holiday single and boxed cards. Check out the entire Mid City Black Friday list of participating stores.

Buying from the crafters in person in December will also be easy with tons of holiday markets and shows to check out.

12/6, Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market, Washington, D.C.
Start your holiday shopping off right, by buying handmade from the 20 coolest indie crafters in Washington, D.C. There will be snacks and music and free goodie bags to the first 100 shoppers! This cozy little show is at Hilda’s in the National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle from 12-6pm. The vendor list is an impressive gathering of D.C. notables and includes De*Nada Design, Kristina Bilonick and El Jefe Design.

12/7, Creative Alliance Merry Mart, Baltimore, MD
No manic mall madness necessary! Do your holiday shopping at The Patterson from 11am-5pm! 35 + handpicked artists sell some the best of Baltimore-made items. Gorgeous turned vessels, elegant jewelry, whimsical stuffed critters, origami lights, felt applique, hand knits, housemade soaps, wacky fly swatters, photos in jars, totally cool totes, and mucho more. More info.

12/7, SquidFire’s 2008 Winter Art Mart, Baltimore, MD
Join Squidfire and many other vendors at the Lyric Opera House (110 West Mount Royal Avenue – Baltimore, MD 21201) on Sunday December 7, 12-6:30pm. Check out the vendor list on their Web site.

12/13, Craft Mutiny Holiday Trunk Show, Washington, D.C.
Get your last minute indie holiday shopping done with Washington, D.C.’s favorite indie craft collective Craft Mutiny, at Design Within Reach Georgetown (3307 Cady’s Alley N.W.) on Saturday, December 13th from 10am-5pm. Buy handmade goods and meet local crafters at this one-day event, hosted at Design Within Reach Georgetown. One-of-a-kind goods for sale include clothing, stationary, prints, jewelry, handspun yarn, plush items and more. The list of vendors includes John Wye, Jaime Zollars, and 60 Bugs.

12/14, DC Rollergirls HOLIDAY BASH & CRAFT SALE
Join the DC Rollergirls on Sunday December 14th from 6pm – 10pm at the Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H Street NE, Washington, DC 20002) for their Holiday Bash and Craft sale.

12/21 Black Cat Rock-n-Shop, Washington, D.C.
Hunting for that perfect holiday gift? Looking to augment your hardcore collection with some essential records? Searching for the perfect T-shirt? Stop right there, my friend! Rock-n-Shop is where it’s all at. This twice-yearly junk sale offers more than the standard fare…for one thing, it’s not all junk.

Tina Seamonster also blogs and podcasts over at Hello Craft.com. That leaves little time for shopping.

Set a reminder to tune into NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday, November 23 to catch Liane Hansen’s interview with Crafty blogger, Tina Seamonster.

Tina was asked to discuss making gifts for the holidays and provided a couple simple how-to’s for listeners to try on their own. The piece has already been recorded and you can read about Tina’s experience in the entry she posted on HelloCraft.com.

From Tina:

NPR Weekend Edition Sunday (11/23).
You can find out what time via your local NPR Station as each station plays the show at a different time. Locally in DC, WAMU plays it from 8 to 10. I will also be doing a live chat online at 1:30 EST at npr.org/gifts. You will have to register to chat. You can also upload photos of your projects to their holiday community page while you are in there. Please stop by and ask me a nice or funny question.

Listen in as Tina shares her indie craft wisdom with NPR’s listners. And don’t forget to join the Live Chat! We hear there will be video, too. Oooh, talking pictures. Fancy.

The holiday season might have crept up on YOU, but local craft show organizers have been hard at work setting up so many shows in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore areas. Every weekend between now and the end of the year you will be able to go and buy local and handmade. Crafty Bastards veterans can be found at all of these events so mark your calenders!

11/15, Holiday Heap, Baltimore MD
Holiday Heap is an indie craft fair featuring a jury-selected group of more than 50 of the country’s most renegade crafters, selling their own handmade jewelry, screenprinted apparel, stuffed toys, cermaics, knitwear, paper goods and so much more! Come this Saturday (November 15th) to St. John’s Church at 2640 St. Paul Street from 10am - 5pm for Holiday Heap. For more info, check out their Web site.

11/28-29, Bazaart American Visionary Art Museum, Baltimore MD
A Holiday Marketplace of original creations by 50 regional artists and craftspeople. Painting, sculpture, papercrafts, metalwork, jewelry, textiles, mixed media, and other work that simply defies categorization. FREE ENTRY. American Visionary Art Museum, Jim Rouse Visionary Center 3rd Floor. More info.

12/6, Craft Mutiny Holiday Booty Market, Washington, D.C.
Start your holiday shopping off right, by buying handmade from the 20 coolest indie crafters in Washington, D.C. There will be snacks and music and free goodie bags to the first 100 shoppers! This cozy little show is at Hilda’s in the National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle from 12-6pm. This event is sponsored by Dekka and Chipotle. List of vendors coming soon at their Web site.

12/7, Creative Alliance Merry Mart, Baltimore, MD
No manic mall madness necessary! Do your holiday shopping at The Patterson from 11am-5pm! 35 + handpicked artists sell some the best of Baltimore-made items. Gorgeous turned vessels, elegant jewelry, whimsical stuffed critters, origami lights, felt applique, hand knits, housemade soaps, wacky fly swatters, photos in jars, totally cool totes, and mucho more. More info.

12/7, SquidFire’s 2008 Winter Art Mart, Baltimore, MD
Join Squidfire and many other vendors at the Lyric Opera House (110 West Mount Royal Avenue – Baltimore, MD 21201) on Sunday December 7, 12-6:30pm. Check out the vendor list on their Web site.

12/13, Craft Mutiny Holiday Trunk Show, Washington, D.C.
Get your last minute indie holiday shopping done with Washington, D.C.’s favorite indie craft collective Craft Mutiny, at Design Within Reach Georgetown (3307 Cady’s Alley N.W.) on Saturday, December 13th from 10am-5pm. Buy handmade goods and meet local crafters at this one-day event, hosted at the slickest home store in D.C. One-of-a-kind goods for sale include clothing, stationary, prints, jewelry, handspun yarn, plush items and more. List of vendors coming soon at their Web site.

12/14, BEST Trunk Show Double Dutch Boutique, Baltimore MD
More info coming soon!

12/21 Black Cat Rock-n-Shop, Washington, D.C.
Hunting for that perfect holiday gift? Looking to augment your hardcore collection with some essential records? Searching for the perfect T-shirt? Stop right there, my friend! Rock-n-Shop is where it’s all at. This twice-yearly junk sale offers more than the standard fare…for one thing, it’s not all junk. To reserve a space please contact Maegan.

> Top of the post image is of Scandinavian Reindeer - Set of 6 Gocco Printed Holiday Cards by papermenagerie.

Tina Seamonster’s new podcast, Hello Craft, is collecting your stories of making and buying handmade. That was a plug.

With so many opportunties in the area to sell your craftiness this holiday season, it is often hard to choose! But the DC Rollergirls’ holiday bash sounds like super fun.

The show is Sunday, December 14th at the Rock & Roll Hotel from 5-9pm and will feature 15-20 local craft vendors. Wanna be one of them? The cost is $50 for one table (regular rectangular card table size). If you provide your own table the cost is $40!

Space is first-come, first-reserved! Interested vendors should contact dr.SKabs via email.

To find out from about the DC Rollergirls, check out their Web site at www.dcrollergirls.com

I have found that people who aren’t using Twitter don’t really understand the value of this exciting little Web site. People ask me, “How much can you say in 140 characters?” My answer to this is, “enough.” During my day, I use Twitter to send out links to my Etsy shop, headlines from my blog, small bits of thoughtfulness, jokes, assignments for one of my many blogs and podcasts. If I need something written for my television review site, odds are I will get it in the hour if I tweet it. Twitter is an awesome place to find your online voice, test your brand, make friends, create space in the minds of your followers for you.

That said, this article, 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business by Chris Brogan, brilliantly spells it all out for you. If you haven’t figured it out yet, check out Chris’ piece and get tweeting!

I would also recommend this article, Web Strategy: The Evolution of Brands on Twitter by Jeremiah Owyang.

Tina Seamonster tweets her life and craft at http://www.twitter.com/tinaseamonster.

I don’t buy Halloween decorations. Never have. Sure, I have a Halloween table cloth in my dining room, but that is pretty much year around. That said, I love Halloween. I love the colors, the monsters, the crisp air. I always peruse the decoration section at the store each year, hoping that something will jump out at me. Hoping that I will find something useless that I can buy that will decorate my home. Everything is always too cartoony or too scary or too plastic.

Then the other day I came across Maria Pahls’ wonderfully strange spun cotton creations. They made me want to outfit my home with bats and ghosts all year long. I can’t help but highlight nearly all of her shop. Take a look.

Brown Bat Halloween spun cotton ornament, sold.

Spun Cotton Halloween Jack O Lantern Boy ornament, $34.99.

Spun Cotton Halloween Mini Ornament Set, sold.

Spun Cotton Witchie Witch Halloween Ornament, $34.99

And this one is needle felted:

Happy Halloween!

Tina Seamonster blogs her life and craft at I Like Seamonsters.com.

This morning, I woke to the chill of a new autumn. Changing fall trees are often a too common motif in indie craft; but who doesn’t love fall colors and the crunch of leaves under their feet? That said, one of my favorite indie crafters right now is Get Felt Up. She makes prefectly autumnal necklaces out of felt.

I love that her necklaces are big and bold, but since they are made of felt, you barely know you are wearing them.

This connected leaf necklaces is 2.5″ across at the longest point.

And this might be going on my Christmas list.

Check out those wood grain card slots!

The American Craft Council has announced that they are now accepting AltCraft applications for their flagship show in Baltimore.

Applicants are eligible only if they have NOT shown in an American Craft Council show previously. Embellished commercially-bought objects (e.g., tee shirts, note cards, etc.) are not eligible. Show dates are February 27-March 1.

The deadline is Thursday, October 30.

To apply, submit:

• (3) low-resolution images of your work
• A brief description of your work (materials, dimensions, techniques)
• Your contact information (mailing and email addresses)

Send submissions and inquiries to Erika at altcraft@craftcouncil.org.

Finalists will be announced in November.

You can get more information show, here. They have a nice slideshow of the indie crafters that got in last year, just click on the image on the top of the page.

Note the information about not applying with embellished commercially-bought objects. Rania from Goshdarnknit did a good write-up after visiting last year’s show as a shopper.

Each week we feature an advertiser from the Crafty Bastards Classifieds. This week the honor goes to:

Ninnycat Crochet!

Ninnycat Crochet makes crocheted goodies, such as earrings and purses! On top of her crafts, Vanessa Alsondo also gives crochet lessons and is a pastry chef preparing to start an online bakery business.

Check out her blog and Etsy shop!

Crafty Classifieds for goodies like this and more!

Make stuff? Place a Crafty Bastards ad, it’s FREE!

One of my favorite craft shows ever is Bust Magazine’s Holiday Craftacular. This year it is set for Saturday, December 13, at Penn Plaza Pavillion in New York City.

Here’s what they have to say about their show:

BUST Magazine will be hand-picking over 200 of the most unique and talented crafters from across the country to stuff your holiday stockings with the very best in indie-designed and handmade wares! Take care of your entire shopping list while browsing thousands of ware that will include knitwears, jewelry, beauty products, ornaments, vamped up vintage clothing, silk-screened apparel, gourmet sweets, handbags, chic and original iPod cases, funky home décor, books, sassy soaps (for the naughty and the nice!), cards, the best gear for babies and more. Then take a break from shopping as the BUST DJs jingle your bells on the Craftacular dance floor.

Independently owned and operated, BUST Magazine has been a leader in the crafting movement since 1993. Now in its 15th year, BUST continues to support and influence the handmade revolution though constant editorial coverage, sponsorships, and events such as the Holiday Craftacular. Always on the cutting-edge, BUST is a revered and trusted authority in the DIY and crafting community.

Applications are due by November 7, 2008. There is a non-refundable $10 application fee. The show fee is $250 for one space which includes a 8′ x 2 1/2′ table and two chairs. All applicants will be notified of their status on November 14, 2008. Apply online, here.

My only concern with this show is the number of vendors. With 200 vendors, it can feel hard to stand out. And doing a craft show in the middle of New York City can seem daunting. The crowds are huge, Crafty Bastard sized. But last year’s show was the most fun I have had at a craft show ever.

Good luck!